A Thing Or Two We’re Doing Besides Faking It With Flowers

Fall goal: Leveling-up our wine knowledge so that it’s, uh, on par with our wine consumption. Gulp. If you’re with us, then you’re going to want to know Vanessa Price, who co-authored Big Macs & Burgundy and has all kinds of astute things to say on this week’s pod about drinking it, pairing it, and storing it (not in the fridge for months, please!). Also, if you’re new around these parts, do you know about Secret Menu? Because you really should.

erica’s things

• Trying to get a better understanding of what I do all day with this thingy, which integrates oh-so-nicely with Google cal, Google Drive, all the Googles.

• Feeling inspired to shop my closet thanks to a fashion magazine dedicated to vintage, thrifted, and otherwise not-new clothing.

• Spotting flowers that’ll keep those dead-of-winter days lookin’ up. (God, I hope.)

• Following the best pandemic coping advice I’ve seen in awhile: Read new-to-you old books.

• Losing myself in the (visually satisfying) Black Music History Library. If you need me, look for me in the Folk & Country or Disco folders.

claire’s things

• Taking the rental model for a spin in Cam’s closet with much success.

• Trying out various methods for recreating that restaurant-quality crispy fish skin and deeming this the best guide. (Seafood courtesy of these pros.)

• Getting a whole lot of feels about my city and its wonderful (and vulnerable!) food scene while watching the NYC episode of the wonderful Eater’s Guide to the World.

• Moving one step closer to my bra-free quarantine dream.

• Adding Mary Lattimore to my list of hero harpists. (Alongside Dorothy Ashby and Devi Vishwakumar, of course.)

A Thing Or Two We’re Doing Besides Bringing Saturday Energy To Monday

If you didn’t celebrate this weekend's tremendous news with pastries, well, it's not too late—and you're going to want to after listening to our podcast ep. We’re talking with Lani Halliday, baker extraordinaire, about making sweet treats for people of all dietary walks, navigating support for Black-owned businesses, and opening a physical location during the pandemic. It keeps the mood up, tell you what. Also! We’re planning for our gift-guide episodes, built around your special requests, so if you have anyone you want us to shop for, tell us about it via voicemail at 833-632-5463 or DM at @athingortwohq or, heck, just WB to this email.

erica’s things

• Downloading a slick little app that points you toward resources to call instead of the police.

• Seeking out more of that PEN15 adolescent awkwardness and finding it in a Substack lookin’ back at bar mitzvahs of yore.

• Sniffing around my apartment after reading about our lack of respect and appreciation for our sense of smell.

• Experiencing “happy and sad at the same time” feelings from so much right now, including these melty disco balls.

• Keeping Georgia on my mind and watching the incredible Mashama Bailey on Chef's Table.

claire’s things

• Getting drawn into Major Arcana’s portraits of and statements from self-identified witches from across the U.S. in ways I did not expect.

• Putting a little breathing room between me and my mask on outdoor runs.

• Marking my calendar—and my holiday-gifting list—for the launch of Artist Plate Project.

• Leaving it to Gossamer and Tara Thomas to make an edible that tastes great and also eliminates any lingering skepticism you may have about whether or not CBD actually does anything.

• Partaking in many a dinnertime dance party care of this playlist, which has real wedding-DJ vibes.

A Thing Or Two We’re Doing Besides Flipping The Switch

Pals, it’s gonna be a week. If you need to stop your head from spinning for a few minutes, we have a podcast episode packed with distractions for you. If you’re seeking more rabbit holes to fall down, sign up for Secret Menu. Your November subscription $ will go to Soul Fire Farm, which is an Afro-Indigenous centered community farm committed to uprooting racism and seeding sovereignty in the food system.

erica’s things

• Hitting squash season hard. It’s about the pepita pesto on the pasta with the delicata, friends.

• Poring over a travel magazine worth reading even when I’m going nowhere at all. The Lagos issue!!

• Waiting for the moment when I tire of tile. Today’s definitely not the day.

