You Are So Invited to My [Dinner Party]
Floor Time
/flôr tīm/
noun
the 15-60 minute time period spent laying on the floor in the middle of the work day, typically as a relief from the soul-sucking reality of corporate America.
I am fully in my autumn era. The weather patterns are fully supporting my goals because the moment we hit the autumn solstice, the weather in New York dropped below 70 and has comfortably stayed here for the entire past week. In commemorating the arrival of the best season of the year, I have:
Swapped my closets out—reminding myself of the kick-ass Rowing Blazers sheep sweater I bought at the end of winter and only got a few wears out of. You’ll see it a lot this fall / winter.
Got Klaus a new fall fit. It looks like something my grandma would wear / already owns and I’m obsessed with it.
Bought Halloween candy. Because I’m an adult and I can.
Decorated my apartment with aaaaall the gourds. You can see my “mantel” in the back here during our first “Coraline” viewing of the year.
Had my first fall watch of “When Harry Met Sally.”
Lit my Concrete After Lightning candle I’ve been saving since last winter.
Made a PSL. It was actually…kinda good??
Most importantly, successfully hosted a fall dinner party for me and seven friends.
I mentioned it in a previous Floor Time but I’ve only entered the cooking scene in the past few years or so (really because of Covid—a tiny silver lining from lockdown). My mom is an incredible cook but also a very particular one aka would not let us help her with food prep whenever we hosted guests (only table setting, cleaning, etc.). So truly I just never got into it until I lived on my own, and I endured many years of being an eat-to-survive chef before Covid hit and the desire to play and experiment with new recipes and cooking techniques grew.
Hosting a dinner party can be stressful, sure, but it also kinda satisfies every part of my manic, type-A brain (as my friend Nadya called out at dinner). I had the menu sorted a week before, calendar-blocked what time I had to prep everything so it would be done by the time guests arrived, and hand-painted the tablecloth and wrote out menus the day before.1 I also had to make a plate run because I only own six plates but we were a party of eight 😂 #apartmentliving
I ended up curating a menu I was really proud of, and trying almost entirely new recipes—some of which I think can be improved for the future (I am who I am, read: a tough critic always, particularly when it comes to food). But perhaps the true testament of a successful dinner party is the hot goss we share across dinner tables with friends along the way.
In all seriousness, hosting a dinner party somehow feels like this adulting right of passage that I am proud to have the skills / desire to do. And I’m even more grateful for the opportunity to bring people together—in this case a group of people I didn’t see a lot this summer due to travel and clashing schedules. So as the weather cools and we enter our agoraphobic cozy era, I encourage you to maybe do something like this and delight in the wonderful conversations that come up because of it. No need to even cook—Trader Joe’s has all you want and I shared everything seasonal that is worth trying in this fall Floor Time from 2022.
Something I Thought of in the Shower
Taylor Swift literally never does anything accidentally—the fact that she’s being so out and open and cute and flirty with Travis Kelce (did you hear he’s on the map now?) is totally intentional. But what of her reasoning? Could it perhaps be the fact that a certain friend and ex-wife of her ex-boyfriend is going through a divorce and no one has even talked about that since the Chiefs game because we’re all instead having discourse on what it means for her to date an American for the first time in ~a decade AND for it to be a jock and for her to do it so publicly? She wasn’t lying with this at all.
Something Pretty
Jeff Goldblum.
Something To Laugh About
Here are this week’s gems:
Speaking of PSLs. How did it come to this.
Wait I had no idea this was a universal Trader Joe’s experience. Why are they all like this?!
Throne of Glass is going great guys, really. I am Kindle-ing it and I now fear for my life even more than before because of this.
Ok sorry if this offends you (and you’ll probably know who you are) but this is so true—pls I beg you stop requesting me for $4.37!!!
Something for Clarice
Hey! This newsletter is free and I intend to keep it that way. That said, if you love it and want to show your appreciation, buy me a coffee :)
By the way…I’m reading this.
I have chosen to just keep on keeping on and dive straight into Queen of Shadows (Throne of Glass #4). I will say it has only taken two days to read 20% of the book (thanks, Kindle tracker) and already feels like the pacing is a lot faster so I’m hoping we don’t have a repeat of Heir of Fire where it took me the better part of the year to get past this one slow bit. I also have two 16-hour flights to dedicate to reading so I like my chances.
And I’m watching this.
New section alert! Figure I would include this for those who are curious. I’m almost finished with the newest and final season of “Sex Education.” It’s wonderful as usual but the tone is definitely more grim than seasons past. All I have to say is, Eric remains my favorite character and I cannot WAIT for him to be The Doctor.
Also! Last night, cuddled with Klaus, drinking my genmaicha tea, I put on the new Wes Anderson film, “The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar” based on the Roald Dahl book by the same name. It was hands down the most stupendous thing he’s made since “Grand Budapest Hotel,” an ode to old Wes and back to basics with what he does best. It’s only 40 minutes long so watch this ASAP! During your lunch break, perhaps!!
That’s it for me for the next couple weeks! I am headed to Korea on Wednesday and I plan to dissociate into my tteokbokki and not be online at all during that time. We’ll have a little Floor Time break and I’ll be back on the twentieth. If you have recs for Seoul or Jeju Island, please send them my way, I can’t wait!!
Til’ next time, fellow diners. Your friend,
Clarice
If you didn’t know, now you know—I am a fun little brand of crazy that goes to therapy so it’s not like clinical but it is a way of life. Idk iykyk.