Hello sweet peas and honey buns,
‘It is important to give yourself time to sit still, and also time to grow’ - Froomy
How are you all this evening? My hope is that you’re all tucked up, snug as a bug in a rug, irritating your significant other by reading this in bed! Or maybe you’re splayed out on the share house couch, nibbling away at your fourth consecutive Maxibon?
Either way, it’s always a pleasure to have you here.
Tonight I want to provide yet another edition of my TOP HAT TIPS. Some would say this is the newsletter format I choose when I’m lacking fresh material. And to them I would say, yes.
Shall we?
‘THE IMPERFECTS’ PODCAST
Lately, I have been physically incapable of leaving the house without having AirPods in my head. Walking three minutes down the road for my morning coffee without listening to ‘unlock it x better off alone’ by Dorian Papiez on full volume? Excruciating.
Very this:
But you know when you get to the point where your ears are legitimately sore from your ten song rotation? Like sore vag but for the ears. I got to that place last Sunday… but I wasn’t yet ready to raw dog real life’s natural soundscape.
Enter: a podcast.
Podcasts are a topical lotion for deeper attention issues. They can help ween you off a ‘skipping’ addiction. You can yeet yourself through Calvin Harris’ entire discography in 15 minutes by enjoying the first 30 seconds of every song – but you can’t skip through a solid poddy.
And the podcast that bridged the gap for me was this episode of The Imperfects, featuring Kath Day-Knight’s husband, Glenn Robbins:
I’m an enormous Ryan Shelton fan, so when this podcast launched in 2019 I was absolutely chomping at the bit to consume it whole.
This show is the definition of vulnerability. In each ep, Ryan and his co-hosts (The Resilience Project founder Hugh van Cuylenburg and his brother, Josh) interview interesting Australians. Their style is unmatched and you always walk away feeling as though they’ve unearthed something really special and elemental about each guest.
In this episode, the lads share their experiences with imposter syndrome, performance anxiety and feeling like you’re not good enough. It came at just the right time for this CEO, who is weathering a simply foul bout of self-doubt! It was a great tonic and I got a lot out of it. (They also had a bit where they theorised that men are always on the verge of making some kind of speech which fucked me up 😂).
Totally respectful, mutually-unguarded interviews are such a rare treasure, and this was one of them. I won’t give the rest away – but I will say it was a top notch listen!
THE GREATEST SANDWICH ON EARTH
My housemate is actually gonna hit me for sharing this – but alas, I am a thankless boss and when I experience excellence, it can’t be kept secret.
The Shop & Wine Bar is a little hole in the wall spot in Bondi Beach. It probably seats 20 people in total, both inside and al fresco. It’s giving cosy and cool. And no matter the time of day, the menu quite literally serves.
In the morning, you can grab a BLT sandwich (above!) and an almond croissant (one of the freshest in the land). Their oat cappuccinos always hit, too. For lunch, I get the gypsy ham sandwich or the halloumi on brown bread. This bread is Jesus. It’s the fluffiest I’ve ever had and it’s baked by a local who sells it to them and THEM only!
I am currently experiencing a sick addiction, having eaten one of these every day for the past two weeks. In fact, I’m having one as I type this. Bellissimo manifest.
‘SOMETHING BLUE’ BY ALEX SARKIS
Last year, a young novelist called Diana Reid sent me her debut book, Love & Virtue. I read it, I loved it, I haven’t stopped going on about it since.
The novel went on to be nominated for almost every literary prize there is in Australia – and Reid took home the Sydney Morning Herald’s Best Young Australian Novelist award for 2022.
Picture my surprise and delight then, when the same independent publisher, Ultimo Press, sent me the debut novel of another ladette by the name of Alex Sarkis.
It’s called Something Blue and it’s billed as a “love letter to Western Sydney”.
It follows the story of a freshly-dumped woman called Nicole Najim who works at her Dad’s car dealership in Sydney’s west. As a fellow car dealer daughter, I was hooked from the start – and the fact her characters routinely call one another ‘cunt’ made it all the more delicious.
The book does a similar thing to Love & Virtue in that it so captures the essence of a character and a place. You can feel how much Sarkis knows and loves The Area and honestly, she’s making this Melbourne-born, Bondi-situated girlie reconsider the phrase “west is best”!
It’s out on July 6 and tell me what you think when you read it too please 😈
BESTIES THE LIVE SHOW
Next month (July 16th) my darling bestie Louis Hanson and I are putting on a live show! It’s for one night only and it’s on the Gold Coast, as part of the Underground Festival at HOTA. It’s a sleepover-style extravaganza with lots of secrets, juicy gossip and probably a pillow fight of some sort. I’m sensing a rendition of the time I hit a girl so hard with a pillow at a sleepover that she went home. You know that split-second stomach drop you get right after realising you took it too far? I’m ready for round two.
There are heaps of other shows going on that weekend too, including God Is Dead by my brothers Bryce Mills and Struthless, who are up after us. I’m legit FKN EXCITED !
We will sort the popcorn (serious) and I would just love for you to come to our debut. You can find a ticket here!
And that’s that.
P.S. We have a very special employee merchandise offering coming this Friday. It’s a collab moment and and I’ll say is… it’ll have you decked out for the new financial year and beyond 😉
Until then,
My love x