This Week’s Favorites 06.19.26

By: Gabriela Yareliz

The week is coming to an end. Nothing like a Friday. I continued my The Core 21-day challenge, and I am getting ready to go on a solid morning walk before the sun starts roasting us. I am excited to start Sarah Dessen’s new book!

Spent some time starting to deep clean closets. I found my DVDs of season three of The Wire. I laughed remembering when I thought I would be a public defender in Baltimore. I was interviewing there, and a clinical professor at my law school told me to watch The Wire. I wandered over to an old video store in the Village that no longer exists and got season three for like seven bucks. A gem. Didn’t throw it out.

And to finish my Baltimore story— they ghosted me after my interview. It truly was not meant to be. Ha. There is a Baltimore blog here from that time.

This blog is truly the scrapbook of my brain over time. I want to thank all of you who come back here and read the musings. Hopefully, you get inspired or at least walk away with a chuckle.

My hockey posts have been on fire this week. Hockey is still on the mind. Below are some of my favorites and a fun and insightful interview with winning coach Rod Brind’Amour.

The cinder block thing was so iconic. Such a great storyline.

“I need people to know that health is not nuanced. It is extremely simple and should be treated as such.” Dr. Jenna Lagana

“I can never remember things I didn’t understand in the first place.” Amy Tan, The Joy Luck Club

“The holiest of all holidays are those kept by ourselves in silence and apart, The secret anniversaries of the heart…” Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

This adorable Staud bag:

Izzy Utterson

“Teach your daughters financial independence so that they seek a life partner, not a provider. And teach your sons domestic independence so that they seek a beloved partner, not a housekeeper.” Nawal El Saadawi

Permanent Retrograde, Kelly Oxford’s piece: Emily Ratajkowski Found Herself But Where Did She Look? (One of my favorite parts: “And she did leave. That’s true and it’s brave and I’m not taking it from her. But notice how she proves to herself that leaving was right. Not by being content on her own. By being wanted again, faster and hotter than before. That isn’t freedom from the gaze. It’s a promotion inside it. She used to be the wife being looked at. Now she’s the villain being looked at. New costume, same job, and the job is being looked at.”)

Rainier Wylde
The GLWGuide
Via James McCrae

Song of the week:

Familiar Faces

By: Gabriela Yareliz

There are days when I think I see Anthony Bourdain in NYC. There are a lot of men who look like him. Today, I felt like I saw him on 7th while some other man explained to a World Cup tourist that such and such building is the “tallest skyscraper.” It’s not, and I don’t know what kind of bootleg tour they were taking people on. Scams abound in high tourist seasons.

One day, I saw a man who looked like Jeffrey Epstein if he joined witness protection. There are people with “familiar faces”. Is it a blessing or a curse? I guess it depends on who you look like.

Game Six (Category 5)

The Carolina Hurricanes reached category five, and they swept the VGK with no mercy.

By: Gabriela Yareliz

We all underestimated them, but they came ready to grind like a good Southern team. The tarp was off, last night. Yesterday’s win was not luck or circumstance. It was pure grit and systematic grind.

Game six ended with a 3-0 score, and a VGK team that looked chaotic and disjointed. It’s unclear if it was Tort’s decision regarding the lines and keeping Hart in net— many called Torts keeping Hart in as a lapse of judgment or relying on a personal connection from back in the Philly days. Did Tortorella get too sassy? Or did he want it and his team just didn’t want it enough? Were they simply exhausted?

I wasn’t wrong in that this riveting Stanley Cup final was about a comeback. It just wasn’t the comeback I thought (I was wrong there). I still think Tortorella’s rise to the finals was inspiring and quite the story. From sitting out on the sidelines for a bit after getting fired to getting back in the game. It was (and is) an amazing story.

The real comeback kid was Rod Brind’Amour. Twenty years after he won the cup as Carolina’s captain, his team vindicates his coaching with some of the most remarkable comebacks in games in finals history— and games five and six were masterful.

Jordan Staal deserved the 2026 Conn Smythe Trophy (MVP Award). The way he spoke about God and his family was moving. I don’t think I have ever witnessed a Stanley Cup win without a tear in my eye. The release after the intense pressure and intensity of the game is such a joyful event. It’s unadulterated joy. Like, when I see them scream, it’s like the soul says, Yasssss.

