Newslettering Vol. 50: Two hair-having people
In which I gab about The Traitors on Peacock, my favorite Glossier product for winter and the new Trader Joe's snack I'm obsessed with
Hi Friends!
Happy Friday.
I popped into the South Philly TJ Maxx yesterday. Hold your applause.
Walking into a TJ Maxx is a spiritual experience for me. I love everything about the store: the harsh overhead fluorescent lighting, the rows of shelves lined with hand soaps and 64oz. bottles of lotion, the whimsical seasonal mug displays. This location already had Easter-themed pillows out for sale –– which seems a little premature to me –– but that’s the way TJ Maxx rolls! It doesn’t wait for you to be emotionally ready for a new holiday season. It sets its own calendar, baby. TJ Maxx bows down to no one.
As I was scanning the hair product section, I noticed there were two JVN conditioners on the shelf. JVN, the company from Queer Eye’s Jonathan Van Ness, has some good buzz around it. The bottle was marked $12.99, which isn’t bad for a full-size bottle of a name brand conditioner. It retails for $21 on Sephora so we can all agree that this was a good-ish deal.
A tall blonde lady noticed me eyeing the bottle of conditioner. She picked one up too, turned to me and said, “This conditioner is the bomb.”
“Yeah, I’ve heard good things about the brand,” I replied.
“Dude, it’s all true,” she said. “You should definitely pick one up. Believe me, you won’t regret it.”
So I picked the bottle up, and, wordlessly, we cheers-ed each other with our conditioner bottles, tapping them together and nodding. Two strangers, two TJ Maxx shoppers at 1:30pm on a Thursday, two hair-having people, enjoying a small electric moment of spontaneous conditioner-focused friendship.
The magic moment was created because I took the woman’s bid to try the conditioner. Friends love it when you take their bid (listen to this podcast, watch this TV show) because you are telling them I value your opinion. You’re saying I’m open to seeing the world through your eyes. Honestly, I didn’t even need conditioner, but I was so tickled at the quick camaraderie we developed that I just went with it.
Speaking of friendships, I want to hear from YOU about YOUR friendships. What’s working? What do you wish you could change? I created a short-ish survey so I can better understand your friendships. If you write something especially compelling, I may reach out to you to interview you for my book. The survey should take about 5-10 minutes to fill out. Click the link below:
**Anna’s 2023 Friendship Survey**
If you hate surveys, totally feel free to ignore this. If you’ve already filled this out, no need to do it again. Do something else with your day. If it were me, I’d eat a cookie and make a mug of peppermint tea. That’s just me.
Things I’m digging:
The Traitors (Peacock) - There is no reason this show should be as entertaining as it was. It has a handful of reality stars and a handful of normal people run around a Scottish castle trying to figure out who’s a traitor and who’s a faithful. There’s money involved. And there’s plot twists. The show was a good time. I binged all ten episodes in three days.
Glossier After Baume moisture recovery cream ($28) - My dry-ass skin loves this shit. It’s thick as buttercream, has no fragrance and makes my face feel as soft as a kitten’s ear. A little goes a long way so a jar should last a few months. Make sure to pat a nourishing face oil on top to seal the rich moisture in.
Maple Pancake Puffs Corn and Rice Snacks (Trader Joe’s) - These are a new item I picked up over the weekend. These taste like if Pirate’s Booty passed out on the floor of an IHOP. I’m sort of into it! Embrace the chaos. Don’t ask too many questions about how this snack came about. In fact, I prefer to not know. Life is moving fast enough. There’s Easter decorations up at TJ Maxx for crying out loud! In *checks watch* JANUARY!
Things that make me scrunch my nose up in disgust:
Scrolling through social media on my phone: I’m 100% over scrolling. Social media used to feel like a slot machine as in you never know what exciting information you’ll stumble on next. Maybe it will be a celebrity death announcement. Or a trailer for the new season of Vanderpump Rules. Who knows? Keep scrolling to find out.
Just the physical act of moving my thumb up and down my phone gives me the icks. Like, ew. How boring, right? Scrolling, as a gesture, is not crazy, sexy or cool which is my preferred style of gestures.
Lately, I’m living a post-scroll existence. All I want to see are clips of Judge Judy on YouTube. I watch her yell at litigants on my iPad as I get ready in the morning and as I get ready for bed at night. Judge Judith Susan Sheindlin brings me so much joy. No scrolling required!
Lastly, here’s a roundup of my favorite newsletters:
Lindy West’s Butt News - “I’m writer Lindy West and Butt News is my e-mail newsletter and movie club. We are going to talk butts and watch movies!”
Amber Katz’s Things I Buy As A Civilian - “Beauty and fashion finds I buy with my own American dollars after my swaggy blogger and influencer life.”
Nina’s Dear Nina: Conversations About Friendship - “Honest conversations about the ups and downs of friendship.”
Courtney Maum’s Before and After the Book Deal (free and paid versions) - “A safe, restorative place where you can get real talk, actionable writing and publishing tips.”
Leigh Stein’s Attention Economy - “A newsletter every Sunday about writing, the book publishing industry, and what's going on online.”
R. Eric Thomas’s newsletter. - “A humor newsletter from R. Eric Thomas!”
Give any of these people a follow. They’re doing incredible things on the regular.
Thanks, as always, for reading.
Your buddy,
Anna Goldfarb
Anna@ModernFriendship.org
Also, I’m intrigued by the JVN conditioner and must try it immed.
Thank you, as always, for your support, Anna! 💖