friends and free samples

zero thought all vibes; sharing taste one newsletter at a time

In this newsletter, we cover creative community, free samples, wine nights, a club, and the long weekend. NOTE: You will find great products in the links throughout this article!

Creative.NYC

On Friday, I finished up work, swapped my semi-professional WFH fit for some washed jeans, a leather jacket, and some Doc Martens, and then hopped on the Q to meet my buddies Jeff and Jason up in Hell’s Kitchen. We grabbed some Thai food and then made our way up to the church for a Creative.NYC event. Once there, we mingled, Jeff introduced me to some new friends, and I checked out the art. We then grabbed some seats and watched the presentations (music, video, dance) and speakers.

After the presentation, we walked around and spoke with a few of the artists—it was really refreshing to hear some of the takes. I don’t want to speak for anyone, but a common theme I was picking up on was that time, effort, sacrifice, pain, etc, does not always equate to a better product. Sometimes things are perfect how they are in an exact moment, no matter how long you spent on something, sure we can take years writing and revising a book, but maybe it was actually really good in its original draft (I am currently gnawing on this myself).

Booked & Busy

On Saturday morning, we got up, I threw on my Danner boots, wished I could afford an Arteryx, and headed into the Nor’Eastern to Dumbo, where we purchased tickets to an event for a brand agency called Booked and Busy, we did a little networking with folks in the agency, as well as other attendees and then got to take some product samples home. We stayed until the very end, chatting, and they let us know we should take more stuff because they didn’t want to transport it—we grabbed a couple other things but, in hindsight, we should have taken some more.

We found this event on TikTok, and I was the only dude there, but you know what, it was fun, do more things, say yes, and meet new people it’s fun, it’s human, and people are honestly so cool and special… why am I getting emotional rn… Anyway, just try new things and say, “What’s up?” to strangers; you can make someone’s day.

After the event, we headed to LifeTime in Dumbo to check out the amenities… it is safe to say it is a bit nicer than the Atlantic Avenue one, but being a 20 minute walk from the train makes it a bit of a hassle to travel to for a quick workout. Will definitely consider the additional hot and cold tubs in the winter, though!

Accidental Wine Night

Later Saturday night, we were chillin on the couch and kind of wanted to stay in but also wanted to see people, so we hit up our friends David and Malia (Local to Crown Heights) to come hang out. They showed up with Mouhammed and 2 bottles of wine, and then we just sort of talked about life and sipped wine for 4 hours. It was a really nice time.

I also relaxed in my favorite pair of custom sweat shorts that I made by cutting a pair of my thick Cornell Wrestling sweatpants (that I never wore) into mid-thigh shorts. Here is a pair online that you could do the same with.

Why a photo of a car on our street? Idk, I just took it that same day, and I kind of like it, and I didn’t have any photos to share from the wine night.

Diner Club

Rule Number 1: Invite your friends to Diner Club. What is Diner Club, well thanks for asking. Diner Club had its first ever event this past Sunday morning. The meeting place was Triple Decker Diner, we had some coffee, some eggs, some cakes, and then we walked around Greenpoint for 4 hours enjoying the fall weather. It felt like something that needs to happen more, so if you are around New York and want to join reach out!

Monday Off

Monday was a moody, gloomy, misty day in New York. Sabrina and I went to Seaport to take a look at McNally Jackson down there and check out the cafe, the cafe was packed so we ended up just browsing books and then headed to the Beekman Hotel for a coffee, some sparkling water, and some writing. A fun fact about the Beekman Hotel: Edgar Allen Poe, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, and many others often wrote in the building now known as the Beekman Hotel. I spent about an hour in a deep flow state and now have a nice outline/draft to a short story that I am excited to put together.

New/Old Playlist

A playlist that is proven to enduce mania is a pleasant way for those seeking it. I like to throw this on when writing crash out or high energy scenes. It can also be a great playlist for shower dancing.

Thx

Thanks for tuning in and catching up, it is starting to get chilly out which means staying in a bit more, staying cozy, and more writing that’s not just this newsletter!

c u next week,

derek