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I’ve talked quite a bit about how much we enjoy games in our family — Landon and I play Wingspan multiple times each weekend, and we also love games that our five and seven year old can play with us. In fact, when I contemplated the question: “What is considered normal in your household?”, I was struck by the fact that “playing games” was one of the first few answers I tossed out. Game-playing even made its way into the design of our front living room. When we mentioned how often we enjoy Wingspan over coffee or cocktails on the weekend, our designer suggested incorporating a small game table into one of the corners. Right now, it has a half-completed puzzle on it, but I think I might buy a beautiful chess/checkers set to leave out on its surface moving forward. I love the classic look of this set.
Aside from being enjoyable in their own right, I’ve found that games are a great way to embrace playfulness, connect with my husband and children in a different way (i.e., it’s exciting for my kids to “compete” with me!), engage in something not involving screens, and model strategizing and resilience. I also like that it implicitly invites rest, as there are many instances where we are waiting for our turns. Funny how something as simple as a game can become a tool to express family values. I feel the same way about meals and mealtimes — another canvas for value-expression.
Anyway, while we were away with friends last weekend, my children discovered (and loved!) Checkers, and our friends mentioned that Monopoly Jr is big in their household — and we’d never played it before. I’ve asked this a few times here and there, but want to make a big open ask at the bottom of this post —
10. Beat the Parents — we’ve not yet tried this but it’s on our list next!
By the way – we just picked up these card holders for little hands. My son has trouble with some of the games because he can’t display them all efficiently!
In putting this post together, I also came across some gorgeous decorative versions of some classic games — these would be great if you, too, have decided to incorporate gaming into a high-traffic area. Some of these are pretty enough to leave on a shelf or coffee table, and/or would make a great family gift:
These are more adult-oriented, but older kids can definitely partake if patient — a few of our other favorite two-player games: Azul, Patchwork, Jaipur.
Lots of really fun picks as we head towards warmer weather; these jelly flats are such a fun pick me up and surprisingly comfortable, and how fun are these shell earrings? Meanwhile, you may have noticed my raffia hat above — I adore it. It’s packable (easy to toss into pool bag or travel with!) and, I realize this is niche, but a good hat for beach reading because you can lean your head against a chaise without a wide brim getting in the way.
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I know many of you are already fans, but I have to take a moment to praise the La Ligne Colby pant. They are one of those unicorn wardrobe pieces that you can style a million ways — work just as well with a chunky knit for everyday wear as they do with a blouse and blazer for an evening out. My only issue with them is deciding what hem length to leave them at — if I want them with a casual shoe, they’re a little too short for a heel, and vice versa. I have three pairs and I left my velvet ones long for evening wear (almost puddling at the floor) and the other two a bit shorter — but not so short that I can’t wear with a 3″ heel. Anyway, I can’t recommend them more; they’re a great alternative for leggings or jeans if you’re looking for something a bit more polished but just as comfortable. I take an XS in these and the fit is perfect (I’m a true XS). I would not size up or down. My code at La Ligne, MAGPIE10, should still get you 10% off.
I also wanted to mention that many of you have written to praise J. Crew’s similar “Stratus pant,” which are on sale through today only for under $100, and come (conveniently!) in petite and tall inseams.
Styling Inspo for the Colby Pant.
Loving the idea of black and navy together — very CBK.
I’ve lost track of how many Magpies have written to let me know they’ve adopted the mantra:
Just move the dirt.
Some of you have this taped to your desk, or saved as an alarm title for your morning workout wakeup; others use it as shorthand in your offices with workplace friends.
The phrase comes from a Magpie reader, who shared that whenever she is dreading a run, she’ll tell herself: “Just move the dirt, girl.” And I love the no-frills, no-fluff entreaty: get out there and get it done. I am big on the sentimental, but sometimes I need that kind of unflinching tough love. It fits snugly with my yeomen-like ethos around creative practice:
Inspiration will not always find you, so you must learn to be disciplined.
