my perfect last 24 hours in edinburgh

a newsletter written from our new home in NYC

Hello friends! A LOT has happened in the last six weeks (eeek!) since I last sent a newsletter and I apologize for the negligence.

We moved from Edinburgh to NYC two Saturdays ago (after three delayed flights and three canceled ones — an adventure that turned a direct flight to JFK into a redeye with connection in Istanbul). This directly followed the night before when our cab dropped us off at the wrong address and we had to carry these six suitcases fifteen minutes up a dirt hill. (I’m fine!!!!) After landing in NYC finally, we dropped out bags, set up our bed, and headed to Michigan for a whistle stop tour through the US.

This involved hosting a book launch event for my dear friend

Lindsay MacMillan

at my hometown bookstore in Michigan (attended by my family and many of my high school teachers-weep!) and then heading to my family reunion on the Oregon coast which was absolutely blissful.

I loved interviewing Lindsay at the launch of her book, Summer on Lilac Island, for many reasons. This book, her third, was set in Michigan where we are both from and she is a genius and just so impressive (she wrote her first two books while still working at Goldman Sachs). I also love chatting with Lindsay because I always learn from her.

In this particular conversation, she reminded me that writing is supposed to be fun.

Lindsay has long told me that writing her newsletter is one of the easiest/most fun parts of her week — and I, who long leaves my newsletter last and is the first to punt it off my to-do list to tomorrow — am channeling this energy going forward.

Doing consulting work for others often means my client work comes first, but I am promising myself to prioritize my writing and content creation going forward. (You might have seen I have posted every day on TikTok / Instagram and am trying to stick to it for 30 days straight!)

I have SO much to tell you about these past six weeks that have just transpired and share about how my transition back to New York City is going (spoiler alert: actually a lot better than I expected!) To prevent this from being a novel-length newsletter, I will break these up into several emails to come.

Here are a couple of cool things that were published while I was in the process of moving:

• Scotland’s Isle of Skye Has Become an Unexpected Culinary Destination (Vogue)

• Why Mosaics Are Suddenly on Every Interior Designer’s Mood Board (Vogue)

• Wellness City Guide: Edinburgh on

  Katie Stone
  ’s amazing Substack

• A Design Writer’s Renovated Edinburgh Apartment (Homeworthy)

• Home Away From Home (Elle Decoration) - found the print copy in the airport on the day we were moving!

For now, I’d like to tell you about my last 24 hours in Edinburgh and how they were just absolutely perfect.

How I Spent My Last 24 Hours in Edinburgh

One of the most common questions I received when I told people we were moving out of Edinburgh was if I still had a bucket list to check off before we left. To that question, I’d say both yes, of course and actually, no.

While living in Scotland for two years, I tried to see as much of the beautiful possible—with some highlights including Tongue, Skye, Braemar, Fife—but I don’t think twenty years, let alone two, would be sufficient to see everything that Scotland has to offer! So in short, I of course still have a bucket list.

That said, due to the nature of my work as a design and style writer, I saw many gorgeous places and stayed at some life-changing hotels. While I can’t say I visited every place I wanted to, I can confidently say that I experienced more of Scotland than I could have ever dreamed when we first arrived in March of 2023.

It was from this place of deep gratitude that I was able to focus on being present for my last week in Edinburgh (and resist the temptation to dart to any far-flung corners to get a last minute trip in.)

My last full day in Edinburgh started like every other great day in Stockbridge.

I went to the gym and then stopped at Söderberg for a coconut milk latte with a cheese and sun-roasted tomato sandwich (true fans will know my body mass was at least 50% of this exact meal for the entirety of my time in Scotland).

There I ran into the most lovely Gabby Secomb Flegg (who I had profiled in The Times about the resurgence of medieval fashion) and

Fergus Morgan

of tennis club fame and brilliant theatre reporting. It was a hug from the universe.

Then as a rational person does, I went to my favorite vintage furniture store, 6A Howe Street, to see if there was an oil painting I could bring in my carry-on suitcase.

I was (and still am) on the hunt for a painting of a horse, and while I didn’t find that, I did find two gorgeous oil paintings that I simply could not live without.

(Reader, they did not fit in my carry-on suitcase so I resolved to carry them in a tote bag.)

Jo, the owner of 6A Howe Street,, wrapped them beautifully in bubble wrap for their journey.

After that jaunt, I went to Golden Hare bookstore to spend the gift voucher I got for my birthday and stock up on some plane reading. After, I met G for our next stop. We headed to my favorite clothing store in Edinburgh, treen, to spend another birthday gift voucher (what a great birthday!!!)

Cat, the owner at treen, is the most fabulous person and makes shopping a true delight. It was incredibly difficult to narrow down my choices (I am famously indecisive), but the time crunch of physically leaving the country in 12 hours did help me make some decisions.

I left with a fabulous pair of white jorts from Nudie Jeans, a black waistcoat from Faithfull the Brand I have worn at least 100 times since then, and two essential Skall Studio black long sleeve t-shirts. I had forgotten New York City summer is 100 million degrees so I look forward to wearing these in the fall.

I was so sad I had to leave the jeans, platform flip flops, and wrap skirt, but I will dream of them for the foreseeable future.

The next stop was to Stills Automat in Old Town, Scotland’s only analogue photo booth. I was desperate for a strip of photos to memorialize our time in Scotland and I was elated with how they turned out. They are now happily taped to our fridge in New York City.

After that outing, we walked back to New Town and I have to tell you that the sound of bagpipes playing outside of Waverly Station brought tears to my eyes. Scotland has been life-changing for me. I think I will long for it always.

We returned to our flat - the folks from the shipping company had boxed everything up that morning, with the lead mover belting out “Start spreading the news, I’m leaving today,” when I told him we were moving to New York.

Our last dinner was at Civerino’s Pizza (their chicken and mushroom pizza has been a core part of my diet ever since they opened three doors down from our flat) and then we ended the night with a final stroll around Inverleith Park.

It was a simple day, but a perfect one. I can’t wait to return soon.