Hey! Welcome back to Claire From Online, by me, Claire (from online). It is the Saturday after Thanksgiving, which is decidedly very Sunday-feeling, ESPECIALLY if you haven’t been to work in over a week now. As my friend Caitlyn excitedly put it, THIS is the in-between day we’ve been longing for in our weekends. And I love that. She’s right. You know the meme: one day for play, one day for rest, one day for… laundry?
I fear my week of rest and relaxation has put me solidly into Couch Gremlin mode. I must confront my reality in the morning and tend to my Tasks. In the meantime, NEWSLETTER. The energy of which will be giving very much grab bag. Extra content for Black Friday. The ball pit of the Discovery Zone in the 90s. I am sipping on my 200th ginger ale of the year (I have no idea actually, but that sounds right) thinking about my Word of the Year for 2024 and also how I should probably cool it with the ginger ale.
QUICK DENVER RECAP
Redeemer Pizza - Get the garlic knots.
Tokyo Premium Bakery - CUSTARD DONUT ALERT!!!
Call Your Mother - the DC girlies in my life could not stop yapping about it, so of course I had to
This was my third time in Denver, and I feel like I’ve got the neighborhoods down. I’ve been to every Tattered Cover shop. I get a random rec and can be like, “oh yeah, it was good when we went there last time.” Honestly, the memories this time ‘round were all about fajita night at my friends’ house with deep chats at the dining room table and then staying up too late to finish Hijackers. Eating meatloaf and mashed potatoes with my cousins and their kids back from college (I needed family time!!!). Soaking up the sun at a darling walk-up coffee shop with my childhood pals + grad school bestie AT THE SAME TIME. I had an out-of-body experience watching bands from my area that I’ve known and supported since the beginning absolutely kill it on tour (of course, this has been their reality for years, but I am catching up… bought the sick tote bag, “hey! how y’all doin?”-ed some old pals during set break, teared up watching strangers sing their words back to them). On Saturday, my friend, my boyfriend’s sister and I went to the mall and had such a little suburban afternoon. We window shopped at Freeple and Anthro (“oh yeah! I got this in another color in my nuuly once”), and I got a limited edition half-zip oversized scuba from Lululemon and you cannot tell me aaaaaanything at this present moment.
WORD OF THE YEAR
WE’RE WORKSHOPPING, HERE!! I feel like purpose is speaking to me a lot. It’s not quite December yet, so I have time.
BLACK FRIDAY THOUGHTS & FEELS
Everyone has been SAYING THIS but where are the actual SALES? You can not expect me to get up and do a little dancey dance for 15% off and free shipping!!!!! To quote my best friend Emily, WHO AREEEEEE YOU????
(This has been keeping me company while I write.)
Things I put in the cart or at least thought about for a second:
Baccarat Rouge 540 dupe from ALT (impulsive, I let day-of marketing get me) (my friend told me Dossier is better anyway, so maybe)
East Fork Pottery - set of four mugs in Morel intended for gifts (sold out, didn’t want to settle for another color… may ‘settle’… other colors are FINE they’re just not MOREL, you know?)
Scandinavian-vibes wooden tree topper from Schoolhouse Electric1
Just a big-a$$ Abercrombie order
Elwood shirts 3-pack (these look so comfy though)
SCENTSY BARS!!!! HAHAH THE MLM OF IT ALL (my cousin texted me ‘rum pum plum…..’ and I just kNEW she was about to go off about her new Scentsy bar. Sure enough…)
A book at our local bookstore (nothing was speaking to me, though I will definitely go back for our upcoming book club Christmas book exchange)
Total spent on Friday, minus warm drinks at a local coffee shop with a friend: $0
Total spent on Saturday: $80 on the got dang tree topper (she was speaking to us) (it’s Schoolhouse, leave me be) and another redacted gift I can’t speak about
*I elected to omit links from this section lol
THE GOOSE PAJAMAS
I saw the viral video before it really took off (got tagged in it immediately on Tiktok). I was in a hotel room in Salina, Kansas (writing a newsletter, lol). It was like, 8:30pm and I got OUT OF BED to go to the Kohl’s literally next door to the hotel. No luck, but I couldn’t and didn’t want to say anything, as my special mission was really centered around getting a pair for my cousin (HollyFromOffline, aka miss rum rum plum, aka has a ceramic porch goose that she dresses in holiday outfits… real ones know). While she really doesn’t use social media much, she’s been dabbling in YouTube shorts and the occasional Instagram scroll, so I knew time was of the essence. The fashion-geestas were coming for her algorithm. The long pants version were sold out online. Fast forward a few days… Holly finds the video (honk), and I get a message from her mom (my aunt), asking what size pajamas I am these days. Incredible, amazing, no notes. Holiday picture coming soon. I don’t have a sister, but I do have a Holly… and an Auntie P who supports our porch goose special interest2.
THANKSGIVING BREAK JOURNALING CONTENT
COMMON PLANNER CHATTY JOURNAL WITH ME | LEUCHTTURM VS. HOBONICHI | PICKING A JOURNAL/PLANNER TIKTOK | THANKSGIVING WEEK THROUGHOUT THE YEARS
WHAT AM I WORTH? (a little love letter to my paid subbies :’-))
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