Jen Socal

Owner. Beauty.

[Brian Sullivan @SullyCNBC]

Tough to think about anything today but the 9/11 terror attacks.

Memories fade, tens of millions weren't yet born and, sadly, some may even try to change the narrative.

Here's the reality from those of us in NYC: watching people jump from 80, 90, or 100 floors up because there was no other way down without immense pain. I saw it. So did many others.

Friends and colleagues died. Fighter jets flying overhead. Thousands of people - some covered in dust and debris - walking from NYC to wherever they lived, often for miles and miles and miles.

I was in the WTC on 9/10. Had an 830am breakfast in the Winter Garden next door. Maybe I got lucky by one day .. who knows. There are thousands of stories like mine.

Thousands more have died since, many the victims of poisoned air, cancer and more from their dedicated and amazing fight to clear the attack scenes and save whomever they could. They went in while others came out.

25 years is a long time.

It also feels like yesterday.

Because you can never forget those days. We must NEVER FORGET.

[Joel Berry @JoelWBerry]

The problem with fixing $20 burritos is every actual solution will get you called heartless.

Eliminate minimum wage? Cruel.

Cut entitlements and national debt? You want to kill grandma.

Mass deportations? Racist.

Teach people to be frugal? Out of touch.

The only “winning” political message will always be the Leftist proposal which usually amounts to “raise minimum wage to 1000/hr, start a U.S. Burrito Department, and give everyone a free burrito voucher,” which, by the way, is how you end up with a $150 burrito.

Welcome to conservatism. You’re the adult, and the “bad guy,” in the room. Get used to it and start showing the political courage to actually fix this stuff.

[Jen Socal @JenSocalii]

@mwmoedinger @antonia_mdprjct When I’ve questioned GC about his invoice I will get a combo of “this is how everyone does it” and “we work on $10/$15M houses in [insert fancy area]” to imply that my project is trivial. Btw I haven’t figured out a good response that isn’t too snippy to the later.

[Jen Socal @JenSocalii]

@SketchesbyBoze My kids are 10 and 14 and are very good at calling out AI images and videos. They hate them. Good sign!

[Jen Socal @JenSocalii]

@juliewattsTV Doesn’t Baby2Baby have tens of millions in cash? If they are a non profit then why aren’t they spending the money in their accounts instead of asking for taxpayer money ey?

[Mann Made Cinema @Hotshot_Movie]

What is with the Mayoral candidates both pretending like they aren’t already in charge of running the fucking city?

[Freddy🇩🇪 @FreddyLA7]

So long, America🫡🇺🇸

49 days ago we landed in the USA to follow our country at the World Cup. We had no idea it would turn into the trip of a lifetime.

Thank you to everyone who followed along, and to all the people we met who made this journey even more special. We honestly don’t have the words to express how grateful we are for everything you did for us.

This trip exceeded every expectation we had. We came here with an open mind, wanting to experience as much of the country as possible. I still remember telling my friends on the flight to Atlanta that I hoped we’d get to meet a few locals on this trip. Now we’re flying home with friends all across the USA.

Before we came, we heard so many stereotypes and warnings about America. People told us about safety concerns, that they might check our social media at the border, and all kinds of other things. None of it matched our experience. This was probably the most welcoming country we’ve ever visited.

So if you have the chance to travel, do it. The world isn’t nearly as bad as the media often makes it seem. 99% of people are awesome!

I heard this quote somewhere during the World Cup, and I think it sums up our experience perfectly:

“If you want to hate the world, watch the news. If you want to love it, travel it.”

Thank you, America ❤️🇺🇸

[‏ً @omgsidewalks]

Nobody talks about how the quickest cure for imposter syndrome is simply sitting in a meeting with very high-level corporate executives.

[Jen Socal @JenSocalii]

@USMNTCORNER I was heartbroken with how we went out but the good times were so good!

[Jota @jota_snchez]

5. El dinero ayuda hasta cierto punto. Luego, deja de importar.

La mayoría de los jóvenes cree que la clave es hacerse rico y famoso.

Los datos de 85 años dicen otra cosa: cubierto lo básico, más dinero no compra más felicidad. Más conexión, sí.

[Jen Socal @JenSocalii]

@ChefGruel I just visited Portland too. It was cute but I got major disgruntled liberals vibe from the people I met who lived there. Somehow politics came up when I was just trying to make small talk, i.e Los Angeles. We visited 5 cities and Portland was my least favorite.

[Freddy🇩🇪 @FreddyLA7]

Hello again.

