The word "hilarious" is likely the one that gets thrown around the most when describing artist Julie Houts. If you follow her on Instagram you've had the pleasure of double tapping (and probably tagging your friends) when she posts because, well, she draws humor out of seemingly everything—even some really dark and arguably controversial stuff—somehow able to present an often familiar though seldom-shared internal monologue. We wondered how it'd be to sit down with her for an afternoon since she seems to parody so many of the subjects we dutifully address here at wfs: Guilty pleasures, binge watching, off-duty style... Her take on all, below.

Julie: I’m from Indiana and when I was 16, my family moved to St. Louis. Now I live in Brooklyn, New York. My parents made us go to art camp growing up…drawing was always easier for me than painting. I went to the School of the Art Institute of Chicago for painting where I discovered I was a terrible painter, basically. Then I switched to fashion and I did that for a year in Chicago. That school and its program are great but it’s really avant garde and I was myopically focused on working in ready-to-wear, I eventually transferred to Parsons and got my training there.

I’ve been doing these illustrations, first they were for myself and friends and it’s just grown from there on Instagram. Sometimes I’ll post something on Instagram and people get so mad at me, which is insane. People are offended by certain illustrations and I’m such a people pleaser, I care so much. Sometimes I think about posting something and then I stop and think: This isn’t worth the DMs I’ll get. I’m developing a thicker skin but at first I was like, what.

My weekdays are packed pretty tight with social plans, and then Fridays I stay in if I can. Saturday is usually some version of being in with coffee and reading and then seeing friends at night. I go to Film Forum a lot, sometimes every other weekend. I used to live on the Upper East Side and at that time I had my Saturday loop: Sant Ambroeus, and my little bench in the park and then to Neue Galerie, then Lexington Candy Shop for a milk shake or Orsay, a French Bistro that’s most packed for dinner at, like, 4:30pm because it’s really for older Upper East Siders.

Here in Williamsburg I love Roebling Tea Room and Walter’s. I used to go to St Mazie before I lived so close to it. Now I go to Diner or Donna or Sweetwater. I’m not a good cook, I’m just not. Even when I go to Chop’t I’m like, “What goes in salad? Is this right? Peanuts? Do they work?” [laughs]. I do make my own coffee though every day.

Turner Classic Movies has an app so I’ll often spend a Saturday afternoon watching that, or right now, Westworld. Weekends are a good mask time. I do one because I feel like I’m too oily and then it makes me dry and then I do a moisturizing one and then I get a pimple—it is an endless cycle—but I do like this Caudalie Moisturizing mask.

As for pampering, I go through waves of actually getting a manicure but that’s the extent of it. It’s beaten into your head as soon as you come to New York that you need to do your nails and I never knew it was a thing until I met a girl who got a manicure every single week here—either Mademoiselle or Big Apple Red—and she was horrified I didn’t get manicures.

Saturday-ssocation with Julie Houts

Viewing guilty pleasure: I’m obsessed with The Real Housewives, very very obsessed with it. Specifically New York and Beverly Hills. There’s something dark about OC that’s not funny to me. I don’t watch The Bachelor and sometimes I think I’m not advancing in my career because I don’t. People talk about it endlessly at work.

Food guilty pleasure: Rotel queso from Taco Chulo which is trashy queso and completely gross but also delicious.

If Saturday were a Chop’t salad, it would include: See? I can't even do it now.

Coffee or tea? Coffee with a little milk.

Long luxurious lunch or long luxurious dinner? Long luxurious dinner. Then you can just tumble into a cab and go home to sleep feeling really fat and cozy.

Night out in the Upper East Side or Williamsburg? Upper East Side. Bemelman's preferably.

Saturday or Sunday? Saturday. It has all the potential for relaxation that Sunday has with none of the potential dread built into Sunday evenings.

Favorite hour of Saturday: Around 4:30pm or so. It occupies a good in between space, and it’s low pressure. It's before you feel like you need to start thinking about your evening, and if you haven't made something of your day yet, it’s the point at which you give up and accept that you won't be leaving the house/changing out of pajamas until it's dark outside.

Saturday breakfast of choice: Sometimes I'll make an avocado toast with arugula and a soft boiled egg. Coffee. If not that, Saltie around the corner has something they call an "egg bowl" that changes weekly. A mix of vegetables and eggs and things in a big gloppy situation. It's good.

If Saturday were an item of clothing, it would be…a greyed, stained, and ratty T-shirt with bananas and monkeys on it that says, "I went bananas in Anguilla.”

wfs: Thank you, Julie!