Let's cut to the chase
A quickie letter today.
This is Cocktail Charm, a weekly email filled with delicious little things to talk about at parties. In today’s edition: millefleur drink orders, modern bonnets, and some suspicious selfies from Larry Fink.
I haven’t been feeling my best this week, so this newsletter is an abbreviation of our usual email. Next week I’ll tell you all about the time I paid people to have dinner with me. Cin cin!
Tell me about it
Conversation-starters to take to happy hour (or just your group chat).
Are you walking too fast these days? A new study analyzed video footage of pedestrians in busy streets in New York, Boston, and Philadelphia from 1980 to 2010 — and finds we now move more quickly and stop less to chat. So what happened to hanging out?
We need to hypothesize which celebrities are buying cancellation insurance. I expect Justin Baldoni would have absolutely saved some money with this.1
Are we really going to hand trad culture this victory? Fashion says the bonnet is back.
Anyone want to share a drink in medieval Moulin Rouge? There’s a reason this new East Village cocktail bar feels like stepping into an opulent film — it’s co-owned by Baz Luhrmann. My favorite corners include the millefleur tapestry and Sherlockian stained-glass monkey.
Who’s headed to Hawaii on their Venmo balance? JetBlue is now accepting Venmo as a payment option for flights.
Are novels losing the plot? The hottest books in fiction are the one where nothing happens.
Which addiction are you making peace with this year? I loved this longread from writer Monica Corcoran Harel about her life of perpetual pleasure-seeking, and why we all struggle with our own cravings for dopamine.
One question I’m asking everyone I meet this week
Would you line up for the cheese tea craze?
One thing I’m tossing on the table the next time I host
I just learned about Onino chili crisp, which combines Mexican and Chinese spices, takes flavors from almonds, and is made right in my neighborhood.
One tidbit I will simply not shut up about
It appears professional Housewife and noted benzodiazepine evangelist Ramona Singer may have sold off her Twitter account…to the CEO of BlackRock??????? Internet observers have noticed something strange about Larry Fink’s account — in his post history, you’ll see tweets from early 2023 change from investing discourse to, well, snaps of Ms. Singer.
Over on Instagram, Ramona has claimed she has no idea about what happened. Louis Vuitton may make mistakes, but the tweet history does NOT. I want Larry on the record NOW.
That’s all I’ve got for you. Hit reply and tell me whose Twitter account you’d buy off if you had the cash.
Clink clink!
Gabriela
Thanks for being a reader of Cocktail Charm! Has this newsletter helped you out at happy hour? Let me know; I’d love to hear it.
My picks: Jenna Lyons, Sandra Lee, Anna Kendrick, Tan France, and ABSOLUTELY DJ Khalid, and no, I’m not explaining my reasons why.