[00:16] Meg: Welcome to desperately seeking the 80s. I am Meg.

[00:18] Jessica: And I'm Jessica. And Meg and I have been friends since 1982. We got through middle school and high school together here in New York City, where we still live and where we

[00:27] Meg: podcast about New York city in the 80s. I do ripped from the headlines and

[00:31] Jessica: I do podcast pop culture. But today, today we're doing something different.

[00:36] Meg: We're doing tiny Consumer Reports. They're not just Consumer Reports, they're tiny.

[00:43] Jessica: Tiny. Because, like, doing it, the long form is just exhausting. So we're going to call this convenient for us Consumer Reports.

[00:54] Meg: Convenient for us. So, yeah, we're going to do three yums and one yuck each. Each. And we'll go back and forth. Yeah. All right, let's get started.

[01:06] Jessica: You go first.

[01:07] Meg: We've got a lot of things to cover. Lots of yums.

[01:11] Meg and Jessica: So much yum, yum, yum, yum, yum, yum, yum.

[01:25] Meg: My first yum is definitely something that I think that you can appreciate, Jessica.

[01:31] Jessica: Oh, I'm excited.

[01:32] Meg: When we were growing up, there were no products that worked for our hair girl. It has been a lifetime of trying to find curl products. And I think we have discussed a little bit about leave in conditioners and. And oil serums and all that stuff

[01:53] Jessica: and that we were. We were stuck with the mo. The highest level was 10x when we

[01:58] Meg: were in high school, which was, thank goodness. The world has. Has basically recognized that having curly hair isn't the most embarrassing thing in the world and that maybe you can work with it instead of, like, flat ironing it or whatever we had to do. Yes.

[02:15] Jessica: Although you know what I was thinking just so funny because I was looking at, of course, something on Instagram, and I was looking, unsurprisingly, at something 80s related. And you know what I think the problem was for us, it's. The problem maybe wasn't that we had curly hair. The problem was where we lived. If we had been in the suburbs,

[02:40] Meg: it would have been embraced.

[02:41] Jessica: It would have giant hair, like the giant hair of New Jersey, the giant hair of Long Island. Do you know how much easier it would have been for us to have, like, teased out, crimped giant hair?

[02:53] Meg: But still, it still would have the frizz. I don't know.

[02:57] Jessica: But I think that was more valued.

[02:59] Meg: I completely hear what you're saying. Yeah. We were definitely trying to not have New Jersey hair.

[03:04] Jessica: We were trying to be as waspy haired as humanly possible.

[03:09] Meg: Yeah. And it's a struggle.

[03:10] Jessica: That was. You know what? That's why everyone was obsessed with Carolyn Bissette and Gwyneth Paltrow, it was that they had that flat hair. Flat. The flattest hair in the. In the. In the land of flat. Dom.

[03:24] Meg: Well, onto my yum, which is a current yum that I have just recently discovered. So I need to spread the wisdom and the wealth.

[03:33] Jessica: I am so excited to hear about it.

[03:36] Meg: Two products. Two products.

[03:38] Jessica: Okay.

[03:39] Meg: One is a brush called Bounce Curl. Define Edge Lift. It will cost you $30. And what it is, is just a brush, but it has little ridges on the side, so it define. You put the product in your hair and then you put the brush through it and it will define your curls. So when it air dries, it looks like. It looks right now. Which is pretty awesome.

[04:03] Jessica: It's fucking great, by the way. Ring Liddy. No frizz. Wait, so Quest. Quest. Cho.

[04:09] Meg: Yeah.

[04:10] Jessica: How is this different? So you do it when your hair is wet. And how is this different from the essential effect of a. Of a wide tooth comb?

[04:22] Meg: It's how the ridges are shaped. They're like more rounded than I would say a comb is. It's like the most extreme wide tooth comb you've ever seen in your life. But it's also, you've got a brush element to it too. So you brush it out and then you define the curls.

[04:39] Jessica: Ooh.

[04:40] Meg: Yeah. It's like a two part process, love. Okay. And I've got one other thing for you. You get a blowout every once in a while. Am I right?

[04:50] Jessica: Very rarely at this point. Because I've learned to do it myself. And I'm too cheap to do. To let someone do it unless I'm really stuck.

[04:58] Meg: Well, I have learned to do it myself, too. I did go the Dyson route.

[05:03] Jessica: You inspired me to get the Dyson.

[05:05] Meg: But honestly, I have found something that works better for me and only costs $140.

[05:12] Jessica: Shut it down.

[05:13] Meg: It's called Moroccan oil. Four in one blow dryer brush. And it is a brush that spins around in half an hour. I can have the same kind of blowout as when I go to a place where they charge me quite a bit more. A million dollars. Yeah.

[05:32] Jessica: Wow. I know.

[05:33] Meg: And I can do it at home, so I can do it at a heartbeat. Oh, I want. I want straight hair today. I mean, beautifully wavy hair, I should say. I never go for super.

[05:41] Jessica: Super. Yeah, super.

