I don’t believe in coincidences. Call me wacky if you want, but I find that life is less about happenstance and more about everything happening for a reason.
It’s like my friend Aliza says – TANC – there are no coincidences. This philosophy helps me make sense of the world and the things I can’t otherwise explain.
I also believe (if I haven’t yet lost you) that sometimes, I’m a little bit psychic. Not like I can see the future, but more like — I’ll have a feeling about something — and then that thing comes to be.
This superpower does not always feel like a gift for a person with a tendency to catastrophize, so I work diligently to stop myself from thinking that the other shoe is always about to drop, and instead try to focus my attention on all the positive things that could happen.
So, when they do, it feels a little bit like magic.
Take, for example, the beautiful, sunny day I spent sitting outside with a few friends this week. We were talking about our friend and former co-worker Julee, who we hadn’t seen her in a long time. My friend Chanel and I both remarked on how much we missed, and would love to see her.
I could not have uttered her name more than 30 seconds before, suddenly, there she was, walking down the street, directly toward us. To quote Alex Edelman in his special, Just For Us (watch it on MAX if you haven’t!) CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?
This week’s first Friday Night Like is obviously a) my extremely powerful mind, but also b) the gorgeous weather that brought us all out of our houses on Sunday, c) the chance to reconnect with old friends, and d) and the power of manifestation.
Which brings me to the next magical “like” on this Friday night: cherry blossoms, which are currently approaching peak bloom and magnificence in New York.
I am constantly in awe of nature (how does cabbage GROW LIKE THAT?) but there is just something about a city being blanketed in outrageously beautiful, joy-inducing pink that really makes me believe there is a god — and that god is nature.
In different but equally magical news, I also recently discovered a product that works some kind of hocus pocus on my dark under eye circles — a product that I believe I conjured into my life. I’ll explain.
Without sounding too much like a 35-year-old straight out of Central Casting, I sort of starting spiraling out over dark circles and under eye bags when I, well, turned 35. Since then, I’ve spent… not a small amount of time researching affordable remedies.
For example, I’ve been diligently using The Ordinary’s caffeine de-puffing eye serum ($9.20) for months, and have definitely noticed an impact.
But then, while researching the Sephora Reddit forum for sale items I can’t afford but kind of need, I kept coming across rave reviews of E.L.F.’s $4 Camo Color Corrector.
Intrigued, I stopped into a Walgreens on my way to pilates this week.
Thanks to TikTok, the makeup aisle of many a NYC drug store is a sad state of affairs. This one in particular proved to be particularly abysmal, with rows of entirely empty shelves, save for a few rogue Sally Hansen nail polishes scattered about. You know the ones.
But then, right smack dab in the middle of the aisle, there it was, waiting for me: a lone E.L.F. color corrector. In my shade.
Magic!
I’ve used it a few times now and I can say with full confidence that it deserves a spot on the list of Friday Night Likes, both because of the product’s effectiveness and because of the kismet experience I had while procuring it.
I admit, I am not all too familiar with the efficacy of pricier color correctors. And I have no idea if there might be one that works better than this one. But I must say, I’m pretty impressed with this little $4 tube. See for yourself:
Left: no color corrector, Right: color corrector + a drop of Kosas concealer. Both: weird -ass pout.
Finally, I’m sharing something I don’t like about a magical place I do like: The library.
The library has become a sanctuary for me over the past few years, and checking out books has done a bang up job at satisfying my need to make purchases. I’m even writing this newsletter in one as we speak.
After incurring painful mid-year budget cuts that, among other things, forced the libraries to cease operating seven days per week, the Brooklyn Public Library is now facing even more cuts. According to the library, these cuts will result in fewer books, fewer resources and even fewer open days.
It takes less than five minutes to share your info on this letter, and they will have it sent to our city leaders. Let’s work together to keep the magic alive.
I like you and I love you. Happy Friday.
Love,
Jamie AF
As always, I am F(&E)Y#1F
xoxo 😘