• Listening to two straight white men bond and—miracle of miracles!—enjoying it. Definitely helps that they get into journaling, processing childhood trauma, and dealing with ego.

• Sinking a bucket that is going to propel me through the fourth quarter AND has a very Jordan price tag.

claire’s things

• Hoping my son grows up to be more crafty than me because I need someone to take on this brilliant DIY on my behalf.

• Getting a lot out of an addiction-recovery newsletter despite not being part of the intended audience.

• Feeling like a real dolt for ignoring (for no good reason!) everyone who’s told me to try Davines over the years—their curl serum is *chef’s kiss*.

• Curing Ultrafragola fatigue with this and this.

• Soothing myself with delightful dance videos from now until Wednesday whenever this is over.

A Thing Or Two We’re Doing Besides Seeking Material Comforts

Oooh, do we love some insidery intel, and when it comes to the beauty industry, Jill Dunn and Carlene Higgins have got it. We brought the hosts of the Breaking Beauty podcast on our podcast, and we’d sure love to hear what you thought of this ep or any of the rest of them—you know we love a review. Also, you obviously have your voting plan sorted, right?
Let’s get it right this time, America.

erica’s things

• Counting on Venus Williams for exceptionalism in all of her pursuits, including making sunscreen.

• Watching pasta-making videos I can’t actually understand from one of the most charming restaurants in Rome. No, it’s not at all like vacationing in Italy, but I’LL TAKE IT.

• Learning that “FLOTUS” and “newb” are 37 this year—just like me!—by way of Merriam-Webster’s smart—and often surprising—Time Traveler feature.

• Forgoing cans of chipotle peppers entirely and relying on Xilli to deliver that taco-night complexity and heat. I’m thinking this is a collect-all-the-sauces scenario?

• Feeling shame that my most reliable escapist hobby right now is tracking @siblingsordating.

claire’s things

• Feeling relieved that Karen, I Said is getting a second run (presumably thanks to a rave in the NYT?) because I was kicking myself for not telling you about it the first time around.

• Sending my sodium levels through the roof.

• Deciding that if Gossip Time’s breakdown of the Dominic West–Lily James scandal is any indication, we have much to look forward to.

• Fantasizing about covering something (anything) in one of Ottoline’s incredible fabrics or wallpapers.

• Leaving it to Zabar’s to have the best decaf beans in the biz.

A Thing Or Two We’re Doing Besides Having A Case Of The Wiggles

Sure, the two of us share many a Zoom, but we recently realized that we hadn’t really, truly checked in on each other in a bit. So we did just that—and recorded it for your listening pleasure (and/or your listening inspiration to go forth and do the same with one of your buds). For more of what we’re getting into, you can always find us here.

erica’s things

• Keeping the 2021 optimism alive with a five-year planner-slash-journal from a Japanese brand that has a magnificently hardcore following.
  

• Seeking meaning in ant farms.
  

• Flagging passage after passage of this book, which, honestly, is more validating than dread-inducing (which was my fear going in!).
  

• Making washing “lay flat to dry!!!” sweaters a lot more mindless by separating them from the rest of the load in a jumbo mesh bag.
  

• Giving past-their-prime greens a new lease on life in, like, 10 minutes.

claire’s things

• Laughing, crying, clapping, and desperately missing riding the subway while watching the excellent The Forty-Year-Old Version.

• Transitioning all of my RSS subscriptions to Feedbin, where, in a particularly major win, I can also aggregate the growing list of newsletter subs currently clogging my inbox.

• Letting you say what you will about Miley, but her covers are absurdly enjoyable.

• Finding my way out of an “I guess we’re having salmon again?” rut thanks to an extremely quick and easy recipe, which, to be fair, would probably work with any old protein.

• Searching my home for a place where we might, just maybe be able to squeeze in another side table?

