introducing: glossary

the next chapter of des lettres

Hello friend, and welcome to glossary, the publication formerly known as des lettres.

It’s still me, Sarah. (Hi! 👋👋👋)

Same voice, same desire to share about the little things that make everyday life just a little nicer.

New name.

a collection of style notes, beauty finds, + deep thoughts on life (not necessarily in that order). consider this space an archive of texts and thoughtful recs from your online bff

The short story is that the new name glossary acknowledges that sometimes the words sent here are more quick notes, entries from the Notes app of my phone, screenshots from my cart, than wordy missives dispatched across oceans.

The new name also feels to me more elegant, refined, chic, and text-history-between-bffs-esque.

The longer story takes us back to the start of my Substack journey in 2022.

When I took the advice of Entre Nous writer and internet queen Sara Tasker and started this publication from the DIY kitchen table of our laneway house, des lettres, or letters, was the perfect title for the yet-undefined stories I wanted to tell.

I fancied myself a faceless raconteur, a niched-down vintage and thrift fanatic who lived for mood boards, antique farmhouse tables, and estate sales. Most of this is still true, tbh.

But as the masses flocked to Substack over the next few years, I found myself as a reader migrating towards Substacks written by my favourite OG bloggers and YouTubers about other topics I loved.

Each time a new writer started their publication, I’d find myself enviously coveting the way they wrote about things I felt didn’t quite fit into the narrow scope I’d defined for myself.

Girly things. Silly things. Things I, too, adored, like fashion, beauty, shopping, blockbuster movies, true crime recommendations, and seasonal trends.

I turned my envy over in my mind, and considered what it would mean for me to be a main character in my own writing and life.

How it would feel to take the leap and write about what I’d always secretly believed to be my own good taste, but shared only with my IRL besties.

I suppose the rest is history.

With stops and starts and breaks and tweaks, over time, I started writing about the stuff I’ve always really wanted to celebrate alongside the deeper reflections:

Easy makeup routines, blockbuster movies, shopping, personal style, and the occasional anecdote from my life as a teacher.

And here we are. Letting the name catch up with the space, and turning the page to the next chapter of my Substack.

glossary is a collection of all the nice things that make everyday life feel a little more elevated, without taking any of it too seriously. Created by me, Sarah Renée, a lifelong noticer of details, and everyday Millennial girl, I think of it as a comfortable coffee date where we get together to dish about fashion, beauty, and deeper stuff too.

Born out of my love affair with my Notes app (2,600 and counting), moodboards, and voice notes, glossary serves as a digital record of the things that make life sparkle. It's cozy and considered. Stylish but approachable. Never gatekeep-y. A little nerdy about the internet.

It’s the place where Where’s that from? and Do I need this? and Okay so get this… have a home.

I hope you’ll join me.