Carly is back with the third installment of Carly’s Cut. You can read her last one here. Carly is The Stripe’s Creative Projects Manager. She has such great taste that I wanted to give her a monthly column to tell us what’s up. In the spirit of January, I asked her to put together a little “year in review” with her best purchases, watches, meals, and more. Enjoy!
If you had told me at the beginning of 2025 that this is how the year would unfold, I truly would not have believed you. It was a year of very high highs and some objectively low lows, and I am more than ready to close this chapter and start fresh. That said, so much of this year was spent deeply focused on myself and the people I love, which led to some truly great moments of seeing, doing, and simply being. I shopped more than I care to admit. I spent an alarming amount of time at the Terrace Theater, likely more than I spent at home. I ate exceptionally well, to the point that I like to think Anthony Bourdain would have approved. It all felt shiny and bright in that fleeting, pinch-me kind of way, and I wanted to share the very best of it with you.
Carly’s Cut, Vol.5
Shopped //
This year was a shop until you drop year. Fortunately for my closet and unfortunately for my wallet. I know I harp on it constantly, as do most people who orbit the worlds Grace and I live in, but I really have put an emphasis on quality over quantity. I am endlessly grateful to even have the luxury of thinking that way. Outside of the simple thrill of the hunt, I spend so much time sourcing and sifting through secondhand finds to track down the exact investment pieces I want. Or, in many cases, the pieces end up finding me.
Ironically enough, this photo of me after a Trader Joe’s run in the city perfectly captured my two favorite acquisitions of 2025. The first is a vintage buttery yellow mohair coat from seller Lucia Zolea, and the second is my coveted ponyhair boots from The Row that I scooped up at Consignment Brooklyn. They are items I know I will have forever and can only be described, as Grace says, as goes with nothing, works with everything. The funny part is that both pieces can really only be worn in the winter, which means I either need to move somewhere colder or get serious about improving my warm weather wardrobe.
While I cannot link the exact pieces, I did a little digging and found these incredible ankle boots from Aeyde that give a similar effect and this brushed wool coat that brings the same level of interest, just without the pop of color.
Watched //
It’s embarrassing to admit (and honestly shocking to everyone involved), but I only watched Pride & Prejudice for the very first time this year. The saving grace? I got to see it during its 20th-anniversary screening at the world’s best theater with the world’s best friends. It’s one of those movies that reels you in deeper every single minute. I keep wishing I could hit some cosmic rewind button just to feel that first watch all over again—but for now, I’m just thrilled it’s officially joined my roster of favorite films. Cliché… I know.
Naturally, this sparked what my friends and I immediately declared “Period Piece Summer.” We made our way through Anna Karenina, Sense and Sensibility, Emma. and a few others like the devoted Austen-adjacent scholars we are. And to wrap it all up, we went to see Jane Austen Wrecked My Life, which felt like the perfect curtain call to a summer that absolutely swept me off my feet. Honestly, we should all feel endlessly grateful for Jane Austen’s legacy—and for Terrace Theater’s unwavering supply of Dr. Brown’s sodas.
Saw //
There’s always a clean 50/50 split in reaction when I tell people I’m secretly a theater geek. I grew up in a town off the final stop of the Metro-North line, one of the trains that rattles into the city every hour, and I spent most of my childhood burning through Playbills like they were required summer reading. Looking back, I’m endlessly grateful I got to experience Broadway in abundance. It’s magical, it’s mystical, it’s honestly incomparable.
Case in point: way back when Hamilton was just starting to snowball (pre-Tonys, pre-world domination), my mom and I had the opportunity to snag tickets to see the original cast for under a hundred bucks each. My reaction? “BORING!” I wasn’t much of a gambler, but nothing about a three-hour musical on the Founding Fathers sounded appealing at the time.
Then the Hamilton pro-shot hit Disney+, and my best friend and I streamed it approximately one million times. I swore to myself I would do whatever it took to see it in person with at least one original Broadway cast member, just to redeem my past mistake. And, as fate would have it, for the show’s 10th anniversary, Leslie Odom Jr. announced he’d be stepping back into the role of Aaron Burr for nine weeks. And goddamnit… I was absolutely willing to wait for it.
Saved //
How was I supposed to choose just one image as my top saved of the year? It feels nearly impossible, like choosing a favorite child or pet. Pinterest has always been a constant source of inspiration for me, but this year it became more of a visual diary. Something that shifted with me as the seasons changed, my style and interests evolved, and my doomscrolling on other platforms finally started to taper.
While I am working tirelessly (or maybe not quite) to bring down my screen time, I still find myself sinking into the depths of the app whenever I need to recharge, which feels hilariously contradictory to the whole point of less phone use. But curating these collages has pushed me to seek out newness and pay attention to what my visual cravings actually say about me. Inspiration really is everywhere, and we are lucky to have it right at our fingertips whenever we need a spark.
Ate //
Briscola Trattoria is one of those New York restaurants I simply cannot picture without candlelight flickering and soft snowflakes drifting past the window. For a handful of reasons, I’d consider it my best meal of 2025. The food was enchanting. The drinks were impossibly sippable. The company was the best I’ll ever have.
For what became our last girls’ trip to the city for quite some time, my best friend Anna and I cozied up in the four warm corners of our other best friend Pippa’s Crown Heights apartment. Without even meaning to, we spent most of the trip inside catching up and cackling like we always do. (In our defense, it was freezing.)
One of our few outings was the short walk to Briscola for dinner, which unfolded into endless bowls of warm pasta and even warmer laughter. I’ve had a laundry list of incredible bites this year, but the company is what nudged this one straight to the very top.
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