A Thing Or Two We’re Doing Besides Working On Our Turnout

During a year when everything is more anxiety-inducing than you thought possible, we’re hoping to make two things less stressful: mammograms and colonoscopies. This week on the podcast: We share our tales of ‘em! Feedback is quite welcome as usual—we’re accepting calls at 833-632-5463, or, heck, you can just respond to this email.!

erica’s things

• Adding a new item to my at-home all-day cafe’s menu: noon espresso shots ℅ this stovetop charmer.

• Marveling at the seemingly endless talents of Patti LaBelle and Dolly Parton.

• Dubbing these my outdoor slippers.

• Caring more about ballet than I have since I finished Bunheads.

• Learning fitting wine pairings for Ben & Jerry’s Half Baked, Trader Joe’s Cauliflower Gnocchi, and Sour Patch Kids. Finally.

claire’s things

• Observing today by supporting the Native American Rights Fund and their efforts to fight voter suppression in Native communities.

• Contemplating blending cashews into all of my salad dressings after having done it to great effect in this recipe.

• Planning to emerge from quarantine having mastered but one new skill: how to apply liquid eyeliner. This is making it easy.

• Getting my Paris fix with Margot instead of Emily.

• Embracing the opportunity to trash those goofy, oversize cocktail ice trays now that this sucker has come into my life.

A Thing Or Two We’re Doing Besides Piling On The Knits

Team, we’re back from podcast hiatus, and we’ve got some non-stressful election content, if you can imagine it. We’re talking to Adair Boroughs about what it’s really, actually like to run for Congress (in South Carolina’s Second District), and we manage to work Snuffleupagus into the programming. Also, for any would-be Secret Menu subscribers: The fact that we’re donating October newbie fees to Get Mitch or Die Trying is as good a reason as any to join today. And related: For a great resource to research your ballot, check out Know Your Vote.

erica’s things

• Getting a whole lotta joy out of a hand towel. A hand towel!

• Suggesting an alt title for this Katy Stubbs sculpture: “A Metaphor for All 2020 Plans.”

• Nailing that perfect transition-to-fall corn recipe.

• Marveling at how adeptly Melissa Faliveno weaves together gender, sexuality, and the American Midwest in her essay collection Tomboyland (yes, great title).

• Keeping up my “does this count as trying?” quar makeup routine with this stuff, which is like a harder-working Boy Brow.

claire’s things

• Doing that thing where I search out every possible podcast, article, and review related to the author after finishing The Death of Vivek Oji.

• Celebrating the fact that LA’s (America’s?!) most interesting fashion boutique is finally online. Where else are you ogling Tyrolean wool clogs, Japanese no-show socks that demand to be seen, and the Belgian puffer of your wealthiest dreams?

• Daring you to go harder at the rattan vibe than Atelier Vime. Can’t be done.

• Sending kudos to Alstede Farms for enabling a September day of apple-picking and animal-petting an hour outside of NYC without any of the chaos one would reasonably expect to encounter in such circumstances. During a pandemic, no less!

• Scooping up a limited-edition tome of Noah Kalina’s iconic chicken portraits.

A Thing Or Two We’re Doing Besides Taking The Cake

Have you filled out the census? Are you registered to vote? Did you request an absentee ballot if you want to vote by mail? Yes, yes, yes? Great. You can keep reading.

erica’s things

• Escaping my anxiety for a whole hour (!!!) sipping wine at this place on Long Island’s North Fork. Presumably cracking open a bottle of their gruner anywhere outside would approximate the effect?

• Seeing the upside of the endless scroll, at least when it comes to this textile account.

• Finally finding those good—and damn hard—streaming pilates classes: Friday sessions from Move With Purpose benefit social-justice organizations, and Pilates People offers up plenty of muscle-exhausting options for the other six days.

• Wanting life to look/feel more like a Flavor Supreme cake. If you’re in Chicago, do me two favors: 1) order one of these 2) report back.

• Getting more laughs out of an essay about fear than I would’ve ever guessed.

claire’s things

• Congratulating SparkNotes on staying relevant in the age of Wikipedia. Hearty applause.

