Hi! I’m Jenni Avins, a writer and editor based in Los Angeles. I’ve written about culture and lifestyle for publications including The New York Times, New York Magazine, Harper’s Bazaar, Vogue, Popular Science, and many more.
From 2014-2021 I was the lifestyle reporter at Quartz, which was a smart and special corner of the internet—originated under the umbrella of The Atlantic—before it was acquired and largely dismantled. (Sigh.) At Quartz, I started a weekly lifestyle newsletter called Quartzy, which a former colleague recently described as “Substack before Substack.”
The underlying tenet of my lifestyle coverage has always been that most of us are just trying to have a good day. So I’ve always tried to write about things helping me and others to do that, whether that means great recipes, revelatory books, helpful ideas, beautiful clothing, songs to play on repeat, a small dose of mushrooms, and so on. It’s an ever-moving target, especially in recent years.
When I started Have a Good Day (the Substack you’re reading right now) in 2022 and gave it the subtitle “Living well in weird times,” I think it was mostly the lingering shadow of Covid making things weird. (Who can remember?) It’s a different weird now, but the premise remains: that our days make up our lives and there are many ways, big and small, to make those days good.
Hence, Have a Good Day. For the time being, this is a pretty informal place—free, in all senses. And for the moment, it’s bending rather personal. I hope you find something to like.
Have a good day!
x Jenni