[05:41] Meg: It's not a good look.

[05:43] Jessica: No. It looks like your hair's dead. Not yours in particular. I mean, generally you have to have unbelievably fine Hair and like, a blunt cut to. To go with that super straight. Otherwise you just look stringy.

[05:58] Meg: But now curls are embraced. And also, I don't have to, like, torture my hair by, like, you know, flattening it out so much with, like, a lot of heat. I mean, it's just the world is so much easier than when we were little.

[06:12] Jessica: Well, funny you should bring this up, because I was just in Sephora and Tracy Ellis Ross's product, her company pattern, which really even goes into, like, what pattern is your curl? Like, there are all these different classifications for different. Well, are you A, 4B, are you 2C? Like, what? And then it has all these different, you know, products and shampoos and all. And I was looking at it, and I thought, good gravy, you know, like, what was wrong in, like, seriously, like, was it. Was it racist in. In the 80s that it was, like, if you have anything but stick straight hair, there's something wrong with you because. Fill in the blank. Like, why?

[07:02] Meg: Well, I looked it up, actually. Love that, because I did feel like it was probably a trend. It was unsophisticated.

[07:09] Jessica: Yes. It looked. It was considered messy.

[07:11] Meg: Right. And so even people who had. If you think about, like, Farrah Fawcett or Jacqueline Smith, you know, the beautiful curls, that was straightened hair that was then curled.

[07:22] Jessica: Yes, yes. It had the glossiness and then, like a barrel curl.

[07:26] Meg: Right. So that's, again, like, not what we're talking about. We're talking about embracing what your hair does naturally rather than trying to make it do something completely different than what it wants to do. Agreed.

[07:42] Jessica: But your hair, I have to tell you, your hair game has been very on point lately, and I have noticed it. And I think every time you walk into this apartment, I tell you your hair looks great. So now.

[07:55] Meg: Now you know why I have to

[07:56] Jessica: buy the goddamn brush. Now, does it work with any hair product or does it have to be there?

[08:02] Meg: No, no, no, no. Whatever. I always mix up my hair products.

[08:05] Meg and Jessica: Hmm.

[08:08] Jessica: So tell me the brand again. The brush that gives you the curl, the perfect curl.

[08:14] Meg: Curl, define edge lift. Bounce. Curl, define edge lift.

[08:21] Meg and Jessica: Yum, yum, yum, yum, yum, yum.

[08:33] Jessica: So I told you that I was interested to hear what you went with first, because then I was going to vibe off you. So the product I am going to talk about, that I'm extremely enthusiastic about. And I was in Sephora to buy it because I had run out of it a while. Actually, I didn't even run out of it. I had, like, half of A thing left. And a dear friend of ours who really needed, like, a little pop of something. I was like, why don't you take this? So I've been without this for a while.

[09:02] Meg: Ooh, that's so nice of you.

[09:03] Jessica: This is. Well, thank you. This has been around for a really long time. And first, I'm going to tell you what some of my beauty problems are, because we all know about our curly hair scenario. The older I have gotten, the less pigment I have in my lips.

[09:24] Meg and Jessica: Huh.

[09:24] Jessica: I look like a ghost. And my mother, I. I never had very pigmented lips. And my mother was always like, put on lipstick when you. I'm like, nobody wears lipstick. I am, like, slathering on my Bonnie Bell or whatever it was, which, of course, deposited almost no color. But I was like, lipstick is too grown up. Lipstick is too whatever. And then in the 90s, yeah. We all wore brown lipstick, which just looked like zombie town.

[09:53] Meg: Yeah. But I didn't think it at the time, but it. It did.

[09:56] Jessica: It was like Bobby Brown was definitely breaking ground with the whole natural neutral thing. Bless her. And she continues to. But she's upped her game with what neutral even means. And then I got into lipstick and, like, when I got really into vintage clothing and actually wearing it out of the house. So, like, a 1940s red lip was something that I was deeply into. And I have.

[10:24] Meg: With your dark hair and blue eyes. I mean, that is gorgeous. Well, thank you.

[10:28] Jessica: That's very supportive. And so I have. In my apartment. And you've seen it. I have a collect. And I loved mate. Like, I went through a serious, like, makeup phase. I have a 1920s vellum suitcase that is on top of a, like, table thing in my bedroom that holds so much makeup that it is shocking considering what I'm about to tell you. My. My favorite product is. But I have every blush, every lip, every, like, every. Like, you name it, I have it. And I have nars eyeshadows that have long been discontinued, but I used them once, and they're all properly sealed like it's a fucking museum. With that said, my tip, my love, is good old Bene tint from Benefit. Oh, so.

[11:28] Meg: And that's kind of a gel.

[11:30] Jessica: It's a liquid.

[11:31] Meg: Liquid.

[11:32] Jessica: And it used to be.

[11:33] Meg: Brush it on.

[11:34] Jessica: It used to be in a. And the. The applicator used to be the same kind of brush as a. What's the thing you. Nail polish.

[11:41] Meg: Right.