Landon and I were talking about this recently within the context of completion desire. I love to cross a task off a list, and have learned over time to break projects down into clusters of small tasks so that I can “feel” my progress on a daily basis versus staring anxiously at one longer-term goal that I won’t be able to “cross off” for months. I do this in every realm of life — household admin, fitness, business, creative undertakings. I’ll even put “laundry” and “order uniform socks” on my to-dos just so I can make my own effort, my own progress, visible. Landon is much better about accommodating the middles without these visual crutches — and life is, after all, a lot of middles. He is master of the middle; comfortable in the formation of things. He somehow intuitively understands that even if he’s not crossed something off of a list, every moment of research and conversation is part of the process that gets us to the end. I marvel at his “dirt-moving” leadership in this. I was telling him just yesterday that I felt I was floundering with a particular project related to my blog, and was outlining all the things I’d explored and contemplated and not yet been able to implement for various reasons. He looked at me incredulously and said: “You’re doing the work, Jen. That is the work.” The thinking, the consideration of possibilities, the logisticizing, the changing tacks, the right-sizing — this, too, is the job. Just because I’d not yet implemented a solution didn’t mean I hadn’t made material progress against the goal. I’d been moving the dirt all along — who knew?
I thought these thoughts might be apropos if you are staring down a very Monday Monday laden with micro-tasks and drudgery and middles.
+Alert! Alice Walk is running a highly rare 20% off on all of their sweaters. I have been wearing this cashmere cardigan around the house constantly lately, but my absolute favorite sweater they make is their cotton weekender. It’s truly a year round sweater — perfect for chilly nights at the beach / on the water, and soft like a sweatshirt in the fall and winter. I own in two colors! Now is the time to grab one.
+Treat yourself this spring to the best white tee on the planet. It’s a splurge but I promise you’ll reach for it every time you open your drawer. It is perfectly tuckable (great length but also a sufficiently thin fabric that won’t bunch / add bulk) and opaque, and I love the fit — the sleeves are perfectly cut. I just noticed they offer a two-pack for a discount (get two white tees for $145 vs $180). I also own this tee in brown, navy, gray, and black. Literally perfect. I also adore this scoopneck tank for pairing with fuller skirts and trousers in the summer. My code, magpie15, gets you 15% off sitewide but may not work on the two-pack t-shirts.
+If $90 is too steep for a tee (but I PROMISE the money per wear makes it make sense — and the quality is incredible), the $15 Uniqlo is a great standby. Thicker material and more cropped length.
+So many of you ordered this Tuckernuck dress last week that I had to follow suit. Just ordered to try, along with this white lace caftan I’d been eyeing for several weeks and this fun patterned version of our favorite boxy top. (Imagine with white jeans.). Try YOUROCK or YOURULE as promo codes — one or the other usually gets you 20% off. More Tuckernuck picks here.
+Rag and Bone just sent us 20% off code! JEN20, sitewide. You know I love their wide-leg jeans; I’m eyeing this featherweight pair for the transition to warmer weather.
+Loving my new Varley bomber. It works over athleisure or with jeans / casual wear. So chic!
+Still time to avail ourselves of the Serena and Lily 25% off sale for backyard furniture! We have this teak dining table on our patio, and I love the clean look of these chaises.
I was on a Zoom call a few weeks ago with a stranger who unexpectedly shared a grief the size of the moon. I could see it in her eyes before she even said anything; a wan moonlight swam in them. Or maybe they were tears.
Her brother had died a few weeks prior. She was quick to say: “But he had a great life.” I could see in the reflexiveness of her comment the strain of her heart against its own sadness.
Her confession had no natural place in the conversation, but then that’s the way with grief, curling itself into every corner and jacket pocket–and anyway I think we should be a little less precious with where we permit our hearts to hang out. It’s OK, I wanted to say, you’re safe here, but instead I said “I’m so sorry to hear that,” and let her talk for a few minutes without saying anything, just nodding and sighing heavily, because maybe those are the same thing?
