I put everything on a bagel
and it became the truth.
Hi, Happy Monday. In true Christmas fashion, this letter is about childhood, food, festivities, sales, scheduling, and relaxation.
The ADHOC categories of the week are Absolute Bagels, Discount Tricks, Holiday Spirit, Organizing my Life, and Collagen Face Mask.
A: Absolute Bagels
I grew up on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, near Riverside Park. Every Sunday, my dad and I would go to get bagels and lox on 107th Street. Sometimes I would take my pink razor scooter, other times we’d walk. Absolute Bagels was cash only (though wasn’t everything cash only at the time?) and there was always a line crawling around the block. After picking up a half dozen bagels, we’d stop at a grocery store called Garden of Eden next door. My dad befriended the guy behind the fish counter and I’d watch him slice glistening, so-thin-they’re-transparent pieces of Norwegian or Scottish lox (whatever looked better that day) onto a white sheet of parchment paper.
The best thing about Absolute was that they made neon orange egg bagels. I remember them being gigantic, pillowy soft, a little bit sweet, and still warm in the brown paper bag. At home, we’d make open face sandwiches with cream cheese, lox, tomatoes, capers, and eat them at our kitchen table. It was a perfect weekly ritual.
On Thursday, I received several text messages freaking out about the sudden, permanent closure of Absolute Bagels. I felt a hollowness that I had never experienced in relation to a place. A relic of my childhood that I understood as fixed was suddenly gone, forever…
It turns out that the shop closed because it was violating health standards. Apparently the conditions in there were not very safe. All I’ll say is I’ve been eating there for my entire life and I have never once gotten sick from one. Absolute Bagels you will always hold a special place in my heart <3.
D: Discount Tricks
I’ve been wearing J. Crew since I was the appropriate age and size for Crewcuts, and my mom has owned their clothes way before that. It’s recently reentered the fashion girl online sphere, and I peek into the location in New Haven when I need a boost of retail-induced serotonin.
I used to get very excited whenever they had a sale. First it was Labor Day. Then it was Black Friday. Now they’re having one to get rid of inventory at the end of the year. But how can a brand afford to keep their products at an (almost) perpetual 60% off? And how does that impact the psyche of their consumers?
I’ve gotten J.Crew dresses and sweaters so discounted that I feel like I got away with something illicit. But maybe that sneaky sensation is all a part of an elaborate marketing scheme. Like the cashmere sweater is really worth $100 (not $180), but the price is inflated so its real value is reflected in the sale price.
It’s smart, and seems like a simple tactic out of a marketing textbook. The high prices signal high quality, but the constant sale makes customers feel like they’re getting a good deal. They definitely got me. Glad I took a minute to think about it.
H: Holiday Spirit
I went to a bar with my friends on Saturday night after I took my last final. I had seen earlier that day that they were hosting an ugly Christmas sweater contest, so the four of us wore bright red.
The room was wallpapered and dimly lit. We sat in a perfect window table in the corner and ordered festive drinks, Spanish olives, and radishes with butter. Everything was delicious and we were laughing the whole time.
The next morning, we found out that WE WON the contest! If that isn’t Holiday Magic, I don’t know what is.
O: Organizing My Life
Before coming to college, I had never used a digital calendar. Instead I used paper planners to keep track of when my homework assignments were due. I didn’t need to organize my schedule—it was already laid out for me: school, sports, dinner, homework, bed. Rinse, repeat…
At Yale, I’ve become heavily reliant on my Gcal to organize my life—I feel settled knowing what I have to do and where I have to be on any given day. I’m programmed to crave the structure of high school but now have to create it myself.
There are days where the blocks are back to back, and I get more done than I thought was possible in the 16 hours I’m usually awake. But my favorite days are when I have a long white blank space and I can say yes to a last minute long walk to East Rock or lay on a hammock with a (pleasure!) book and my headphones without checking the clock. You need the structure so it’s satisfying to break it.
C: Collagen Face Mask
I’d been saving this face mask in my bathroom cabinet for weeks, waiting for the day when I would have three-to-four hours of free time to let it marinate. Apparently it’s pretty viral, and this Vogue editor said “The congestion and enlarged pores I had on my forehead the night before had vanished. My skin felt baby-soft to touch and incredibly bouncy, like I just emerged from my esthetician’s chair.” I had taken mine from my mom’s collection of sheet masks in the fridge.
I applied the face mask at 1pm and slowly watched it become transparent over the next three hours. In that window, I also did my laundry, changed my sheets, made a matcha, journaled, and hung out with my roommates. The rubbery white silicone had melted into a thin film by the time I peeled it off at 4pm, to reveal my new face.
I looked pretty much the same. My skin was a little glowier, though it could have just been product residue.
Would I do it again? Yes. I like the time it forces you to carve out for yourself.
See you next week! I’m officially done with fall semester. The title of this letter comes from Everything Everywhere All At Once, which you should watch if you haven’t already.
RIP to Absolute Bagels! 😢 such nostalgia!
love as always