If you’re new here after any of our May guests…welcome! Perfectly Imperfect is a twice weekly newsletter featuring a taste of someone’s taste and once a month we the editors, Tyler and Alex, like to share some recs of our own.

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Without further ado

Tyler Bainbridge (instagram, twitter, website)

🐶 🐶 Adopt Chubby & Chewy! (two Dachshund + Vizsla puppies)

My friends are fostering two adorable lil puppy brothers, Chubby & Chewy, and I’d love to help them find a great home, preferably together. They’re a dynamic duo; Chubby is a picture perfect pup, very handsome and well behaved, and Chewy is a lil rascal, extremely cute but a bit smaller and full of character. Here’s a lovely TikTok of them. BONUS! Scroll down for full length recs of Chubby & Chewy.

🎵 Laszlo and the Hidden Strength

A special NYC band fronted by painter Laszlo Horvath. I was lucky enough to see them perform at Nublu in May and I was blown away by their big sound & Laszlo’s stage presence. Their sound is a mix of Brave Little Abacus-y epic songwriting, emo vocals, a dash of folk, and a saxaphone. Did I mention that they’re special?

📺 MrChiCity3

There’s an undeniable raw and pure authenticity to Mr Chi City’s early YouTube videos that’s a lot harder to find on today’s internet. Every few years the universe brings me back to his undeniable classic, “Keeping your refrigerator stocked will get you many women”, but I always end up rewatching the deeper cuts like his sincere visit of his best friend’s grave, the harrowing fight with a “suburban bug” in his living room, or his Make A Difference Monday series.

⛰️ 🌊 🌲 Mendocino County, CA

I’m not sure if anything I’ve seen compares to the four hour drive from San Fransisco to Westport, CA. We had to travel up there for a wedding in a tiny town of just 60 people, and for hundreds of miles you’re completely surrounded by redwoods, wineries, mountains, cliffs, and coastline— it’s truly God’s Country. It was so beautiful that my favorite part of our entire week in CA was a drive from point A to point B, that’s how you know it’s good…or that the rest of the trip sucked, but you’ll just have to trust me— these photos I took might do it justice.

📸 📕 Hiromix’s 1997 Photo Book “Girls Blue”

I happened to find an image set from legendary photographer Hiromix’s first book on Instagram and I was sucked right in. The whole thing is chock full of incredible photographs documenting Hiromix’s 1996 summer as well as Japanese youth culture at that time. Her photos are so casual and familiar that it’s easy to get transported to a special summer of your own youth while flipping through its pages.

⚡️ 🧃 Celsius Energy Drinks

As someone who tends to gain weight very easily… every calorie counts, so the fact that Celsius has 200mg of caffeine packed into a decent tasting drink with only 10 calories and 0 sugar— that’s big. I’ve been keeping these stocked in the fridge and they’re a life saver when mustering up the energy for a quick work out or a long night out. I’m not going to throw around the word healthy, because they definitely aren’t, but it still somehow feels healthier than a Sugar Free Red Bull.

🌶️ Gochujang

New favorite condiment. This shit rocks. Mix it with some rice vinegar, toasted sesame oil, sesame seeds, and honey to make a delicious sauce for your homemade Bibimbap bowl, or add a bit to some mayo (preferably Kewpie..) to spice up any burger special sauce or bland egg sandwich. They’ll probably have it at any local asian market or most well-stocked supermarkets.

🎨 Joe Ferraro’s Art (@my_dad_is_my_sister)

Friend of the newsletter Joe Ferraro is a great artist and a few weeks ago I bought this painting of a girl dancing on a table in red cowboy boots. I love it. He’s got a lot of stuff that isn’t posted on IG that he wants to get rid of so our mutual bud might host an ~apartment art show~ in July. Keep your eyes peeled for updates…

👕 Vintage Armani Button Downs

Not much to say here really, but these have been my shit for the last few months. I like the vintage ones from the 90s since they’re high quality, affordable, fit well, and look nice. Chickees Vintage usually has them stocked, but you can also find them pretty easily on eBay.