I have thought and written a fair amount about grief, and still I found myself inarticulate in its face over Zoom. But maybe grief wants no condolence. Maybe it just wants to be seen, and accepted.
And I mean, is there anything more urgent in life than bearing witness to love? Which is really what this was. A daughter’s planet-sized love for her dad, pouring out with abandon.
At the end of the call, after we’d turned the conversation back to the matter at hand, and made polite jokes and said over one another: “well, thank you so much for making the time,” I said:
“You’ve shown you’re capable of great change–“
And I meant it with regard to her work credentials but I saw her eyes water and I thought how much it means to remind ourselves that we are far stronger than we think. That we are fluid, metamorphic. That we have survived 100% of our bad days. You know?
So, try that on for size today.
I am capable of great change.
****
A bit of a sad take on this theme, but it was too a propos not to share — the poem below by Lisa Jensen leapt out at me this week. I would add to this that tomorrow we can be many other things, too. (A la Wendell Berry: Be the like the fox — make more tracks than necessary — and “practice resurrection.”)
I Could Be Many Things by Lisa Jensen
Clouds are white blankets,
folded and stacked.
Branches are arms,
brown, thin, beckoning.
Leaves are fingers snapping,
crisping call to pay attention.
Birds can be anything.
They shape themselves to a
black ship. They bob, dip,
murmur about the end of the earth.
I could be many things,
but today, I am only a woman
who looks at the sky
and cries.
****
Sunday Shopping.
This post may contain affiliate links. If you make a purchase through the links below, I may receive compensation.
This post may contain affiliate links. If you make a purchase through the links below, I may receive compensation.
+LET IT BE MESSY: Last month, a Magpie reader wrote that she was enjoying the way I was exploring “the messes around love.” It’s been a theme on my mind this year; it was the pith of my unorthodox New Year’s resolution. I loved this quote from Maha Rose as quick summation of the ethos: “Let is be unpolished and messy and true.” This gets to the heart of my post on letting my children be little blackberry thickets — and letting my writing be the same. I was talking with my friend Inslee when I visited her down in Raleigh, and she was asking how I come up with some of my list-form creative nonfiction, like 10 I Love Yous and Marriage Is. “Do you sit down and write it all in one go, or do you work on it little by little?” I told her that it’s a little of column A and a little of Column B, but I do find that once I have an idea, and I sit down to get it onto paper, the first pass is usually where the magic happens. For me, the heart of the writing rarely emerges in editing or revision. Editing polishes and assists the flow, improves the language and form, but the spirit of the work, its raw energy, comes through in the messy first draft. Something important for me to remember as a creative principle: be alert to and protective of the magic of those wild and loose first passes.
+HAIR GOALS: Creative Caitlin Burnhamm has the most gorgeous hair — I love the long layers and the way it bends under at the ends. I also love her denim on denim look!
These photos inspired me to book a visit from Glamsquad for an at-home blowout last Thursday. It felt luxe to head into the weekend with great hair, and reminded me — and I’m aware how silly this sounds — how great hair can make me feel charged-up, ready, polished. Re-sharing my codes for Glamsquad below — my favorite beauty indulgence.
+EYEING + BUYING:The chicest denim jacket of all time — this is already in my closet and seems to go with everything. A splurge but I know I’ll wear it forever. I love the look of denim jackets and have a few in my closet that I trot out now and then but I’m so petite up top and find they tend to overpower my frame and/or hit me at a weird part of the hip. I love that this Ulla has a cinched waist while still honoring that classic mid-wash denim blue heritage.
Meanwhile, these fun Cleobella pants stopped me in my tracks. Major Zimmerman vibes, but for a fraction of the price. Also shoppable at Nordstrom.
