8. Gabby Windey loves Indian Sports Bars
Also, the phase out of the penny, Deux Moi's weirdest post, and baby name analysis.
Hi friends.
I woke up yesterday morning after a sleepless night not wanting to get up. However, I was acutely aware that I needed to after a week on the West Coast. I needed coffee and sunshine. I needed Sabrina Carpenter.
Ben made me an espresso in our little Moka pot. The terrace provided pleasant early morning sunshine. Once Ben left to walk Coco I began to blast the song Taste. While I brushed my teeth, I enjoyed her early hit Nonsense. I once saw someone post: "Short N' Sweet and taxes, let's do this!" Doing your taxes to that album just makes sense to me. Name a more iconic duo.
On the back of Palm Springs, we spent 3 short days in Los Angeles with my sister and her partner Ned. We stayed in Echo Park on the east side. We ate exceptionally well.
The only endeavor that took prior planning was getting a reservation at Piija Palace. It is an Indian sports bar. It is in a Comfort Inn Hotel. It is excellent.
Suspend your disbelief, rid yourself of your predisposed hatred of fusion cuisine, and bite into Malai Rigatoni, Dosa Onion Rings, and Paneer Parm Sandwiches while surrounded by TVs playing sports. End with Cookies and Cardamom soft serve. Make your way out to the parking lot of the Comfort Inn satisfied.
We saw the internet's favorite couple eating there too - Gabby Windey and Robby Hoffman. For those unfamiliar, they are like if Jennifer Coolidge and Larry David were younger, hotter, queerer, and married. And yes they really sound like that.
Today’s letter includes: A partnership between two major airlines and also changing rules around portable batteries on flights, why people are naming their kids things like “Aston,” where to get $13 cocktails, and the newest engagement ring trend.
The Economist used AI to decode connotations of baby names. They found that the most popular category is strength with names like Liam, James, and Anna. It applies to over half of all names in America today.
But since 2000, it's popularity has fallen as has names implying intelligence; those connoting benevolence or love have fallen even more. The category has been replaced by beauty, which has risen sharply and names that imply wealth are also trending up. Names denoting joy and religiosity have stayed constant since 1950.
So to recap, the importance of intelligence, benevolence, and love is declining, and an emphasis on beauty and wealth have replaced it. Yikes not a good look for society.
The last interesting trend is that there is more variety in names than ever before. In 1990 there were 22,680 unique American baby names. In 2023 that number had risen to 28,945 even though fewer babies were born overall. The Economist created an interactive experience to show you word associations to your name, but it's behind a paywall.
More bad news for Universities. While interest in education and academia in the U.S. is already hinting at a decline (even through baby names as mentioned above!) Secretary of State Marco Rubio is delivering more blows to U.S. universities. He said the U.S. will start revoking visas for Chinese students. Approximately 277,000 Chinese international students studied in the U.S. last year, and their tuition and living expenses generated billions for the U.S. economy. The decision follows Rubio's order for U.S. embassies to pause student visa interviews while the White House weighs stricter social media vetting of applicants. The Daily did a deep dive on Harvard’s ongoing efforts to resist Trump’s orders.
No more Pennies! After more than two centuries of use, the U.S. government is phasing out the penny. The Treasury Department will stop putting new pennies into circulation by early 2026. Businesses will need to start rounding up or down to the nearest 5 cents. It sounds crazy, but I guess Canada already did it.
“If we look at the experience in Canada, for the first year after they stopped making pennies, there’s really no change in transactions,” Jeff Lenard, spokesperson for the National Association of Convenience Stores, told CNN. Convenience stores do more cash transactions than any other group, about 32 million a day, or about 20% of the total number of purchases by their customers, Lenard said.
$13 cocktails at Olmsted! The beloved Prospect Heights restaurant is doing pre-pandemic prices from today (May 29th) until June 30th. That means food is $24 and under and cocktails are $13. You know I already made a reservation.
Via email: “When we first opened Olmsted in 2016, we established a principle that no dish would exceed $24, cocktails would be priced at $13, and our wine list would feature over 50 bottles at $50. We are excited to reinstate these original values at Olmsted … we are also launching a new menu that highlights some of our most beloved dishes from the past years, including the Kale & Crab Rangoon, English Pea Falafel, Carrot Crepe, Rutabaga Pasta, Tomato Schnitzel, and many more.”
