The Last Weekend Reads of 2025

I've decided to take off work while my daughter has her winter break. I have pre-written some content so newsletters will still go out, but this will be the last Weekend Reads until 2026! I hope you and yours have a very happy and safe holiday season.

Life has been difficult; please take a moment during each of these last days of the year to find one thing that is beautiful, special, or joyful. It's the way to stay strong and focused when chaos is around us; for while things may be bad not everything is bad. And if we focus our energy on the good, I do believe it changes the energy of the world around us.

Weekend Reads

Susie Wiles, JD Vance, and the “Junkyard Dogs”: The White House Chief of Staff on Trump’s Second Term (Part 1 of 2). (Vanity Fair)

Is That a Real Berthe Morisot in the White House—or a Print From Walmart? (Artnet)

Oscars Bolts From ABC to YouTube Starting in 2029. (The Hollywood Reporter)

I only use cleansing cloths for travel; these are my favorite.

The anti-facelift guide to aging well. (Le Secret Club on Substack)

Vogue’s 55 Best Dressed People of 2025. (Vogue)

Shoppers loved the ‘fabric queen'. Then, order by order, her story fell apart. (BBC)

Patient Cured of Sickle Cell Anemia With Innovative Gene Therapy. (Pharmacy Times)

I'm really into these washable interchangeable durable and grippy doormats. This fox print is my favorite.

‘Real Housewives of Potomac’ stars have ‘very little money,’ prosecutor alleges. (The Baltimore Banner)

Japan Is What Late-Stage Capitalist Decline Looks Like. (Drops in the Ocean on Substack)

Why the Brown University Shooter Is Still at Large. (The Atlantic – gift link)

This bracelet is stunning in both colors, and the current sale price is outstanding!

At 75, I'm Rethinking My “No Plastic Surgery” Stance. (Allure)

Taco Bell Knows Exactly What You Want to Eat at 2 a.m. (Wall Street Journal – gift link)

I love these socks but I don't know if they'll be comfortable.

Menopause, Iron, and Cognition: A new study connects some of the dots. (The Vajenda on Substack)

Lindsey Vonn and Philip Rivers show what can happen when athletes keep competing into their 40s. (The Atlantic – gift link)

A Facebook test makes link-sharing a paid feature for creators. (Engadget)

I've received a LOT of skincare from brands this year but the one night cream that has blown me away? Ursa Major's Golden Hour Recovery Cream.

Holiday Movies are So Gen X This Year. (Whatever Nevermind on Substack)

If you're looking for Girl Scout cookies and don't have a troop to support, my daughter is in 11th grade and still and active scout. Here is the link to her online shop; cookies can be shipped anywhere in the U.S. and the profits will help her complete her Gold Award, help the troop fund graduation activities, and support charitable activities in the community!

Style Inspo & Sale Alert

Each year, I try new things to improve Wardrobe Oxygen for y'all, and also for myself. One of the things I did was lean into ShopMy, a platform for creators. This is a platform where I can create affiliate links, but also through it I have received paid opportunities, custom discount codes for you, and gifted product for me and for community member reviews.

I have also appreciated the greater transparency than I've found with a lot of platforms: I can see how many times a link was clicked, how many sales it made, how much money I made, how much I sold from a paid opportunity and how I compared to my peers who also participated, how many folks have shopped from me, and I have a way to communicate directly with brands.

ShopMy has expanded over the year, and it's now a shopping destination for customers. And how they're doing it is different from other platforms like LTK. The LTK app is like another social media platform: you follow different creators, you scroll through content they create, and if so inspired you click on products they share and buy them. But ShopMy is taking away the social media part and focusing on the tastemakers and what they recommend.

As a consumer, you can use ShopMy on desktop or the app. You can “follow” different creators (here's my profile to follow me), but you create circles based on why you like these creators. Personally, I have made circles for DC-based tastemakers, midlife creators, pro personal stylists, and just folks I like.

Then, within the Circle, you can see those tastemakers' Latest Finds, Most Popular (bestselling), Collections they've made, their Social posts they've uploaded to ShopMy, and “For You” which will adjust based on your usage of ShopMy. As you follow creators, make Circles, heart items, and shop the platform gets to know your style and make suggestions.

No video. No Amazon hauls. No self-promotion. And as I signed up with my personal email to experience it as a regular consumer, no spamming the heck out of my inbox. I'm enjoying it as a way to see what's new in a different way and wanted to share.

See/Hear/Read

We're watching Pluribus (Apple) which is current, so we have to wait each week for a new episode. We have seen seven episodes and I still can't tell how I feel about this show other than I do want to know what happens.

On social media, folks are making videos dissecting it like an episode of Severance, finding every single item an Easter egg. And maybe that is so, but I also am just intrigued by the concept, the characters, and how they handle the situation.

Carol is a cynical Gen X woman who lost the love of her life and the world as she knew it in one fell swoop. The way she reacts feels so familiar for my generation in America. The way Mr. Diabaté handles things feels like America right now: making the absolute most of society's collapse. I am so intrigued by Manousos and Carol connecting. Are you watching? Thoughts?

For Your Entertainment

I loved her in The Grinch That Stole Christmas, I loved her on Gossip Girl, and I love her with The Pretty Reckless. And I love how Taylor Momsen hasn't forgotten where she came from but is unabashedly herself in the present. A little Christmas cheer for the last music video of the year: