Last week we asked when you’ve felt strongest in your girliehood, and honestly we were a little bit surprised by the results. We expected the 30s-and-up girlies to come in a little hotter, but the majority of you shared that college was the time girl(ie)hood felt strongest.

Some of you wrote in to share more about what it’s meant to you over the years;

From the girlies:
• “High school pack of friends. Because nothing beats 80s music, no one knowing where you were, and no social media.”
• “Still closest with my elementary school friends — we do a girls’ weekend every year even though we all live in different towns.”
• “Even better in your 40s.” (tears of joy)

Are women just better at keeping friends? Or are we struggling to forge adult friendships? We feel a deep dive brewing.

Part of our mission at GCG is to keep proving that girlhood is a renewable energy. It regenerates every time a girlie tells you where she got her jeans, with every meme-dump, when you’re perched on a girlies kitchen counter with a glass of wine while she cooks (know your role!), and during every accidental trauma-dump in a bathroom line.

Huge shout out to the girlies for all the live show love. We are officially SOLD OUT for our next one at Trope Bookshop on November 20th.

Still interested in coming? You can join the waitlist and we’ll let you know if any seats become avail!

Don’t forget, this show is in the cutest romance only bookshop, so when it comes to sips it’s BYOB (bring your own bev).

The Devil Wears Prada 2 teaser dropped and while people seemed mostly excited, the fashion industry thinks there may have been a massive faux pas. Those studded stilettos? They are so giving 2010s.

Lizzie McGuire is booked and busy. Hilary Duff is going on tour and releasing her first new single in a decade. This is spiritually aligned with every millennial woman. Amen.

Cardi B just welcomed baby #4, then stepped out at Cybex’s NYC flagship four days later. File under: men could never.

Sophie Turner and Chris Martin are reportedly… something? A casual romance? A situationship? Chris is reportedly "excited to be dating a Brit after “all the years with Americans.” Mmmmk. Not all of us make vagina scented candles. Ok? OK?!

Ariana got rushed at her Wicked premiere by the same man who once rushed Katy Perry - proving that despite constant use, the audacity is still not on backorder. Cynthia Erivo shielding her like a Broadway Secret Service agent? Oscar-worthy.

Kim Kardashian, Britney Spears, and Khloé Kardashian walked into a bar had a slumber party? The amount of mascara Britney still has on at bedtime is giving me anxiety.

The Strangest Thing? The drama between Millie Bobbie Brown and David Harbour is a big question mark, as the co-stars have been spotted on the red carpet premiere of the Stranger Things final season. Harbour seems to be embroiled in some major off screen drama, and all I know is that I can’t wait for the three part docu-series that will answer all my questions.

Marketing Marty. This week, Timothée Chalamet went viral again, as clips from a marketing meeting on Zoom hilariously surfaced. Whether his odd antics are his true self, or a stunt for his new movie Marty Supreme🕯️, one thing is certain. Zoom meetings are awkward for all of us.

Carol: This weekend was the Charlotte Marathon and let me tell ya, nothing makes me cry faster than being on the sidelines of a marathon (besides the Family Stone). I was born to be a marathon cheerleader.

Marathons are an insane physical feat that I personally believe myself to be at least four mental breakdowns away from attempting. I know there’s a version of me who will eventually believe endurance athleticism is something she needs to do. But like every woman I’ve ever been, she’s a late bloomer. She’ll probably decide the time is around 45 …after a couple of “advanced maternal age” pregnancies and births when her pelvic floor is at its weakest and her calcium levels are waning. Like many of the women who live inside me, I don’t know her... but I know her, you know?

During the race, I saw two girlies jump in to run a little stretch with their bestie who was absolutely crushing it. As the marathoner ran off, one girlie yelled after her “I’m so f***ing proud of you,” and I cried—again. I love us (women).

Also, women have only been “technically allowed” 🤮 to run marathons for 53 years, which I had to Google, and let me tell you, starting a google search with “how long have women been allowed to…” is a special way to get the blood boiling.

Anyway, keep running girlies.

