Perfect T-Shirts, Beach Reads and Crunchwrap Supremes
An OT “male” bag — Cait’s brother and husband guest edit!
Hi friends,
For our next issue, it’s a family affair! I just got back from a week-long vacation to the Oregon coast, during which I thought it could be fun to poll two people on the trip whose opinions I often ask for — my brother Nick and my husband Mike.
Nick has enviably strong instincts about what’s good in film, TV and especially music. Growing up, we had distinct things we were passionate about but there was always a nice venn diagram of our interests, too. As for Mike, we obviously have a lot of commonality in what we like to eat and watch but very different perspectives when it comes to reading material and how we shop. I aspire to his level of uniform-dressing! Which is cool uniform-dressing, not Zuckerberg uniform-dressing.
Please enjoy and forward to any brothers, dads, friends or significant others who might be interested.
Cait
Open Tabs
CP: I’ll kick us off! I almost ordered the new release from Ghia “Le Fizz” to bring with us to the beach, but it wouldn’t have gotten there in time. Since our dad doesn’t drink but always has a sparkling beverage handy, I’ll have to order a bottle to his house and ours so we can try it simultaneously. Other things that I was considering but didn’t pull the trigger on fast enough pre-trip — these Cherry LA sunglasses are a cool take on the classic wayfarer shape and this ivory scrunchie from BOMI (afelt appropriate for the coast, but also easily transferrable back into my NYC wardrobe.
Practically, I’ve had a literal open tab of these vintage stone book ends on our iPad for weeks. One of our onyx bookends went missing during the move (how did we lose just one??) and it’s been plaguing me to see it without it’s companion and I need to visually fill the void.
Lastly, it wouldn’t be a vacation if I didn’t start thinking about the next one while we’re on it! I saw Sam Youkilis post about Suvretta House this week, a stunning hotel in St Moritz in the Swiss Alps, so am adding that to my ever-growing list of places to visit in Europe.
What have you two been eyeing — stuff to buy or places to go/eat?
NP: First of all, long time reader, first time writer, so glad to be invited! Easily my longest running open tab is a Skyler Diggins-Smith Seattle Storm Jersey. During this year’s well deserved surge in the popularity of the WNBA, Skyler is an OG who really captured my attention. She is just so fun to watch! A perfect combo of attitude, hustle, and skills. In addition, since I know my fashionable sister will appreciate, she has the BEST Pregame ensembles! I feel like it’s something like Sade meets Tracee Ellis Ross?
CP: Very Sade with the red lip! Which you know I can appreciate.
NP: There is an older breakfast place in my neighborhood called the Cameo Cafe that I’ve heard wonderful things about. I am always in search of more Diner culture in PDX, and this seems to be just that! Some of the best memories of my 20s are of nights at Portland’s Hot Cake House after an Aladdin Theater show, drunkenly eating hashbrowns and paying for copious amounts of Prince to be played on the jukebox. Still waiting for a good late-night diner to return to Portland though, as the Hot Cake House is sadly no longer a 24-hour spot. In the meantime, gotta check out Cameo Cafe!
CP: Sounds like we’ll be taking you guys to the newly reopened Kellog’s Diner before going to a Liberty game when you visit next year!
Now, over to Mike with the weather! But actually, he IS our in-house meteorologist.
MS: Hello! Is this thing on? A seemingly always open tab of mine is JJJJound. This direct-to-consumer (in like a chic way) menswear brand out of Montreal is on absolute fire season after season. JJJJound started as a Tumblr-esque “image blog” in 2006 and now produces their own clothing and accessories, and I simply can’t get enough of them. I’m eyeing the Windbreaker Bottoms, the Levi’s Plaid Shirt, and the irritatingly overpriced London Undercover umbrella. I’ve also been digging Octobre Editions out of Paris, in particular the Charlie Velvet shirt in Dark Brick and the Wesson sweatshirt in Ecru.
