Full Moon, Full Fridge, and Frivolities with Chelsea Francis

Plus a little astrology, whoops!

Hello, hello. Welcome back to Creamline, where Taylore and Christine write about the frivolous things that keep their worlds spinning amidst the chaos.

Have y’all seen the memes about how we tried the 2-week trial period of 2025 and we’d now like to return or exchange it? Yeah.

Along with the other horrors, the fires in LA are still raging. There are countless ways to help if you’re so inclined, but this Google spreadsheet is a good place to start. 5pm Lucky on Substack also compiled a list of directly vetted GoFundMes that are at less than 20% of their goal.

In the meantime, we who are not in literally burning cities are trying to continue to show up in the world in the ways we can. That includes getting you this edition of Creamline, featuring a frivolities section from Chelsea Francis, sunshine personified, creator of Pretend It’s a Newsletter, and longtime friend of Creamline.

photo by Carly Butler of Two Way Mirror

Let’s dive in.

Part I: Laying the Foundation

TG: January hasn’t always felt like the most intuitive time for me to do a hard reset. Though it’s been almost a decade since I’ve been in the classroom, my brain still sees September as the real catalyst for change. But in January 2025 has felt monumentally different: now that I’m freelancing full-time, I’ve never felt more motivated to get organized and revamp my routines at a foundational level.

That’s an easy task on the beauty front. I purged all my old skin-care and makeup. I’m swapping out my go-to foundations and concealers in favor of formulas my 30s skin plays well with—Charlotte Tilbury Beautiful Skin Liquid Foundation, MAC Studio Radiance Foundation and HausLabs’ Depuffing Concealer are in the rotation—and I’m working in more and more makeup that I’ve previously only used on-occasion. Right now, that means gold shimmer on the eyes and lips, chocolate pencil liner, and lipsticks ranging from ruddy brown to so-mauve-it’s-nearly-gray.

In the kitchen, though, it’s taking more tinkering. Despite me loving something hot and caffeinated in the morning, my A.M. routine is so inconsistent that I end up forgetting to use up the matcha or test out my new frother. And I love the idea of full-on meal prepping for the week, because I’m trying to be generally healthier this year. But half the time, the juice just isn’t worth the squeeze. Stephen and I have opposite schedules and no microwave, and our fridge is not that spacious. That means that stacking every shelf with containers can end up creating more hassle and, if neither of us are around to eat from them, more wasted food. As a compromise between zero prep and a stockpile of good-to-go meals, I’ve taken to prepping condiments, dips, and dressing throughout the week that can elevate a quick lunchtime sando or be the finishing touch on a weeknight dinner. Last week, three examples ended up setting the tone for most of my meals.

Hot & Sweet Pepper Spread

My kitchen lighting sucks, what can I say?

The inspiration for this one was largely functional; I had to use up the half-pint of Dellapietras sweet peppers in oil leftover in my fridge. I added the peppers and their oil to a blender with a big glug of ACV, a spoonful of SOS Chefs’ harissa paste, a clove of garlic, a drizzle of honey, and a little water and salt. Over the next few days, I spooned it atop soft-boiled eggs and cottage cheese, a quick dinner of baked fingerlings and yogurt, and some leftover focaccia with mortadella.

Black Sesame Paste

The paste-to-dressing pipeline.

During a recent trip to Santa Fe, I went crazy for Izanami’s black sesame soba salad, and I needed something to scratch the itch. I briefly toasted a cup of black sesame seeds on the stove, then blended them with a spoonful of roasted sesame oil at a time until I reached the consistency I was looking for. (I wanted this paste on the drier side so I could adjust and work it into as many meals as possible.) I also added a good drizzle of honey to balance out the bitterness without going too sweet. That night, I made a dressing with the paste, some soy sauce, rice vinegar, mirin, scallions, and fresh ginger. It was perfect with cold soba noodles and miso cod, but I reserved some to use in a latte, cocktails, and even some oatmeal this week.

The Mustard Jar Dressing

This is by no means innovative, but it is my house dressing. When my dijon is on its last legs—let’s say there’s a tablespoon left—I’ll simply add EVOO, balsamic, honey, salt and pepper, S&P, a little water, and minced shallots (if I have them) straight to the jar, close the lid, and shake to emulsify. That usually ends up being my salad dressing until the jar is tapped.

Part II: A Full Moon with Christine

CC: Despite its wild popularity (or maybe because of it), I always feel bashful admitting that I love astrology. I’m not terribly fond of pop astrology and the way it tries to turn a single placement—the sun sign—into a personality quiz but digging even a little deeper is wildly satisfying.

We just spent a few days with the moon in the sign of Cancer. Because the sun is in the sign of Capricorn, directly opposite Cancer, that also meant it was a full moon.

A few of the themes associated with Cancer are the moon itself, emotions, the tides of the ocean, home, and nurturing. The nurturing piece is often simplified as “the mother” (because having soft squishy boobs = a soft squishy nurturing heart), but it’s also the idea of ancestry, of the literal and figurative womb that we grew in.