+”HOW LIGHTLY THEY ACCEPT THE GREAT TASK”: One of those Gretel and her breadcrumb trail moments this week (i.e., when it feels as though everything I read and encounter is leading me to the same thought pattern): no sooner had I written the line “is there anything more felicitous than a daffodil stem?” and, separately, noodled over the concept of the Sunday reset in the context of all the micro-tasks that pile up on our plates each week, did I came across Mary Oliver’s poem, “Spring,” in which she’s describing a pair of mating flickers meeting and writes:
This was the exact sentiment I was groping for when fawning over the daffodils. Their shocking conviction in emerging through the dead and brown ground each March with their unbearably green stalks! At the same time, I was feeling the pinch this week of all the micro-responsibilities on my plate as a mother — hence my musing on “the Sunday reset.” And here was Oliver reminding me how beautifully, how gracefully, the flickers “accept the great task of carrying life forward.” A gorgeous avatar for this season, those flickers and the daffodils now-green in the barren earth: go lightly.
This in turn reminds me of one of my favorite quotes, from Aldous Huxley:
+BESTSELLERS:The way-high curve jean from Everlane, which I also ordered! Available in a shorter inseam.
Mr. Magpie has gotten into a habit of getting everything he needs for the morning routine ready the night before. He’ll lay out the children’s plates and cups, the cereal canister, coffee-making gear, blender for the smoothie. He’ll even prep the fruit so all he has to do is portion it out in the morning. I have not yet made the leap to this level of preparation, but I can see the payoff from afar: the mornings run far more smoothly and the children are ready much earlier on the days he gets up with them. (We trade off on the morning routine responsibility: two days on, two days off. Whoever is on an “off day” will sleep in a bit and then drive the kids to school, which in turns enables the “on” parent to dive straight into exercise, or relax for a bit, before the workday begins.) Mr. Magpie has also programmed our garage door to open at 7:40 a.m. each morning, and has the car automatically start at the same time, so it’s warm when we get in. He is a true engineer, always looking for efficiencies. (Why go through the same steps every day if there’s a way to automate or streamline?) These thoughts would literally never occur to me as a born and bred humanities gal. I’m out with the lanterns, looking for the stories in the schedule.
I was thinking about this more generally, and thought– maybe I’m not going to be as efficient as Landon on a daily basis, but could I do a few things on Sunday that might help me find more ease in my week? I don’t feel I’m sufficiently strategic about this, as Mondays can feel like a breathless catch-up session as I tackle emails, admin, chores I’ve put on hold over the weekend. Then I come up for air at 1 in the afternoon and have that discomfiting feeling that my day has not yet started, and it’s about to end, as I’ll be heading off to pick up the kids in an hour and a half. When I experience this, I remind myself: “This, too, is the job.” Meaning — all the household admin, all the ordering of uniforms and gifts and shoes the next size up, all the responding to invitations and filing of medical forms and scheduling of appointments, all the laundry and switching of sheets — are part of the job. They are not getting in the way of my tasks. They are not interruptions to my life. They are a steady, core component of the work. And so I need to treat them like any other part of my job, and see their meatiness and especially the effort that goes into handling them. They are not nothing. When I am feeling frayed at the onslaught of micro-tasks, I remind myself: do small things with great love, even these monotonous mini responsibilities that are largely invisible to my children but that also enable our house to run. This, too, is the job.
Still. I was wondering if my strategic Magpies had any Sunday rituals that reset for the week such that Mondays feel a bit less muddy. On occasion, I sit at my desk on Sunday afternoons to clear my inbox and handle certain repetitive tasks related to the blog, and it always feels like I’m starting Monday ahead of the game. It’s not always practical or — more importantly, I think — in line with my priorities to get this done on Sunday, but it does feel lovely when it happens. I will say that on Monday mornings (and most mornings of the week, but especially the ones where I am intentionally clipping into a creative headspace), I am devoted to reading something inspiring that will set the emotional or intellectual tone for the week. I usually sit with some poetry when I get to my desk on Monday morning; sometimes I open my anthology to a random page and read whatever the day presents (a small and satisfying gambit!), but I also return to a few pieces that invariably draw me out and onto the page: Rita Dove’s “Dawn, Revisited”, Wendell Berry’s “The Peace of Wild Things,” any Mary Oliver, William Carlos Williams’ “Of Asphodel,” any section of Edith Hamilton’s “Mythology,” Seamus Heaney (poetry, but also his Nobel Prize acceptance speech, which makes me feel all the things), F. Scott Fitzgerald short fiction, Margaret Renkl essays, Patti Smith’s essay on failure (which I wrote about here). This kind of reading, which I’ve elsewhere described as “an energy multiplier,” is essential to my craft, but it’s also a determined weekly ritual. Perhaps Monday morning reading is more core to my “weekly reset” than I’d previously thought.