But, the tab I wish I could close out most is the revival of TV on the Radio and their extremely limited tour dates later this year. The band has been on hiatus since 2014, and I’m crossing my fingers this means new music is on the way. I really tried with this one, you guys, jumping into multiple pre-sales for any of the four NY dates to no avail. I guess I’ll overpay on Stubhub.
CP: Hopefully Taylor Swift Tree Paine has her way and Stubhub will be changing their tune on resale bots in the not-so-distant future. 🤞
Closed Tabs
CP: After about a month in our new apartment, it’s starting to really feel like home. Likely because we have now hung the majority of our art! One final piece we just received back from the framer (s/o to my guys at NuFrame) is a tablescape from photographer Lucia Bell-Epstein. I’ve followed Lucia’s work since she started shooting for Jay Wolman during residency at Early June and tenure at Mimi. We actually had dinner at Early June while he was popping up there, so it felt extra special to snag a print Lucia took in Paris during that time. I’ll post a photo of it to OT’s IG!
Otherwise, I got the softest, most comfortable cropped white tee ahead of this trip, this $17 sweatshirt and wide-leg sweats to cozy up in and finally executed on some Comme Si socks, which I regret to inform are worth the hype/price tag. Lastly, I found a $15 Etsy dupe (similar but more sculptural here!) for these Bagatiba lightweight gold hoops I’ve had saved for a while, which were ideal light-weight, everyday earrings for this kind of casual vacation.
What have you two bought recently? Any exceptional places you’ve had a drink/meal?
NP: One of the many silly experiences of having a kid is accidentally inventing things that already exist in an effort to please them. Case in point, I was wondering if there was some sort of lap drum for my 7 month old son, Ethan, that he could hold onto and bop on. Ideally it would have a jingle to it as well? Guess what — that’s a tambourine! So, Ethan got his first instrument this week from our local shop Trade Up Music, which is where I bought my first drum set. A full circle moment!
For my wife Bre and I, the laid back dinner and drinks outing of this summer has been having a patio beer at the Upright Brewing location on Prescott St, while also ordering gyros at Samo’s Bistro next door. A jazz-themed brewery across the street from no fuss Mediterranean food, my dream!
CP: Witnessed Ethan’s percussion skills first-hand this week and can confirm he’s a prodigy!
What about you, Miguel? I feel like you’ve had some fun packages delivered to our stoop lately.
MS: I find myself in a bout of “uniform-dressing,” as previously mentioned. I recently swapped out some t-shirts with Blanks by Thirteen Studios’ Perfect T-shirts. These bad boys are super soft, pre-shrunk with an oversized fit, and come in at just the right price for everyday wear. For under the uniform, I recently picked up a bottle of Margin Core Cleanse body wash after the folks at East and West - a menswear store in St. Louis I’ve followed for years - posted about it. I’ve yet to crack the bottle, but hopefully one of the OT editors will comment on it in subsequent issues.
As for food, it’s the Dankwrap at Super Burrito. I usually avoid when restaurants try to recreate fast-food dishes, but SB’s take on Taco Bell’s Crunchwrap Supreme (a repeat offender in our post-11pm DoorDash orders) is excellent. And, with a location in Gowanus/Park Slope, this crunchy, cheesy, meaty deliciousness arrives warm and is quite literally “good to go.”
CP: It’s true! A rare instance when the remake is (almost) as good as the original.
Open Books
CP: I just finished The Grandest Game, a new book in the same family (literally) as the Inheritance Games series. As someone who loves a mystery and loves a heist, Jennifer Barnes books are a delight, albeit sometimes a bit capital Y capital A “young adult”. But, a nice thing to sandwich between more meaty novels. A non-fiction release I’m excited about is Didion and Babitz, a study of letters sent between Eve Babitz and Joan Didion that dives into their dynamic as seminole writers in and about Los Angeles. In that same vein, I’m curious about The Friday Afternoon Club, a memoir written by Didion’s nephew. He allegedly was saved from drowning by Sean Connery and was romantically linked to Carrie Fisher! Compelling family lore, to say the least.