• Feeling silly for waiting so long to buy one of these. My floor is, like, 75% less covered in whatever it is I just chopped.

• Sussing out some sleepwear that really speaks to me.

• Discovering the thing that all your fave DTC companies have in common (aside from color palette).

• Welcoming a new-to-me tool to my hair routine that feels delightful and ensures a good, thorough clean even when I’m just co-washing. If you have to hear about buildup every time you get your hair cut, this is for you.

A Thing Or Two We’re Doing Besides Experiencing A Technical Glitch

If you need a break from the newscycle and somehow missed the original stream of our podcast episode about sweet potatoes (and, oh yah, retail powerhouse Mickey Drexler), well, fall is in the air. In other breaking news: We’re launching classified ads in these emails! We cribbed the idea directly from Ann Friedman’s epically good newsletter as a way to share the many exciting projects/products/THINGS you all are working on and think our dear readers should absolutely know about.

erica’s things

• Learning so much about colorism and the skin-lightening industry—and the role of American CPG companies in it—from Priya Rao’s Unfair podcast.

• Endorsing this readily accessible and very horseradish-y bloody mary mix. My pref is hold the vodka, double down on the pickled veggies.

• Seeing the gallery potential of computer error messages and cracked iPhones.

• Falling deeeeeep down the rabbit hole of Japanese bread art. Start here and here.

• Self-identifying as an “itchy gurl”—one whose angry nose and chin are quite soothed by this stuff (which I just use as a straight-up moisturizer).

claire’s things

• Finally figuring out, at 36 years of age, how not to ruin all of my underpants once a month thanks to Noble Cup.

• Gaining a straightforward and clear understanding of how reparations could, in theory, work.

• Finding something beautiful by which to remember an ugly year.

• Mastering crab fried rice that’s as good as takeout—especially if you happen to be using leftover coconut rice.

• Offering my paws a purpose other than scrolling via hand acting classes from the legendary Julio Torres.

A Thing Or Two We’re Doing Besides Digging Into The Back Catalog

We’re still on podcast hiatus (<<< fancy way of saying we’re taking a GD break), and this week’s rerun is a classique: on ironing and newsletters. As always, reply to this email to let us know what you want to be hearing about (and who you want to be hearing it from!) when we come back. And, an important P.S.: Thanks to those of you who reached out with concerns about our choice of charity for September’s Secret Menu donation. We’re embarrassed, regretful, and, most of all, sorry that we didn’t uncover the issues with Autism Speaks on our own—you deserve better from us!—and we’re redirecting this month's new subscriber fees to Autistic Self Advocacy Network.

erica’s things

• Adding the lowest-stakes possible podcast to my rotation: Taking Hugh for Granted about, you guessed it, Hugh Grant movies. (I endorse skipping the musical interludes!!)

• Toasting up the best gluten-free sandwich bread going.

• Becoming a committed reader of two new-ish magazine-y columns, GQ’s “Fit Diaries” and Interview’s “Ask a Sane Person.” I’m finding them both to be strangely comforting.

• Relishing that the best rude dining establishment in the world has found a way to bring its signature abuse to a socially distanced era. Also: these signs.

• Answering the question, what do eighties pop culture, witches, and field hockey have in common? This book.

claire’s things

• Uncovering a treasure trove of inspo in a digital archive of Ikea catalogs—aka Ikea Museum.

• Getting nervous that by the time you click through to Theresa Drapkin’s just-launched charity sale it’ll all be sold out.

• Spying some uncharacteristically chic Judaica. Heck, you don’t even need to observe Shabbat to enjoy this beauty of a candle holder.

• Pushing sriracha aside in favor of the salty, citrusy kick of yuzu kosho—which mixes with mayo to excellent effect, by the way.

• Feeling not at all surprised that Yaa Gyasi’s second book is every bit as beautiful and absorbing as her first.

