20 Things We Love (and other hot takes)
Our Dream Baby Press lists, Subway Takes, Letterboxd top 4 + more!
Hi friends,
Inspired by Cait’s obsession in Issue 13 (and in lieu of being asked by Dream Baby Press - us girls can dream!) we decided to consult our respective Notes apps and write our own answers to all of the internet’s favorite questionnaires — just for fun!
Obviously, these are non-exhaustive and we’ll probably want to edit them as soon as we send this, but we hope you enjoy this peek into our psyches!! Please share in the comments what your top 4 (or 10) favorite movies are or what culture made you say culture was for you — we genuinely want to know!
Rach + Cait
Dream Baby Press
asks authors, actors, podcasters etc. to share 10 things that they love and 10 things that they hate. They aren’t necessarily power-ranked in order of most-loved to most-hated, but more a random mix of stuff!
Cait’s Dream Baby Press List
Loves
Even numbers
Disposable cameras
Lunch dessert
Group chats during awards season
The center piece of lasagna or brownies
How my dad signs his texts “Love, Dad”
Listening to a hyperfixation song on the subway after 1-2 drinks
Bodega lilies
Petting stranger’s dogs (still!)
Bowls of Andes mints
Hates
Spending money on bad food!!!
How mosquitos only bite some people (me) and not others
Too-bright restaurant lighting
Getting dressed in Jan/Feb
Cleaning the pan after scrambled eggs
Turbulence
Moving an item from today’s to do list to tomorrow’s to do list
Timothée as Laurie in Little Women
Mental math
Hard seltzers
Rach’s Dream Baby Press List
Loves
Altoids (peppermint, of course)
Not knowing who famous athletes are
Tiny lamps
Slack :(
Reading about other people’s routines
Estate/garage sales, antique malls - the thrill of the hunt!
Letting people like things
The moms of Reddit
When my dog chooses to come sit next to me
The post-event late night debrief
Hates
When you get annoyed at someone when driving, but then you turn to glare at them and it’s an elderly person :(
The incurable sickness I have to be liked by my therapist
Pumping
Being overstimulated (especially while pumping)
When you have to say “what?” a third time (horrible for all involved)
Disciplining my dog in public
LinkedIn
The 3oz liquid small baggie rule flying home from Europe
Any vegetable masquerading as a carb (remember when we all pretended to like zoodles?)
When people say “let’s not get political”
Letterboxd Top 4
Letterboxd asks celebrities on the red carpet to quickly rank their top 4 movies of all time or share what movies were formative for them, like Elle Fanning did here. Often they include a variety of genres (i.e. one action, one animated) and typically they can’t pick just four. Neither could we!
Cait Letterboxd
You’ve Got Mail
Oceans series (specifically Oceans 12, for peak-of-his-powers Brad)
Blue Crush (my most-watched DVD)
Little Women (Greta’s version, despite Timmy)
Chef
The Parent Trap (Been dreaming of splitting my time between a CA vineyard + a London townhouse ever since!)
500 Days of Summer
Charlie’s Angels Full Throttle
Past Lives
Hercules (animated)
Before Sunrise
Rach Letterboxd
Practical Magic
It’s Complicated
The Parent Trap (obviously!)
Arrival
The Thomas Crowne Affair (1999 version)
Almost Famous
Zoolander
The Princes Diaries
The Sweetest Thing
Fast & Furious (RIP Paul)
Thelma & Louise
Mean Girls
Fair to say basically any and all MK&A?
Subway Takes
Seen on this Instagram series, a Subway Take is something you firmly believe in or a silly “hot take.”
Cait’s Subway Take
Martinis are a fall/winter drink!
Rach’s Subway Take
Leave the party while it’s still fun!
“I Don’t Think So Honey”/ What Is The Culture That Made You Say Culture Was For You?
On Bowen Yang and Matt Rogers’ podcast “Las Culturistas” they often ask their first-time guests to describe an element of culture that made them feel like pop culture was for them, or basically what woke them up to pop culture as a whole.
They also at the end ask each guest to rant against something that they don’t like in culture (or life!) for exactly one minute, in a segment called “I don’t think so honey!”
