3 things for your Friday afternoon

Funny seeing you here

Happy Friday, y’all! Funny seeing you here at this point in the week!

All February long I’ve been focused on growing this newsletter thanks to the Substack Go program. (If you’re looking to start a newsletter yourself, I highly recommend doing so on Substack — there’s so much support from the platform itself!) One of my goals throughout the program was to differentiate my content from others and to step outside of my comfort zone. Tuesday’s issue was definitely a step out of my box, and I couldn’t thank you enough for the love and support. And now here we are at the end of the week with something new!

I’ve wanted to incorporate a weekly recap of sorts into Party of One for quite some time now, and this is attempt number one at that. Coming up with something to write about each week can be overwhelming when there are fifteen ideas swimming in my brain. The Friday recap will serve as a place to dump some of them in hopes of inspiring you to eat, visit, or try something new over the weekend. Just some things that I’ve been thinking about to think about!

🎨 Menu Design

In another life, I went to art school and became a menu designer. I have a Pinterest board dedicated to menus and invitations to inspire future dinner parties because how special would it be to go home with a piece of the party? So special. Jacques Pépin’s hand painted menus are what sparked my interest in menu design — he and his wife Gloria have been keeping a record of their party menus for over fifty years, and he even published a book that you can fill in with your own! PRECIOUS!

jacquespepinfoundation

A post shared by Jacques Pépin Foundation (@jacquespepinfoundation)

🎵 Cooking Playlists

In an effort to throw my own dinner party for myself each night, I’ve turned music back on in the kitchen. Usually I watch something while I’m cooking but turning on music allows me to be more present — which is important when you have the stove or oven on. I rely on two playlists after 7pm: Din and Din 2. Both are linked below; my favorite songs to dance and cook to are “Deceptacon” by Le Tigre and “Philadelphia Freedom” by Elton John. And “Dancing in the Moonlight” by King Harvest. And “Visions of Johanna” by Bob Dylan. Okay, lots of good songs below — just check them out.

🧈 Justin’s Almond Butter

When the almond butter craze hit the market when I was in high school, I exclusively ate Justin’s brand. Now, it might have been my affinity for people named Justin at the time (once a Belieber, always a Belieber), but this stuff is so good! I stocked up on the single serving packets when they were on sale at Whole Foods a few weeks ago, and then I bought a box of the vanilla ones when I ran out. Pair it with an apple for a perfect snack on the go. Here I am at work slurping one like a Go-Gurt tube.

If you made it this far, thank you! I’m so excited to continue growing this newsletter with all of you. Feel free to leave your own thoughts from the week below! As always, I’d blush if you shared Party of One with a friend — trying my best to hit 500 subscribers by the end of the year. Woo ya!