Didn't Know Simone Biles Was Into Cruella de Vil Cosplay

The MAGA agenda hits music, Luigi is back in court and high thoughts of the week

Hi to everyone reading Highly Recommended!

I am back from Thanksgiving but I have been gravely ill since I left NYC. It is super cold here in Milwaukee–as in, this morning when I woke, it was 8 degrees–which means that I haven’t set foot outside in days. This is also probably bad.

All things considered though, I would do everything for Thanksgiving again because I had one of the best Thanksgivings in recent memory. To be honest, all of my holidays are generally good. I have a very loving family and a big network of friends so I never really have any bad holidays. This one was special because Ryan got to come home and meet all of our framily. It was a really positive thing for our relationship. I moved to Wisconsin, which is very might HIS WORLD, and it is sometimes difficult for me to get a foothold here, to find where I fit and belong. I really don’t belong in Wisconsin by the way. I belong in a drafty New England house full of antiques and New Yorker issues, which is exactly where I spent Thanksgiving this year! It was really nice to share people I have known my whole life with him. We spent the holiday and the day after in Connecticut and it was pure coastal elite perfection. When we flew back on Saturday, we flew in a white-out snowstorm. This terrified me but we made it ok. I almost clapped when we landed which is also how you know I had a fever. I’ve basically been in bed since then. Uncharacteristically, I’ve canceled everything this week. I did not go volunteer, or to Pilates, or to Spanish class or to yoga, or my double dutch class, which I paid for but have yet to attend. I also skipped the barn and that’s how you know I am really sick because riding is life.

I have no outfits to share since I have been wearing the same sweatpants and heattech for the last week but I am hoping that this weekend, I will feel a little better. Ryan and I are moving…again so we are going to have to get back on the furniture circuit. One day I will write about how I made the worst mistake ever and moved us into a brand new high rise in Milwaukee. It has been a hellish ride that is over now…sort of. I am really really excited to move but I am also dreading it. I am trying to just focus on the excitement part for now.

---

Let’s get into recommendations:

Highly Recommend:

Zapping Yourself In Shape: This is a Higher Dose household. I was an early adopter of Higher Dose. I would often convince PR people to sweat in tiny boxes with me in 11 Howard. In the pandemic, I got my own sauna blanket which I might use today to help cure me of this cold. I also have the PEMF mat as well as the infrared mask, which I use daily. Their latest toy is a body sculpting microcurrent tool. When I got this thing, I looked at it with such a level of skepticism you would have thought it talked. I really did not believe that this thing would do much but I can admit when I was wrong! I love this thing. Like most of the Higher Dose arsenal, this tool is only effective when used with regularity. I will see the result right after use but then if I don’t use it for the next two consecutive days, results gone. This is frustrating but it also forces you to establish a ritual around it. I have scars on my stomach from my fibroid surgery which the infrared light is supposed to help with. It is difficult to gauge progress on the scars which some have begun to keloid, something that just happens when you have darker skin. I use it primarily on my stomach to bring back some of the definition I lost having the fibroids and I definitely feel the skin getting tighter and abs popping back out. The sensation is pleasant but it is rather unfamiliar so I think it could be jarring for those who have maybe never done like EMS or microcurrent. The other thing to note is that the serum and oil are crucial parts to getting the device to work. It literally does not do anything without it. I find myself reapplying the oil mid treatment so you should definitely stock up on that. Higher Dose sells their own version but I also already have a magnesium oil that I use as well.

We have to talk about Simone. Sometime last week, the identity behind the infamous Timothee Chamalet fan account, Club Chalamet was revealed. Simone Cromer is the 59-year old woman who regularly crashes out about our favorite Victorian orphan. She’s also, quite unexpectedly, Black. I definitely paused when I saw her photos from the story which honestly look like shots that your auntie took of herself for Facebook. This was a somewhat baffling development but you know…not a monolith and all that. I detest Stan culture and I think that though we joke about Club Chalamet, it is not a normal thing to spend your time doing, especially not at 59. Invariably though, it has helped Chalamet’s career and movie promotion, labor that is done…for free and for the benefit of the other Timmy-stans out there. I really don’t know what else to say about it besides that maybe I should have known that the architect behind a successful albeit unhinged fandom is a Gen X Black woman. I’m asking you to understand how truly bizarre this is. It would be like finding out that Kamala Harris had founded a fan account for one of the boys on The Summer I Turned Pretty. She told WSJ mag, “‘I’m not ashamed of my fan activity.‘I’m not a stalker. I’m not weird.’ Respectfully, I have to disagree but ok! Like I said, Simone could use therapy but the photos are iconic.

The confusing sexual tension of the wicked press tour returns: I haven’t seen Wicked: For Good yet but I am happy to see the confusing sexual tension of the press tour has not gone away. They are more tears, more bony bodies clinging together, more word-soup statements and more giggles. It’s nice to have an edible and just watch an edit of it. Hopefully we can go see the movie this weekend. I actually enjoy Wicked and I think everyone involved is very talented but also horny and kind of asexual at the same time. Like I said, confusing!

