Dispatch from HOTLANTA

its just peachy

Monday 5:43 PM

I’m coming to you live from the Ruth Chris bar in the lobby of our hotel in downtown Atlanta. I wasn’t planning on writing today but he’s doing a little work, the kids are relaxing before dinner, and I have a 9 ounce pour of rose in front of me and I suddenly felt inspired.

So here we are :)

If you’re like wait, what!? Then I would subscribe here to The Plot Twist Diaries where I am sharing real-time, deeply personal updates about my life. It’s real. It’s raw. And it’s for my inner circle only. (And it’s what has been happening since publishing my dating memoir, Don’t Do Anything I Would Do).

Anyway, here’s me drinking some aquarium wine we scored after dropping the kids at a dolphin show (lol). What is life!? I don’t know what’s happening but I do know this: I am really, really happy.

We also stumbled into best record store I have ever stepped foot into (and I’ve been to many) and let me just tell you right now — this is my retirement plan.

Sitting behind the counter surrounded by musty old used records with band posters all over the walls while I write more books — YES PLEASE.

Whenever I travel, I like to find the grungiest, coolest, edgiest neighborhood that city has to offer. Give me all the dive bars, thrift stores, record shops, tattoo parlors and street art. Give me people with purple hair who wear Doc Martens. So when a friend (hi Emily!) suggested Little Five Points in Atlanta, it was an immediate yes. We all loved it.

If you find yourself there, don’t miss the coffee at Aurora. Grab a drink at The Vortex. And pop into the skate shop and pick up a local zine (another must-do for me on vacation). I collect them.

While my man and I escaped for a quick drink at The Vortex (dive bar pictured above), the kids were next door painstakingly debating what was worth spending their $20 on at the thrift shop. The bartender struck up a conversation and gave us a few local suggestions. “I saw the Nirvana and Minor Threat shirts and just knew” he said, gesturing at our outfits.

Afterward, it made me think about personal style and how people really do make assumptions about us based on how we dress. I absolutely dress for myself first, but I do think about this often. It’s exactly why I refuse to wear beige. I am anything but beige and I would die if someone thought that about me.

I remember turning 18 and planning my first tattoo. I cared less about the actual tattoo and more about having one on my body because I wanted people to know I was cool. That I wasn’t boring and I loved the arts and I was bold enough to have something inked on my body forever.

It also got me thinking about my hair. It’s either platinum blonde or pink—both are a statement, in my opinion. When my hair is pink, it becomes a constant conversation piece. People come up to me all the time and say, “I wish I could do that.” It’s one of my favorite moments because I usually fire back, “What’s stopping you?” And then we get into a whole conversation about their fears. Me, being the consummate hype girl, deliver my most emphatic “Your life is yours! Don’t let anything stop you from living it the way you want!” or something equally dramatic. And secretly, I hope they go home, grab a bottle of hair dye, and finally do the thing they’ve been telling themselves they want to do for a lifetime.

Tangent! Anyway, the trip was only 48 hours so I don’t have much else to report to you on the day to day but I will say, leaving sucked. I’ll talk about that more here because like I said, this time just feels really sacred and I am not ready to share it all on my main Substack right now. But I am dying to share it over there because it’s just been so beautiful and powerful and I’m a writer and storytelling is like breathing to me.

It’s now Friday and I’ve been home in New York for a few days and I finally feel back in the groove. Traveling really throws me off my routine in the best way but man it’s tough to get back into things. I always feel super disoriented coming home and it takes me a couple of days to process my trip.

On the agenda for this weekend is hiding out from the heat, working on a book I am ghostwriting for a client, hosting a dreamy little write-in session on Sunday for Hot Girl Writing House (you should join us!) and finally finding a book to get lost in again (it’s been a while). I’ll take any suggestions!

K, that’s it for now. I hope you have the best day. I love you!