| I’ve spent the last five months away from New York, where I’ve lived for exactly 14 years.
Before New York, I was in London, which I found to be too hard. New York is hard for a recent college graduate, but I found London to be harder.
Not only did I think London was too expensive, but also unfriendly and provincial. But globalization has made lots of cities feel more open and familiar. That’s one of the big reasons why, when I was given with the opportunity earlier this year to live and work in Paris for a few months, I said yes. I like new experiences, but I also like what I like. Knowing that I could drink single-origin espresso and take HIIT classes and maintain my routine across an ocean comforted me. These are superficial things, but they're also healthy coping mechanisms.
I found everything I “needed” in Paris; sometimes better versions. What surprised me — in a good way — was how certain trends, certain ways of being, remain specific to that place despite the world's flattening in recent years. In Paris, men don’t wear black or grey suits: navy only. Veja sneakers may be popular in New York and Los Angeles, but there, they are ubiquitous. It’s hard to find a plate of food that doesn’t have some sort of cream-based foam. There is no sugar-free protein powder at the health food store. Paris may have a brunch restaurant inspired by Echo Park in Los Angeles, but finding a spotless avocado is next to impossible. (And the crispy rice bowl can't compare to Sqirl's.)
 So instead of chasing the unattainable, I lived all the Paris cliches: I stopped shopping on Amazon! I slept without air conditioning in 100-degree heat! I bought things before they went on sale! I ate a lot of heritage-wheat bread. I didn’t suffer.
I had similar experiences traveling around Europe, mostly to places I've been before. On short trips to Milan, I was amazed by the incredible difference in the way people dressed — still with so much color: red, purple, green, together — just an hour flight away. (I'd seen it many times before, but it struck me harder having been away from the US for a few months.) And in London, which I’ve travelled to frequently in the years since leaving, I found myself more impressed than ever by the cooking (because, yes, it is much better than it used to be).
These are not original observations. But my point is, sure, Instagram and connectivity and globalization, etc. etc. has led to homogenization. People — not just me — like what they like, and now it’s just easier for them to access what they like. What’s more interesting to me is what remains distinct to certain places, and to think about why.
(PS: The photo is of me watching Wine Country in our apartment in the 11th arrondissement. Glad for Netflix!)
Some of What I've Written in 2019 so Far, in Reverse Chronological Order: Some of What I've Read and Listened to so Far in 2019: - The Underrated Pleasures of Eating Dinner Early (The New Yorker)
- How Amazon Blew it with the Kindle (The New Consumer)
- Women Did Everything Right. Then Work Got ‘Greedy.’ (NY Times)
- The Ringer pods, but especially this one, this one and all of this one. (The Ringer Podcast Network)
- Dean & DeLuca, Barneys and the Fate of Bohemian Consumerism (NY Times)
- Inside H&M's $4 Billion Inventory Challenge (BoF)
- The Best Abortion Ever (The Cut)
- Can Emmanuel Macron Stem the Populist Tide? (The New Yorker)
- She was the “queen of the mommy bloggers.” Then her life fell apart. (Vox)
- Bath & Body Works' Enduring Formula for Success (BoF)
- The Botox Wars Have Begun, and Beauty Editors Are in the Crossfire (BoF)
- This Week in Scams (Ruthie Baron, newsletter)
- Disaster Baking (Mattie Kahn, newsletter)
- Ask Chris Black: What Are Your Top 5 Amazon Fashion Staples? (Strategist)
- Tens of things from Ten Things. (Of a Kind, newsletter)
- Ralph Rucci: The Rise, and Fall and Rise Again of an American Couturier (Town & Country)
- In the Now (New Yorker, 2007)
- Gen Z’s “It” Girl Is a Boy (The Cut)
- Taffy (Amazon)
- Jack Dorsey Is Gwyneth Paltrow for Silicon Valley (NY Times)
- Harling Ross' Stories (Instagram)
- The Battle fo Grace Church (The Cut)
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