Cool people like cool things, which is why we asked cool person Annie Hamilton to come on Perfectly Imperfect & redistribute her good taste.

Annie Hamilton is a NYC-based actress that you may know from films such as Jim Cummings’ “The Wolf of Snow Hollow” or Kristoffer Borgli’s “Drib”, and soon you’ll see her in the new season of Dickinson on Apple & alongside Diane Keaton in the upcoming comedy “Mack and Rita”. In addition to her acting she’s had some great podcast appearances on The Ion Pack and Throwing Fits, and is even coming out with her very own podcast that’s sort of a mockumentary of her own life. Occasionally she pens very funny yet thoughtful journal entries for her Substack “Annie Hamilton’s Words” and applies that same wit and humor to her prolific Twitter and Instagram posting. Annie has great taste and lucky for us, she’s here to tell us what she’s been into.

Without further ado

Annie Hamilton (instagram, twitter)

🎵 VAMPIRE WEEKEND

Vampire Weekend is the best band of all time. I exclusively listen to Edith Piaf, the Newsies Soundtrack, and Vampire Weekend. But mostly Vampire Weekend. I play that shit on repeat all day long. I wake up and listen to “Horchata” for about an hour, then I move on to the song “Step” and then for the rest of the day, walking around New York, I listen to their album “Father of the Bride.” I fell in love for the first time to the sounds of Vampire Weekend, and so I just don’t see the point in listening to anything else. I’ve never had sex to Vampire Weekend but my next boyfriend will love doing that, I just know it. VW’s music lifts me up and shoves me down and makes me nostalgic for things I have and haven’t had. Their music works well in every country. I feel like life is big and beautiful and that I’m absolutely unstoppable when “I Stand Corrected” is blasting. People like to say I have terrible taste in music but I disagree. Also, there is nothing ironic about my praise here. I love Vampire Weekend. I hope one day I become semi-famous so that they will have no choice but to play at my wedding. 

💄 LIPLINER

I am a thin waisted and thin lipped woman. I like being thin waisted but it makes me queasy and sad that I have tiny little lips. My mom thinks my lips are elegant because Marlene Dietrich also had no upper lip but when you google “thin lipped actress” Marlene’s just about the only respectable example who pops up. I don’t want plastic surgery because I am an ACTOR and I don’t believe the point of acting is to look beautiful all the time.  Actors need to convey all sorts of feelings - of joy and desperation and mania - on their faces! Actors are not models!  I could go on about this but I’ll sound stupid,  especially when I turn 50 and wind up with a face lift. Anyway, since in my day-to-day life I really do like looking “beautiful” I use lipliner to give myself an upper lip and change the shape of my mouth completely. Sometimes people don’t recognize me when I don’t have lipliner on, which makes me feel like a real chameleon. The only hard part about painting your face is that it means lots of trips to the bathroom when you first begin dating someone (reapplying between smooches). It is certainly a lot of upkeep. Right now I use Sephora brand lipliner as a base (it’s also only 6 dollars!) in “light brown.” Then I trace around the edges with a darker shade, Rimmel’s Lasting Finish in “cappuccino.” They discontinued my favorite Kevyn Aucoin one so now when I’m feeling fancy I’ll use Kjaer Weis’s lip pencil in “rich.” I like nudes and browns. Never peach. Never. Peach.

🚬 CATHERINE STREET CIGARETTE STORE

I smoke a lot of cigarettes. It is what it is. I smoke a pack and a half a day, which is scary, but is also kind of cool. In NYC, that’s a lot of moolah so I had to do a lot of searching to find the folks who sell cigs for cheap. The deli on Catherine street in Chinatown sells packs for ten dollars a pop. I thought about giving the full name and address away, but I also live in fear of their prices spiking so instead I will just tell you it’s near Madison and is certainly on Catherine. Goodluck. 

✍️ AN EXCERPT FROM CHERYL STRAYED’S “DEAR SUGAR” COLUMN

People often ask me for relationship advice because I have an unhinged Twitter account that documents my romantic pitfalls. I find it to be pretty disconcerting considering I am an emotional monster and a loser in the sack, but for some reason, cute college girls still come knocking. 

I have a compulsive need to share everything I’m thinking to anyone who will listen, but I’ve never gone into explicit detail about my last relationship partly because I really respect my ex,  and partly because I still don’t know what to make of it. I cheated on him. It was awful. I promised myself I’d never be unfaithful again because I know no greater pain than hurting the person you love. My last ex is the only person I’ve ever broken up with, and it took me forever to do it. First, we went on a break. Then, we got back together. Then he proposed. I didn’t say no but I didn’t say yes either. It took three months to fully break up, and it was only until I read this article that I was able to muster the courage to do the damn thing. I loved my ex with all my heart - in ways I still love him - and it was so hard to part ways because  he hadn’t done anything “wrong.” He was impossibly dedicated to me. Impossibly kind, impossibly smart, impossibly loving. But I knew things weren’t working. I knew I wanted more. Anyway, this article says it better than I can. Bottom line: If there is a “tiny clear voice” inside you that is saying “GO”, you must listen to it. 

🇳🇴 OSLO, NORWAY

My favorite place. My own little Oasis. The beautiful women. The leisure and the partying. I don’t know. I’ve been to Norway over eight times and the only thing I know how to say in Norwegian is, “I AM A JEW!” which I think works just fine. Oslo is beautiful and small enough to conquer in two weeks. By conquer I mean make yourself known. I like being a big fish in a small pond, I guess. 

My Oslo Picks:

⁃Smalhans (delicious food)

⁃Cemetery of Our Savior (I had sex here in the dead of night once and then broke my ankle by stomping on Munch’s grave)

⁃Gapet (across from the graveyard and a really nice place to get drunk)

⁃Izakaya (perfect date spot)

⁃Litteraturhuset (great place to read and write)

⁃Fretex (vintage chain that locals probably hate but that I always find good stuff in)

⁃The Vigeland Park (incredible) (that said any and all of the parks in Oslo in the summertime are DREAMS)

Favorite Norwegian People:

⁃Kristoffer Borgli: the only living genius

⁃August Bror’s clothes

⁃IBSEN

⁃Eirik Saether’s art

⁃Joachim Trier’s movies

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