JETTSET | Edition No°1
This Week: Brat summer | Throwback to Italy | Portuguese delights | Quote queen
Welcome Aboard! ✈️
Thank you so much for subscribing to my little Substack that could; your support means more to me than words. 💖🥹
I’ll be pushing “send” on this newsletter every 2 weeks where I’ll share:
What’s New & Noteworthy 💡 | My latest post along with related essays or travel guides.
Postcards from Portugal 🇵🇹 | Fun facts, pictures of the week, or my favorite bits about this gorgeous country.
The Love List 🩷 | What I’m enjoying right now (e.g., recipes, shows, books, quotes, and more)
Have you guessed yet who inspired the newsletter title, Jettset? None other than my sweet girl, Jett Rose, who is gearing up for yet another brat summer:
She’s such a water baby.
In fact, there’s a large fountain in the center of town where Jett loves nothing more than to do a full on running jump into the water, especially on hot days. She can’t wait for summer!
New & Noteworthy💡
As I mentioned, I am slowly migrating prior blog posts over to Substack from my previous platform.
Recently, I’ve been doing a lot of reflecting about my 40th year around the sun and thought it would be nice to share how I rang in the new decade in Italy last year.
I broke our travel experience down into two posts, which you can read here:
👇🏽
Postcards from Portugal 🇵🇹
Guys, there’s a coffee bar inside the teachers’ lounge of the local high school. 🤯
Why am I here you ask? Because it’s where I take my twice-weekly language classes. Being in the adult learning program, the school graciously allows us to use the space during our short breaks.
They have everything from lattes (aka “meio de leite”) to snacks and sandwiches. Though not an actual cafe, their espresso machine is nonetheless impressive.
I told my Professora that teachers’ lounges in the US have a vending machine and maybe a La-Z-Boy recliner if they’re lucky.
This is the actual face she gave me:
The Love List 🩷
FOOD | Mushroom Gnocchi & Pistachio Cake
We invited friends over for dinner last night because I wanted to try my hand at homemade gnocchi again. They’re also French so I always feel like the stakes are high given their refined palettes.
I followed this recipe making a few adjustments along the way (like adding a dash of white wine along with more shallots). The gnocchi turned out pillowy and paired perfectly with the pistachio cake I whipped up for dessert.
We started the night off with our friends’ signature strawberry-lime gin and tonic, which tasted like a warm summer breeze on this especially cold, rainy day.
Overall, it was a delightfully delicious dinner party!
ENTERTAINMENT | “Hacks” (HBO Max)
Josh and I wrapped up the third season of this show recently and both agree that it has to be some of the absolute best TV writing out there.
The dialogue and dynamics among the characters always keep us talking long after we’ve finished an episode.
Is anyone else a fan? Are we the last people to watch this? I have a feeling we might be... 😂
QUOTE | Full Circle
Years ago my therapist referred to me as “the quote queen” because according to her, I “always have a quote for everything.” 🤓 I guess it’s how I make sense of the world and my experience in it.
I vividly remembering reading this one by novelist Zora Neale Hurston in my 20s and not understanding what it meant at the time.
After two decades of triumphs and tribulations, it all makes sense to me now; and if ever there was a year that gave answers, 2025 has been it for me.
With only more love,
Sam
P.S., I am having fun testing out this newsletter format among many other features within Substack. Lots may change over the coming weeks/months so thank you for your patience during this discovery phase! xoxo