teaware at the prada outlet, new journals, sartorial matters

ciao from tuscany

Ciao from Tuscany :) The Masha Tea writing retreat starts tomorrow and I’m meanwhile enjoying a few slow days in Italy with my husband and some friends.

I created a book of journaling prompts for the retreat with The Moon Lists, around the theme of HEAT WAVE. I have a limited amount up on the site - pairs well with iced tea :) I have been journalling since I was in elementary school, I always carry a journal around. I usually write in it when I need to complain or vent, although the other day I started to write a list of things that I’m worried about and instead changed it to a list of things that I’m grateful for, which I know is cheesy-self-care-millennial-coded but it did turn my day around. That’s actually part of why I love journaling. It makes me feel better. It’s getting all of your thoughts out, but without someone on the other side offering unsolicited advice or their own problems. I think often about my favorite journal collections - Anais Nin, and how romantic they are. Journals can be a place to express secrets, desires, insecurities, moments of pride, considerations, and they can also be a way to ground yourself. Sometimes I get somewhere and take out my journal and just sketch something I see - a lamppost or the top of a building - and write down what I notice. A beautiful dress, the coffee that I ordered, the types of trees, the smells. Sometimes I make a list of everything that I feel.

I think because journaling has always been a habit of mine, I hope these prompts can be inspiring for getting some thoughts out to paper. I like to think of journaling prompts as suggestions to take or ignore or to respond to with questions of your own.

You can get your book here :) I added a little code so if you get a journal, you get 10% off of a tea, or something else on the site w code heatwave.

I also sourced some really beautiful Italian vintage teaware to share with you (it’s currently, hopefully, safely, on its way back to New York.)

On this trip, I also went to the Prada outlet … and left with nothing but learning that they sell teapots, cups, and more importantly, badminton racquet covers. I went with the hopes of finding the bag of my dreams, something I’ve been looking for for years now with no success. I did find a really cute Miu Miu bag, but.. I didn’t LOVE it. I feel like it’s easier for people who shop from a collectors mindset, so thinking like “Oh yea, I’ll use this bag at some point”, and it would be true. But for me, I’m looking for my ONE piece and can’t be satisfied until I find it.

Also on this trip, we stayed at our friend’s house, Villa Clea, in Milan. Villa Clea is an artist residency! I took some film photos there but am now concerned that my camera is broken so I’ll share some of these for now and can hopefully share the film once it’s developed and pray - or manifest!?! - that the camera isn’t broken after all.

I got some writing done for my book, some rest after a long trip, and also discovered a magazine that I loved reading and hadn’t heard of before, “Vestoj: The Journal of Sartorial Matters.”

The healthy habits portion of tea for two is normally about the Union Square farmers market, but since I’m traveling, it’s more on Italy, specifically MIlan.