[11:41] Jessica: I'm, like, holding my finger up. What's the thing you put on this? But they've Moved it over to the doe foot sponge applicator. Like everything else, it is a stain that is not so intense that the minute you put it on, you're fud. Which is the way that, like, milk jelly stain. Like some of these.

[12:02] Meg: Yeah.

[12:03] Jessica: Like, water tint. Milk is one of the big. I was like, you're kidding me. You put it on and you're instantly like. It's an indelible thing.

[12:12] Meg: There's also that purple stuff that you put on. Have you seen that?

[12:15] Jessica: Yes. And then you peel it off and

[12:17] Meg: you're like, oh, my gosh, I look like someone hit me in the face.

[12:19] Jessica: Yes. Benetint. It's a. It's just too much. Benetint is buildable. And now it comes in two more. They're all rosy shades, but in addition to the original, I go with the original rose. If I put on some concealer on my constantly growing number of melasmas and other other spots of doom, I put on concealer, and then I use the benetint buildable. Just a little dot. Rub it in. Little dot.

[12:49] Meg: And you're pointing to your cheeks.

[12:50] Jessica: My cheeks. And then as on your lips, like, you put it on. You let it dry. You put on another. You are good to go all day.

[13:01] Meg: So exciting.

[13:02] Jessica: And it is so gonna do that.

[13:03] Meg: You have to.

[13:04] Jessica: And it costs, like, the little. The little thing is like $12. It's great.

[13:11] Meg: Ah, amazing.

[13:13] Meg and Jessica: Yum, yum, yum, yum, yum, yum.

[13:25] Meg: Jessica. Meg, you have been in my home. You know how I've got little bitty creatures all over on my bookshelf?

[13:34] Jessica: They're so cute.

[13:35] Meg: Aren't they sweet?

[13:36] Jessica: They're adorable.

[13:37] Meg: Many of them. I've got different kinds of little figures like that. Many of them are from a company called Smiski Smeski. And the thing that I love about SME skis is it just makes you feel good. They come in these mystery boxes, and you open it up and you get the one you need. So today, before I came here, on my way here, I stopped by at an May, which is a store in the East Village that has all the Smeeskies. And I got you a mystery box. And we're going to find out what Smeesky Jessica needs.

[14:19] Jessica: Oh, that's so sweet. Is this also like angel cards? Remember those? Like, you pull a card and you'd be like, this is what I need to know today.

[14:27] Meg: Interesting.

[14:27] Jessica: Is this a Smiski? That's gonna be like, this is who you need to know. This Smeasky is Like your.

[14:34] Meg: Yeah, it's your spirit animal. That's right at this moment.

[14:38] Jessica: So this is an octagonal. No, it's not. It's. What is a. Is it a hexagon if it has six sides?

[14:45] Meg: Yeah.

[14:45] Jessica: Okay. It's a hexagonal box, and it's super cute. And above the word smisuki in letters is in, I believe, Japanese characters. And it says Sunday on it.

[14:59] Meg: That's the series. I got you something from the Sunday series.

[15:02] Jessica: It's adorable.

[15:03] Meg: They have different series. Living toilet.

[15:07] Jessica: Toilet. You didn't get me toilet.

[15:10] Meg: What's wrong with you? Isn't that funny? I didn't. I looked at toilet and I was like, no, I'm not gonna get her toilet. No, no, no.

[15:16] Jessica: That's. It's. Whatever it is, it's so welcome and delightful. So this yellow and purple box is as cute as the dickens. And I'm opening it up. And inside this mystery box, the blind box, is a silver foil wrapper and a little.

[15:38] Meg: We are unboxing.

[15:39] Jessica: We're unboxing. And a little booklet, a little pamphlet. And the pamphlet is same branding as the box. And it says Spieski sundae. And then it shows this little critter that I've seen in your house. These little green, blobby creatures having engaged in a series of relaxing endeavors. So we've got blowing bubbles and paper airplanes and lying on the ground. That would be my favorite. And, ooh. Playing a little guitar on a park bench. Skateboarding, gardening, and then question mark.

[16:19] Meg: All right, so let's see.

[16:20] Jessica: This is super adorable. Let's see. Wait, that was only one side. Ooh. The other side has QR codes and online shopping. Good branding, Smiiski people. So in this silver and yellow striped Smiski package. This is so cute. And the Smiski drum roll. It's multi pieces.

[16:46] Meg: Oh, you.

[16:47] Jessica: I love. Oh, I got the one I wanted. This is the cutest. He's lying on his or her gender neutral back, snoozing with a little cat that is clearly meant to lie across the belly.

[17:04] Meg: That's a good one.

[17:05] Jessica: That's Meg. This is a wonderful gift, and I love it deeply. And I'm so excited that you've told people about this because the delight I am experiencing at simply looking at this little critter is enormous. And I'm opening it so you can also say hello to Smiesky Jones.

[17:28] Meg: Aw. I went on Reddit to see what the world has to say about SMI skis, and everyone was, you know, Reddit can often just be A place where people kvetch and about all kinds of things. Like, that's really kind of the point of Reddit, is it? Not? To, like, just be able to anonymously voice all of your deepest, darkest thoughts and concerns?