What are you guys reading? Beach reads and otherwise.
NP: I’ve been hooked on “The Breaks of the Game” by David Halberstam. An oldie but a goodie, looking behind the scenes at a rapidly changing NBA in the late 70s and early 80s. HBO needs to buy the rights and make this a show ASAP! I picked it up in mourning of Bill Walton, since I knew the Championship Blazer team of that era was featured, but it covers so much more than I realized about the inner-workings of the league. The first players union, early television deals, league mergers and back room negotiations, it’s all in there! (Side note, it's a big read but with no chapters, which I thought would be stressful but instead is kind of liberating?)
CP: It was cute to watch you look up from this book and fact check it with Dad, who has a truly encyclopedic knowledge of NBA history.
MS: When it comes to books, there are two wolves inside me, as the kids say: high fantasy epics and abstract, melancholy novels. This year, I’ve been steeped in Brandon Sanderson’s Stormlight Archive series. These puppies are coming in at 1000+ pages apiece, but they breeze by. Sanderson is a master at world-building and his characters are complex but easy to root for. I also recently wrapped up Pure Colour by Sheila Heti. This book hit me right in the feels; a psychological fiction novel about a woman navigating the death of her father while she steps into her own pursuits as an artist. I’ll admit this is not for everyone, but I was able to relate to it in a very specific way.
Open Obsessions
CP: As Mike well knows, we’ve been tackling the back-catalog of Industry in an attempt to catch up before season 3 ends. The show was described to me as “Euphoria meets Succession” and, as someone who hasn’t seen Euphoria, I assume that is probably correct! There’s less comic relief (I miss the Greg/Tom shenanigans!) but it packs a punch in a similar way and has comparable starry cameos. As Jess hysterically put it, “I’m looking for a man in finance, 5’2, John Snow” in reference to season 3’s resident billionaire. More than anything, though, it has a killer soundtrack. My latest hyper-fixation song came from the Season 2 opener and I’ve streamed it no less than 50x at this point. It makes even the most mundane dog walk feel cinematic.
Since you’ve both, respectively, DJed one of our weddings, you know I trust your taste in music. Hit me with what you’re listening to these days!
NP: These days it’s been more about the tunes and less about the shows or movies for me. I've been super into the most recent album by the duo OHMA, “On Loving Earth.” One half of the group is Saxophonist Hailey Niswagner, who I first heard when she was sitting in on sets with Mel Brown's B3 Group back when she and I were both teenagers. I was immediately impressed and have followed her career ever since. OHMA is her low key acoustic project with friend Mia Garcia, and “On Loving Earth” is the perfect brain balm-end of the work day record. Throw it on for a meditation or for an intimate happy hour, good vibes regardless! I also must shout out Portland MC Milc! His “Windbreaker XL” record was a fav of mine from 2022, but my absolute #1 beat of the season has been a more recent track of his “Plus Sized Model.” SUCH A JAM! Especially if you live in the NW, no rapper has better lyrics or references to make you smile than Milc.
CP: Cover your ears, Macklemore!!
MS: OK, I may be on my own for this one, but I am all over Childish Gambino’s Bando Stone & The New World. I especially like the track with Khruangbin towards the end of the album. I pick up everything Donald Glover puts down: from Troy on Community to every episode of Atlanta. I’ll even give him his awkward rendition of Lando Calrissian in the otherwise awful Solo. I was also rooting for Glover’s Mr. and Mrs. Smith series to win an Emmy last week but alas, it’s tough to compete with the incredible Shōgun.
CP: Worth noting that Mike’s most used GIF is this one and we often joke/dream about following Donald’s lead and buying a farm in Ojai, so he really is a fam fave.
That’s all for Nick and Mike’s guest issue! To see more of what we talked about, follow OT’s Instagram at @opentabsletter or shop all of our issues here.