I think the most emotional part of the evening, for me, was seeing Sebastian Aho lift the cup and Rod Brind’Amour’s emotion as he hugged that thing like they were old friends who had been kept apart for way too long.

Aho— the brother is a savage, and I am so glad he gets to have his name inscribed on that cup. Brind’Amour was giddy.

Jaccob Slavin said, “You can’t play scared.”

I think Slavin’s quote sums up this Stanley Cup finals series.

When the scoreboard doesn’t look the way you want it to; when you are down four; when people count you out; when the stats aren’t predicting your win; when you have lost repeatedly before— it’s not over until it’s over. Play and play hard until the end. “You can’t play scared.” That’s how you win.

Knicks in Five

Congrats to the Knicks and the City of New York. Yesterday, you could feel the buzz of energy as you walked past certain bars and establishments. (And this was during the day before the game even started).

Via NY Bucketlist

History has been made.

Via GQ

NY sports sometimes feel like they have a crusty old curse on them. Will this open the way for the NY Rangers to win something since Friends was being filmed? Let’s hope the energy is shifting.

Life is not easy here. It is nice to have a win, once in a while. It’s is nice to have celebration over something that isn’t completely unhinged.

I hope the festive feeling lasts.

This Week’s Favs 06.13.26

By: Gabriela Yareliz

It was a busy week. I walked a lot more than usual, which felt nice. I have been doing The Core’s 21-Day Program. I am on day eight. I think lifting heavier weights has made me extra sleepy at night. Tired to the bone.

It’s officially summer. There is no way the weather will turn cold again until the next season. Yesterday, my face was melting off as I walked through SoHo to get to the Canal St. stop.

Facts.

NYC is hopeful that the Knicks win tonight. People are raging at Elmo.

Every Brazilian or Hispanic person on IG is posting the World Cup. Meanwhile, on the hockey front— Tortorella is promising to force a Game Seven.

Via IG

As the sports madness unfolds— here were my favorites of the week in the midst of it all.

“Distraction is a thief.” Magin Mills

Michelle Branch being a mood.

“I read a quote years ago by Ray Bradbury about how architects got rid of front porches because they encouraged the wrong kind of social life. Too much talking. Too much thinking. Too much sitting around doing nothing.” Edie Wadsworth (Bring back the porch!!)

“A thought is harmless until we believe it.” Byron Katie

Song of the week:

Game Five

Something was bigger than PK Subban’s hat.

Vía Canes on IG.

By: Gabriela Yareliz

PK Subban showed up in a hat that made Messier look like an angry park ranger.

PK Subban’s fit.
Who did this to Messier? Just look at his eyebrows and the expression.

But to me, there was a moment that meant more in the game. Listen— Carolina is in it to win it. I was wrong. So far, they are showing they want this more. The grind has been unmistakable, and I feel we finally got a solid game that wasn’t just a bunch of chaotic momentum swings.

Bussi has been inspirational, and Staal has been a true leader and force of nature, but my favorite moment of the game was when Sebastian Aho scored. He has a special place in my mind. Sound the siren— Aho was in the building.

In the short time I have been following hockey again, in these past two or three seasons, Carolina was always present and known for their grind and savagery on ice. I loved a Carolina-NY Rangers matchup. I am familiar with their players and their style. To me, the face of this team has always been Aho and his mouth guard sticking out of his mouth.

He was always the most memorable player to me. He was the embodiment of hardcore Carolina play. To see him score with that force yesterday was a highlight and joyful moment for me. Congrats, Seabass. Slay!

Carolina is one away from lifting that cup. Brind’Amour looks so stressed and wide-eyed (someone bring that man a tranquilizer).

Vía Canes IG.

Last night was a turning point in the series to me. The game felt different. The goalie game was elevated. Carolina is playing to the death. They are blood, sweat and tears. And if they keep playing like this— they deserve to win it all. Carolina is reaching category five status. The water is hot, and the storm is strengthening.

May the best team win.

At this point, I am hoping to see this icon lift the cup again. He believed in Carolina so much that he stayed. And Carolina believed in him so much that they have let him stay— for years. Maybe, their time has come.
Vía Canes IG.