[17:54] Jessica: I happen to love. Am I the asshole that's always my favorite. And I'm like, invariably, yes, if you're asking.

[18:01] Meg: Well, I went on Reddit to see what the SMI ski community had to say, and it's all joy, all the time. And one person, I thought I'd share this with you. When asked, why do you like Smeisky so much? This person said, they listen and they don't judge.

[18:20] Jessica: Shut up. Shut up.

[18:23] Meg: Look.

[18:24] Jessica: Oh, no.

[18:25] Meg: You can also put the little guy on his head.

[18:27] Jessica: Stop it. Put it on. I'm dead. I'm officially dead. It's the cutest thing in the world. Oh, my God. On the knees.

[18:37] Meg: No, you gazing.

[18:38] Jessica: Oh, my God. It's the cutest thing I've ever seen. I love it.

[18:43] Meg and Jessica: Yay.

[18:43] Meg: Thank you.

[18:44] Jessica: And you know, I'll tell you something about, like, I'm not gonna get political, but we live in troubled times.

[18:51] Meg: True.

[18:52] Jessica: Anything sweet and cute, I think, is also really having its moment because of the joy. I was in this office two days ago with a very young friend of mine who is here to help me put things on. Depop. She looked at something on the shelf. My bookshelf, which is directly in back of you right now.

[19:11] Meg: The Sunny Angel.

[19:12] Jessica: Well, at first she said, sunny Angel. And I was like, oh, you like that? And she's like, I love them. They're so cute. I said, oh, look at this. That I got when I was. I got it out of a vending machine when I was in Brighton. So if you look at the shelf underneath the Sunny angel, do you see that plastic?

[19:29] Meg: Oh, yeah, he's squishy.

[19:31] Jessica: It's a capybara squishy. She held this little blob. She lost her mind. She absolutely melted down and started to. She was going to cry.

[19:42] Meg: Look, you have to tell her where the store is because they have tons of things like that.

[19:45] Jessica: I will. I think that. And I think for anyone who needs a pick me up. So the Spieski is amazing for those of us in New York. Say the name of the store again.

[19:54] Meg: Ann May, a N dot M E. And it's on East 9th street in the East Village.

[20:02] Jessica: Love it.

[20:03] Meg and Jessica: Yum, yum, yum, yum, yum, yum.

[20:15] Jessica: So you just talked about a story store that you like. I'm going to do the same this is a. If you're in New York, but you could also access this on Gold Belly if you are not in New York.

[20:24] Meg: Food related.

[20:25] Jessica: Yes. So it begins, unsurprisingly, with a K. Fetch.

[20:30] Meg: You're sneaking in a yuck. It's not really.

[20:33] Jessica: Yeah, but the yum is that much more important because of the yuck.

[20:36] Meg: All right.

[20:37] Jessica: It's not even a yuck. It's like a. It's. It's a. Hmm. Whole Foods is not an inexpensive place to buy food, no matter what. You know, there's still. Even though it's owned by Jeff Bezos and it's all.

[20:54] Meg: Whole Foods is.

[20:55] Jessica: Yeah, it's owned by. It's Amazon.

[20:57] Meg: I didn't know that.

[20:58] Jessica: Oh, yeah. You know, they're still touting, like, high quality. High quality. And so, you know, my life is always better if there's smoked salmon in it. Oh, right.

[21:09] Meg: Russ and Daughter.

[21:10] Jessica: Exactly. So I was like, you know what? I'm going to be cost conscious because Recession. That. No one's really calling it recession, but maybe they are recession. So I purchased the 3 65, you know, their house brand smoked salmon on multiple occasions. The smoked salmon in the package is like. It has the hard edge. You know that like when they. They've cut it from the. From the end of the fish and you're like. And they're not trimming it and all that. And I got really pissed off because I was just like, you know what? No one eats that piece unless they don't know what to eat. Or you're stuck making lox and eggs and onions with the hard piece and you've got to dice it up. So fuck you, Whole Foods. My yum is a staple of New York sables.

[22:04] Meg: I mean, there's. So I was just thinking of all the places in New York where you can get amazing smoked salmon. I love that you were saying sables. That's.

[22:12] Jessica: And sables, I think, is the best in New York City because the guys behind the counter know their clientele. It's an Upper east side Jewish clientele. If you had a speck of anything that. Not right. Oh, yeah. They're coming back. Oh, they're coming back. You're going to hear all about it now at Tall Bagels. It's just not the same. Russ and Daughters. Yes. But going all the way downtown for me is a real pain in the ass. And they're a little more expensive at Russ and Daughters, so sables, the most impeccable. And not just one kind of smoked salmon. Five kinds of Smoked salmon and then lox. Okay. So perfect. And sliced transparent. So thin. And then if you're really on your game, you will get. Yes, it's expensive, but it's the best ever. Their lobster salad.