When I posed this question about “the Sunday reset” on Instagram, I was interested to learn that most of us use Sunday for laundry, meal prep, and other tasks that make the week feel more “grab and go,” while a small but vocal minority of us insist that Sundays are not for “getting a head start on the week” and instead for resetting internally through rest and quiet. One of you wrote: “On Sundays, I focus on me. Mondays will always arrive.” (Wow!) And another (mother of four!) wrote: “I do nothing on Sunday. Mondays are for resetting.” This stopped me in my tracks. Perhaps I have been thinking about this all wrong; maybe my Mondays aren’t “slow starts,” but my implicitly chosen days for admin. Maybe I’ve been using the weekends for other purposes, and that’s OK. I’ve never been intentional about this, though; it’s been a de facto arrangement. So it feels good to call it out and see how I feel about this division of the use of my time. Does it reflect my priorities?
Related, I am thinking of something a Magpie reader told me a few years ago: “You can start a new 24 hour period at any time.” As in, you don’t need to wait until dawn to start over. Same is true of the week. You can start a new seven day period at any time. So maybe your “Monday” is what most people consider “Sunday.” Or some other configuration. It’s all fungible!
I should call out the obvious here: there are many women who have no choice but to stack admin on Sundays, whether because they work or travel during the week, or because they are home with little babies and do not have the bandwidth to take on these tasks while a partner or spouse is not in the home on weekdays! So, there is an implicit privilege in being able to choose how and when to handle these things–but we all do handle them. (I want to also mention that one Magpie who lives abroad said it’s not possible to “reset” for the week in the typical ways outlined above, because groceries and other stores aren’t open; it would be considered rude to call to schedule appointments; etc. Fascinating to think about that!)
Anyhow, below, I’m dividing up the suggestions into two categories; you pick which one you belong to, or maybe cherry pick a few from each! It’s possible to dabble in both; one of you wrote: “I prioritize laundry only and try to enjoy the weekend.” This has been my mode, too, even though I’ve not been as clear-headed about it as she has. I, too, try to have all the laundry done, folded, and put away by Sunday evening, but rarely do anything else for the week on the weekend.
What would you add to either or both of these lists?
Farmer’s market/grocery (some also have groceries delivered or do curbside pick up)
Iron everything for the week – uniforms, work clothes, etc
Quick clean-out of fridge
Clean out my purse and car!
Fill car with gas
Sunday Rituals: Resetting Internally through Rest.
Take a walk
Go to bed early / get a good night’s sleep
Skincare/grooming
Read, pamper, rest — “Monday will always arrive”
Post-Scripts.
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+Kitchen above is not ours! It was at the gorgeous rental home we stayed at last weekend in Dickerson, MD, and it belongs to a Magpie reader! It’s on a property with active horse stables — the children loved checking for horses (and farm dogs!) while we were there. We went skiing at White Tail for one of the days; it’s about an hour from the mountain. Here is a link to the rental if you’re curious!
+The books that give us new sky. Currently reading and loving this; next in my TBR pile are two heavily recommended books from fellow Magpie readers: Chris Whitaker’s All the Colors of the Dark and Amanda Peters’ The Berry Pickers. Both of these have been mentioned in the same breath as The God of the Woods, which I know many of you enjoyed (as did I, although there were some really provocative comments on my review post that made me think more deeply about the structurally confusing and problematic ending).