A Thing Or Two We’re Doing Besides Appealing To Our Coffee-Table Books

Friends! Esteemed colleagues! For the next month, we won’t be releasing new podcast episodes, but we will be re-airing our greatest hits from the recent past, starting with Marisa Meltzer on her phenomenal book This Is Big. If you have thoughts on what you want from us when we’re back, reply to this email and tell us—we wanna know. And, if you’ve been thinking about signing up for Secret Menu for more, more, more where this came from, you should know that September’s new subscriber $$ will go straight to Autism Speaks. In this week’s installment, we’re putting on our Dear Abby hats and answering reader questions. Pretty sure you don’t want to miss it.

erica’s things

• Channeling this dog’s approach to fall.

• Treasuring a rare good thing about this era we’re living in: We’ve reached peak miniatures. My personal favorite has gotta be this gallery, but there sure is some tough competition.

• Putting a jar of curry paste to excellent use. Two recipe notes: 1) This really did take 15 minutes, and I am grateful for its honesty. 2) I did mine up with frozen shrimp.

• Leaning into the campus novel during a very, eh, Bizarro World back-to-school season. Highly endorse this one, about a Black, queer biochem grad student finding his way.

• Doubling-down on postcard-sending with a Fotofolio subscription. The crew over there has been collaborating with very big deal photographers and artists since 1975!

claire’s things

• Cheering on anyone turning their time, money, and attention toward menopause. Related: Nike launching maternity is a big damn deal, even if it’s a late one.

• Slurping up the best soba noodles I’ve eaten outside of a restaurant...and doing so in the context of a super simple, hot-weather-friendly dish.

• Loving all things Lichen, especially their perfect coffee table that now resides in our home.

• Praying for rain because I simply CANNOT. (And by “cannot” I mean cannot handle the cuteness but also cannot justify the purchase unless we find ourselves in a state of constant monsoon.)

• Preferring “nosy” to “voyeuristic,” thankyouverymuch.

A Thing Or Two We’re Doing Besides Serving Up Aces

Listen, we always welcome good news, but these days, we’re desperate for it. So you should have seen our faces when MoMA Design Store’s team reached out to us about their pioneering Design Innovations for Women pop-up, which showcases the vibrators, breast pumps, menstrual cups, and bike seats that are changing lives and looking good while doing it. We got to talk to the duo who made this magic happen this week on the podcast—yes, we know, dream partnership.

erica’s things

• Fussing over a calamondin tree; waiting to taste my very first calamondin.

• Dreaming of patty melts, chili macs, and Midwest ‘tude in general.

• Contributing to the revival of a nineties hair accessory I can still get behind: the claw. (Zig-zag headband, I’d rather not.)

• Getting wet-eyed over the work-wife story of tennis doubles partners Althea Gibson and Angela Buxton.

• Demanding to know why every brand isn’t trying to lock down that Eileen Fisher collaboration. These denim pillows!!!

claire’s things

• Spending a couple of hours with Steve Bannon and thinking about it nonstop in the days that followed.

• Working to The Westerlies.

• Identifying an important ally to Team Body Wash.

• Deciding that month six of a pandemic is a fine time to start watching your favorite TV commercials on YouTube in order to find a little joy.

• Rejoicing that the very best baby wipes are back in stock. Don’t let the higher price tag fool you—you’ll use far fewer than the cheaper brands. It works out.

A Thing Or Two We’re Doing Besides Tracking Every Last Home-Design Trend

If you have a case of the Mondays, maybe this week’s podcast episode will brighten things up? We’re talking Kacey Musgraves merch and colorful home stuff because we’ll take our cheeriness anywhere we can get it, thanks. For a different sort of pick-me-up, may we present a couple of business advice columns we wrote for Adobe’s 99U? See, we’re trying to help however we can.

erica’s things

• Singing my praises of this field guide to any NYC birding newbies. It delivers with that predictably charming cover, too.

• Making mediocre peaches exceptional like THAT.

• Asking the room: Is MDF the trendy, post-plywood interior-design material?

• Telling Kourtney and Kylie to scooch. The Ogwumike women—basketball phenoms and all-around badasses—are the sisters we need. This! And this!