[23:14] Meg: Ooh, yeah.

[23:15] Jessica: And then if you're really on your game, you can get their lobster salad wrapped in the smoked salmon pinwheels that are ready to go. If you're having a cocktail party and you want to have something where people go, holy shit, what was that telling you? Go to stables, get the lobster salad, smoked salmon, pinwheels. I'm not joking you. I am now famished just describing it to you and salivating.

[23:45] Meg: Oh, my God, that sounds incredible.

[23:47] Jessica: And it's on se. What is it? Second Avenue and 76th Street.

[23:51] Meg: Beautiful.

[23:52] Meg and Jessica: Yum, yum, yum, yum, yum, yum.

[24:04] Meg: So you just spoke about a wonderful food item. I'm going to talk in a more general way. My yum is outdoor dining.

[24:16] Jessica: I love that about you. It has always been something that you love. And I have to tell you before I know you're going to talk about it, and I'm not going to. I don't think I'm going to steal your thunder, but you made such a difference in my life during COVID because you were like, suck it up. Yeah, it's cold. What do you want to do? Sit inside with a fucking mask on? We're eating at. Yes. This bubble that we're sitting in has no heating. Get another coat. I.

[24:46] Meg: Okay. So Jessica and I would meet regularly during COVID in a little shack on whatever street we decided we would beat on. And once. It was so friggin cold outside, it was the dead of winter, and I brought blankets and hand warmers. And to your credit, you did suck it up. You're just sitting there, your hands are shaking, eating guacamole and chips. I'm like, we can do this. We will survive.

[25:22] Jessica: It was completely emblematic of so many things in our relationship where you're like, just do it. I'm like, it hurts. Just do it. I don't want to. Just do it. It takes too much time. Just do it. Fine. Okay. It wasn't that bad. Did you like it? Yes, but I'm not gonna tell you I liked it.

[25:42] Meg: And here we are in the summer where really outdoor dining is such a joy. And there's so many different kinds of outdoor dining. Let me describe a few. We have the rooftop happy hour. All right. I suggest to everybody, in particular, Broken Shaker at the Freehand has an incredible rooftop happy Hour. All of the things I'm going to mention right now are outdoor dining happy hours.

[26:15] Jessica: Got it. Love it.

[26:16] Meg: Okay, my next one. I also love a hotel bar.

[26:21] Jessica: Oh, Meg, you are speaking my language.

[26:25] Meg: And Gilligan's at the Soho grand in Soho. Soho has an outdoor happy hour. And it's like walking into an oasis somewhere else in the world. World.

[26:41] Jessica: Delightful.

[26:42] Meg: Delightful. Next, outdoor dining happy hour. The Watermark Bar is on the water at South Street Seaport. So you're basically on a deck and you're looking out at Brooklyn, and you can kind of see Long Island City over there. And if you lean in the other direction, you can sort of see Staten Island. You can see Governor's island, you see the bridges. It's lovely.

[27:09] Jessica: Lovely.

[27:09] Meg and Jessica: There are little. There are a few.

[27:11] Meg: I mean, in our day, tourists used to go to South Street Seaport. It's a little less touristy now, I would venture to say. I'm sure many people will disagree with me. In my experience, it's not crowded, which I also like. I don't like crowded. No, I like.

[27:26] Jessica: Ooh.

[27:27] Meg: This is my own little special place. I have had that experience at the Watermark Bar on the water at South Street Seaport.

[27:35] Jessica: Wonderful.

[27:35] Meg: And finally, the Waverly Inn and Garden.

[27:40] Jessica: Really?

[27:41] Meg: On Bank Street. Now, we both know that the Waverly Inn has had a very storied history.

[27:47] Jessica: Indeed.

[27:48] Meg: I used to go there regularly with this group of women I went to college with. And this is before it was trendy and it was just this place that had existed since the turn of the century. And they had chicken pot pies and it was just kind of adorable. And we always like, kind of took over a big table. It was never a problem getting a table there.

[28:11] Jessica: Well, thanks, Graydon Carter, for ruining it.

[28:14] Meg: Oh, oh, oh, and also it. I had my rehearsal dinner there in 1998.

[28:19] Jessica: Sweet.

[28:21] Meg: Well, in 2006, it was hitting hard times. So who other than Graydon Carter and good old Eric Goode? God, where isn't Eric Good the present Eric Goode? Good Lord. Got together and they saved the Waverly Inn, which I'm very happy about. Yay for that. Unfortunately, after that, it became the friggin trendiest goddamn restaurant in this city. And it was absolutely impossible, impossible, impossible to get a table. So I haven't even thought about it for like 20 frigging years because I'm like, I'll never be able to darken the door because I'm not Gwyneth Paltrow, right?

[29:05] Jessica: No, no. Nor should you be.

[29:06] Meg: Well, guess what? Jessica, bring It.

[29:08] Jessica: Tell me now.

[29:09] Meg: I went on resi and you can go to the Waverly Inn and Garden and get a reservation now because it's no longer trend. So let's do that. Yes.