Cait’s Culture That Made Her Say Culture Was For Her
The OC! I unironically had “California” by Phantom Planet as my ringtone when I moved to San Francisco — a thing Mike makes fun of me for to this day! I did extensive research to try and find a dupe of Marissa Cooper’s Chanel prom dress as I was figuring out what to wear to mine. The Season 2 soundtrack CD is probably still in my Honda Accord somewhere! Allegedly Ryan Atwood Ben McKenzie lives in our neighborhood, which would be an automatic top 5 celeb sighting for me.
Runners up include — Spice World (“the little Gucci dress, the little Gucci dress OR the little Gucci dress?” is canon) red carpet reporting and the bygone boom of magazines! RIP print media! Youths today will never know the joy of sitting on a Barnes & Noble floor reading Teen Vogue and later cutting it up to make a collage to slide into the front of your school binder!
Rach’s Culture That Made Her Say Culture Was For Her
It’s internet culture for me. When I really think back on this, it was probably the middle school days of writing casual website code on Xanga, uploading entire uncurated albums to Photobucket and watching videos like End of The World, Unforgiveable, Shoes, etc. on my childhood bestie Sierra’s family computer. I *love* internet culture - and the flicker of recognition between two like-minded individuals who suffer from the same affliction of understanding deep cut and very niche internet references. This was also dramatically emphasized by Vine, and the fact that I ultimately found myself working in social media and specifically in the influencer space during its heyday. This as a career path would have never crossed my mind when I was making mood boards on Polyvore, defending my status as mayor of DG on Foursquare, reblogging fellow Tumblr girls, etc. In the words of Akilah Hughes in her memoir Obviously – “I’m addicted to the Web!”
Cait’s “I Don’t Think So Honey”
I don’t think so honey — when a restaurant or coffee shop gets TikTok famous 🙃 I know it’s good for business but also… is it? It’s a bummer to see previously special, chill spots get overrun with lines and influencers ordering things they aren’t even eating/drinking. This makes me sound ancient, I fear! But it really is a thing that’s changing the landscape of NYC. I’m already nostalgic for the pre-TikTok versions of Cafe Lyria/Gem Home/Pisellino — the list goes on.
Although OT reader, Allie, has maybe the best “I don’t think so honey” I’ve ever heard, which is: I don’t think so honey — teabags without strings! Genius.
Rach’s “I Don’t Think So Honey”
I don’t think so honey — leaving a meal up to chance in a new city! If I died tomorrow and went to hell, I’d find myself walking around an unknown city, hungry, with no meal plan. There’s not much that fills me with more rage/despair, and I have unfortunately been brought to tears by this experience on more than one occasion. This is mostly a rant against myself, because the times where this has happened the person I’ve been the most mad at it is me - but it’s also a cautionary tale not to give in to the temptation to just “play it by ear” or “see how we feel” when dining is at stake. With every trip itinerary build, it feels like right before you complete the full slate of reservations, there’s an urge to “leave one night open” or “explore and see what we find!” It’s a trap!! Deciding to forgo an existing plan in lieu of a new one is one thing, but having no plan whatsoever is another (is my type A showing?). As we’ve talked about many times, Cait, a mediocre meal in an amazing food city is a very special kind of disappointment.
Crush Of The Week
On comedian Cat Cohen’s podcast Seek Treatment, at the end of every episode she and her co-host Pat always name a “crush of the week.” This crush is usually not a person but more of an arbitrary thing, like “Mike’s Hot Honey” or “the show Severance.”
Cait’s Crush Of The Week
My crush of the week is Momofuku! We went to dinner at the original location (Noodle Bar) last Sunday before the Cautious Clay show at Blue Note and I was kind of blown away! Which says a lot about a 20 year old place. They could be fully phoning it, riding high on David Chang’s fame but instead they are putting out thoughtful specials and excellent desserts with really low-key but attentive service. Plus, they have in-restaurant-only merch and you know we love an exclusive!
Rach’s Crush Of The Week
Creator Henry Smith! He is so sweet and cute. I love his videos and appreciation of all things girl culture. Specifically his recent experience of the joy of finding unexpected vintage designer. His videos are sparking joy for me right now! And if I’m allowed to pick a runner up, Reach Mint Waxed dental floss aka the GOAT.
That’s all for our hot takes issue! To see more of what we talked about in this letter, follow our Instagram @opentabsletter! Or, you can always shop all of our issues here!