• Seconding the assertion that Old Navy makes a darn good mask.

claire’s things

• Finding any excuse to consume more fennel, and this easy, weeknight pasta (with plenty of anchovies to boot!) is a new go-to that’s even toddler-approved.

• Acquiring a tiny WFH desk (for my, um, colleague) that I’m already mentally repurposing as an entryway console once offices are a thing again.

• Listening to Cautious Clay on repeat after repeat. Tune in if you like Khalid, Frank Ocean, etc.; start with "Smoke", "Cold War."

• Drinking up a story that involves Back to the Future II, food poisoning, the rise of running in Indonesia, and a wildly successful Japanese sports drink (slash hangover cure) that mimics sweat. Yum.

• Lacking motivation to figure out my own meals, much less my son’s. Enter Yumi, which is a real delight to lean on in moments when I just can’t.

A Thing Or Two We’re Doing Besides Counting Our Chickens

We’ve scaled back on Zoom socializing—every hang starts to feel like a meeting??—which means that our closest companions these days are our streaming services. We have many thoughts on the TV shows and movies that made us cry and cringe, both, and we shared ‘em on the podcast. Also, if you have something to say, we welcome any and all reviews.

erica’s things

• Tracking the underground Pakistani mango market; counting down the days ‘til Mango Mania 2021.

• Dropping everything when Kaitlyn Greenidge’s writing lands in my inbox.

• De-squeaking door hinges with Vaseline.

• Practically BEAMING at the sight of these very sophisticated chickens in my feed. Oh, and speaking of feed…

• Having zero interest in surfing but sourcing an anti-chafe wonder for a husband who feels quite differently.

claire’s things

• Putting a painting by Henrietta Dubrey in my fantasy art collection. (She’s participating in the genius Artist Support Pledge, so maybe it’s more than a fantasy?)

• Answering “Article One, an amazing company out of Flint, Michigan” to the many questions I get about where my sunglasses are from.

• Feeling fairly confident I could recite Last Stop on Market Street from memory at this point—and with extreme pleasure, I might add.

• Learning more about the business side of the hip-hop industry via Trapital. (Related: This doc on the intersection of hip-hop and high fashion is worth a watch.)

• Falling hard for an (oil!) cleanser that rivals my beloved micellar water and, critically, also allows me to avoid splashing my face before bedtime.

A Thing Or Two We’re Doing Besides Booking It

If you’re fantasizing about being anywhere but wherever you are right now, put on your flowiest linen and tune in for our podcast catch-up with Jamie Beck, a ridiculously talented Provence-based photographer who’s truly managed to make the most of quarantine (or, le confinement, as they say in France). Also, if you have thoughts on this ep, our ambition one that seems to have struck a chord, or anything else, our DMs and VMs are open: @athingortwohq and 833-632-5463.

erica’s things

• Counting on this easy-to-tote shade during a summer that’s involved, er, even more outdoor time than anticipated.

• Highlighting passage after passage of Raven Leilani’s debut, which is a bit Little Fires Everywhere, a smidge Such a Fun Age, a dash Fleabag, and plenty something totally its own.

• Working from a seat that is definitely not intended for working and relying on this squisher to keep my butt and back in order. Listen, it’s not pretty, but neither are most of the full-blown desk chairs out there—and at least this can be shoved in a closet when not in use.

• Learning more from an oral history of Coyote Ugly than I would have ever guessed.

• Spicing up car trips with Fun Dip for veggies. That’s right: Fun Dip for veggies!!!

claire’s things

• Rediscovering a favorite tome of my youth: the amazing Macmillan Visual Dictionary.

• Tuning into the critically important and highly engaging reporting on our segregated school system—and the role that people like me play in it—happening in Nice White Parents.

• Supplementing my rudimentary graphic-design skills with the supremely useful Noun Project.