Necessaire’s new fragrance: This arrived last week in its own little travel case. Since I am traveling a lot over these next two months, she came right on time. The scent is elevated and unisex but I am still referring to her as a she. I love a unisex fragrance but I will be hiding it from Ryan who is determined to prove to me that he is “dedicated” to skincare by using an aforementioned infrared mask every day now. (He forgot today).

Free Luigi Hive: Hot alleged felon Luigi Mangione was back in court this week in a disappointing outfit, I gotta say. I thought he might have it more together but it almost doesn’t matter because in these proceedings it was revealed that he was never read his Miranda rights and his belongings were unlawfully seized and searched. I have maintained from the moment that he was arrested he was NOT THE GUY and that is not even based on him being a sexy alleged criminal, that is based on the fact that his eyebrows never matched up to that picture that they dropped of who they really think did it.

The Crillon Bal also happened this past weekend but I only want to talk about the Black attendees. I guess it is now called “Le Bal” but this rebrand is not working for me. I actually think that Teen Vogue stopping their coverage of this monumental event was a huge mistake. Now we have to hear about it from Tiktokers who call it the Met Gala for nepo-babies (accurate) but can’t pronounce anything right. Anyway, there was only one Black debutante this year, Courtney B. Vance and Angela Bassett’s daughter, Bronwyn. I think she looked beautiful and she successfully held it down but being joyful and likely making the regulars quite uncomfy! Other attendees included Trump donor family heiresses like Regan Sacks (yuck!) and the MGM heiress who wore checks notes Chrome Hearts.

Do Not Recommend:

Cruella de Vil cosplay: I am not sure if Simone Biles did this intentionally but when she started sharing photos of the home that she had built with husband, Jonathan Owens, she inadvertently confessed to being into Cruella de Vil cospay. Every single thing in their home is of a black and white motif. She has been working on this house for years so I imagine that she selected things with care but seeing it all together was very confusing. Now not too much on Simone since she can do no wrong in my book except, I guess when it comes to design. She’s been working on this home for five years now but it is just so fascinating to me that every single part of it includes black and white mixed together, even outdoor elements like the pool and basketball court. It’s one of those, if you like it, I love it things but like…why?

We’re living through more historical times in a bad way. For the first time since 1990, there are no rap songs in the billboard top 40 chart. I’m telling you that all of this has to do with Trump. In October of this year, Kendrick Lamar and Sza’s luther fell off and there have been no replacements since then. I was thinking about this because yesterday was Spotify Wrapped day, an especially cursed day for a chronically online Apple Music user (me) but also one who grew up with a lot of white women (also me). This means I find out that my grown ass friends are pressing play on Sabrina Carpenter a lot, on purpose, unlike me who only does it to score points with my boyfriends daughters and under duress and you know what, even that was not reflected in my listening (thank God!). Anyway, the MAGA agenda has spilled over into everything! But you know what? I was glad to see Shaggy, Lil Jon and Busta Rhymes at the Macy’s Parade…at least someone is trying to make sure that we as a nation don’t become Nashville-ified.

Speaking of embarrassing fiascos, higher ed has another one. Last week, a University of Oklahoma student, Samatha Fulnecky (real name) submitted a heinous essay which was given a 0. I won’t even bother quoting it since she doesn’t care much for citations herself but it included several opinion statements as well as Biblical references. She assessed that those who did not follow gender norms were “demonic”. The paper was for a psychology class and sent to a trans professor who gave the assignment a 0. Fulnecky then responded by rallying the right to punish the professor, who has now been placed on leave and the university. This is embarrassing and shameful. The paper did not complete the assignment and now homegirl received a citation of recognition from the house of representatives in Oklahoma, likely the only citation she has ever seen. This is so fucked and disgusting but also not surprising in the least bit. It takes almost nothing to become a right-wing hero. Then you find out that her mom is a lawyer who defended Jan 6th, participants, you really start to understand what we are dealing with.

2026 is not looking good. Pantone’s color of the year was released today and it was…WHITE! I’m telling you, it’s honestly creepy how much all of this is related. The color is “cloud dancer” and the NYT asked people to theorize on it and none of them did a great job convincing me that this was not a pick made by the KKK. This quote was especially sketchy: “White goes with everything. I will say, when Pantone picked Mocha Mousse as the color of 2025, I was full of doubt, but they turned out to be absolutely right — brown has been everywhere this year. So maybe 2026 will be the year of white.” Ok well, not for me.

And lastly, I can’t smoke right now because I am sick but while I wasn’t, I recorded my high thoughts of the week. They are as follows:

I’m genuinely sad Michael Jackson died before the undetectable plastic surgery era.

Do you think some people are attractive just because of repeat exposure?? Like maybe Sydney Sweeney would just be regular to people if we didn’t see her every waking minute.

If Saks is still broke, who is paying for the lights??

Thanks for being here, except the 4 people that unsubscribed–that was really mean and it hurt my feelings! I can’t wait to get healthy again and get back to working out and breathing through both nostrils. Until then!

xoD