Each zodiac sign feeds into the next—we don’t get the warmth, confidence and self-expression of the next sign of Leo without the incubation of the Cancer space. A full moon in Cancer invites us to reflect on the ways we have become ourselves by way of our literal and figurative ancestry.

My mom, a Cancer sun herself, has nourished me in countless ways. Especially with the recent news of Mark Zuckerberg claiming we need “more masculine energy” in our collective spaces, I’ve also been thinking of the men that have nourished me. I’m terribly lucky in that my dad has always been as emotionally present with us as my mom. Whether it was weekly daddy-daughter dates to Borders so I was well-stocked in books as a child or constantly forwarding me the NYT Cooking newsletter as an adult, he’s always shown up in my life with an abundance of love and warmth.

In fact, I grew up with an abundance of nourishing male family members. Even the most overtly cranky of my grandfathers sent me dozens of lovely letters, including one during my preteen years after hearing me compare myself to my cousins (I thought they were beautiful and I was hideous). It was short, but said that I’m special, on the earth for a unique purpose, and shouldn’t compare myself to others. It closed with “I love you!”

I’ve been delving into old family records, most recently on the topic of my paternal great-great grandfather, another Cancerian born on my mom’s birthday in 1866. His children wrote about him stopping the carriage on a family trip so they could gather wildflowers. He was always carried lemon drops and peppermints in his pocket for when they needed a treat. One night, his wife had one of the daughters stay up to mop the floors after everyone else had gone to bed. He stayed up with her and braided her hair after she was done.

We rightfully talk a lot about toxic masculinity these days. Given that we live in a patriarchy, that type of critique is important. But one thing I’m realizing is that, if we want to change the world for the better, we need to be talking more about the specifics of that better world. While none of the men I’ve mentioned are or were perfect, they each reflect the kindness and gentleness that mark healthy masculinity.

Though I’m certain that’s not what Zuck was referencing, that type of masculinity I’m all for having more of.

Part III: Frivolities with Chelsea Francis

Chelsea Francis is a photographer, creative director, and writer who is based in Nashville. She’s soft, ambitiously curious, and has never met a stranger. She writes a silly and heartfelt newsletter about pop culture, what she’s reading, and what she’s mulling over called Pretend it’s a Newsletter that publishes bi-weekly.

The Luxurious: I’ve decided that this is the year I combat winter skin and in doing so I have been wild on the search for a perfect moisturizer. Thanks to 2022 TikTok I remembered Kate McCleod’s Body Stones. Your body temperature melts these lotion bars to the perfect consistency, and it is nourishing without being oily or greasy. I love it so much and it's a lotion I actually remember to use. Here’s a quick link.

The Laudable: As a daily, rabid reader I find myself constantly in search of the next book I can shout from the rooftops about. I just finished Lisa Marie Presley’s memoir, published posthumously with the help of her daughter Riley Keough and wow. From Here to The Great Unknown is exactly the kind of thing you hope to read when you pick up a memoir. It’s tender, heartfelt, illuminating, and insightful. I feel so grateful to have read it.

The Lustworthy: There’s no easy way to say this but I saw Babygirl last week and if you’re even remotely Babygirl curious, you should book a ticket as soon as possible. I didn’t anticipate how much I loved it or how much depth I found in this sexy power struggle of a film starring Nicole Kidman, Harris Dickinson and Antonio Banderas.

The Livesaver: One of the biggest frivolities in my life lately has been springing for grocery delivery. In the winter I don’t want to leave my house. I want to be at home, and when it comes to meals I want to be cooking and eating at home. The thing that keeps me from reaching for the convenience of a third party food delivery service is getting our groceries delivered weekly. Our grocery store here in Nashville actually offers it, and it’s not through a third party service, which means we pay a flat fee (usually $6.95) and get it delivered the next day. It’s truly the best. This also gives me time to do more of the things I want to be doing in the winter (knitting hats on my knitting machine and elaborately decorating my house with paper chains and stars like I’m the fifth sister from Little Women).

The Last Thing I Needed To Buy (But Bought Anyway): Earlier this week I sat down with every good intention in the world to begin journaling about the books I’ve read so far this year. I cozied up with a decaf earl grey tea (splash of milk, sweetened with honey) and I took out a journal I’d used on and off for the last year and got to work. I’d bought a small photo printer that prints whatever you need it to on zinc paper and I was thrilled. I made fast work of it, logged the 7 books I’d read and then realized I had accidentally committed this journal to being my book journal for the year. Today while strolling through one of my favorite stores (shout out Gift Horse) I decided to replace the Leuchtturm1917 journal with a new one for the year, despite having a plethora of journals I could have chosen from. I should just donate all the other journals because I decided this year that Leuchtturms were for me. P.S. I learned a journaling technique from Brian Eno that I have been crazy about ever since, and I wrote about it here.

The Lagniappe: As I am typing this up my delightful husband, Tucker, is making a cassoulet in the kitchen and it smells like heaven. It feels silly to not mention since I’m making this list for the flavor Gods at Creamline and I’m certain it will be delicious. He’s using this recipe from Serious Eats and I can’t think of a more frivolous meal than a dish that involves five different meat related products.