[29:21] Jessica: That's a hundred percent yes. And can you. Can you make the res for the garden?

[29:25] Meg: Yes.

[29:26] Jessica: Stop it.

[29:27] Meg: All right. And this is the other thing. On their website, they don't have any reviews or blah, blah, blah. It's like the Waverlyn if, you know, you know, we don't need to sell us. Right. And I agree with them on that. But they do have one quote from one person.

[29:43] Jessica: Oh, boy.

[29:44] Meg: Waverly Inn. Worst food in city. Donald Trump.

[29:49] Jessica: Love it. I love it. I love it. I love it. I love it. Before, before we switch over, I just wanted to tell you your choices brought back a memory about a place that I actually spent a little time looking at today. I have some memories now. This is not actual outdoor dining. There are some places in the city that you are well aware of that are so established and not on like super busy thoroughfares where there's spillover onto the sidewalk. It's not really design. There aren't tables and chairs. There's just kind of like maybe a place to lean. Well, we've talked about this place many times on this show, but I have so many good memories of hanging out with a group of college friends at the Ear Inn.

[30:43] Meg: Oh, yes, yes.

[30:44] Jessica: Outside. Because they have those benches that are built around the trees.

[30:47] Meg: Love the Ear Inn. I know someone who waits tables there.

[30:50] Jessica: Really?

[30:51] Meg and Jessica: Yeah.

[30:51] Jessica: Well, here, let's go to the Ear Inn. Yeah, let's do that. But here's the thing. We have talked about the Ear Inn on this show. And we've talked about the fact that where it is used to be where the water is crazy. Well, guess what I did for us. So the Ear in was established in 1817. I found through the New York Public Library digitized maps, the map of New York City from 1817. And I looked at the exact spot where the Ear in was built. And then I looked at the current map. So I have the original. And I've pinpointed where the Ear in is. And the current map, I have drawn over it the whole area that is the addition. So I'm going to give those to you to post. And it is so interesting, and this is a yum that I wasn't going to even. Didn't even occur to me to talk about it. But the New York Public Libraries map rooms, they are available to all and pick a year. Go find the map of New York City from that year and be amazed.

[32:05] Meg: Oh, I love that.

[32:07] Meg and Jessica: Yum, yum, yum, yum, yum, yum.

[32:19] Jessica: I can't help but cheat a tiny bit. I have a yum. And I'm going to talk about it. And it dovetails with what you were talking about. The establishment on the water, Watermark Bar. Okay, so we're gonna like, we're gonna get right back to Watermark Bar. There are a couple of things that I think are so extraordinary. They're not really products, but they're experience like New York things that sometimes I'll wake up in the middle of the night and be like, I have to eat that. Why is that not here? And then I taught myself how to make it. But one of the things that I love so much when we're talking about downtown is the Victoria Sponge Cake at Tea and Sympathy on Greenwich Avenue. So Tea and Sympathy, we can talk about it another. Look it up. Just look it up. It's. It's a. The bastion of English life in New York City. Their. Their food is great. Everything is great. But the Victoria Sponge Cake, which is basically a giant sandwich that's cake filled with cream and jam. It is enough to just make you recognize that life is good. Like life is worth living. If you're feeling low, if you're feeling like, what's the point? Tea and Sympathy's Victoria Sponge Cake. Go eat it now. There's so many products, there's so many things. But if you look around this office, you will see that there are a couple of signs hanging up that are letterpress signs. Now, what do I love deeply? Letterpress? I love old printing methods. I love old books. I collect some old books just because of what the printing and the binding looks like. Who cares that it's the most boring bullshit about grammar? I don't care. It looks great. I always am on the hunt for letterpress. Can I get something done? Can I get something made? It's time to get. Actually, this is true. It's time to get business cards made. I'm going to put in the the money so I can have my American Psycho, like super excellent letterpress. So there is a place in South Street Seaport that brings me joy. After you have your drink at Watermark Bar, you can stroll on over to Bone and Company. B O W N E. It's a 19th century letterpress printer at the South Street Seaport. It has been in continuous operation since 1775.

[34:51] Meg: Amazing. Wow.

[34:53] Jessica: It was once New York's oldest and largest printing firm. And by the turn of the 19th century, it was one of hundreds of printing offices in lower Manhattan, printing the documents related to shipping as well as books. Yes. In 1975, after 200 years of service, Bone and Company, Bowne. I don't know how you pronounce it. Honored the bicentennial of Bone Co. In partnership with the South Street Seaport and became part of their museum, even though it's still functional. The brick and mortar shop that it's currently in was built in 1839. An iron stove warehouse originally. It was originally founded by a merchant and Quaker, Robert Bone, who emigrated to America from England in 1649. So this is major, major New York history. They were at one point on Hudson street, and it was continuously owned by the family until 1952. So their stuff is adorable. It's beautiful. If you just want to take a look at what they make, it's worth it. And you can buy all kinds of things that are not even touristy crap, even though it's at the seaport.

[36:19] Meg and Jessica: Yuck.

