What Does Luxury Mean to You?
On a recent chat with a new friend, we discussed that luxury can be a coffee.
As we dive into the last few moments of 2023 I will start saving space to reflect on all the (crazy) things I did in 365 days that have passed by like the speed of light. I ended 2022 with getting BITCHEN off the ground, finally (!). I have not accomplished my goals for BITCHEN this year and I’ve let it fall flat, but that's okay. I've been slowly trying to push it in a direction I am completely obsessed with, where I can share more. WAY more. The stories that I write for publications are great, and I hope helpful, but to be honest they're often never even scratching the surface when it comes to my adventures and escapades, both near and far.
I met an incredible woman named Sonja Loges of Little Leaf Agency (a sexual wellness agency) this year over an email that stood out in the abyss of “Hey, Jenn, here’s some news, can you write about it?” Two Zooms later and it was as if I was looking into a crystal ball. Sonja summed up what I'd been pondering for months now....what even is my niche? "You find pleasure in everything," she said. "Pleasure in food, pleasure in sex, pleasure in traveling."
Pleasure is a luxury to me. Arianna of Uncover More and I recently traveled together and spent 5 hot, beautiful mornings drinking “iced lattes” by the sea in St. Martin. I put this in parenthesis because every morning the latte was slightly different but always mysteriously white. Where is the coffee?!! We giggled nonstop but always consumed it while co-working before each day started. It was a luxurious ritual.
Speaking of luxury, Arianna and I had a great conversation yesterday and she said something that resonated. "Luxury can be a coffee." There’s no denying how luxurious a miso maple latte at the Durham Hotel or a peanut mocha at Babas in Charleston, and my newest staple, The Land of Sad Oranges latte at Cocoa Cinnamon in Durham, are to me. And when with a friend, It’s even more heightened.
Luxury can be so simple or so grand.
Luxury is the Mara Hoffman top I saved up for and will wear it until it can’t be worn anymore.
I love an over-the-top five-star hotel but sometimes a charming minimalist apartment that overlooks the Adriatic Sea, where fig trees dot the lengthy stairway to the house — where sunsets and silence bring joyful tears to your face — is also luxury.
Luxury is the excitement of booking a spontaneous train ticket on Omio and arriving at a new destination late at night, where the city reveals itself at sunrise the next morning and takes your breath away.
Luxury is taking three bubble baths a day at Rosewood Mayakoba and walking around the giant suite stark naked just because you can. And you should. (Note: when the sun goes down, I’d suggest putting on a robe as boats passing by can see you from afar).
Luxury is staying in bed, snuggled up next to Roberto during bad weather at the Kimpton Charlotte Square in Edinburgh, with a crackling fireplace video on loop on the TV — sipping on in-room Negronis, snacking on ripe fruit, and also snacking on each other.
Luxury is also meeting a friend for carrot cavatelli at Littler in Durham on a cozy winter night, where every morsel is just as perfect as you remember. This dish will go on my Bites I Devoured in 2023 That Were As Pleasurable As Sex (check out last year’s here). I am here to shout that Chef Elizabeth Murray deserves a James Beard Award and then some as it’s one of the most incredible and simultaneously most underrated restaurants in my entire state.
Luxury is an Americano at L'ArteFatto on Ischia, where bartender and owner, Vincenzo Errico, made me the best Americano I’ve ever had, in a pint glass (with great ice). I realized it’s everything I want in a cocktail: bitter, a little sweet from Vermouth, and bubbly. A recent conversation with Sean Umstead, bartender and co-owner of Kingfisher, my favorite cocktail bar in North Carolina, sparked me to spend the next year researching Americanos in bars all over, in various iterations. A column called “An Americano in….” will kick off next week, with a rad version I had last night at Kingfisher where Sicilian Vermouth was the star.
Luxury is ordering room service at Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni in Lake Como and watching Roberto enjoy it for the first time and the excitement on his face as he devoured every last bite of perfectly executed filet and mashed potatoes, plus several bites of my lasagna. It was the best room service meal I’ve ever had. A few days later, after we parted ways, he texted, “I’m sad — we definitely should have eaten room service in our bathrobes, Dumb & Dumber style.” It made me grin from ear to ear. “But I think we could have a great time in Greece too with a 3,50 euro gyro on a pita,” he says. Also a luxury.
Luxury is a boundary.
Luxury is giggling with girlfriends, even on the darkest of days.
Luxury is drinking Champagne in Champagne.
Luxury is a FaceTime with a dear friend when energies match.
Luxury is life.
I could go on about luxuries and pleasures in life but, we have a whole year ahead with content on BITCHEN 2.0 and a whole book to complete on these subjects. For now, I’ll leave you with the thought of what luxury means to you. And what pleasures you most in life?
BITCHEN ABOUT:
December is going to be fun as I am in the process of interviewing several of my fellow creatives with a journalistic approach to the newsletter world on where to go, underrated hotels, the most pleasurable bites of 2023, and so much more. New columns are coming so the newsletter will become more structured and consistent. Thanks for the support thus far and stoked for all that’s to come.
TRAVELS: I’m spending the next 6ish weeks in Spain, starting. in Barcelona and making my way up North, and then over to San Sebastian. Hit me up if you’re in these parts or have any information to share on topics I write about the most: cheese, cool hotels, wine/wine regions, gastronomy, Americanos, or cool people doing cool things.
Ciao for now!
XxJenn
You are my favorite writer and this is my favorite newsletter. Your words are a luxury and I’m all in for Bitchen 2.0
and this .... a luxury to read. bravo 🙏🏽🥂