Challengers IRL

I went to the US Open (and the beach and the couch)

Hi there,

I had simple goals for this long weekend: start Elin Hilderbrand’s Swan Song and get some beach time. I accomplished those things and more, thanks to Delaney, who texted me on a Friday with the offer of a US Open ticket. We had such a great time watching Tiafoe win (and shout out Tony Goldwyn in his victory interview) and he changed his shirt so many times, which felt very Challengers coded.

I hope you had a nice long weekend. Summer is not over until late September but this time of year brings a lot of changes. Rosh Hashanah is coming up at the end of the month and I’ve started year two of my five year journal, which feels momentous. The holidays feel around the corner (I am definitely thinking about my gift guide and how to manage all the “things you need to buy for fall” content) even though it’s still hot and I’m trying to soak up the sun while it’s here.

On Thursday, I’m going to share a day in my life with paid subscribers, inspired by

Becca Freeman

and

Grace Atwood

. I used to occasionally film day in the live vlogs for TikTok and the very act of recording yourself changes your behavior (similar to how Grub Street Diet writers always note they want to seem interesting in their meal choices during the week that’s captured). Stay tuned to see what I get up to!

Something to cook:

I cooked my first recipe from

Caroline Chambers

’ new cookbook: the Caprese White Bean Salad, which did take 15 minutes! I made a few swaps, using mini mozzarella balls instead of burrata and chickpeas instead of white beans and bulked it up with arugula. It was delicious and fresh.

Always keep bread in the freezer!

Leah and my parents hosted a BBQ birthday for Erika with potato chips and onion dip (from the mix, ofc), veggie burgers with all the fixings, including August tomatoes, hot dogs, and Grossy Pelosi pasta salad (so good). For dessert, we had Wegman’s cookie cake, which you can customize with photos.

I also remembered the delight of a simple breakfast at home with scrambled eggs with cheddar and hot sauce and frozen waffles with maple syrup from Maine, one of my favorite condiments.

I have been on my smoothie grind and Bella kindly sent me some animal free dairy milk from Bored Cow (they use milk protein and ferment it so it’s lactose free but won’t work if you have a dairy allergy). It tastes pretty good and is super high in protein and made for a creamy smoothie!

Last night, I made a big chopped salad for the week (the Dilly Chop from Caro’s book with lots of tweaks and swaps). It’s romaine, pickles, pistachios, casteveltrano olives, chickpeas, and a hard cheese and she recommends topping it with crushed potato chips instead of croutons which is a delightful idea.

Something to order:

On my birthday, Dale and I got a post work drink at Westlight, where you pay for the views and the views are great. Then I had Thai food for a girls bachelorette night.

#Daleshands and birthday drinks

We celebrated the Virgos of the family at Le Fanfare, which is delicious as always. I got the cacio e pepe and some excellent Italian wine (their by the glass selections are great) and had some of Leah’s tomato pasta and Dale’s gnnochi. Sharing is caring.

Hillary, Julia, and Julianne took me to Ops for my birthday and it’s as delicious as ever—we had the seasonal salad, the square pie, the allium filled cicero and a summer special with zucchini and long hots. They have a printed wine list now which is nice, but I do miss when the staff would just chat with you and pour a few things to try.

Alicia and I tried to go to Radio Bakery and the line was too long (I’m sorry, I can’t, don’t hate me). We pivoted to Bakeri, which always has good croissants.

I was honored to accompany Isa on her first Rockaways visit and Rippers burger. We also got their limeade, which was very refreshing. It was a beach day that started off cloudy and then the sun came out and it was so nice to hang with Amy, Bradlee (who ordered the Rippers soft serve, pro move), Hillary, and Ronen.

Rippers forever

At the US Open I had just okay pizza plus my annual honey deuce, the cups are a great souvenir.

We ended the weekend with dinner at Cozy Royale—kale caesar and fries for me and steak frites for Dale. Just lovely.

Something to read:

Will we ever shut about caesar salad? I have no plans to

How Costco Hacked the American Shopping Psyche

A delightful Ina Garten profile, can’t wait to read her memoir

Tragic Reality: No End In Sight from

Matt Shuham

, whose writing about this conflict is so empathetic and smart.

Celisia Stanton

on school lunches

The best party in New York is at Liberty games

As a former avid boutique fitness goer who now mostly works out at home, I was curious about the evolution of workout wear (in trendy places) from

Becky Malinsky

Young Palestinian creator who shared glimpses of daily life during war dies

Is Affirmation Culture Sabotaging Our Friendships and Ourselves? This article is about parenting but applies to many relationships

Why I love my five year journal so much! Very ready for year two and to see what’s changed and what I captured.

Oh, it was a summer from

Hunter Harris

(and J.Lo)

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Thanks so much for being here! Have a good week!

xo, Abigail