Raw Chocolate Cornet

Brand: Family Mart

Price: 110 yen

Found At: Family Mart

What do you pair with a glass of wine, Donna Sommers cranked up to full volume, and a single day to pack up your apartment before you move out?

Chocolate, of course.

Every woman (and man, for that matter) needs that occasional act of reclamation in life. A moment of letting go that becomes a celebration of renovation. With girl power ballads blasting in the background and the most ridiculous clothes I owned, layered one on top of each another, I got rid of all the unnecessary things that have slowly snuck into the nooks and crannies and storage spaces of my life. It was a moment of blanket permissions – to be silly, to be lazy, to be sentimental, and to be ruthless as I saw fit in the liminal spaces between houses and lifestyles and seasons. Singing “I Am Woman,” I strutted about like a colorblind peacock, tossing out pants the didn’t fit and shirts that didn’t suit.

And whenever I started to worry, or a particularly sentimental song appeared on shuffle, or I was struck by a bout of petulance, I flopped down on the floor for a few more bites of a chocolate cornet. It’s not a thing that I would usually eat. It’s a giant hunk of sweet bread, filled with mysterious chocolate goop and not a shred of nutritional value. It’s the kind of thing that is usually a little too sweet and a little too basic – something that I might eat as a kid, but as an adult would give me a headache. But sitting in the wreckage of my home, and basking in my own liberation, it fit. It was a small act of defiance – defiance against the rules of women’s food. It was not healthy or slimming or low carb or high protein or gluten free or vegan. It was just good, and I ate it because I wanted to eat it.

Today, I am the woman that eats chocolate by the handful, wears dresses over flannel, and sings Carly Simon to my neighbors.