Fall's Big Harvest Energy

Hi friends! Over the past month, more than a thousand new subscribers have joined our Tiny world here. A BIG welcome to everyone…(Yay! You made it!) Today’s FREE newsletter offers a primer of sorts for some of the things we love to talk about here—we also have two years’ worth of amazing stories/resources in our Tiny Archive including sexy statement chairs, super edited skincare, getting out of debt, dining tables for small spaces, how and what to HUNT for on eBay, and also building a tiny straw-panel house upstate. If you’re a free subscriber, consider upgrading to our Paid tier, which keeps our 💡💡 on while offering our full archive, commenting, and first access to my flash vintage sales + giveaways (I promise they’re GOOD). Thanks so much for being here✨

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A few weeks ago, the wonderful people at Substack shared a first cut of me in a short film that’s in fact just one tiny piece of their beautiful new Substack Originals series (poetically produced by Cash Studios). I didn’t really know what to expect when I arrived at the studio to film a few months ago, only that I love all these people who have helped me to launch + build A Tiny Apt. (a lot!), and if they ask me to do anything, I’m doing it.

We filmed for a few hours, me sitting on an antique swivel chair (that I momentarily thought I might break:/), and them asking me lots of questions about things I sincerely love to talk about: our homes, how style is born, weird things we love, the transcendence of thrifting, guilty pleasures (there are none). When I left, I just felt so happy…kind of the way I did a few months after I launched A Tiny Apt. in 2022.

Even though spring is categorically the season of rebirth and all things NEW, I’m going out on a limb to say that fall is my season for replenishment. It’s when I feel the most hopeful, the least stressed, the most energized to get shit done and to turn a new leaf on (all manner of) old, crummy garbage that’s been holding me back. It’s a time to harvest or maybe even just acknowledge all the cool things we’ve been doing and bringing into our respective worlds, even if they aren’t quite here yet. And this video (embedded above) is one of them. When the Substack team sent me the first cut a few weeks ago, I was momentarily terrified to watch it. How did I look? Did I say anything stupid? Does the edit make sense? Was that lace dress over my pants a bad idea?

I quickly grabbed my husband who was in the next room to watch it with me. And, with my laptop balancing on my forearms, we both watched in silence. It is really something on those rare occasions when we see ourselves reflected back at us, and instantly feel as though we are home. That’s what this video felt like to me…coming home to a part of myself I’d been away from. That I’d missed.

I talked a lot during the interview about my philosophies on home and making this newsletter every week for/with you, but I think their edit focusing on some of my thrifting ideas is also interesting. Maybe because thrifting requires us to edit, to search, to notice things (mostly things other people don’t). Thrifting makes us feel lucky and also abundant even if it doesn’t always look/feel that way. And I bring a lot of that ideology into my apartment, my relationships, and also this newsletter—what we save, what we love, and how those things become both a home where we live and also a home in ourselves.❤️

Speaking of HOME and love and doing things on your own terms, I was recently a guest on Katie Dalebout’s brilliant podcast “Let It Out”, where we discussed a lot, but in particular the joys of late blooming and re-defining success in sometimes unorthodox ways. Doing this podcast was such a pleasure (we had some tears here, too) and I’m so grateful to Katie for sharing such a radiant platform with me and all of us…I hope you’ll listen.

Lastly, in the interest of harvesting ALL the cool stuff that’s been showing up lately at A Tiny Apt. the interiors show “Homeworthy” dropped by A Tiny Apt. HQ for a tour recently, too. If you’ve been craving an hour-long tour of our 750 square feet, as well as me waxing on about where I sourced all my weird/amazing artwork, you’ve come to the right place. Fun fact: Most of the comments are SO lovely and kind, and a few of them are MEAN as shit and speculate that I might have a “hoarding” issue. While I do not recommend reading negative comments (they are undeniably bad for your sleep), I somehow find these particular shitty ones amusing. Mostly because they don’t get at all what I love most about my home…that it’s small and that’s part of what makes it special, unique, and its own kind of puzzle to solve every day, especially with three humans and a cat. What they see as clutter, I see as LIFE…and to me, it’s beautiful. But I tell you, I’d sure be curious to see what their homes look like:).

That’s all for this week. Next week, I’ll be sharing some sneak-peeks of my fall shoot with one of my favorite fashion brands Roucha as well as a very short list of everything I’m buying for my wardrobe/closet/body for fall (sneakers, chic socks, long coat ✅✅✅)…it’s not much, but it’s all worth it. Much love to you…tomorrow is my daughter’s first day back to school (finally!). Who’s ready for a WHOLE new season to begin? Let’s go get it…xxChristene

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