Issue #2: How do you define success, right now?
plus what I wore this week + some thoughts on nuuly vs. rent the runway
hiiiiiii, how are you?
I’ve felt… chaotic this week.
There were a lot of events in the book world. I started training to become an SLT instructor [surprise!] and even taught a 15-minute chunk of exercises I had to memorize. This introvert socialized a whole lot. By yesterday afternoon, I was wiped from going non-stop for a few days and put on my comfiest clothes and set up shop on the couch… where I eventually took a nap.
On one of the go-go-go days this week, I shared my agenda for the day on Instagram and received a DM that made me pause…
It got me thinking about how I’ve defined success over the years… but also how I’m defining success right now.
I hate to admit it, but I do strongly tie success to money. Being a successful content creator? It means you’re earning a certain amount of money. And to me, having it figured out = having that success.
Since quitting my job back in March, I haven’t been remotely successful by my own definition. It seems the second I sent that resignation email, the brand partnerships [the most lucrative part of my business] dried up on the spot.
I’m looking for a job, but I don’t know what that job is. I’m [still!] figuring it out.
This DM, though? It made me pause.
This week was amazing. Exhausting, yes. But also amazing. And I do feel incredibly grateful. I had so many pinch-me moments this week.
Do I still feel like I’m figuring it out? Oh yeah. But maybe I have more figured out than I give myself credit for.
I felt cute this week!
Which is *not* something I’ve felt recently because:
I don’t understand what’s trendy right now
I don’t know what to wear because my body is different than what I’m used to, thanks to medical issues
Also, nothing fits thanks to said medical issues
i can’t justify spending a lot of money on clothes right now.
I hate fall fashion. It all seems itchy and like I’m going to start sweating any second. My ideal weather is one where I can wear a dress + Birkenstock sandals and call it an outfit. Fall is not that girl.
But I feel like I upped my fashion game a little this week. Thanks to both a very last-minute decision to do Rent the Runway for a month and my usual monthly rental from Nuuly.
I’d said both are similar concepts — you pay a fee to rent a certain number of clothing items. But I’ve found the experiences to be really different
Nuuly is more casual. It’s owned by the same company as Anthropologie, Urban Outfitters, and Free People, so you’ll find those brands on there plus a lot of others. It can be a bit hit miss on quality, sometimes clothes come with a tag on brand new. Sometimes they’ve seen better days and are holding on for dear life.
Rent the Runway is a little bit more elevated but also expensive. There’s a bigger range of designers. The type of clothing they carry seems a little less “brunch” and a little more “going out for drinks at some cool bar that Kayla wouldn’t even know the name of.” It’s a bit better for dressy stuff like weddings. I also find their search to be a bit more advanced and easier to find what I want.
I also think the delivery was faster in NYC, but maybe by about 1 day.
I’m deciding if I’m going to keep my Nuuly and/or Rent the Runway going forward. Lately, I’ve been s little disappointed in my Nuuly orders, but that could also be me not knowing what size I am right now and what looks good.
But I also don’t know if I need such fancy options from Rent the Runway most of the time.
on the podcast front…
I loved this episode of Bad on Paper with author Nic Stone. It was so interesting hearing about her shift from writing YA to her first adult novel. I also can’t wait to read Boom Town now.
Hearing Amy Poehler and Aziz Ansari yap about food, Parks and Rec, and lots more on this podast brought me so much joy.
on the TV front…
Jeremy and I finished watching Nobody Wants This on Netflix. We both agreed that we ended up really charmed by this show, and it was fun to watch something that feels like an old-school romance in TV form. Can’t wait for season 2 now.
We also started watching Breaking Bad. It’s my first watch ever [I KNOW, I know!], but he’s watched the whole series before. For some reason, I always thought it wouldn’t be for me, but I do trust Jeremy’s opinion on whether he thinks I’ll like something, and he assured me he thought I’d like it. We’re only a few episodes in and so far he’s right.
for my fellow The Idea of You fans…
Did you hear Robinne Lee has a new book coming out next summer? I CANNOT WAITTTTTTTT!
And with that, I leave you. I hope you have a lovely weekend.
Love,
Kayla
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I had the same with Breaking Bad. It took me years and dozens of people strongly recommending it to me personally to finally get into it 😂. I still think it started a bit slow but after a few episodes I did warm up to it. Enjoy the watch!