Falling back in love with life, in New York
Feeling reinvigorated by the brands, restaurants, and creatives we visited
“Lover, lover, lover, lover, lover, lover, lover come back to me.” — Leonard Cohen
This trip to New York could not have come at a better time. I’ve been feeling blah, overworked, tired, restricted, and uninspired — out of love with life and myself. Being a small business owner can be tiring on so many levels. And with the monotony of driving the same streets, having the same conversation of what’s for dinner, seeing the same style — I needed a break.
It’s always scary for me when I leave. I spend the week before going through all the worst case scenarios of what could happen. I try to talk myself out of leaving in various ways. My kids try to talk me out of leaving. Really it’s my husband who makes sure that I go. He knows how important this is for all of us. He can feel my uneasiness, my itching to reconnect with the larger world.
New York is my place to fall back in love with myself and with life.
It’s the tempo of the city, not having anyone to answer to, and allowing myself the complete freedom to do whatever I want. It’s about being alone and away from the roles that I play every day. It’s about being in a place where I feel myself and where I can wander, try things on, and rediscover (and be reminded of) who I am. It’s meeting with other creatives, and being in spaces that are unexpected and charming. Seeing shops like Aimé Leon Dore and drinking the remarkable iced tea from their cafe, or experiencing the Eckhaus Latta shop in the Chinatown Mall are things that keep me going with my own work.
I feel most myself in the city. It’s about the anonymity, but also the familiarity. It’s about looking up and around, and not down at my phone. It’s about not scrolling. (My phone was solely used for taking pictures and mapping restaurants.) It’s about not caring what other people are doing, and instead caring about what I am doing. It’s about revisiting streets where I once lived and walked in my 20’s, trying to remember who I was then and what was important to me…realizing how much I have and haven’t changed.
And it’s about discovering new pockets and places I’ve never been. It really is the ultimate luxury to do whatever you want. It’s not selfish or irresponsible — it is brave and fearless.
On our first day, we met with a bunch of the brands we carry at Jake and Jones. We were running behind and had to back track from Chelsea to Midtown, and as we turned the corner, we saw Leandra Medine Cohen from The Cereal Aisle. Leandra is a hero of mine — she’s Jewish, a writer, a mother, and a style icon. I follow so few people and am more turned off by influencers than turned on. But I eat up Leandra’s writing and I adore her style.
She was soooo nice. Gracious and kind. She stopped to talk to us, but she was there working — just her and this woman she was styling and photographing — no big team, no groupies, nobody carrying her shit around, just her. It was perfect.
I love checking in with New York because it also reaffirms what I am creating here in our small town, and how brave I’ve been in opening these shops. I realize we are all the same, just living in different environments. Randomly meeting people like Caitlin Mociun in her Williamsburg shop and talking to her about being a mom and a business owner — it all feels so new and yet so similar. It’s such a special feeling experiencing someone else’s shop and getting to work with them, the owner and designer.
Having Caitlin tell me the when, how, and why she made the bracelet that I tried on was such a moment for me. I remember my Nana telling me stories of meeting artists and buying paintings directly from them. This was just like that. I will always remember buying that specific bracelet from Caitlin in her shop, and when I give it to my kids I will tell them this story and it will bring back those memories. I don’t get to have that moment by staying home.
We met with a small list of designers for the pre-Fall 2025 season, otherwise known as “high summer.” The day started with ViBi VENEZiA, then MM6, B Sides, Alex Mill, Salomon, and Comme Si. I loved Salomon’s line up and I am excited for some PJ’s and socks from Comme Si. We also saw Priscavera and Sunflower, two of my personal faves. I’ve been craving new silhouettes and a more fun way of dressing, and these both felt fresh and exciting.
We visited Shaina Mote in her pop up in Brooklyn, too, which is a nice and easy stretch of shopping in Williamsburg. Food-wise, we ate at Leon’s Bagels (super cute branding!) and also watched ravioli being made at Misipasta.
Other highlights in Williamsburg were seeing friend and vendor Pilgrim Surf Supply, and visiting the high-end vintage shop Sorbara’s. I have a girl crush on the owner who happened to be there, and I drooled over the pop up they’re having with vintage curator Spiral Haus.
This trip I brought Alex, my business partner in The Eddy, and my Jake and Jones employee Dani. Part of this trip’s focus was to meet with some of our designers for pre-Fall, another part was to get some inspiration for our upcoming project on State St., and another part was to eat really good food.
Alex and Dani have excellent style and most importantly, they love food. Both have a sense of humor and a way to laugh about it all. These are my people — they both have so much to offer from their sense of style and also simply who they are as really great people. They are open to trying new things and creatively pushing what we are doing as a business. This is the energy I crave being around.
As sad as I am when I leave New York (which is very sad) I am always grateful to come home to my kids and to my husband, and even to California. I have a refreshed sense of appreciation for all of it — for my kids' little hands all over me, for the beautiful home we’ve created, for the shop. All of it. I don’t know what’s next, I don’t know if I will ever move back to New York or how to continue to bring these parts of myself into my day-to-day here.
But I have stopped thinking so much about the future, and more about the now. What am I doing? How am I showing up? Who are my people? What am I creating and what is it that I have to say? All of this is constantly on my mind.
For me, it’s good to have a place I feel so connected to — one that I can return to again and again in all of my different phases. And when I get too far away from myself…I just need to get back to me.
“Lover, lover, lover, lover, lover, lover, lover come back to me.” — Leonard Cohen
Hope you are feeling yourself and all the parts that light you up this holiday season.
~Jen
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Thank you for all the positive energy and beauty you share through your shops! Shine on!
I just read your post about NYC. It reminded me of what I love about the greatest city on earth.
Thank you, I needed that!