WHAT’S NEW
This week we’re sharing our favorite graphic tees you can buy in NYC, highlighting frozen food you’ll want to eat, and introducing you to a cool new friend: Maria Geyman. 

CULTURE CORNER 

COOL NEW THING
Okay, so we all just gave all our friends gifts & nice words a few weeks ago, but we can’t help sharing Sunny Side Studio — a new Brooklyn-based jewelry studio from textile designer, Sahara Aldrich. We love Sunny Side’s collection for a few reasons: it’s decidedly loud & colorful, it’s affordable (every piece is less than $40), and it is FUN! Check it out for yourself here.

READ
A cliché New Year's resolution - but one we want to stick to - is actually reading all the books we hoard. We’re going to share the reads we are diving into right now with you all to hold ourselves accountable…

What AB is reading right now:
Wow, No Thank You (essays) by Samantha Irby
Carla Lali Music’s cookbook: Where Cooking Begins
The Book of Delights (essays) by Ross Gay

What G is reading right now:
Snacky Tunes — Darin & Greg Bresnitz
Interaction of Color — Josef Albers

All purchase links are to bookshop.org which supports local bookstores.

EAT
It’s no secret we love to cook, but sometimes (like every Thursday when writing this A+++ content) we just don’t have the time. We’re super excited about the new Brooklyn-based frozen food company, Ipsa Provisions. Imagine the frozen food aisle except it’s full of dishes you actually want to eat and is all made right here in NYC. We tried the Morrocan Braised Chicken &&& Ragu Bolognese (tonight’s din). Check them out here.

BEST OF
Sometimes we are mad geniuses with a million great ideas for a Best Of article, and sometimes we are lucky to have readers like you who are full of better ideas than us...this week is the latter. We had a great question come through our instagram DMs the other day: Where do you get all of your amazing Graphic T’s? Well look no further, here are some of our favorite shirts from NYC businesses and institutions. PS What better way to support the small biz you love?!

COOL FRIENDS: Maria Geyman

How did Masha Teas begin?
I drank tea every day with my Soviet-Jewish family growing up. Tea culture, brewing loose black tea in well-loved teaware, was foundational for me. When I was in graduate school for naturopathic medicine in Portland and really diving into the study of botanicals, doing farm visits to medicinal herb farms in Oregon and seeing teas in a new way, I started drawing and working on the design aspect of what Masha Tea could be. It took its current form in Brooklyn. I was actually inspired by the shopping bags from A Detacher and APC which just had simple text on a brown bag. I sourced compostable bags, found the same stencil that I had as a kid, dove into farm research, and started making it all by hand in my apartment. 

What's your favorite part about the New York creative community? 
I love the culture of trading - I've traded tea for soap, jewelry, Vietnamese food, mushrooms, facials, bread, and so on. That's a pretty beautiful thing! I'm finding myself continuously inspired by how supportive everyone is and that people are genuinely interested in one another's work.

What's inspiring you right now?
I'm feeling deeply inspired by my relationships right now. Also - Charlotte Perriand, chairs, the color blue, snow, the American West, Jim Jarmusch, lingerie, and jokes. 

Follow along:
www.mashatea.com
@mashateas on Instagram

PALETTE
To-go Coffee in NY Greek Coffee Cups in East Village, Manhattan