Laura Ault is a writer, award-winning advertising creative director, and New Canaan resident since 2014. She’s a graduate of Colgate University, a proud Northern Californian, and, after a two-decade career in advertising, really knows her way around an expense account. Laura lives with her husband, three dogs, and two cats, and yes, she understands that’s a lot of pets.
‘Who Knew?’ is sponsored by Walter Stewart’s Market. * * *
My secret: I turned 49 this week. And honestly, it was a bit on-the-nose of my body to awaken on the morning of my latest birthday with a pinched lumbar nerve. Creatively speaking, I’d prefer a subtler introduction to this new and somewhat mystifying age. Unable to do much more than hobble at a decidedly prawnlike angle and feel sorry for myself, I told my husband that all festivity was physically impossible.
‘Who Knew?’ is sponsored by Walter Stewart’s Market. * * *
At the storied Roseland Ballroom in New York City, a wall of plaques used to bear the names of the 700-plus married couples who first met on the institution’s dance floor. It boggles the mind that there was a time when people made each others’ acquaintance doing the rumba–it seems wildly vulnerable to commit to an entire song’s worth of eye contact with a stranger, not to mention quite sophisticated for two adult human beings to have memorized a series of complicated things to do with their feet whilst exchanging origin stories. Nowadays, if the internet is to be believed, kids just DM each other photos of their bathing suit regions and then, presumably, go to Sweetgreen. In real life, though, dance is community.
‘Who Knew?’ is sponsored by Walter Stewart’s Market. * * *
January’s atonement vibes are in full swing, like a sobering cosmic credit card bill for the gin-soaked immoderation we practiced in December. As with every January, I find myself casting about for joy. I want sunlight. I want fun.
‘Who Knew?’ is sponsored by Walter Stewart’s Market. * * *
In chilly weather, there’s no gravitational force stronger than one’s couch and a prestige streaming TV series. It’s dark on the roads, outdoor dining has vanished, and your home is home to the powerful trifecta of pets, sweats, and Harrison Ford’s effortless comedic performance in Shrinking. Your couch is such a fine place to spend an evening.
But it’s no place to eat.
I enjoy a sneaky cold-weather dinner out, especially on a weeknight. It’s an excellent chance to trot out the outerwear I missed all summer, take advantage of easy reservations, and, if I’m lucky, a good parking spot.
‘Who Knew?’ is sponsored by Walter Stewart’s Market. * * *
Shared experience is powerful stuff.
Where, once upon a time, all the world lined up to see Gone with the Wind, The Godfather, or E.T., we now sit in separate little rooms on separate little screens watching algorithmically programmed little dances performed by strangers and their cats and then read torturous think-pieces that ask when we all stopped getting along. Movies often get made now for focus-grouped market segmentations for maximum merch sales, not for all of us, and as a result, there are, at my last count, several thousand installments of the Transformers franchise. Movie palaces around the country (and as nearby as Darien) have been razed to become mixed-use buildings, providing more little rooms for more little screens. I’m sure I sound like a nostalgic old-timer here, but I’ve missed those golden late 80’s afternoons at the Orinda theater (a classic movie palace of the highest order) where le tout 7th grade would also be in attendance, and also, since I’m leaning into my new persona, would you please get off my lawn?
