Well, It's Been a F*cking Year
A look back with some big updates.
We’re back, and we’re here to talk about the past and present—appropriate for the winter solstice, no?
First up: both of us have made some major life changes over the last few weeks (some planned, some otherwise) so we’re giving you the run-down on what’s going on. For that reason, we’re leaving this letter free for anyone who clicks. We’ll then hold a post-mortem of sorts for 2024, complete with some of our favorite things from the past 12 months. This letter is longer than usual, so you’ll have to click “view entire message” once you get to the end, or you can click through to Substack for the entire scoop.
Let’s get into it.
Part I: Transitions
Christine: Hello from Salem, Massachusetts! I live here now!
It happened in somewhat of a whirlwind (originally typed as “worldwind,” which, yes), but a good one thus far. I miss my lovely part-time pastry job at Honey Road and I miss shopping at the best grocery store I’ve ever experienced, but am enjoying access to the amenities of a bigger metro area. Salem itself is not terribly large, but the tourism and proximity to Boston make it feel a lot bigger. I’m enjoying the witchy stuff here too, my biggest witch credentials being that I really fucking love nettles and I talk a lot about moon signs. On the job front, I’m still freelancing, but ultimately looking for more of a full-time writing or marketing gig. If you have any leads, please send them my way!
Taylore: I’m writing this from the couch, where I’ve been laid up for myriad reasons (food poisoning; something fun and strep-adjacent) since our last letter. But in more important news: I’m now officially a full-time freelancer on the beauty, wellness, food, drinks, and lifestyle beats, so if you want to chat work or just say hello, reach out here!
To that end: media is a real shitstorm right now, so if you’re one of the many writers and editors that got laid off this year, shoot us a DM here with your e-mail address and we’ll gift you a paid Creamline subscription. That offer also applies to creatives on tight budgets!
Part II: 2024 (Taylore’s Version)
Things I Ate (by no means comprehensive, but here we go)
Masala Crab for Two, Semma: At my birthday dinner in January, we were almost too full when this fragrant, saucy pile of Dungeness hit the table with a stack of roti the size of dinner plates. Still, we diligently donned our plastic bibs and got cracking. The next morning, I fried the leftovers with scrambled eggs and piled it all high on toasted sourdough—a brunch fit for a near-bulletproof birthday hangover.
Octopus, Alcalde: I think about this entire meal once a week. But even more than the charred sweetbreads with worm crumble and tartare topped with popcorn, I dream about this octopus. The acclaimed Guadalajara restaurant serves it swimming in a creamy, ultra-smooth sikil pak (a pumpkin seed-based salsa and Yucátan specialty) over sushi rice. I’ve recreated the dish as the main event for at-home date nights and at least one dinner party, and I will continue to do so forever and ever and ever.
Chawanmushi, Noda: A tiny glass jar of genius filled with creamy egg custard, uni flown in from Hokkaido, and a petite pat of caviar. It’s one of the insane courses served at the intimate omakase counter, and it’s a salty-sweet dream.
Wood-Fired Oysters, Cochon: Everything I ate in New Orleans during Tales of the Cocktail this July was insane, but I have to pick a representative, don’t I? I’m going with these piping-hot bivalves bathed in garlic chili butter. Messy; outrageous.
Things I Drank
Le Veau d’Or, Le Veau d’Or: I’m incredibly into the revived French institution’s Martini—as are the rest of the ‘tini hounds in New York— but my personal sleeper hit is the program’s namesake cocktail, brought to life by bar director Sarah Morrissey. It’s a sexy little cherrybomb of Dubbonet, kirsch, and Champagne polished off with a cherry-and-anchovy garnish. It’s slutty and elegant and the perfect complement to some bread and calf-branded butter.
Hurricane, Fives: While this raw bar is relatively new to the French Quarter, the Hurricane itself is not. And yet, this is the most elevated interpretation of the classic I’ve ever had. The next time you’re in Nola, grab a stool during happy hour, order some oysters and the bone marrow, and indulge in as many Hurricanes as you can safely handle.
Things I Wore
Wildfang Suits: I have the brand’s Empower vest and wide-legged pant in both black and houndstooth, and they’ve become my go-to outfits for work and play. Dress ‘em up with heels or dress ‘em down with sneakers; they look cool as hell no matter what. Best of all: their pants are extra long and the vests accommodate bigger busts, which are usually my pain points when shopping online.
Earth Odyssey Pendants: Most of my New Orleans shopping this last trip revolved around fragrance and jewelry. I wear one of the two pendants I picked up almost every day: One is made with tiger’s eye (said to promote focus and motivation) and the other with blue kyanite (creativity, dream-centered stuff).
Giardini di Toscana Celeste: I can’t keep gatekeeping my most complimented fragrance of the year. Utterly undupe-able, it’s got a sweet-and-saline “making out at the boardwalk” vibe that the Jersey girl in me is drawn to on a cellular level. Salt water, raspberry, violet, vanilla…I’m drinking underage down the shore again.
Chanel Beauty 31 Le Rouge Lipstick in Rouge Tweed: I recently tested this lipstick for a story, and while it is incredibly pricy, it’s god damn good, too. It’s the perfect shade of ruddy brown for my true-neutral skin tone, and unlike many other hard mattes, it wears comfortably and doesn’t pill up over liner or with touch-ups. All said, it’s a good one.