Alex Cushing (instagram, twitter, goodreads, moodboard)

📕 Teenager - Bud Smith

An insane and unhinged take on the classic cross-country runaway story — the protagonists are more antiheroes than heroes, but you root for them all the way until the last page. The plot is refreshing, the journey you take with Teal and Cody is a blast, and the writing is exceptional. I loved the seemless transition of perspectives, often mid-chapter or even mid-sentence, as well as dream-like explorations of characters who weren’t actually with the leads. Teenager is one of the few books I’ve read that I consider a must read.

🛋️ Artemide Tolomeo

Once you start to see these you’ll never stop. They’re in all the interior decor youtube vids, coffee table books, and shows, and for good reason. What I love most about this iconic task lamp is that the smallest size, the micro, is bigger than most basic lamps you find today, and the “normal” size is downright huge! I’d opt for the inbetween “mini“. The lamp has iconic history dating back to the 80s, and feels at home in basically any tasteful setup, so cop one (there’s tons on ebay) and contort it to whatever the perfect shape is for your setup.

🌯 Gas station beef & bean burritos

Frozen warm up lunches are one of those things most of us partake in from time to time, but never really talk about. My go-to is the burrito. I have a stash in my freezer and they’re equally as satisfying as they are unappetizing. They come out of the microwave soggy and bursting out the middle, and honestly are totally unwieldy. I always cut it in half before even thinking about picking it up, and let it cool a bit. Then I’m ready with a mini Cholula bottle out to pre-dab every bite. 

💵 Small town dollar stores

My town has 2 of them, and there’s nothing particularly special about either, except for that unique kind of intangible charm. They’re crammed with weird finds and cheap gems. Drop by quick so you can restock your frozen burritos, buy someone a very specific card (get well soon - the flu - cousin - female), re-up on socks and tanks, and buy a t-shirt branded by whatever town you’re in — a classic collectible.

🌊 Cape Cod

I’ve spent my whole life visiting the cape, both to see family and to vacation, so it is with plenty of bias I say that it is an easy favorite spot of mine. The coast is peppered with those absolute classic coastal towns, each with their own “flavor” — local shops, lobster shacks, deep-sea fishing excursions, there’s everything you could want - but most of what you’ll do is the perfect amount of nothing. And what can match the relaxation of a stay at a small seaside home in one of the many quaint cape towns? Recently, we stayed at a cozy little BNB with books shelved all over the house (over doorways, up the staircase), and I was reminded just how perfect it is to walk to the local beachfront with a random book you did no research on.

🎵 Movietone - Day And Night

An ambient and slow summer nights soundtrack. Continuing my trend from the past few months, I love listening to slowcore and dream pop while I work - it’s the perfect thing to lull me into a productive trance. Day and Night is a perfect album for this — it wont ever startle you out of that sought after daze, and it’s pleasent and beautiful.

🧑‍🎨 Joshua Perkin

Recently, I’ve found myself taken by his art. Check it out!

BONUS: Puppy recs from Will Stallmeyer

🐶 Chewy

Chewy is all personality. He loves to love. He’s a cuddler who enjoys a good lap sit while you take a virtual meeting, watch a movie, or chat with friends about how cute he is. His face is expressive and sweet, and his ears have a character all their own. He loves doing laps up and down the apartment and exploring his surroundings. His accuracy with the wee-wee pad is improving but what he lacks in accuracy he makes up for in charm. Chewy is a lover—and it's impossible not to love him back.

🐶 Chubby

Chubby Hubby is the platonic ideal of a dog. He plays, he cuddles, he pounces, he yawns. He’s just as comfortable wrestling around with his brother as he is curled up on the couch watching a movie. He loves listening to music and is fascinated by screens. Aren’t we all? His accuracy with the wee-wee pad is improving each day like a pee-taking sharpshooter in training. There’s not much not to love about Chubbs. 

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