Shopping Break.
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+I have and adore this caftan in a green color, but the new lilac is spectacular. Also loving this pintucked white dress and the new husband shirts (SO chic tucked into white jeans or worn open over a swimsuit — very breathable, airy, light fabric) from the brand. (15% off with JEN-15.)
+My daughter loves her Wetbrush for detangling and I just saw they did a collab with LoveShackFancy at Target. The sweetest patterns. Perfect Easter basket filler! They also have a paddle brush style. LSF also teamed up with Goody to release the sweetest hair ties and clips but they seem sold out online – check your local store.
+I just received a mailer for AYR with a coupon code — 15% off with BESTBUDS — in case you want to snag on of those early morning tees we all love so much. My best friend brought hers on our little getaway last weekend and was, of course, raving about it. It fills such an unknown void in a wardrobe — part tee, part sweatshirt!
+Another unknown wardrobe void filler: this sweatshirt cardigan I have not stopped wearing since receiving last week. I love it as a top layer over athletic wear / athleisure for carpool on those mornings where it’s a tad chilly but not too bad? Love. I am usually an XXS in Varley (tends to run big) but I took an XS in this because they were sold out in the XXS, and the fit is great! Not too baggy! I also noticed this $20 Target terry cardigan — similar idea but more cropped. Love that pink color.
+Eyeing this tank and these leggings for spring fitness.
+I know it may seem early to be shopping sandals, but these wrap ones are absolutely gorgeous on (I own in rose napa and they’re a great nude; the saddle leather ones are iconic and remind me of the Hermes brown leather they use for their sandals) and sell out every year. Grab yours now! I love these for sundresses. VERY comfortable.
+New to me brand Ruti sent me some of these on-trend barrel/gaucho pants, similar to Nili Lotan’s popular Shons but MUCH more petite-friendly. They are INCREDIBLY comfortable – like, a ton of stretch, and therefore great “writing jeans.” I’ve become increasingly intolerant of rigid denim for daytime; I am sitting for far too often! Life is too short to wear uncomfortable jeans all day long. This reminds me of college — there was this denim boutique called “Judy B’s” (fellow Wahoos may remember it) and the people that worked there were so mean! Ha! But one of them once told my friend, when she complained about how uncomfortable a pair of jeans was: “Well, these are standing only jeans.” I’ve never forgotten that. I think I’m beyond the “standing only” jean styles…at least for day!
+This everyday dress has been a bestseller the past few days — lots of Magpie love — so resharing before it sells out.
+I’ve been using this glowy skin primer/SPF the past week and am hooked. It’s great for those mornings you don’t have time or don’t want to put on makeup but want a touch of coverage/color/glow/spf. They just sent me a 20% off code — JEN20. I’ve also been using this undereye cream, which I like because it’s highly tinted, so it provides a touch of coverage or maybe color correction along with the skincare, which is nice.
01. Gorgeous spring floral dress. I can’t tell you how much I loved getting my daughter dressed in pieces like these when she was younger. Now it’s hard to get her out of athleisure!
02. A cute athletic dress in a great shell pink color – on sale for $12.
03. These raffia shoes from Spanish brand Pepe are wildly expensive but I had to include them here because – omg. For boys, for girls!
I also wanted to mention that I did a deep dive to find my daughter a First Communion dress! A few gorgeous options I found: this peter pan collar dress, this smocked beauty (my personal top pick), this La Coqueta, and this J. Crew. My daughter picked this one out of the options presented! Simple and sweet.
For shoes, I loved these but they were too fussy for Emory. I also like these, these, these.
We are going to do a fresh flower crown along with a bunch of the other girls in my daughter’s class, but this pretty dried flower option would be great, too. And then of course a sweet pair of cross earrings!
