What Blakely Thornton Can’t Live Without

I used to journal three pages every morning, just get up early and do it. It’s great when you’re doing it. It helps release bad things and solidify good thoughts, but real talk, once you get off track, you really get off track. Also waking up an hour early to journal is a privilege, sometimes life gets in the way. So then my friend gave me this one-line-a-day journal, and it’s so much easier to maintain. I also look back on it. I remember the little things like meeting Cynthia or the day I signed with CAA or giving my sister a birthday gift. It’s kind of CliffsNotes for your feelings, and it’s much easier to stay consistent. I really like that it’s small. I travel with it. It fits in a bag. Just little cool things, whether it’s professional or personal that you remember, or even just a feeling.

My friend Kristen from high school owns a place calledKeeks Handbags. It’s like a RealReal competitor. It’s in Plano, Texas, where I’m from, and she just always has really good vintage, cool sourced bags. I think because it’s Dallas, and not New York or L.A. where it’s really rummaged through. I use the Jodie like a hobo bag. I stuff pens, paper, keys, in it. It’s a really chic way to carry everything you need day to day. So I just love it. It’s become my go-to.

I’m a huge tennis fan. I’ve played since I was 9. I was competitive. I was actually ranked in Texas as a teenager, and obviously I was inspired by Venus and Serena. I started playing when I saw Venus in the 1997 U.S. Open Final, and I was like,I want to do that. I was 11 years old. Knowing that there was a Black-owned racquet company that makes quality products. They sent me the racquet and I was like,Holy shit, this is amazing.So I just really love repping it. I really love wearing it. When I go to different clubs or places this is what I’m using. I really want to spread the idea that we not only play the sport like a Ben Shelton or a Francis Tiafoe or Coco Gauff, we can actually make those products and be behind the scenes of a sport that honestly, if you look at it, we’ve been running for Americans for the past 25 years.

I believe that a good overcoat makes you seem like you’re chicly dressed even when you’re wearing pajamas. So basically this became my habit during the pandemic. I would wear really chic coats because the only people I saw were the mailman and the woman who did the dry cleaning. Did I have the energy to put on jeans to go see this one person? No, but I did have the energy to put on a chic coat. She’d always be like, “You’re so well dressed.” It feels like you made an extra effort.

This is easy protein in the morning when I don’t want to cook. It’s healthy, it tastes good. It’s not fluctuating like the price of eggs quite yet. Easy, breezy, beautiful CoverGirl.

I was 260 in college. I was eating so much I could eat a thoroughbred horse almost. Now I’m learning to enjoy those same foods like chicken tenders and pizza without having it be Domino’s where you feel physically bad afterwards. I didn’t learn until after school that you could eat without physically feeling tired or a little bit sick, just because I was eating so much to get up to 260. I love a cauliflower chicken tender because you can eat the whole bag and it’s good protein and it’s about 500 calories. And as I’ve grown older, I’m not celiac, but I find bread affects my stomach. The cauliflower pizza crust is another good way to enjoy an indulgent food without feeling bad afterwards.

They’re great for before and after workouts and at the beach. They’re just a little like a chic sandal. I love wearing a red sock with the green Birkenstock. It gives that little bit of camp-counselor chic or Brentwood or Williamsburg dad. It’s not the brown one, it’s a little pop of color. It’s a forest green. I love it. A go-to when I want something that works with both a swimsuit and jeans.

When I first started becoming someone who was speaking my opinions to the public on the internet, I used the mini-microphone to feel like I was in a news desk to make it feel less surreal, like I was talking to an audience professionally. I don’t use them all the time. I still use them for my fashion reviews, but it kind of made me feel like a little Bryant Gumbel when I was really starting on TikTok three years ago.

All I want in this life besides to go back in time and reverse the outcome of the presidential election is Cutwater margaritas to sponsor me. I love to host, but making a margarita is fucking messy. The first batch is great, but by the time you’re doing the second refill, you’ve got lime juice and sticky shit and salt everywhere. It’s like you cooked a Thanksgiving meal. With a Cutwater margarita, I pour four of them bitches in a pitcher with some ice, and I’m like, look at me. I am the hostess with the mostest. I literally picked my apartment because the previous owner had Cutwaters. I was looking through it, and then I opened the fridge and the previous owner had Cutwater margaritas, and I was like,It’s meant to be.That is a good omen. One time I had three and ended up in my ex’s bed. That’s when I said, “Oh, it’s two per can, stan.” Cutwater will have you living a SZA album.

Skin care is a lot to parse through, especially as a man and a person of color. Finding something that works on your skin and is quality but doesn’t cost $400 is hard. Have you ever bought skin care and then you get pulled over in the airport security and you cry? You’re like,Oh, they’re throwing away 250 bucks.Neutrogena retinol cream and then the under-eye concealer, it’s a good amount of money. I think it’s maybe 30, 40 bucks. It’s sub 80. I know that, and it’s got a travel size. I put it under my eyes, and when I’m feeling really luxurious, I put under-eye cream all over. I think that’s what the wealthy do. They use eye cream everywhere. That’s my theory. I live a life where I have to pack fast and go places, and if I happen to pack a non-travel size and it gets caught in security, I’m not in a bad mood on the whole plane ride.