Related Recs

🧸

Plushies/Squishmallows

I’m not going to lie, I used to be the type to cringe at adults whose beds were covered in stuffed animals and still do believe there should be a cut off but I just recently began growing my family of plushies and it’s really upgraded my lounging time, of which there is a lot of. Sometimes I’m not sure what my overall aesthetic is or how I want my home to look but I think it’s somewhere between Korean minimalism and straight up age regressed paradise. I’m unashamed of the joy it brings me to walk into a store, suddenly come across a plushie I feel drawn to and bring it home with a newfound name/personality. My first one was a four foot teddy bear handed down to me by a follower after I posted how much I wanted a giant teddy bear. Shout out to them. His name is Genji, named after Murasaki Shikibu’s “The Tale of Genji”: a classic work of Japanese literature written in the early 11th century centered on the life and loves of a handsome son born to an Emperor. Then, I have a Harbour seal who’s name I forgot so I renamed him Melvin, a grey bunny named Roger and a pink squishmallow named Martha May Vicky Christina Barcelona. I don’t know why they’re mostly male so don’t ask me. I look forward to extending this family.

@bianca

Dec 6, 2022

🧸

teddy bears or other plushy friends

they’re like emotional support animals for when you’re allergic to pets and too irresponsible to keep other living entities alive

@alphawh0r3

Aug 5, 2024

😃

Big pink teddy bear

@animalskentucky

Dec 12, 2024

Top Recs from @lena-dunham

🐱

Kittens

I have (and have had) many pets since I was a wee girl- newts, bunnies, terriers, gerbils, frogs, iguanas, fish, hedgehogs, and I’ve loved each of them with all I’ve got. But over the last few years, I’ve found my truest passion is raising kittens (don’t tell my dogs, who seem 100% sure the cats are just disruptive indignities I must suffer to get back to them.) Kittens are nature’s anti-depressant, the best reality show you’re not watching and a totally inspiring example of the mindfuck that is evolution. I mean, these little creeps have been designed by a Higher Power to look adorably lost, impossibly needy… and then BAM they’re opening all your doors and eating all your salad and looking down at you from the bookshelf like you’re the help in a Downton Abbey sequel. Plus, on a soppy note, a teensy rescue kitten is the example of tenacity we all need- they don’t give up as they go from fetal bird confusion to diabolical emperor. Any opportunity to foster, raise and/or unleash kittens on their next willing fin-dom arrangement is one of my higher callings. At the moment, two young ‘ens are staring at me from a cactus shaped condo in the corner of our bedroom. Another eight year old adoptee/Garfield doppelganger is on a reduced calorie diet upstairs so that he can maintain his heart health and travel in something smaller than the laundry hamper. Look at us! We’re a chic literary salon but I’m the only one who can read (I think. I have one cat who can probably read, she just does it at night when I’m not looking.)

@lena-dunham

Jan 3, 2023

⛩

@pokeacupuncture

I met Russell Brown, the man behind LA acupuncture sensation Poke, at a party in WeHo in 2012. I thought we were flirting but I think he was just sizing up my myriad issues and how they could be addressed by Chinese medicine. He’s since become the kind of friend who is closer to family than actual family, the kind you can call in the night screaming “my pee doesn’t feel right.” His knowledge, calm and ability to discuss Real Housewives’ behavior using terms like Yang and Chi (while still respecting the concepts) makes him indispensable. If you can’t get to LA to see him, where he often works with clients in communities in need, then follow him on Instagram- and subscribe to his free Substack Diet Poke, where he does a great job of simplifying essential concepts in a funny, pop way that’s still totally healing. I particularly love how he grapples with the LA desire to be perfect and the ways in which certain new age goals are at odds with real healing. To put it simply, he’s my Dr. Phil and my Ma Anand Sheela all rolled into one, only queer and without delusions of grandeur. He gets my vote for most likely to change the world.

@lena-dunham

Jan 3, 2023

🦯

Using a Cane

Recently a woman at a party came up to me and said : “I used to follow your Instagram but I stopped when your interior problems became a bit much for me.” I guess she meant my health issues, but from now on they’re just “interior problems.” Over the years, as I’ve gotten more used to living in this body (I have endometriosis, auto-immune arthritis and Ehler-Danlos Syndrome) and have learned more about sick girl/crip culture, I’ve grown simultaneously less noisy about my own struggles (there are a lot of people out there doing it better) and more confident about asking for what I need when I need it. One subtle form of support is the cane: it both allows me to hoof around comfortably when I’m in pain and reminds people that we aren’t all walking around with ease and to handle each other with care. You’ve gotta be pretty heartless to body slam someone on a cane just to get to the simple syrup at Blue Bottle coffee, ya know? The cane has the potential, with a little *lol* legwork, be quite stylish- my most cherished is a woman’s walking stick from the early 20th century with a carved parrot’s head handle, its eyes made from gleaming amber glass- this (and many other wonderful walking stickszzzzz) can be procured at: antiquecanes.com, the kind of business that would fail anywhere else but here in London, it’s thriving. The other favorite source for canes is zitomer.com, the eternally fancy pharmacy on the Upper East Side. These are some Liza Minelli, give em the ole razzle dazzle canes. Plus, you can pick up fancy bows and nice mini hand lotions at the same time.

@lena-dunham

Jan 3, 2023