• Hiding everything from children’s toys to podcasting equipment in baskets and eyeing the colorful ones from Baba Tree for my next victims: dish towels. (And, wow, if I had a dog…)

• Rolling my eyes at a lot of non-alcoholic beverages that just make me want a glass of water...until Proteau entered my orbit. It’s really good—interesting flavor and not too sweet.

A Thing Or Two We’re Doing Besides Going Wild With Cherries

Three topics that have warranted recent podcast deep dives: quar fitness, the power of shea butter (with Naa-Sakle Akuete, the founder of Eu’Genia Shea!), and AMBITION. What can we say? We have range. Oh, also: If August is feeling like the right time to join Secret Menu, this month’s newbie subscription dollars will go to the National Birth Equity Collaborative, which is working hard to improve Black maternal and infant health outcomes.

erica’s things

• Acquiring 1) the best tortilla chips outside of a restaurant and 2) homemade tortillas in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn. Much salsa in my future!!

• Downloading an app that IDs the indigenous people whose land I’m on wherever I go.

• Adding this site to my baby-gift-shopping go-tos. No, it’s not normal for teethers to be so good-looking.

• Taking cherries for a savory joyride.

• Flagging a very useful list of book recs for anyone having trouble focusing (so, all of us?).

claire’s things

• Wanting to talk, talk, talk all about The Fight, a must-see doc about the ACLU that’s now streaming.

• Collecting methods of preserving tomatoes, and this one’s a keeper (other faves include this and this). Don’t toss the oil—put it on eggs, stir it into labne as a dip, mix it with an acid for salad dressing...you get it.

• Populating my podcast feed with any show that will make me feel like my weakness for celeb gossip has a pseudo-intellectual bent—welcome, Show Your Work.

• Shoveling massive hunks of a cheddar-ish blue cheese in my face and calling it WFH lunch. (Apparently it’s such a thing in the UK that they...made an Easter egg out of it?!)

• Offering up some worthy bonus content for anybody else who’s struggling to wait a full week between episodes of I May Destroy You.

A Thing Or Two We’re Doing Besides Sharing Our Secrets

A recent discovery: Two newsletters a week are even more fun than one. If you want in on the excitement that is Secret Menu, join us! Our dish-drying-rack picks, must-follow artists, and best-o’-the-internet reads are coming in hot.

erica’s things

• Getting my towels ‘n sheets in fighting shape with this stuff. Bonus points for adding vinegar to the fabric-softener dispenser.

• Rejoicing! My Official Condiment of Quarantine™ has been restocked. The product description claims “it’s not magic,” but I tend to disagree.

• Predicting the future (an especially daring move in 2020, I know): This is the book you’re going to be hearing about everywhere come fall.

• Falling hard and fast for a celeb-collab candle—one that, to be fair, feels very on-brand for me.

• Inviting the sheer joyfulness of this place into my own apartment.

claire’s things

• Granting my sous-chef his own perch.

• Reading an essay about writing that turned out to echo my general philosophy around developing a running practice.

• Proclaiming excellence in cartography: an NYC soft-serve map!!

• Rooting on every single person in Love on the Spectrum and thanking them all for a) teaching me things I probably should have already known about autism and b) giving me a much-needed moment of goodness in my life right now.

• Wondering aloud where Pauli Murray’s biopic is.

A Thing Or Two We’re Doing Besides Color-Scheming

We have thoughts on gas stoves and single-blade razors. We have feelings about The Baby-Sitters Club and dating. And you can hear them all on our podcast—where, by the way, we’re offering free ads to Black-owned businesses. Hit us up at podcast@athingortwohq.com to get in on that!

erica’s things

• Caring more deeply about the NBA’s (new) barbers than the NBA itself. OOPS.

• Gasping at a collab I didn’t know the world needed: Flik Flak x Hodinkee.

• Basking in the cautious optimism, weirdness, and love of this book, which set the tone for my Saturday morning.

• Leaning hard on sun hats, including this newb and this old favorite.