Play

By: Gabriela Yareliz

“How often do you go on vacation?” the sales associate asked us dutifully. When we told him this was the only one in recent history, I saw a mix of shock and slight pity flash across his face.

It triggered a small wave of shame that I decided to shake off quickly. Who never takes vacation? Who only lives to work? I felt slightly pathetic. There has got to be a better way, where you work hard and play hard, right?

I am still carrying that moment with me. Our time away was lovely, and our hotel was stunning (truly). Leave it to my husband to book something extraordinary and a perfect birthday dinner.

When we returned to NYC, turns out Ubers can’t pull up to the airport (which I did not know because I never travel). There was a long line for taxis. A family that did not fit in a taxi all together and refused to be split up, so they departed in frustration and exhaustion. Arriving to NYC is sort of like the St. Denis Medical coffee machine that sprays you in the face instead of going into your cup.

Still, home is home.

Time away highlighted for me that I want to explore more play. This had me thinking of a passage I related to in Emma Grede’s Start With Yourself:

“I don’t know if I’m serious by nature, or I just skipped that part of childhood where you learn how to be carefree, but I couldn’t relate to the other kids. I’ve never been carefree; I don’t know what that would even feel like. But I have found ways to feel a lot of joy.”

How many of us feel like Emma or can related to Emma to some degree. Unlike Emma, I do want to crack the code on being a more carefree person. I am convicted that it’s important to know how to play, because play can be a huge conduit for joy.

There are many summer lists circulating— reading lists, how to have a 90s summer lists, beach bucket lists, etc. I think we should all make a fun list, and plot at least three things to look forward to.

Let’s all “prepare for the future” with play.

Game Four

This is a shallow report… brace yourself.

By: Gabriela Yareliz

Listen, we can talk about how Carolina brought game. They beat the VGK with the Staal goal and the wild Ehlers empty-netter from the other side’s boards. Rod Brind’Amour was wide-eyed, and Dominique Ducharme for VGK, with the white hair and beard, had crazy eyes during the timeout. That should have been a sign. I was happy nothing went into overtime.

We are going to get shallow today— and no, I will not talk about Tortorella’s tan or Brind’Amour’s jawline that can cut glass, but we are pivoting to our lovely presenters.

Emily Kaplan was sabotaged again. Her blazer matched her hair color— a hair color that favors her less than the blonde and auburn she has sported in the past. ESPN needs to get it together.

Let’s talk the Subbanator— P.K. Subban. Brother has been wearing some wild stuff over the years. And this year is no exception.

May we all ball on a budget.

PK is known for his flamboyance and bold statements. He wears unique things as if they are a normal white t-shirt.

That pink outfit from earlier in the series was iconic.

The ESPN guys in Carolina via the Subbanator.
Dead with this cap.

Yesterday’s outfit has me doing a double take. His pants were so high waisted I thought it was a skirt for a second. Some people said it was Aladdin. I don’t know what that was, but those pants were up to his nipples, and then, he had that one collar that was color blocked.

Look at Messier glowing in pink. PK is definitely rubbing off on him. Messier seems more fun and relaxed.

The reposts and commentary were hilarious.

LOL @Laughlin309

Listen— I heard a fitness instructor today say that women’s confidence suffers in the summer due to how they look in a bathing suit. She said to channel the confidence of a “mediocre man who hasn’t worked out since 2017.” This man, she said, is having the time of his life, half naked at the beach. Women put too much pressure on themselves.

I, for one, do not want the confidence of a “mediocre man.” Because that is just delusion not confidence. Confidence is earned. I want PK Subban’s confidence. It’s a boldness that makes jaws drop and makes question marks emerge over people’s heads.

Emily’s stylist needs to take notes.

I want the wear the curtain pattern, wear the faux fur, wear the sunglasses, wear the couch material outfit— top and bottom, wear the collar, wear the high waisted bottoms, wear the big sleeves— that kind of confidence.

May we all rip a page out of PK’s book.

We’ll see if the east coast sweeps game five. And more importantly, we’ll see what PK Subban decides to wear (while Messier attempts to maintain a serious expression).