Into the Fridge 🌹
Emilia Petrarca on her current nut rotation and laser hair removal
Emilia Petrarca 🌹
Emilia Petrarca is a freelance writer based in Brooklyn, where she orders Silver Rice at least once a week and spends the majority of her income on Union Market groceries. Her newsletter, Shop Rat by Emilia Petrarca, is a guide to engaging with style IRL. She also writes for publications with New York in the title: The New Yorker, The New York Times, New York magazine, and more. And now, it’s time to see her fridge.
What is your fridge philosophy?
Don’t die.
Your fridge is always always always stocked with ____.
A bar of dark chocolate, apples, a lemon, olives, capers, and eggs.
Top 5 condiment picks, go.
I just googled “examples of condiments.” I have mustard, but idk how it got there.
Fine, I’ll open it up to pantry too. Let’s hear your favorite snacks / pantry staples:
I always have some nuts: pecans, pistachios, and almonds at the moment. Nuts are so expensive, man! But I love nuts. I’m like a little chipmunk. I grew up a few blocks away from Bazzini’s, and it was heaven.
A meal that’s on heavy rotation these days:
When I moved into my first solo apartment, I decided to grow up and stop eating Annie’s Mac n’ Cheese. (I’ll allow it once a month, as a treat.)
When I “cook” for myself, which is only one or two nights a week, I’m usually making my version of what my friend Matt calls “Flavor Pasta.” It consists of bucatini, cherry tomato sauce from Salsa Pianogrillo, which comes in the perfect size bottle for a single gal, capers, anchovy paste, and expensive Parmesan from Posto Italiano. It could not be easier, and it never fails.
Let’s go a little deeper…
What’s the mantra you keep coming back to?
Don’t forget the pasta water.
What products / practices are part of your regular mental wellness habits?
My Yogi tea drawer is hilarious. The company has me in a chokehold. Clearly, I think it can cure every single one of my ailments. I usually have ginger tea with fresh lemon before bed, and will branch out depending on how I’m feeling. How could you not be cured by a cup of “Perfect Energy?”
And your physical?
I just started taking private Pilates classes at a studio near Borough Hall. It’s a bunch of skinny old ladies and me. I love it. I’m still learning the ropes and discovering muscles I never knew existed, but it already feels worth the investment.
What do think is the most underrated part of wellness?
Laser hair removal. We don’t talk about this enough. I finally did it, and it’s the best money I’ve ever spent. It actually makes me sad thinking about how much brain space and time went into my hair management before. I’m free!!! That said, getting it done is an insane experience. Being a woman is wild.
And overrated?
Everything else?
Picture this: you wake up one morning and feel like shit. What’s your next move:
I ordered Pedialyte in bulk when I had COVID a few years back, and I was like holy shit. I felt like I could flip a car. So then I ordered another huge shipment. And then I saw an episode of The Pitt where a guy almost dies from having too many electrolytes while training for a marathon (or something) and it freaked me out. But then my friend, who’s a nurse, told me you can’t really have too many electrolytes; you just pee them out. So now I have packets of Pludo electrolyte powder around the house and hit them whenever I need to. I tried to find ones with less sugar, but the sugar high is half the fun.
Give us your ride or die wellness products:
Clonazepam :)
One thing you do everyday that makes you the most YOU version of yourself:
Sleep past nine.
Whose taste inspires you?!
First Lady Rama Duwaji. I love that she’s younger than me and knows what’s happening on TikTok. Show me the way, Rama.
Emilia on the rose emoji: I interviewed an incredibly stylish Milanese woman with closets full of Prada for my newsletter last year. Whenever she texts me on WhatsApp, she sends a rose emoji, and I think that’s so chic. Now I do it too.
Major thanks to Emilia for sharing this glimpse inside of her fridge—and life—with us. Her newsletter, Shop Rat by Emilia Petrarca, is one of my favorite subscriptions, and you can also follow her on Instagram and find her fridge favorites here.
Feel free to leave a comment or respond to this email with questions you want asked, people you want featured, or anything else that’s on your mind. Don’t be shy, I love hearing from you.
She’s a cool girl who loves hot tea - we must get her DOCTOR STOLBERG Rest + Digest.
I loved this because it was real, relatable, and totally accessible to a single gal about town in the big city. I'm always hitting the snooze button past 9 and still eat Annie's Mac n Cheese (though I admit it's now SUPER MAC, the protein version). A wellness I could subscribe to is an Rx from your psychiatrist and an overpriced parm. Well-done