One of the things I’ve wanted to do for a while is post weekly updates. This is heavily inspired by Kat at Feather Factor whose blog I’ve enjoyed since my college days.
What has kept me reading FF for 10+ years now is how varied her content is. I’ve always felt like I had to commit to a single topic to create a “good” blog, but her mix of reviews, articles, book recommendations, and other interesting bits of information has inspired me to make my own rules and share what I feel is valuable.
My goal is to post one each week, hence the simple title: 2024: W1. By the end of the year, I hope to have 52 of these updates posted.
So, without further ado: 2024: W1.
The Man Who Destroys $3,000 Handbags on the Internet
I’m not on TikTok but I used to follow @tanner.leatherstein on Instagram. For those not familiar with his work, Tanner (real name: Volkan Yilmaz) purchases luxury leather items and literally rips them apart to assess the quality of materials and craftsmanship.
To date, he has taken apart pieces from brands like Goyard, Louis Vuitton, Bottega Veneta, Chanel, and Loewe. He has also reviewed mid-tier and “affordable” brands like Coach, Dooney & Bourke, and Rebecca Minkoff.
As someone who has a very small collection of luxury handbags, I was fascinated by Yilmaz’s estimates of what each piece would cost to produce and his assessment of the quality of its construction. Anyone who buys luxury handbags (or luxury anything for that matter) knows the markup is astronomical. But, some of us feel the price is at least palatable if the piece will outlast our use and be passed on someday. The hard part is knowing what products are built to last and which are just hyped-up, marked-up, items that are having a moment.
Almond Cake by Natasha’s Kitchen
My mom’s birthday is on the 2nd of January and this year, she refused to go out to dinner to celebrate. She (like so many of us?) was exhausted from the holiday season and probably didn’t want another round of “holiday food” no matter how delicious.
I’m a big believer in celebrating occasions because life truly is unpredictable, so I got her to agree to just having dinner at home. Being working parents of an 8-month old means we aren’t cooking anything fancy (read: tacos) but I knew I wanted to bake her a cake from scratch and this Almond Cake was perfect. Just 5 ingredients and maybe an hour and a half to prep and make.
I baked in a round pan for the first time in my life and let me tell you, it is the easiest way to make your cake look “professional.” Ha! The dusting of powdered sugar on top further seals the deal. Wish I had taken a photo, but this one looks way better than mine, anyway.
Discipline is Destiny
One of the best books I’ve read in a while. I know “discipline” is a buzzword (or dirty word, depending on your perspective) lately but I think Ryan Holiday does it justice by presenting it in an accessible way without losing the weightiness of the subject.
The best part of the book is that it is broken up into very short chapters. More like short stories, really. I used to be able to read longer-form writing but haven’t been able to get back to that post-baby. Each “chapter” draws from historical examples (Marcus Aurelius, Queen Elizabeth, Lou Gehrig, etc.) which makes the concept of discipline more interesting to read, easier to picture, and much more desirable for your own life.
At first, I was disappointed that this isn’t a “how-to” book, like Atomic Habits. There are no explicit instructions on “how” to establish discipline in your life. The book is more open-ended in how it presents discipline. Instead of giving you “steps,” Holiday gives you observations on how discipline is illustrated and cultivated in the lives of great men and women. It is still just as (if not more) powerful in inspiring you to live with even just a tiny amount more of discipline in your life.