Gossip Girl, here - your one and only source into the scandalous lives of Manhattan's elite...no, but actually.

If you've ever wondered what it was like to grow up in New York City, you've come to the right place. We're foraying DEEP into my party girl past over the next 2 weeks, and for part 1, let's throw it back to 2008-2011: the golden years of Jeffrey Campbells, tabloid mayhem, Indie Sleaze, Gossip Girl, and - how lucky was I? - Ali in high school.

Starting from my very first memory of getting drunk (at my own chaperoned house party, iconic), and weaving through hookah bars, warehouses in pre-gentrified Brooklyn, rooftops, Meatpacking District clubs, teen charity galas, raves, and the best electronic music festival in North America, I'm revisiting every step of my burgeoning obsession with nightlife - and alcohol.

Then, because all pleasure comes with pain, we'll grin and bear my college years, where I drowned under depression and bottom-shelf liquor, threw Playboy Mansion-themed parties, studied abroad in London, and started thinking about getting sober...

And we'll end 5 years later, at the moment I blacked out in Katz's Deli eating a pastrami sandwich - and decided to move to LA to finally experiment with "Cali Sobriety."

The story continues in Part 1!

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Love letters? Hate mail? Share your thoughts at [email protected]. Follow Ali on Instagram & TikTok @aliweissworld. Tales of Taboo is produced and narrated by Ali Weiss. Audio production by Wolf Taylor & Aamir Augustine at WTF Media. Theme song by Chris Stathopolous. Cover photo by Erika Flynn. Cover art by Kristen Montenegro. "Degenerate" sweatshirts & G-Strings are available on Ali's Instagram via DM.