Wicked 2 and modern art sale both break records (unrelated), and I have tips for protecting your peace during Thanksgiving

Wicked 2 broke box office records (duh), crypto is down (beware of grumpy crypto bros), and I had another amazing weekend at home. Let’s get into it. BTW, I’m so sorry but last week’s newsletter never sent (can I blame the Cloudflare outage?), but you can catch up here.

Wicked Part 2 wins second-biggest box office opening this year

The second movie from my very favorite franchise brought in a whopping $150 million on opening weekend, which breaks a previous record set by (you guessed it) Wicked (the first one). The movie is definitely catching some strays (The New Yorker called it “very, very bad,” and the Times says it’s “downbeat”), but nonetheless, people continue to live for the Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo love affair friendship, which I, of course, am very much here for. Let the record show that Corporate Natalie’s review is: 5/5 stars, obsessulated.

Most expensive modern art at auction EVER just sold

If you’re feeling bad about your holiday spending, just know you definitely didn’t outspend the buyer of Gustav Klimt's "Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer.” The piece went for $236.4 million, which is a new record for modern art at auction. It was sold from the private collection of philanthropist Leonard Lauder (Estée Lauder’s son!!), to an anonymous buyer. A very very expensive holiday gift for someone!

Rough week for crypto (beware of angry workplace crypto dudes)

If your office crypto bros are especially whiny this week, here’s why: Bitcoin pretty much crashed, erasing a year’s worth of gains in just 7 days. Some are saying an AI bubble is about to burst, so investors are getting nervous and selling their crypto. Remember: when they can’t stop talking about crypto, you can always just…slowly…back…away.

This weekend I did the most adult thing I’ve ever done: cooked a full chicken with my husband-to-be. Natalie of 3 years ago would not recognize this sentence. We also did some registry shopping (the most fun part of all of wedding planning) and went on a hike. I could get used to these chill weekends at home!

If you wanna look like a hot Marina mom, you must try sweater over button-up. It also makes me better at my job and 200% smarter? This ludicrously capacious bag (fits laptop + lunch + coffee) is on sale for Black Friday btw!

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays (I love pie) but also sometimes burns me out to no end. So I’m sharing a few lazy girl sanity hacks for if/when you get cornered into a long convo with your least favorite uncle or grilled by your nosey aunt about exactly when you’re having kids (please back off).

Pick one of these and you’re good:

The 5-minute walk clause: Show up, say hi, then immediately go on a quick walk under the guise of “getting steps in before it gets dark.” It resets your brain and buys you space before the chaos officially begins. No one questions a walk!

The controlled-pour shift: Pour your own drinks. That’s it. It sounds stupidly small, but not getting wine-topped-off by an overly generous relative prevents the slow slide into overstimulation and saying things you didn’t mean to say out loud.

The plate-and-pivot: Sit next to the one person you genuinely adore, and if someone tries to drag you into a spiral conversation, you can always politely say you need to catch up with whoever’s on your other side, and turn your body. A physical pivot solves 90% of conversational traps.

The proximity hack: If certain people stress you out, don’t avoid them (it will only make them seek you out more, tbh), just don’t be stationary near them. Keep moving: refill water, clear plates, grab extra napkins. You’re technically present and helpful, but also un-catchable.

And if you’re lucky enough to adore everyone at your Thanksgiving table, that is something to be super grateful for!! Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanks for reading!