Before I talk about the new year, I need to flex everything I did in the last.
In 2025, I did many things that I am proud of. I wrote my first cover story for Highsnobiety featuring my fellow Michigan hometown girl, Chase Sui Wonders (The Studio, Bodies Bodies Bodies). I also flew to Los Angeles for Highsnob to interview girl group KATSEYE on the set of their GAP campaign; somewhere in my journal, there is an entry where I write, “I guess I am here to cover this jeans ad?” If only I knew then what that jeans ad would become. For the second year in a row, I joined the Rolling Stone team to decide and interview the Top Creators of 2025, and we ended up sparking some discourse between Caleb Hearon and MrBeast. This time last year I was busy with internet culture news, appearing on Vox’s Today, Explained and WNYC among other radio spots to share my reporting on the temporary shuttering of TikTok and exodus to Xiaohongshu that I did for the Stone, The Atlantic, and Slate. Speaking of Slate, my final byline of 2025 was a giant profile on the business of Starbucks, which I have heard from several friends is being brought up independently by older relatives at holiday gatherings (always a career goal of mine).
In between, I taught a social writing workshop at Meta. I did live readings for Digital Void and Empty Set Magazine. I wrote for The Guardian, Teen Vogue, Bustle, Yahoo News, Fast Company and The Daily Beast. I hit 600 published articles over my entire career thus far. If you want to hear about my work, I talked about it this summer on Kelsey Kruss’ podcast, Kronikled.
Meanwhile, it’s steffi has continued to grow, which I am the most grateful for. Here, I wrote my whimsy war manifesto, my argument against the current-day “I don’t dream of labor” mentality, and of course my question about if skinnytok got Michelle Obama. Thank you for reading and sharing and subscribing. And thank you especially to all my haters, who will be my waiters when I dine at the table of success. See you very soon.
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX
2026 Ins/Outs
In:
Jeffrey Campbell Lita boots
Making reservations on the phone
Ragebaiting for fun
Copy-pasting ChatGPT outputs without editing at all (and all other forms of telling people, candidly and earnestly, that you are an idiot)
Venting at your local representative’s office on a regular basis
Big ass sandwich
Shared photo albums
Making Molotov cocktails inside the Wicked x Target Stanley cup
Wearing goggles
Insubordination
Now You See Me (all of them). Can you believe there are seven Horsemen now?
Just going to sleep
The Detroit Institute of Arts
Stretching a LOT
Drugstore makeup
Lowballing
Theremins
Out:
Cigarettes
“Chronically online.” Yes?
Signature scents
Dimes Square, whatever the fuck that means
Titling YouTube workout videos “10 MINUTE ITTY BITTY TEENY TINY WAIST GIGANTIC SHOCKING DUMP TRUCK ASS (NO JUMPING)”
Being bad with money
Having professional Peter Pan syndrome. Just get old!
Dairy products
Japan obsession
Cigarettes…
Solidcore
Not knowing how to ask follow-up questions
Performative reading. I know some people argue that “they’re at least reading something.” Well over the past few years I have met many men who have read the works of bell hooks and Charlotte Brontë and even stan specific pop divas and they have ALL acted confused when the women in their lives asked for them to communicate their feelings even a little bit. It is a RUSE! It is FALSE ADVERTISING! A form of CULTURAL APPROPRIATION! And I will NOT STAND FOR IT!
“Finding your style”
thanks boss. this is the only one I read + fully endorse as a chronically offline.
huge news for the litas sitting in my closet