• Making late-night caramel sauce for ice cream in a real shrug-emoji move that I don’t regret for a second.

claire’s things

• Texting every designer I know upon the discovery of a a wondrous, web-based version of The Dictionary of Color Combinations, an A+ resource that I’d only known (and loved) in book form.

• Dousing myself in a DEET-free bug spray that really (actually!!) does the trick.

• Remembering all of the angst, confusion, and longing of the high- school years, filtered through the lens of a non-binary Black teen in Felix Ever After.

• Gobbling up a frozen, GF pizza that is way better than either of those adjectives would imply. (Since you’re obviously going to ask: Yes, it’s on par with Domino’s GF.)

• Appreciating this explanation of the Gen Z aesthetic that is making me feel a little less out of touch.

A Thing Or Two We’re Doing Besides Coveting Retainers

If you’ve ever wanted MORE where this email came from, can we introduce you to Secret Menu, our shiny new hub for members-only content? For $4 a month, you’ll get a bonus newsletter every week. There will be shopping deep-dives. There will be reading roundups. There will be condiments. We’ll be donating all July subscription fees to Black Art Futures Fund, and the first Secret Menu installment will hit inboxes on Thursday. Want in?

erica’s things

• Battling constant hand dryness with this silkiness, which comes in a charming little cube that’s happy on a desk, a nightstand, a kitchen counter…

• Taking in some extremely undistanced photographs and telling my nerves not to get worked up about it.

• Donating to Heart of Dinner, which is helping to feed the elderly communities of NYC’s Chinatowns (and has a story worth digging into!).

• Trying—unsuccessfully—to get Maris Kreizman’s essay on ambition out of my head.

• Buying up all the tinned fish from a spot that stocks the good (Portuguese) stuff. Flagging some of it for Sam Irby’s delightful niçoise-uation.

claire’s things

• Recommitting to a regular sketching habit with the help of weekly prompts from @stillherestilllife.

• Snacking on a plantain chip that a) is perfectly seasoned and b) does not suffer the same textural challenges as many of its kin.

• Enthusiastically recommending the wonderful people at Clean Laundry to anybody looking to whip up a quick and beautiful website. They are, after all, responsible for this masterpiece.

• Getting a whooole lot outta this podcast interview with the Pyer Moss designer Kerby Jean-Raymond.

• Consoling teenage me that nobody thought to make orthodontics cool until Two Front came along. Get a load of the Chen Chen and Kai Williams–designed case and the trendy little carrying pouch.

A Thing Or Two We’re Doing Besides Envying Our Plants’ Accommodations

As you may have gathered, we love friendship. We particularly love especially intense friendships (that might have their own LLCs), and when navigating our own, we look straight to Ann Friedman and Aminatou Sow for guidance. Lucky for all of us, the Call Your Girlfriend co-hosts wrote a whole glorious book, Big Friendship, on claiming, nurturing, and repairing these core relationships—that aren’t treated half as seriously as they deserve to be!—and we got to interview them about it and their own bond on our podcast.

erica’s things

• Getting in an after-work (or weekend or just better) mood with the jams of Poolside.fm.

• Feeling downright glowy after dabbing on this do-it-all tinted SPF serum. It requires exactly as much effort as I’m willing to put into my WFH face.

• Spotting gear that’s on-brand for both LeBron and me as two Midwest kids.

• Gobbling up these love letters to NYC restaurants like I do Humans of New York posts.

• Treating a zygocactus to a new, two-story home. FANCY.

claire’s things

• Eating half of this parmy, oniony cauliflower recipe straight from the sheet pan.

• Burying myself in a romcom plot that’s got a male lead who loves romance novels and rugby and a female one who's committed exclusively to academia and casual sex.

• Handing it to Simon Miller: They found the perfect rib knit material and built a dang great collection around it. Lookit these bike shorts! So good.

• Spying some eye-popping pasta.

• Deep-diving into the swim-centric work of the artist Calida Garcia Rawles, whose talents are mind-blowing and moving and who I’d be rooting for even if she weren’t from my hometown.