More from Morgan

Books: Cool Bookstores in Houston, TX and Tampa, FL

I took a recent work trip to Houston, Texas, and while, sadly, I didn’t run into Meg Thee Stallion or Beyoncé, I was able to go to some cool independent bookstores. Bookstores have brought me comfort since I was a kid. I’ve done a good amount of travel this year and on the last few trips I’ve been able to go to local bookstores. They are always a great way  to learn about the area they’re located in and I find it to be a familiar way to explore a new place. I always feel safe in a bookstore, which helps when traveling, and each store is always unique in its design. 

My first stop was to Brazos Bookstore. It was a cute store within a small strip of other businesses. They had neat display tables and quotes by authors with a sketch of the author over every main bookshelf in the front of the store. There were a number of books by authors of color and queer authors on display. As I walked around the store I relaxed and took in the curation of the store. I could tell that much thought and care went into each space. Now that I don’t work at a bookstore anymore, I find it more fun to get a merch item from each new store I go to. I thought I was only going to walk out with a sweatshirt, but I left with that, a few new books, and a couple of stickers. 

The second stop was Kindred Stories bookstore. After going to Brazos the day before, I wanted to check out another bookstore that Saturday. I did a quick search in Google for bookstores in Houston and came across their store. How could I forget about this store when I follow one of the owners on Instagram?! This is a black owned bookstore in the third ward of Houston and it was perfect. It was almost surreal as I follow many stores/businesses on Instagram and don’t know when I’ll get the chance to actually patronize in person if they’re outside of the DMV area, so this moment felt surreal. I’ve never felt so in tune with a bookstore before. The shelves consisted of mostly Black and other marginalized authors of color and the selection was superb. They even had a classics section full of Black authors that is not only innovative but necessary since most books that are considered classics are by white men. Needless to say I left the store with plenty of books, merch, and stickers to take home. 

A few weeks later I went to Tampa, Florida to visit my parents for the Thanksgiving holiday. My therapist suggested that I take a moment for myself while I was there which is something I didn’t think of. I don’t see my Mom and Stepdad often so I never thought I was able to take a moment of “me time” on a short trip. But the moment came where I did need that moment and I decided to visit Black English Books. This Black Woman owned store is one year old and has a wide variety of black authored books. They also had a section of Black classics and I was able to pick up two books that had been on my list for a while. The store owner was incredibly nice and has a passion for HBCUs. I’ll definitely be back when I go to Tampa again.

Beauty: Using What I Have Going Into the New Year and Beyond

I am all shopped out, especially when it comes to makeup. With being in the thick of holiday shopping, I am realizing how much stuff I actually have and how the impulse shopping is no longer making me happy. My credit card payment is getting larger and larger and the joy of the things I am buying comes and goes much quicker than it used to. Over Thanksgiving, my Mom asked me what I got at the Sephora sale, so I opened my app to read off all of the products I bought, realizing I have purchased at least eight lip products this past month that I have yet to use. So I’m using this space in this week’s newsletter to officially declare that I am not buying any new makeup for the first three months of the new year. This goes for body products as well. 

I have so many products I don’t use that they are taking up space and not bringing me joy past the original purchase. I still enjoy doing my makeup, however, I am working on trying to create a life I enjoy without using consumerism to get a quick fix of dopamine. I know the problem is deeper than just my makeup purchases but  this is the easiest place to start. Next will be books (I spent way too much money on them in the bookstores mentioned above).

 I want to get back to enjoying the actual application of makeup. There was a moment where I would enjoy using what I had and I wasn’t completely caught up in the purchase itself. I’m also annoyed that Sephora is also running another 20% off sale when we all rushed to spend our money back in November! I hate that I get sucked into the hype and see that if I waited, I could’ve gotten a better deal and or either the product ain’t all that after all. 

I also want to do more with my money other than spend it on quick thrills. I want more experiences and to save more for a rainy day. I want to have money when there really is something worth splurging on and I want to create less content around what I’m buying and what I’m actually doing. 

Thanks for reading!

Love, 

From Morgan