The Commonplace Book

One of the reasons I left social media was to be more present in my own life. To pay closer attention to what I notice and what I remember at the end of the day.

June was a turning point. My husband took me to New York City, and for the first time in years, I was fully present in the moment.

I’m a homebody. My days are usually quiet and grounded in routine. But June was busy and filled with art and beauty. I felt deeply grateful for every bit of it.

These are a few of the things I’ll remember.

Othello on Broadway

This is my year of Shakespeare. My resolution for 2025 is to read all of his plays and watch a performance of each one—whether on film, in a recorded production, or live.

I didn’t plan my Year of Shakespeare around Denzel Washington starring in Othello on Broadway, but it was an extraordinary coincidence. My husband surprised me with tickets, and the performance was powerful. Washington brought one of Shakespeare’s most complex characters fully to life.

A once in a lifetime theatre experience. I feel incredibly lucky to have seen it.

The Picture of Dorian Gray starring Sarah Snook

We also saw Sarah Snook’s one woman performance of The Picture of Dorian Gray. She played all 26 roles with clarity, wit, and wild energy. No intermission. One actor. Full throttle.

I left the theatre exhausted and in awe. It may be one of the most brilliant performances I’ve ever seen.

Sargent and Paris at The Metropolitan Museum of Art

One of the highlights of my month was seeing Sargent and Paris, a luminous exhibit at the Met created in collaboration with the Musée d’Orsay. It traces John Singer Sargent’s early years in the French capital, from his arrival as an 18 year-old art student to his rise as a celebrated portraitist at the Paris Salon in the early 1880s. It’s an evocative look at the Belle Époque city where a young Sargent hit his stride.

The centerpiece, of course, is the infamous portrait of Parisian socialite and American expatriate Virginie Amélie Avegno Gautreau. Madame X. Sargent and Gautreau set out to create a sensation, and they delivered. Its original version, with a fallen dress strap slipping from her shoulder, caused an uproar. The scandal was so intense that Sargent repainted the strap. His reputation eventually recovered; Virginie’s never did.

An Afternoon at Three Lives & Company

My favorite independent bookstore in the country. I work in a bookstore myself, and even so, Three Lives always surprises me — their curation is that good.

Every time I visit, I leave with a stack of titles I’ve never seen before. The space is quiet, timeless, and intimate.

An afternoon here is an afternoon to savor.

Dinner at Cafe Luxembourg

Reading I Regret Almost Everything, the memoir of Keith McNally—founder of NYC classics like Odeon, Minetta Tavern, and Balthazar—made me nostalgic for a New York that only exists in my memory.

So a romantic dinner with my love at another McNally gem, Café Luxembourg (co-founded with his then-wife Lynn Wagenknecht), felt just right: classic, candlelit, full of character. Like stepping into another time.

Moules frites, a bottle of Margaux Bordeaux, and the full charm of the Upper West Side.

Diptyque Philosykos

It’s been a brutally hot summer, and most perfumes feel too heavy or cloying. Philosykos is the antidote.

Cool, green, and airy—it smells like sitting in the shade of a fig tree, on a white stone terrace, while dipping your feet into a cool, clear stream.

Wearing it makes the heat feel almost bearable.