On the afternoon of November 16, 2024, my home briefly transformed into a cozy spiritual studio—equal parts intuition, gemstones, and lightly chilled champagne. The idea sparked from my recent tarot reading I had with Jenn , which left me thinking: I know people in my life who would love this.  It felt like a perfect addition to my list of 50 things. I invited a group of women who each hold a different kind of importance in my life—Melanie Buckmaster, Mary Bradley, Ashe Edlun

I’ve always loved strategy games—Spades, Rook, Othello, Risk, Battleship. Give me rules, probabilities, and the chance to outsmart someone, and I’m in. So it’s honestly a little embarrassing that I made it this far in life without learning the flagship strategy game: chess. Naturally, it landed on my “50 Things” list, because nothing motivates self-improvement quite like writing it down and publicly announcing you’re doing it. Enter my friend Austin—equal parts patient teach

My dad, a Navy Officer, was stationed in Albuquerque, New Mexico, when I was eleven. Prior to that, we’d lived for almost five years in Hanford, California—a small town tucked in the lush agricultural heart of the state—where I’d built close childhood friendships and banked a trove of idyllic memories. The move to New Mexico was quite a culture shock. Add to that the normal awkwardness of middle school, and it was a rough patch in my formative years. But with time and distanc