Category: Life As We Know It
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5 Roofs in New York City
As Zelda has written on here before, roof access is one of the most coveted outdoor amenities in New York City — probably ranking above fire escape, but below backyard or legitimate terrace (but, like, who has that?). It’s common enough that you almost definitely have at least one friend with an accessible roof…or a…
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On Est Tous Ensemble
I come to you this Tuesday filled with malaise. The leaves outside my window seem paler now, the sunshine dim, the world a quieter and less vivid place. This ennui is not quite as strong as the one that struck me in the afterglow of the Olympics. But, mes amis, I miss the World Cup.…
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Fireflies and Fla-Vor-Ice: 5 Things to Love About Summer in the South
As a heat wave settles over New York City and I settle into my fifth consecutive summer sans air conditioning, I find myself reminiscing about my favorite things about summer in the South. While Zelda’s right, there are a lot of things to love about summer in the city (ready access to ice cream being…
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Rainbow Sprinkles and Rockaway Beach: 5 Things to Love About Summer in New York
We like to complain about New York summers here at Z&S. I take it as a sign that we are becoming truly assimilated, joining the grand tradition of straphangers venting about the grind of daily life. There’s the smell and the heat, the broken down trains and the spitting air conditioners and the swarming tourists…
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Around These Parts
I was sitting in a bar in Louisville with my sister a couple weeks ago, sipping on bourbon-spiked iced tea, when we overheard the girls next to us chatting with the bartender. As we listened, it became apparent that they were tourists, asking him for tips on where to go out that night. And as…
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You’ve Been Scammed
We spend a lot of our time on Zelda & Scout trying to figure out what exactly makes someone a New Yorker. We’re transplants, both of us, uprooted from our bluegrass homes. Most days, it feels like we’ve put down roots in Brooklyn, blooming in the borough where we have planted ourselves for the foreseeable…
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On Romance, Shipping, and Being Happy Alone
As Valentine’s Day approaches, I find myself thinking a lot about romance. Romance is not something I’ve had a lot of in my life. And I’m super cool with that. I’m an only, introvert child of divorced parents who likes her personal space: Finding someone to “share my life with” isn’t necessarily high on my…
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Thoughts from New Orleans
“We dance even if there’s no radio. We drink at funerals. We talk too much and laugh too loud and live too large and, frankly, we’re suspicious of others who don’t.” – Chris Rose There are some cities whose reputation looms so large it can overshadow reality. For many people, New York is one such place.…
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Civic Duty
Twenty-five strangers walk into a room, where two men stand at a table. One is well-dressed, dapper even, with a fastidiously trimmed beard and a bold choice of colored necktie. He gesticulates freely and frequently, projecting his slight lisp all the way to the back of the fluorescent-lit room. The other wears his rumpled suit…
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Everything is Terrible: Tips for Self-Care
Hi friends. It’s been a rough couple of weeks (slash months…slash years) in the world. There have been hurricanes and earthquakes and mass shootings and wildfires, disasters both natural and political, the stripping of rights and the exposure of decades of sexual harassment. The avalanche of bad news is overwhelming and incessant, and it’s easy…
Zelda & Scout 