[36:19] Meg: It's your favorite time, Jess.

[36:21] Jessica: I'm so excited to talk about what I hate. It's just amazing.

[36:27] Meg: My yuck.

[36:29] Jessica: I actually chose specially for you because

[36:32] Meg: I think it might be a yum for you, but maybe I'm wrong.

[36:37] Jessica: Oh, my God, I'm so excited.

[36:39] Meg: Okay, my yuck is department stores. Now, look, we live in a city with amazing historical department stores. Bloomingdale's, Macy's, Bergdorfs, Gimbel's. How can you not walk through these places where people actually, this is a destination. They come to New York City to go to Macy's. They come to New York City to go to Bloomingdale's. I get so anxious. I had. You know, I've been having this awful headache, which I finally got rid of because I went to this place called Face Gym. I'm not entirely sure if this is a yuck or a yum. My headache isn't with me anymore. But what they did to me while I was there was they pummeled me. They pummeled my face. I was like, am I gonna be swollen like a tomato?

[37:41] Jessica: They're like, no, you're fine. And suddenly they pull out a sock filled with pennies.

[37:45] Meg: They were doing no. It kind of felt like that. I was like, this is Candid Camera. Like, what are they doing to me? This is not a soothing experience. But anyway, I got rid of my headache, so whatever. But it was in Bloomingdale's, and it was a very early appointment, so I Came in. As soon as they opened the doors, I walked in. I was the only one there. I was like, maybe this will be an uncharacteristically soothing experience to walk through Bloomingdale's when there's not a soul there. Oh, no. I thought I was in, like, Day of the Comet. I was, like, completely freaking out. I was like, department stores are not for me. And like, at Bergdorrs, you know, where it's like, everything at Bergdor's is just so curated, so beautiful, so high quality, and yet when you stick it all together in the same place, it feels like it loses its specialness.

[38:45] Jessica: Yeah.

[38:45] Meg: You know what I mean?

[38:46] Jessica: It's overwhelming. It's too much. There is such a thing as too much. And I couldn't agree with you more. Even as a child, I would feel so overwhelmed that I would, like, sort of hide under the circular racks, you know, like, oh, look, it's an apartment for me, it's sort of a tent. It's. I'm just gonna stay here. And yes, my mother will have a complete psychotic break because she can't find me, But I found it overwhelming. And then, you know, as an adult, my. My need to acquire sort of overcame that.

[39:19] Meg: I mean, you could get great deals,

[39:21] Jessica: but you have to work at it.

[39:23] Meg: Well, if you have a pain in the asses card, I. I did get a Macy's card because my great friend Michael was like, if you have a Macy's card, it's almost like they are giving you the stuff at Macy's. It is so cheap. So I did it. I got a Macy's card. And he's not wrong.

[39:40] Jessica: All right, well, you actually just sold me on the Macy's card. So even though you just said that this was your yuck, it's also kind of a yum. Or it's an appreciated yuck.

[39:54] Meg: Yeah, I still. Even in spite of that, I'm just like, eh, I. I can do without.

[39:58] Jessica: Okay, look, I get mom and pop stores 110% the. But, you know, with the closure of Saks and other places like that because of online retailing, I almost feel like places like Bloomingdale's, they are now mom and pop stores. Like, they're in that category because we're losing them. We're losing brick and mortar again and again and again. And yeah, like, the closure like this is, I know, going like 25 years back. But when Bonwit Teller closed, I had a mild nervous breakdown. And when Saks closed, I was like, that's really bad. And I I have a wonderful client who was in commercial real estate development, and he told me something really interesting, which was that all of these, like, high end department stores that are closing, they did something very smart in the 80s, and they got like, amazing deals. You know how in malls they'll, like, the big store will be Nordstrom's. Like, they'll, those are like the tent poles. So. And, and in really big malls, there would be like a Nordstrom's in one corner, a Bloomingdale's in another corner. But they were getting such incredible deals that they were really putting themselves and investing their own development into the malls. And as the malls closed and closed and closed and closed, their footprint and their availability to the public dwindled. And then add to that online shopping, they're gone. They don't have the clout that they used to. So Bloomingdale's. Look, I was raised in Bloomingdale's, you know, like, I will certainly be out of my skull if that one closes, but I understand. It's over. They feel overwhelming. And you love things that are really particular, like, like these little spins.

[41:57] Meg: SME skis.

[41:58] Jessica: SME skis. I'm like spaz keys the SME skis. Like, you love such specialized thought over. Like, you're the person who would love going into those stores in SoHo that have four white shirts on a, on a rail. And you're like, how does this barely stay in business? Is this a front for something? But that I think would speak to you as opposed to here's 9 billion things for you to sort through, and maybe you'll find an espadrille that you don't hate.

[42:27] Meg: Yeah. No, not for me.

[42:29] Jessica: Not for me.

[42:40] Meg: Your time has come. Jessica, what's your yuck?

