First Rodeo

First Rodeo

Everything I read or enjoyed in February 2025!

Sharing my reading history this month feels particularly intimate...

Azora Zoe Paknad
Mar 02, 2025
∙ Paid

Uh, thank god that’s behind us. February was better than January but… barely! I’m hanging on by a thread, even though knowing there’s a sunny beach vacation on the books for March. (To contextualize my misery, we haven’t had heat all winter, and it’s been a record cold one. There are other things too but… I think that tells you what you need to know.)

Select highlights: Edinburgh (all of it, but especially this bergamot olive oil meringue croissant from Lannan Bakery), my one glam night out (my bestie Kim was in town and had been gifted a table with Laurent Perrier bottle service at the most incredible burlesque show and it was quite possibly the best GNO I’ve ever had), and my first attempt at recreating warm madeleines to cap off a meal, inspired by the ones I had in London at St. John… these ones are ugly, but I have gotten a lot better since then and even whipped them up at my last dinner party as an impressive dessert!

The best part of February was, undeniably, my trip to the UK. Girls night out was a close second! The rest was mostly a wash.

I say this every year, and somehow I always find myself back here, doing the same thing, but I mean it this time: I will not do another NYC winter. It’s not for me. I’ve done 12 of them now, I’m good. Onward. I will burn my life down however much I need to in order to NEVER do this again. (João, are you listening?)

Select highlights: our cozy chow chow cattle dog mix, Canela, has been extra sweet lately— also, the matcha I’ve been very fixated on (from Brooklyn Ball Factory) and the Valentine’s day dinner I pulled together for João (steak and radicchio salad with a strawberry rosé vinaigrette and Martha Stewart’s Mac and cheese, my most viral TikTok receipt video yet).

Here were your most-read and most-clicked links this month:

  • We all agreed these navy pants with a chic stripe were excellent.

  • My new make-up without make-up hack was a hit, especially in this season of sall…

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