Goblin Hour: Weekly Wishlist

Books, Dresses, and a Very Good Play

Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about how we tell stories—onstage, on the page, and in our day-to-day lives. Also, cute dresses.

Here’s what’s been on my mind (and in my browser tabs):

🖋️ Suleika Jaouad’s New Book

Last week, I attended the loveliest event for Suleika’s new book at the home of the wonderful Joanna Goddard. The Book of Alchemy is a collection of journal prompts, reflections, and small windows into Suleika’s creative life—designed to help readers build a personal practice around reflection and writing. It’s out April 22nd and it’s truly incredible.

Suleika and I went to college together, and I’ve been an enormous fan of hers—both personally and professionally—ever since. If you’re not familiar, Suleika wrote the Life, Interrupted column for The New York Times, a deeply moving chronicle of her experience as a young adult facing a leukemia diagnosis. That column became the foundation of her beautiful first book, Between Two Kingdoms, which I can’t recommend enough.

Suleika also created The Isolation Journals, a community journaling project that began in the early days of the pandemic, built around the idea of using writing as a tool for making meaning in uncertain times. Each week, a new contributor—an artist, writer, or regular human—shared a prompt. I was honored to contribute one in 2020, shortly after the birth of my twins

That same spirit lives on in Suleika’s upcoming book, The Book of Alchemy, and I’m so proud that Suleika included my writing — it’s on page 161!

Pre-order Suleika’s book here.

🎭 Good Night, and Good Luck at The Winter Garden Theater

I saw Good Night, and Good Luck this week and it was incredible. The acting is fab (Ilana Glazer is amazing—Broad City is one of my all-time favorite shows, and it’s so cool to see her on stage). It’s a tight 90 minutes, no intermission—I was out by 9pm.

The production uses real historical footage—projected onstage throughout the show—including some incredible mid-century commercials. There’s an original Colgate ad from the 1950s that I’m still thinking about: the graphic design, the fonts, the fashion, the colors.

The whole thing made me spiral into a deep Wikipedia hole, which is one of my favorite parts of seeing plays based on real events. It’s like a live history class, except with better costumes.

I was a theater kid growing up (I actually submitted an acting reel with my Princeton application, if you can believe it), and seeing shows in New York is still one of my favorite things. Here’s what I’m seeing in the next few weeks:

• The Picture of Dorian Gray , starring Sarah Snook

• Purpose, from playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins

• Gypsy, the revival

If you’ve seen something recently you loved, tell me in the comments!

🍣 Pre-Theater Dinner Tip: Ocean Prime

If you’re seeing something on Broadway, Ocean Prime is my favorite pre-show dinner. It has Hillstone energy (fabulous sushi) and is easy to book last-minute on OpenTable. I always go for a high-top bar table or booth and order the wedge salad. You’re in and out quickly, and it’s right in the heart of theater-land.

🌿 Hill House Favorites from the April Capsule

Our April Capsule dropped last week so even though I’m mostly keeping work out of this Substack so far, I thought I’d share my true favorite things.

• The Madeline Nap Dress in White Trailing Fern

This is a new style for us — it’s bra-friendly, has arm coverage and a slim skirt. It’s a perfect spring transitional dress, and I love the print. We’ve been playing with ‘placement prints’ a lot recently and I always think they elevate a look beautifully.

• The Margot Dress in Navy Trailing Fern

The Margot Dress is one of our magical silhouettes — it makes everyone’s waist look tiny. I love it for a wedding guest or baby shower or (if you’re like me) throw a cardigan over it and wear it to work.

• The Mini Ballet Pareo in Navy Trailing Fern

I’m a bit of a nevernude, so you won’t find me roaming around a pool in just a suit. I always like to have some layer to quickly throw on. This is a mini wrap-skirt that’s slightly sheer and it’s so easy to throw in a beach bag. We also make a matching bathing suit and I love to wear them as a set. I feel so put together even with wet hair and, inevitably, layers of sunscreen.

• The Delphine Nap Skirt in Cerise Lace

Ok so I did something kooky and cut the lining out of this skirt to make it sheer. I’ve been loving sheer elements this season and the lace of this skirt is so luxe. I wore it over a bathing suit in the Bahamas and loved it. The waistband is super stretchy smocking so it can be worn low-rise or high-waist easily. I will most likely buy a second one with lining to wear to work this spring and summer.

• The Tiny Rosie Swimsuit in Navy Trailing Fern

Sebbie’s sister loves this one! It’s so cute on and holds up well at the beach/pool.

• The Quilted Cosmetic Bag in Apple Green Stripe

Obsessed with this print. I’m using it for travel skincare, snacks, and maybe a rogue Hot Wheels car. It’s also a fabulous, gender neutral baby gift. I like to monogram it with the baby’s name or “BABY THINGS” and gift it to new parents.

☀️ A Quick Note: Sunshine, Brand Women, and Probiotics

I just got back from a few days in the Bahamas with a wildly impressive group of women—founders, operators, brand-builders behind companies like The Skimm, Uber, Over The Moon, Julia Berolzheimer, ShopMy, Duckbill.ai, and more. We talked about everything from fundraising to creative blocks to the tiny systems we use to make work (and life) feel a little less chaotic.

One extremely non-business takeaway I can’t stop thinking about: apparently we should all be taking a daily probiotic. I ordered this one. We’ll see!

I’m also totally obsessed with Julia’s style - she wore this necklace to a beach dinner and now I really want it! Should I get it?!

For easy browsing:
Affiliate Link to everything I mentioned in this post
Affiliate Link to my Sephora faves (because it’s still Sephora sale season!!)

xo Nell