2024 Ins and Outs

My unproblematic list of what I firmly believe is in and out for 2024.

Every December since 2020, I’ve been sharing lists of my “ins and outs” for the coming year via my Twitter. These are light-hearted, culturally-relevant yet personal lists of things that I believe in my heart should set the tone for the new year. Looking back at my lists of Decembers past, their points seem to have actualized every year, serving as the unapparent guidebooks to how I live my life. Some points are more daft than others; for example, “Give it here, Malfoy,” was on my list of “ins” in 2021. What that means, I’m not totally sure, but it made sense at the time. This year, my ins and outs list unexpectedly left my Twitter neighborhood (humble way of saying it went viral), so I figured I’d share it in LoF (new abbreviation for Lunch on Friday, lmk your thoughts). Here are my ins and outs of 2024.

In for 2024

House parties

You know my stance on this.

Dinner parties

This year for Christmas, my dad gifted me Ina Garten’s Barefoot Contessa Parties!, a wonderful cookbook with Ina’s commentary on how to throw a fabulous dinner party. The types of parties vary by number of guests, season, and occasion. My dad thought this would be the perfect gift for me because he knows I “love to entertain” (his words, not mine) (but also mine), and he was absolutely correct. I’m already planning what the theme of my first dinner party will be in the new year. More to come…

The generic brand

When it comes to many household products, the generic brand is almost always as good as the name brand. Except for Neutrogena makeup-removing wipes.

Short nails, short hair, short kings

I recently chopped several inches off my hair after receiving an “in-between” haircut, meaning my hair went from being super long to somewhere that wasn’t quite long or short, and I was having an identity crisis. Cutting my hair short has been liberating—who knew short hair was so easy to manage? For more inspiration on chopping off your long locks, I recommend how to glow down by my dear friend Emily North.

Wearing lipstick

I. love. lipstick.!!!!! I had an obsession with lipstick in high school that has been repressed for several years, but I’ve recently uncovered it and it’s been amazing. My ~holiday lip~ for the past few weeks has been Sephora’s gel lip liner in bad apple + Bite Beauty’s luminous cream lipstick in Tannin (this makeup brand has been discontinued but any red lipstick will do here) + Tower 28 non-stick gloss in Spicy.

Walking without AirPods

I borrowed this one off Emily’s list when she gave me a sneak peek a few weeks ago. Walking without headphones in New York (or any city) allows you to fully absorb what’s happening around you. You’ll hear some outrageous things on the city’s sidewalks. It’s not revolutionary, I know. But it’s an important one.

T.J.Maxx

I have been a Maxxinista for as long as I can remember. The girls who get it get it.

A light beer

Coors Light Summer, Bud Light Winter. I’m not explaining this.

Fine jewelry

My girl friends and I have recently been discussing how we’re done adding fake jewelry to our carts in the checkout line because it looks cute on the stand. It’s a waste of money and is unsustainable. Invest in pieces you will have forever & ever & can pass onto your daughters! Mejuri and Gorjana are great brands to start with.

Dressing up !!!!!!

Lipstick is in. Fine jewelry is in. So are dresses and heels and ties and gloves and tiaras and being overdressed and anything else you can think of here. Dress how you want to be addressed.

Asymmetry

This was going to be on my list anyway, and then I saw a WGSN report that asymmetry was a trend prediction for 2024. I’ve already tapped into this with my favorite new black mini tulle dress from Coach.

Brick & mortar

My new year’s resolution in 2019 was to support more small businesses and reduce the number of purchases I make from Jeff Bezos’ online boutique. This is something I have stuck with. I love shopping in person. I love walking down the street with shopping bags on my arm like I’m Cher in Clueless. There is something so fabulous about purchasing in-store.

Print magazines

Print is back, baby!!!

Aging gracefully

:)

Out for 2024

Vaping

I have never owned a vape, but I truly cannot imagine purchasing a piece of potentially radioactive plastic in some ungodly color combination and putting it near my lipsticked mouth. What the fuck is an Elf Bar???

Getting embarrassed

This is probably my favorite thing on this list. When I was growing up, a common question asked during Truth or Dare was what’s the most embarrassing thing that’s ever happened to you? This question always stumped me because I’ve hardly ever been embarrassed. I never knew how to answer. In 7th grade, a frenemy of mine taped photos of me inside my crush’s locker, thinking this would embarrass me. I was so happy she did this. She got so mad. (Crazy for a 13-year-old mind, but in her defense, we were in a pranking war with each other.)

Last week, I saw a Yamaha keyboard leaned against the scaffolding outside of my apartment, unattended, looking like common New York City trash. I had AirPods in (my first mistake) and thought the keyboard was free, so I picked it up and started walking away with it. A man started calling after me yelling, “HEY, THAT’S MINE!!!” I started laughing and told him I was sorry and that I thought it was trash. I recalled this story to a friend the next day, and he responded, “Oh my god that’s so embarrassing.” Is it? I thought. I really thought it was quite funny.

To me, embarrassment is nothing but a concept. Worry about no one but yourself, and you’ll find it’s pretty hard to get embarrassed.

Comparison

The thief of joy.

Talking about Selena Gomez

“Preventative botox”

Waste of money. I had worry lines on my forehead in 2019 and got rid of them myself. Click here for $71 witchcraft.

Going out just to go out

If there’s no plan or no flyer or no definitive course of action, you will not catch me at a bar looking for plans.

Over-apologizing

Americans say sorry too much. We say sorry as we’re walking past people, when really, we should be saying excuse me. We say sorry when we ask for things from people at work. We say sorry when we leave the bar to go home. We say sorry when we’re too tired to finish the movie. We say sorry when we can’t find the restroom and have to ask the server. I’m not sorry!!!!!!!

“It’s giving”

Enough.

Happy holidays <3