Skylar: I have officially reached the age where I loathe an app update. And to be clear, I’ve never loved a phone update in general. Why is every rollout just a chaotic rearranging of things that did not need fixing, while the actual bugs remain thriving and unbothered? I know there are allegedly teams of UX designers behind all of this, “improving the experience,” but it always feels to me more like those designers just pitched the most unhinged thing they could think of during a meeting and no one stopped the engineers from implementing.

Another reason I hate an app update? There is always about a 73% chance I do not in fact recall what my last password was nor do I know what email is associated with that app and I simply am not going to go on the journey to figure it out.

The app I most avoid updating until my phone physically forces me? Instagram.
Remember seven-ish years ago when they removed that little tab that showed what everyone you followed was liking? That was a vital tool. The girlie early warning system for “he’s too busy to text you back but not too busy to scroll and like that other girl.” And now? A recent update has basically resurrected the entire concept, a feed of what your friends have liked (just less time stamping)? The vicious cycle.

Anyway, one of my completely rational (read: irrational) fears is that with every Instagram update, there will be some new feature exposing activity or revealing who looked at your profile… and I will accidentally out myself to every account I stalk on a semi-regular basis.

📓 Remember how we said we were going to start asking for your feedback? Well… please help.

Ever since I watched Daniel Craig invent the Vesper in all his sexy, brooding Casino Royale glory, I knew two things. One: I would forever be into the problematic, emotionally unavailable alpha male who shows one random, deeply noteworthy act of romance…Like naming a drink after you. Two: I was destined to be a Martini Girl™️.

I swap gin for vodka (because… obviously), and I will forever choose salty over citrus. Carol and I have already written love letters to the dirty martini with blue-cheese–stuffed olives, and we’ve discussed the spiritual power of the perfect, filthy first sip.

So we’re preparing to boldly go where, honestly, many women before us have gone… but never with this level of commitment? We’re ranking dirty martinis everywhere we go.
Think Dave Portnoy’s pizza scores, but girlie coded and significantly more brined.

We’ll share our grades in the newsletter and on social, but we need your help:
If you know a spot that serves a martini worth writing home about—like, text-the-group-chat-immediately levels of good, you need to tell us.

We won’t stop sipping until we’ve crowned the best, dirtiest, ‘tini in all the towns.

I know. We’re like so, so brave. Cheers.

Part of girl(ie)hood is reliving the things that made us happy when we were truly just girls.

This reminds me that in 5th grade, I told my parents I wanted to host a holiday dinner party. Like a full, formal, multi-course dinner party. And because my dad couldn’t say no, they actually cooked and served an entire meal to my ten-year-old friends so we could “celebrate the season.”

❄️ Spoiler: nothing has changed. I still love hosting. And this year I’m kicking off the holidays with my own little soirée. Except now that I’m the one cooking, we’re keeping it safely in the apps-and-sips category.

ICYMI: we want to shout out and share locally owned and small businesses to get gifts this season as well as nonprofits with massive impact. Please email us back or shoot us a DM with any orgs you think deserve some love.

Looking to help your neighbors that have been impacted by the loss of SNAP benefits? Try Second Harvest Metrolina in CLT or Feeding America nationally.

Manolo Betancur, owner of Manolo’s Bakery closed his shop this weekend in light of the DHS/ICE operations in Charlotte. You can donate, or buy Manolo’s By Immigrant Hands merch to support. Want to do more?

📩 [email protected]: send us your tips, tea, or story that deserves to be unpacked at our next live show. We know there’s already family drama brewing for the holidays.

⭐ If you made it here and you’re still reading we owe you the biggest thanks. And truly you’re kinda the coolest? Smartest? Most beautiful? God’s faves for sure. And to let us know you are one of the truly blessed and highly favored, reply back to this email with when you start decorating for the holidays. 🎄 Are you an 11/1 truther or a post thanksgiving purest? We want to know.

And lastly, if you have not yet, make sure you Text your group chat, send them this email, or forward them the Substack so they can join the chat.