Cozy Earth Sweatsuit: The airport, the butcher, the couch…I wore this set all around town this year. (In fact, I’m wearing it in the picture above.) It’s the softest, comfiest outfit I own—I went with heather grey—and I get compliments on it all the time. The quarter-zip I have is no longer available, but the pants are, and the matching crewneck is just as cute.
Sisley-Paris Black Rose Infusion Cream: Back when I was a bitty baby beauty assistant at Marie Claire magazine, I was tasked with managing the product closet. I remember plucking this pricy jewel off the moisturizer shelf, swatching a little on my hand, and promptly falling in love with its bouncy texture and heady rose scent. I drained that jar clean not long after, and it remains one of the best face creams I’ve ever used. I recently revisited it, and though my skin is now about nine years older, just a few days use has essentially taken my complexion back to entry-level softness.
Part III: 2024 (Christine’s Version)
In retrospect, so much of the below is an ode to my time working at Honey Road, which feels appropriate, because it really was the best thing about my year. I loved getting to make desserts and learn from some truly kind and brilliant people.
Things I Ate
Not a ton of restaurant action this year (aside from the one I worked at), but a lot of good eating.
A lot of cooking and eating great things my boyfriend cooked: Too many to recap, but especially loved this squash blossoms + Champagne moment.
A lot of making (which includes tasting/eating) desserts with Amanda and Lucy at Honey Road
Plus some vacation cooking: Some of the 2024 meals I look back on the most fondly are from spending a week with my family on the Oregon coast. I think I’ve shared the photo here before, but there were dozens of huckleberry bushes outside our cottage, so I made huckleberry pancakes, which were simple and now a very nostalgic memory.
Things I Drank
The Brine Bae, Frankie’s: Eater called Frankie’s one of the best new restaurants in America, and while I haven’t been to enough other new restaurants in America this year to comment, I can confirm their dirty martini is one of the best I’ve ever had. Ketel one vodka (I asked for Haku instead), house pickle brine, and Bayley Hazen blue cheese olives for $3 more. Perfection. Love the little carafe on ice action too.
The Dryad (N/A), Honey Road: This blew my mind. Easily one of the most charming zero-proof cocktails I’ve ever had. I asked its creator Owen LaFlamme for his recipe, which he is kindly sharing with us.
1 oz NA falernum
0.5 oz verjus
0.5 oz lime juice
3 dashes eucalyptus bitters
A bunch of mint leaves
Shaken hard, dirty dump (i.e. include the ice you just shook it with) into a glass, topped with soda water
Per Owen, “The NA falernum I make with 2 parts sugar 1 part water and let it dissolve in the fridge. And I put a ton of lime zest, a couple slices of whole limes, allspice, ginger, almond slices and almond extract.
All measured with your heart unless you’re making a huge batch
Let the syrup sit for about 3 days to dissolve the sugar/let the flavors infuse before straining out the solids. The syrup lasts for around a month”
Strawberry Leaf Tea: One of the best things about working at Honey Road was chatting with the wildly talented and curious people I worked with as we were going about our daily prep lists. In chatting with my friend and former boss Amanda about our gardens this spring, we talked about raspberry leaf tea (which I love for period cramps and because it tastes like lemony black tea) and wondered whether strawberry leaf tea is also something you can make.
Turns out, YES. And it tastes like the platonic ideal of strawberries, especially if you add a little bit of chamomile. You can buy dried leaves, or if you grow strawberries, just pick leaves and steep them fresh (just don’t use them if they’re wilty, because they supposedly release some sort of mild toxin). One of my new favorite drinks, period.
Diet Virgin Cuba Libre i.e. a Diet Coke over ice with lots of lime: I used to not drink soda EVER, not because I don’t enjoy it, but because when I moved to New York City as an impressionable 20-something, many of the impossibly cool people that I met despised soda and the people who drank it. As a less impressionable 30-something, I now realize a large percentage of those judgmental-in-lieu-of-a-personality people were functional alcoholics and have no business lecturing me on my weekly Diet Coke treat.
Diet Coke actually became somewhat of a ritual at Honey Road on Tuesdays with my friend and former other boss Lucy. At 2pm or so, we’d split a can of Diet Coke into pint containers filled with ice plus a half a lime for each of us and share with anyone who was interested. Diet Coke Tuesdays!
When I left, two people brought cases of Diet Coke for my last day and it was one of several things that day that made me cry.
Things I Wore
So many perfumes: The great thing about being in perfume groups on Facebook (which weirdly seems to be the best spot for hobbyist knowledge sharing these days, if you know where to look) is that you can easily buy and swap fragrance decants (i.e. fragrance samples that people create from their own bottles). The bad thing is that you can, like me, go overboard and end up with far too many. An embarrassment of riches! I’m trying to funnel my fragrance enthusiasm into content rather than consumption, so I’ve been posting a lot about it on TikTok.
Violette FR Bisou Balm in Amour Fou: As usual, it’s sold out, probably because it’s the perfect lip product. Gives you a gorgeous blurred red lip effect, which you can wear sheer, as in the selfie below, or build up to be a little bolder. Easily the makeup product I wear the most.
Laneige Cream Skin Mist, which they now apparently just sell as a dabber bottle now, but you can buy a sprayer to add to your bottle separately: I spray this on immediately after washing my face, and then proceed with the rest of my skincare routine. It helps my skin hang onto moisture, even on the dryest of winter days, and it’s the one skincare product that I am 100% loyal to. I have two backups of the big refill size on hand at all times.
Thanks for hanging with us throughout 2024! We appreciate you and will be back in your inbox before the new year. Happy all-the-holidays in the meantime!