We’re currently in Clemson, South Carolina. I’ve decided to come back here to document the final part of our road trip.

The main reason I deactivated my account two weeks ago was that things became increasingly toxic. For some people, it’s unfortunately unfathomable that a good story can exist without some kind of hidden agenda behind it. There was even a Reddit group going through my entire account trying to find anything they could use to reveal my identity.

I know this was only a small percentage of people, but after a while it became exhausting. During the last two weeks, I received so many kind messages on Instagram, and they really made me realize how many people genuinely enjoyed following the trip. Some people even told me that their grandparents regularly ask them, “What are the Germans up to today?” I think that’s really cool.

I decided to continue because I realized that the overwhelming majority of people loved following along. A small group of very loud people shouldn’t be able to ruin something that brought so many others joy.

I also want to clear something up, as people who follow me on Instagram already know.

I’ve been to the United States before. This is not my first visit, and I’ve never claimed that it was. The last time I was here was in January 2022, when I visited New York and Philadelphia.

A lot of people shared my Raising Cane’s post from November 2025 to make it look like I was secretly American. That post wasn’t from the United States, it was from my trip to Saudi Arabia.

This is my first time back in the U.S. in more than four years, and apart from Boston, I’d never visited any of the places we’ve been to on this trip before. That’s probably why many people assumed it was our first time in America, because for all of these places, it actually was.

And let me tell you, Ohio and Alabama are very different from New York City or Los Angeles.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask.

Thanks for reading.

[Jen Socal @JenSocalii]

@JulieChangRE These are scattered all over LA. I wonder what the occupancy rates will be over the next 5-10 years.

[Matt Leinart @MattLeinartQB]

A lot of soccer talk right now. I know nothing about the sport. I played soccer a few years when I was little then switched to the big 3. My kids will do the same. I watched more soccer this World Cup than I have probably my entire life. The truth is I’m a fan of sport and when our teams are in the Olympics / WC representing the best country in the world I’m rooting for them to win and be successful. I think this team brought a lot of joy to our country. Are we ever going to be as good as Argentina , Spain, etc. probably not. I am not invested enough to be that upset when we lose like we did to Belgium, etc. I would love to see our men’s team have more success. Certainly feel like we have the talent and resources to build from the youth up. I try to stay in the moment and this team gave us some great moments the last few weeks. What’s the answer? I have no clue. I hope we get better in the future but I’ll say it was a lot of fun watching these games! 🇺🇸

[Val Katayev @ValKatayev]

I came to America at 11 years old, not speaking the language, with parents who left everything behind for a shot at something better.

By 12, I was working in a jewelry store after school. Sweeping floors, polishing cases, learning how a business actually runs. I didn’t know it then, but that store was my first classroom in the only subject that mattered: opportunity.

At 17, I started a business from my parents’ basement. No connections, no capital, no fancy degree. Just a kid with an internet connection in a country that didn’t ask where I came from, only what I could build.

That’s the thing about America that people who were born here sometimes forget. In most of the world, your ceiling is set the day you’re born. Here, the ceiling is a suggestion.

Every company I’ve built, every job I’ve created, every risk I’ve been able to take exists because this country made one simple bet: give people freedom and get out of their way.

I’ve been paying that bet back ever since. Gladly.

Happy 4th of July. To the country that took in an 11-year-old immigrant kid and asked for nothing but effort in return.

🇺🇸

[Jen Socal @JenSocalii]

That housing project is in CD 11 and we rejected DSA city council candidate and easily re-elected Traci Park. I thought I saw a breakdown of CD 11 that showed we voted Spencer #1 in primary, though I can’t find that info now. I watched that project get built right by my kids school. Community tried to fight it but too many kick backs were already given out so there was nothing we could do. It’s awful.

[Jen Socal @JenSocalii]

@AtlasVT @Mithrandir48 @FreddyLA7 Done. Booked reservation for tomorrow. 🙏

[Jen Socal @JenSocalii]

@Mithrandir48 @FreddyLA7 I’m going to Portland, Maine on Monday. Where should we eat?

[Jen Socal @JenSocalii]

@ScottFriedman3 @StubHub I’m curious how those resellers obtain so many tickets. Do they run software bots to get tickets? Why would stubhub want resellers vs using same strategy to obtain tickets themselves?

[Kevin Dalton @TheKevinDalton]

It feels like just yesterday when Gavin Newsom took a moment out of his State of the State address to make sure everybody knew about all the amazing work LAUSD Superintendent Alberto Carvalho was doing.

So it is quite fitting that today Carvalho resigns in disgrace after the FBI raided his home and office