Autodesk is tapping into consumer marketing tactics and God. Not like that! God is the main character of their new global campaign called Let There Be Anything. Autodesk is a software company known for their software like AutoCAD, Maya, and Revit, which are widely used for 3D design and drafting.
There’s a cheeky ad spot starring Tony Hale (Arrested Development and Veep) and an interesting social media strategy - let me just say I was really confused when I saw the Deux Moi post. Some comments included: “wtf is this,” “This is so weird lol,” and “Have you been hacked?”
Is Jade the new diamond? Some Bay Area couples are ditching diamonds in favor of Jade according to the San Francisco Chronicle. One jeweler, who has received 15 commissions for Jade engagement rings this year alone, feels that there is a rising interest in having a unique engagement ring ie. forgoing traditional diamonds. She also speculates that clients are embracing their Asian heritage and wanting to honor it. As of the 2020 census, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (API) account for 27% to 28.5% of the Bay Area population, making them the second-largest racial/ethnic group. But this trend isn’t contained to the Bay, a New York based company called Seree is planning their own Jade engagement line.
Another factor - Jade is generally much more affordable than diamonds and other precious stones like Sapphires. However, “Imperial Jadeite," which is vivid emerald green and highly translucent is by far the most valuable and can command prices comparable to or even exceeding high-quality diamonds.
The U.S. Court of International Trade has blocked Trump’s tariffs. According to the Wednesday ruling, the International Emergency Economic Powers Act — which the Trump administration invoked to impose many of the new tariffs — does not give the president the authority to skirt Congress' role in regulating international commerce. The market is celebrating this temporary win, but it’s far from over - The White House said it will appeal the decision.
Per The Guardian: “Financial markets cheered the court’s ruling, with the US dollar rallying in its wake, soaring against the euro, yen and Swiss franc. In Europe, the German Dax rallied 0.9%, while France’s Cac 40 rose 1%. The UK’s FTSE 100 blue-chip index ticked up 0.1% at the start of trading. Stocks in Asia also climbed on Thursday, while in the US stock markets all rose marginally in early trading.”
Older art dealers have been clueless about younger buyers for more than 80 years. Tim Schneider analyzed an article from 1944 called “Who Buys What in the Picture Boom?” by a woman named Aline B. Louchheim. It has some interesting takeaways and comparisons around the art world’s inability to understand the next generation of art buyers. Today, that’s Gen-Z.
But my favorite part was the footnote: “After meeting and corresponding with the successful midcentury architect Eero Saarinen to write a profile on him, Louchheim eventually married him, took his name, and left New York for the suburbs of Michigan. Ironically, this may be the last possible way that journalism can still pay in 2025.”
United wiggles its way back into JFK amid cursed times in Newark. United Airlines and JetBlue have teamed up to sell seats on each other's flights. The new partnership, called Blue Sky, facilitates a long-sought return to New York City's John F. Kennedy International Airport for United. For JetBlue, it provides a new partner since court rulings forced it to end its American Airlines alliance and abandon a planned merger with Spirit.
In other airplane news, rules for portable batteries on planes are changing. NYT reports: “Southwest Airlines is the first of the four biggest U.S. carriers to tighten its rules, citing incidents involving batteries on flights across airlines. Starting Wednesday, it will require passengers to keep portable chargers visible while using them.”
Other stuff: e.l.f. cosmetics has purchased Hailey Bieber’s Rhode for $1B; Maria Grazia Chiuri Is Out at Dior; US halts some tech exports to China; Trump granted clemency on Wednesday to 25 people (including a governor convicted of tax fraud and a founder of a Chicago gang who was serving multiple life sentences for crimes - cool, cool, cool); and Nike, Adidas, and Puma will raise prices soon due to tariffs.
Don’t forget to give this letter a heart or re-stack for the algo if you enjoyed! This ones for my Bravo fam - s/o to Erin Kastelz sending me this gem.
Thanks for reading! It would mean a lot if you gave this article a heart! <3
Liam is a popular name. Our tour director and the cruise director on celebrity cruises were both named Liam! 😄