Reflecting on a year at home
Another 'perfect white T-shirt' to add to your shopping cart, the $30 photo frame I now swear by, and a few feelings thrown in for fun.
On September 8, I’ll have been back in Australia for one year.
For months after I landed back in Sydney, every dream I had took me back to New York. Asleep, I would be back in my apartment, at my favourite (now sadly closed) Mexican restaurant, even running down the West Side Highway. On more than one occasion, I’d dream I flew back there from Sydney, only to arrive at JFK and be so overwhelmed by fear of getting COVID I’d wake myself up in a panic.
But, no matter how traumatic the dream was, every morning I would wake up and feel thankful that my subconscious hadn’t yet realised New York was no longer home.
There are countless silly little ways I’ve noticed myself refusing to let go of New York: I’ve had a soft $5 note crumpled in the bottom of my wallet for a year now; my Google Maps ‘home’ address is still in Manhattan, despite living on the other side of the world; I still check the weather there almost daily. There is something quite sad about feeling like the most interesting thing about you is slowly slipping further and further into the past.
But beyond all of the feelings I won’t unpack here, there’s comfort in knowing I’m far from the only person finding the passage of time between March 2020 and now incredibly hard to process.
There have been good things—so many good things—that have happened since I’ve been back in Sydney. It’s such a shame that our tiny monkey brains find it so hard to spot the golden speckles of good through the dark clouds of unexpected change.
This week, in addition to this self-indulgent monologue, I have two staples to recommend: something for your body and something for your home.
The Perfect White T-Shirt For Anyone Who Needs Some Structure In Their Life
I’ve spent a lot of my 11-year journalism career writing about the fact I have big boobs. Beyond the never-ending hunt for supportive swimwear, sleepwear, and bras, I’ve also struggled to find white T-shirts that are structured enough to hold their shape when I wear them and thick enough to cover various bra lumps and bumps in a way sheer tees simply can’t.
My friend and former Man Repeller co-worker Haley (who writes the very good newsletter Maybe Baby) first recommended Uniqlo’s U Crew Neck Short Sleeve T-Shirt to me back in 2019. Since then, it’s the only white T-shirt I’ve worn. My friends Tom and Danny, who also have excellent taste and style, swear by the Uniqlo U Crew Neck too. And though there is a women’s version, I always buy the ‘unisex’ tee (gender is a construct etc etc) in XS.
Like a lot of stuff at Uniqlo, this T-shirt is often on sale, but even when it’s not it costs less than $20AUD a pop.
And A Tick Of Approval For This IKEA Frame
In the middle of a recent bout of nostalgia for New York and the Guggenheim, I ordered two Hilma af Klint prints from Postery. Having just been through the rigmarole of ordering high-quality custom frames for prints with more sentimental or monetary value, I decided to try find a cheaper alternative. I ended up deciding on a couple of IKEA Ribba frames. They arrived late last week and, aside from a small scratch on one, they look perfectly okay—and at $30 each, I’m more than happy with that.
I’m not exactly sure what’s going to happen with the af Klint show at the Art Gallery of NSW, which was meant to have opened this June and ran through until September, but if it does open, and you’re in Sydney, I will be seeing you there.
It’s spring! And Sally Rooney week! It feels like a perfect time to subscribe to She’ll Be Right, if you haven’t already.
So how long did it actually take you to hang the frames? 😅
Love the Klint art. We have it on https://PosterSociety.dk aswell!
/Casper