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2 weeks ago | 
themolehill.net | Viv Chen
On our second to last night in Tuscon, K and I blasted Charli XCX on the drive home from a bar that used to be a mortuary. The whole experience was so desert gothic, and really set the tone for the night. “You know…I wouldn’t mind if we turned the volume up even higher…like really high,” I said, rolling down the window and sticking a hand out into the warm bake of the desert air. K laughed.
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2 weeks ago | 
themolehill.net | Viv Chen
Greetings from the Sonoran desert. I’ve been in Tucson for the past few days on a creative retreat of sorts with an old friend from college. We’ve been waking up early to write outdoors. The morning air is crisp and the world is silent, save for the gentle hoo, hoo, HOO of birdsong and the faint flickering of lizards underfoot. The desert landscape is the closest thing to outer space on Earth. It has a mystical kind of beauty that only speaks to those who are open to receiving it.
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3 weeks ago | 
themolehill.net | Viv Chen
Good morning! A week ago, I posted a preview of today’s newsletter on Notes and it blew up. It lit a fire under my ass to write the thing…so I’m typing it up right now on a flight sitting next to a very serious looking couple reading magazines side by side (The New Yorker for her, The Economist for him). Enjoy. If you enjoy this story, the best way to support more like it is through a paid subscription! An annual subscription gets you full access to paywalled stories + chat threads.
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4 weeks ago | 
themolehill.net | Viv Chen
This is an installment of my Bay Area style anthropology series. You can read the first one here: what are people wearing at berkeley bowl? As the gusty rumbling of the Milbrae train approaches the platform, I hold my bell-shaped wool hat down to keep it from flying away. I board, sink into a seat and lean back, only to jolt upright with germaphobic reflex as the seat makes contact with my bare back. I’d forgotten how low the back of my Pucci top was. So I stand.
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1 month ago | 
themolehill.net | Viv Chen
The collective excitement over the Goodnight Moon USPS stamps has been the highlight of my weekend. Friday was the official release day, and because I had a few packages to drop off at the post office anyways, I put on my best Goodnight Moon inspired outfit to see if I could buy a sheet in person (not yet, but they will arrive next week).
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1 month ago | 
themolehill.net | Viv Chen
Hi! This week has felt so long. Today Iām picking up some Vivienne Tam skirts from the tailor and going to a mahjong for beginners event in the evening. Now that Iām typing that out, I realize that I should wear my Vivienne skirt to mahjong. Before I get to the secondhand sonar topic, here are some recent noteworthy threads from the chat. I love how active everyone is over there!Today is the official launch of the USPS Goodnight Moon stamps, though itās been available for pre-order.
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1 month ago | 
themolehill.net | Viv Chen
This free newsletter is sponsored by Sezane. Share your go-to spring activity in the comments and I will select 10 people to gift a monthly subscription to đ¸I was born and raised in the Bay Area, went to school in LA followed by a little postgrad stint out there, then moved back here in 2018 with my partnerâweâve been here ever since. Aside from the random college summer internship in Seattle, which I donât really count, California has always been home.
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1 month ago | 
themolehill.net | Viv Chen
“I found a wedding guest dress off your secondhand sonar google doc just in time, and got so many compliments!” — Eliza, paid readerDuring summer break, I would wake up at 10am and lose the entire afternoon to dressing my fashion dolls—up until the moment my mom’s minivan pulled into the driveway. Then I would frantically shut the computer down by pressing the power button with my big toe and pretend I was working on my supplemental math workbooks.
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1 month ago | 
themolehill.net | Viv Chen
“Cancelled my netflix subscription and subscribed to the molehill....I love reading your content and am excited to support you :)" — Ciara Hi! This newsletter covers: the most stylish person I saw at the grocery store this week wtf is a substack princess and why is it her time to shine?! how to leverage your newsletter to land that dream byline examples of my previous story pitches to editors, that you can copy as a template paid readers get it all for $8 Do you ever have those weeks that are...
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1 month ago | 
themolehill.net | Viv Chen
This free newsletter is sponsored by Brooklinen. Partnerships help me expand accessibility, so comment with your favorite storybook for style inspo and I will give awaymonthly subscriptions to 20 people at random by next Friday. Enjoy! A cohort of stylist-creators rose to prominence at this time, taking the algorithm by storm with tips on how to find your style words. Are you modern? Romantic? Witchy? (I’ve never been able to pick just three words).