Turning inward
On winter spas, solo trips, and stepping into the new
I just got back from a winter spa escape. Besides my love for hot tubs, there’s also something oddly luxurious about just wearing a robe and slippers all day. Though I did get dressed to go out and walk in the beautiful snow.
Like a lot of other people, I’m drawn to the spa because it’s an exercise of being with myself, with my body, as I focus on just moving from hot to cold, from steamy to dry. I think I’m in a phase of wanting my vacations and trips to feel more inward. Over Thanksgiving, somewhat spontaneously, I flew to Venice on a brief solo trip. I kept having this vision of being there in the winter. Coming from LA, I craved the cold and the way it turns down the volume on things. I was fully prepared for the likely possibility of rain (and bought cute rain boots for the occasion, which were actually perfect for snow ^^), but I ended up being blessed with sunny days. I even spent an afternoon on a pier eating amaretto gelato with an espresso.
In Venice, I slowed down even as I walked 20,000 steps a day. I went to the opera, fell in love with Bellini (and bellinis), and ate cuttlefish pasta. The trip all feels a bit like I hallucinated it, but it proved to me that I can do a relatively short international trip (five nights) from LA, which can feel too far away from most places.
2025 was the year of the snake, which, it turns out, is all about introspection as well as shedding the old and embracing the new. In December, two of my closest friends who live across the street left LA, and two neighbors moved out of my intimate courtyard complex. It’s thrown into relief this phase in my life when people move on and away to follow new dreams, have families, buy property, and so on. As for myself, I’m still enamored with this courtyard life, and I’m lucky I have a partner who understands my unusual attachment to our little home.
All that said, I am a big fan of marking the new year and the psychic shifts that come with it. I still keep a physical agenda for my personal life and look forward every December to writing in ink my hopes for the following year. My small resolution for 2026? To go for an afternoon walk every other week in Griffith, the park in my backyard that I don’t know well enough.
I’ll leave you here with some of my favorite things this year:
My favorite book: The Friend by Sigrid Nunez
My favorite thing I bought: a purple necklace and orange ring from the Venetian artisan Perlamadre
My favorite gifts: an assortment of lovely tiny things, including a keychain my friend made with capybaras and matcha cream (did y’all know about Lumee DIY?)
My favorite art shows: Corita Kent at the Marciano Art Foundation (up through Jan 24). I also loved the Monet and Venice at the Brooklyn Museum, which might sound basic but it was very moving and melancholic (and yes, I saw this before my trip!).
My topped played song: “Ngiculela/Es Una Historia/I Am Singing” by Stevie Wonder
And on the topic of music, if you are in need of a playlist, I recently put one together for Image’s December Revelry issue. You can get the backstory in my editor’s note, but in sum, I felt inspired to recreate the playlists from my past: tracks 1-8 are middle school years, tracks 9–19 are high school, tracks 20–30 are college years, and the rest brings you into my older self/soul. Many of the songs are semi-bad/nostalgic (esp the Brazilian funk ones), and many I remembered thanks to my middle school besties from Brasília who’ve held on to my mixtapes and their track lists, e.g.:
(This particular track list includes some especially cringe choices, many inside jokes best left unexplained. Also, my middle school nickname was Kiki—a story for another day.)
Wishing you all much brightness as we enter the year of the horse, which happens to be my year and promises excitement and adventure.
From LA with love,
Elisa
So good!! Gave me new appreciation for the winter weather I’ll be returning to
Can’t wait for more spa in the year of the horse