Happy Memorial Day! For those new here: this is The Skinny, a free weekly newsletter designed to entertain and save you time—everyone’s most valued resource—by serving up our signature, curated lifestyle news. We recommend “reading online” by clicking at top right!

Today’s The Skinny should take 3 minutes to breeze through (good entertainment while you are waiting on your plane delay or in traffic on 95), and is crafted to help enhance the week’s end with ideas and inspiration. What we’re covering: 

• With summer’s unofficial kickoff, presenting our picnic playbook—with ideas from highbrow to low (including a Japanese 7-11 balcony picnic), plus the mistakes to avoid

• A record 45 million Americans are traveling this holiday weekend and with that wanderlust, we have travel ideas, from dive bars to hidden hot springs (some with “smoking sections”) 

• Get your fits ready, because it’s Music Festival szn

• We hope you’re not tired of reading about reading, because being well read continues to be today’s hottest status symbol (and with that: bookstores as bars, reading retreats & more)

• Plus: the history of “Taps,” travel bidets, reading retreats, American ‘cheese’ exposé, frozen pickle margs/frozen jalapeño sauvignon blanc & how to assemble a white outfit

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Picnic playbook

Drop the blanket like it’s hot

The Skinny: As you ready your Memorial Day picnic basket, please don’t be like Don (and Betty) Draper, the cavalier ’60s picnickers haunting us forever after they shook out their picnic blanket, leaving the trash scattered all over the park. That being said, the most important picnic tip (and one we also swear by at the beach) is to pack a trash bag. Whether you live in NYC, where the bins are notoriously overspilling, or not—you’ll be thankful since no one wants napkins, food and dirty/sandy empties stinking up your beach bag or fancy picnic basket. 

Setting the tone for the picnic paradise aesthetic you wish to achieve, your first stop is this list of the most iconic picnic scenes on film. Then, pick up our favorite Portlandian Andrea Slonecker’s cookbook “The Picnic,” a love letter to summer grazing with “tote bag tested” recipes.  It’s your permission slip to eat cheese in the grass, drink wine before noon, and serve stylish finger foods. 

Second, proper picnicking requires planning. Mistakes can and will be made, and these are the top ones to avoid. We were also reminded that cold fried chicken is truly the fingers-down, best picnic (and beach) food ever. “Sorry, other picnic foods,” notes the author. 

Next, decide if you want to go high- or low-brow, or somewhere in between. 

Highbrow: a Parisian no-cook picnic, that includes a formula of meats, cheeses, breads, crudité, nuts, and butter/ham baguettes like Nicole used to get from her “French mom” while on a high school program in Arcachon. Plus, bougie accessories like cute wide-brimmed hats strewn about, and chic flowers. And don’t forget the cheese, noting that certain cheeses are more suitable for picnics, such as sturdy/semi-firm or hard. To truly go all-out, French style, follow Daniel Boulud’s inspirational menu—which follows a progressive format with courses to prolong the picnic experience as a celebration of the “luxury of time.” 

Mid: Good ideas here, with 20 healthy "light bites" (our fave: Greek salad on a stick; but per the above guidelines, no egg salad). For drinks, chilled red wine is en vogue (who better to report on this than, Vogue), so take a look at one of these 5 best summer red wines, and toss in a selection of AF drinks as reported on by us (we also like Proxies’ Bubby Red Cans), canned cocktails—the best of 2025 here, per Wirecutter—and of course, rosé. 

Low: We have had many awesome picnic experiences with a 12-pack of The Beast or PBR and some quick deli sandos. Case in point: this Japanese YouTuber shows us how it’s done with a Tokyo balcony picnic purchased from 7-11. 

Hear us out for 10 minutes of your day: these guys decorated their deck and curated a delightful picnic sourced exclusively from 7-11. We’re talking vegetable sticks with miso mayonnaise dip, shitokushi kimbap, beef & potato croquettes, sweet + umami chips, mochi and more—all on a balcony in Tokyo and using the cutest floral plates that you would only find in Japan. For the TLDR, scroll through for the picnic items you find most appealing, then book your ticket to Japan.

Here in the U.S. at 7-11, it’s way less exciting but not all bad; per a dietician, the healthiest 7-11 picks. Toss that Mediterranean salad from the Sev into a chic bowl and the joke is on your picnic guests, who will “love this fresh and delicious salad that you pulled together!” 

PS: Yep, this happened: A psychic (and a manga artist) predicted a ‘megaquake’ and now tourists are canceling trips to Japan. We’re not saying don’t go—just buy the refundable fare. And ofc, Travel TikTok has thoughts.

Wanderlust

In search of…canyons, dive bars & hot springs

The Skinny: We just heard, on the good ol’ fashioned car radio, that a record 45 million people are traveling for Memorial Day, so jump aboard for a quick trip through this week’s TheSkinny-centric travel news. 

Insta-traveling, we found this new ’70s themed club in Delray Beach, the “diviest bar in Texas” (via an IG account that will make you want to book a Thelma & Louise style road trip), an open air train in Arizona and this dreamy canyon, apparently Europe’s largest in the South of France. 