[42:44] Jessica: Okay, so before I begin, and I'm really gonna play by the rules, but I kind of feel like, you know, the R E M song, it's the end of the world, as, as you know it, as we know it. And it's just like an endless list of like, all the things or like, we didn't start the fire. I feel like I, I, I would love Everybody does, but everybody knows, like, the words. I feel like at some point I want to write that song that is gonna be every single thing that I hate. And I think I've even brought up on this podcast that one of the songs I love most from Gilbert and Sullivan is from the Mikado. And it's. I've got a little list, and it's everything that the Lord High Executioner hates that he's gonna kill people for. So, yeah, this is really great for me now I had to figure out, am I gonna talk about a thing or am I gonna talk about behavior? There are many things that I hate, but I feel like it's up to me to decide if I'm going to engage with them or not. I, like, I have some agency with those. So what I really hate, and this is very much with my personality, is when I'm denied agency and I am subjected to something. So here's my latest hate. This is. This is just because it's happened this week. It's happened almost every day this week and days of every week before that, starting probably bringing to my attention maybe a year ago. Meg, when are people on the subway going to understand that if they don't have headphones, they need to simply put the phone to their ear to hear what's happening? I don't want to hear the following music of any kind. I don't want to hear or be party to a video call that you are having sitting next to me with someone who is screaming at you about, why didn't you buy diapers? Our mother is dying. Like, whatever it is, I don't want to know. It's so invasive. And the sound, like, there's enough problem with, like, the onslaught of sound in the city that I just am like, that's your choice. And by the way, I hate your music. I'm not asking you to like my music. I don't play it. But your music is screaming. It's just terrible. In fact, Keith Richards said, I don't know if I said this on this podcast, but famously said not that long ago that he really hates rap music because if he wants it to be screamed at, he could just go home. So I was like that. Yeah. Now you might ask Jessica, why don't you just put your AirPods in and put them on? Noise canceling. Well, I'll tell you why. Safety. You cannot walk around New York City not hearing what's happening. If you do okay, you might make it. I hope you do. But you also might have someone who is less than on your side do something creepy. Now, here's my latest example. This dovetails with my next thing, my next hate. This is a twofer, all right. The area around Union Square is so fucked at the moment. Filled to the brim, rafters side to side. And I'm not saying that these are bad people. It's just a bad scene with serious junkies who are dangerous. And now, how do I know they're dangerous because they're not mentally with us entirely. So there I was walking, thank God, to a therapist appointment. Let me just put that out there. Thank God. Yes.

[46:43] Meg and Jessica: That's great.

[46:43] Jessica: I didn't know that. Yeah, yeah. You're not the only one looking after her mental health in this room, sister. So I'm walking on the south side of 14th street between University and Fifth someplace, and there is a. A guy who is out of his gourd and he is throwing a Dunkin Donuts, the largest size plastic cup for cold drinks filled with a pink liquid. I don't know if it's a Dunkin Donuts drink. Who knows what it is. Throwing the cup up in the air, catching it, and as he catches it, kneeling down dramatically that he has caught it and do it. And I didn't see this because I took my eye off the ball for two seconds. And we all know anyone who listens to this podcast, I'm paranoid. I'm very nervous. I have a lot of issues with other people. Two seconds. He does his little trick and kneels at my feet and I shriek and shoot into the air like a cat. And he actually was so alarmed by me that he was like, oh, God, I'm sorry.

[47:54] Meg and Jessica: And I was like, you should be.

[47:58] Jessica: Now they're not all that benign.

[48:00] Meg: I don't think he was a junkie.

[48:01] Jessica: No, he. Honey.

[48:03] Meg: Okay, you. What do I know? It seems like a very athletic thing to do for somebody under the influence.

[48:11] Jessica: Not everyone is nodded out. There are people who are like, they, you know, he could be on cotton, he could be on meth and thinking that that's, you know, some spa. I don't know. He's twirling batons. I don't know. Anyway, Union Square needs a cleanup. Whoever listens to this podcast who is part of city government, if you're listening, I'm hoping someone is. Anyone? Bueller, Clean up fucking Union Square, please. I hate it. And the fact that I can only get there on the subway with someone's fucking music makes me want to jump out the window. So that's my hate. Yuck.

[49:00] Meg: How do we close things out?

[49:02] Jessica: Well, okay, so the tie in, I feel, is not a tie in, tie in. It's what's the shared experience here? So I'm going to go with. Our theme today was catharsis. That's. That's. That's a thought. What do you think?

[49:15] Meg: I love that. And now what I think we should do, put on our to do list. We named all these wonderful things that are fun to do and experience. We should have our own little adventure. Yes. And so let's, like, figure out something that we can do as soon as we get off this podcast. We'll pick a date, we'll pick a place, we'll pick an activity, and we'll put it in the books.

[49:41] Jessica: I think that we should. I'm just making a motion to the floor.

[49:44] Meg: Yeah.

[49:44] Jessica: I think that we should find a really good concert that's at that pier at south street and go see that and have happy hour first at Watermark. Cool.

[49:56] Meg: And go get Letterpress something or other. We were here in Letterpress. Yes.