For wellness retreat seekers looking for your next getaway, consider these 15 budget escapes or break-the-bank locations. And if you’re craving a digital detox, here are 5 places to escape (this via a company that sells interesting-sounding audio driving tours). 

Hikes for people who hate hiking, step this way. And as you start planning your 2025 National Park Trip, that link has the six days in 2025 when admission is free. And this is insanely cool, and something we’d never known: a trail, called the “Long Path,” allows you to hike from NYC up to the Catskills and only 231 people have reportedly completed it. Here, a NYT reporter takes on the 27-day, 358-mile hike and lives to tell the tale. 

Jumping into the hot springs: our trail toward healing waters began when we happened upon Castle Hot Springs in AZ, an iconic “hidden” resort that is equal parts old western grit and Hollywood glam. Seriously, just LOOK AT THIS FING PLACE. Now, for those like us, who love finding the secret hot springs holes (where, no matter how remote, you always find one naked hippie)—here is a list of America’s greatest hot springs. Wait, we’re not done! You can’t not look at the world’s best hot springs with stunning views, from Alaska to Greenland and naturalemente, Italy.

Local knowledge: Jill’s local hot springs, Orvis, is indeed “clothing optional” and still has a cig-only “smoking” pool. No phones allowed, thank heavens!

Best of the Fest

Festival season, here you come

The Skinny: Being on top of your Music Fest game takes planning, people, and we can’t have you showing up in any old basic dress or shorts/t-shirt combo. Here’s our down and dirty guide (and you will get dirty).  

Find your Festival: this comprehensive list of 2025 music festivals, from Vulture, just came out two days ago, so you won’t need to scroll through (and have FOMO for) those that have already taken place. Plus, it includes a vibe check for each event (again, helpful for your outfit planning). 

Find your Fit: First, you’ll need to know that the flower crowns of aughts yesteryear have made way for the diaper shorts, fringe and corset tops of today. Below, we’ve listed a couple key outfit styles and matched the accessories you’ll need to accompany them. 

• Naked dresses > tramp stamp (see last week’s edition), body shimmer like this Vacation Shimmering Oil  

• Western > fringe, micro cutoffs and an ass pocket flask (we are digging this version (also, see last week’s The Skinny). If you’re new to fringe, this vest can be paired over a tank top and bam! Instant look.

• Boho Moto  > studded belt bikini top, anything lace, Miu Miu’s Hot Short in Piombo (aka ‘prison gray’)

• Classic Boho > temporary mushroom tattoos, anything ruffled, suede saddle bag, statement belt

Keep your ears open: Music festivals are top-dollar for people-watching, but also for listening beyond the music. Below, Jill’s A+++ round up of “overheard at Jazz Fest.” 

• “This mango freeze is my emotional support”

• “I’ve worn this hat to every fest since 1994”

• “I packed three types of hummus”

• “He’s not sweating, that’s his natural shimmer”

• “Is it weird if I follow the crawfish bread guy on Linked In?”

We know you can add to this make our day and send your fave overheard lines at a Music Fest (or otherwise). Just reply to this email or DM us!

Well read

BookTok, Reading Retreats and Bookstores with Bars

The Skinny: Despite—and perhaps as a backlash to—incessant chatter about AI and our “digitally driven world,” reading continues to be more stylish and relevant than ever. And, a perfect activity for your long weekend, with Nicole having some catching up to do, as she pledged to read 12 books this year and has completed two thus far. Here, quick links before getting back to your book: 

• Bookstores masquerading as bars, or vice versa, are gaining popularity. What better way to immerse yourself in the spirit of what you’re reading than with an appropriately paired drink? 

• Can BookTok influence publishing trends? 

• Upcoming book-to-movie adaptations for 2025 to know about

• From “Ladies Who Lit” and beyond, “reading retreats” are a hot getaway for 2025

Last Licks: Memorial Day edition

This week’s newsfeed

• Today we honor those who have fallen, and here’s the emotional and fascinating history of “Taps,” and a video of it being performed in Arlington Cemetery.

•  In our queue for winding down: SmartLess: On the Road, now on Max and Amazon Prime. Sidebar: we (Jill + Nicole) were on a plane from Geneva to Newark WITH Jason Bateman but didn’t realize it until landing. We had a lot to discuss with him, starting with the fact that we know his wife’s sister. 

• We’re testing the Frozen Pickle Margarita trend. Too far? TBD. Also, there’s this “frozen jalapeño in your Sauvy B” thing that bears investigation. 

• These $12 travel bidets are going viral. Clean girl summer, literally.

• Break out your whites with the only Memorial Weekend outfit inspiration you need. Well, that and our guide to white jeans in E8 (most-clicked that week!). 

• This will surprise exactly no one, but American cheese is technically not…cheese. While this won’t make us love it any less for burgers, here’s an article explaining exactly why American Cheese Is Not Real Cheese. 

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