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A little Thursday morning eye candy to usher in the spring season ahead. Above: my new Pam Munson clutch, my Celine sunnies (on super sale — 30% off! Arg, wish I’d waited!), sweaters from Pistola and La Ligne. Below, a spring moodboard —
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I’ve been wearing a ton of pastel recently and then I woke up in the mood for red. The heart wants what it wants! Above, wearing Splendid’s popular Angie pants (super comfortable and lots of great colors available; the crop length version meant I didn’t need to tailor/hem — Quince has a good look for less here), La Ligne’s mini Marin sweater, Celine sunnies (this particular style is great on small faces), and an Altuzarra straw tote from last season, which is still available in white or black but not the multi-color. This bag has gotten so much mileage. It is a perfect oversized shape — carries everything.
Perhaps the element I like most in this outfit: my Mary Oliver poetry book. Exceptional morning reading. I’d just written the line “is there anything more felicitous than a daffodil stem?” for this post the morning prior, and then came across her line from the poem “Spring” in this book, where she is describing a pair of flickers and writes: “How lightly, altogether, they accept / the great task, of carrying life / forward!”
Anyway, a few finds and launches that turned my head today, all in flame red —
02. Cuyana’s double loop satchel! OMG, I love her so much. The design is interesting but the style and shape are super functional. Sits upright, holds a laptop, etc. I love it paired with red, but it’d go with anything really.
03. Everything from Posse, but especially this red linen gilet. This brand is just totally speaking to me right now. It’s like a more flirty version of Veronica Beard — still tailored, but with a dash more whimsy.
04. J. Crew new arrivals, captioned with the slogan: “Preppy gone sexy.” I especially like this button-up sweater, this laminated barn coat, and these “camp” jeans. You might recall I bought those in a khaki color — the fit is amazing. Run slightly big. They also released a fun version of the boat shoe that is trending at the moment.
06. I still wear my La Ligne Mini Marins all the time (I own in red, blue, and a olive/black stripe). The perfect slightly cropped length for a front-tuck situation. I love it paired with the brand’s Colby pants! This is exactly what I wore to a Christmas party this year with heels and big earrings but would also look really fresh layered over a gray tee with loafers, as seen above. Not available in red, but J. Crew has a great pair of pants that many Magpies have raved about that achieve a similar look (bonus: available in petite inseams!). I love the olive green.
07. OK, items 7 and 8 in the above collage are parts of the same coin. These jelly style shoes were very popular last summer and I predict will be back in full force this summer as well. The shoes on the right (that launched the trend) are from The Row, and cost around $800. You can get the look for less with these $50 Jeffrey Campbells or these $19 Old Navys. I wore these $140 jellies from Ancient Greek all last summer and they are currently 25% off at Bloomingdale’s. Suprisingly comfortable — the plastic doesn’t cut up your foot at all.
Today is my daughter’s eighth birthday. Each time I say the number “eight,” I feel my throat constrict. And yet time continues to roll away, unbothered by my heart’s stirrings. Just yesterday, she was squawking in the bassinet next to me in our first home, in Chicago, Illinois. The March trees outside the window of her nursery were stick figure versions of themselves, while we were full and busy together inside. Emory had such alert eyes, even just a few days old. She was observant, wondrous–just as she is now, and has been at every phase of her young life. Nothing passes her notice. We will be at a restaurant and she’ll lean over and say, “That boy at the table next to us was in my weeklong summer camp three years ago,” or I’ll mention in passing that she used to be prone to carsickness, and she’ll trot out a lucid memory from years ago, remembering the exact moment she got sick in the car, where we were going, what she was wearing, what her father said. When I ask, “How did you remember that?!,” she likes to remind me: “Memory and Emory rhyme!”, as if her way of being was hardwired into her name. Which, I think, it was. Landon and I agonized over her name. We wanted a name that sounded like it belonged to a woman of substance. Landon would ask, “Could you see the letters ‘CEO’ beneath that name in an email signature?” And so we tried: “Emory Shoop, CEO?” and it gelled. Not that being an executive automatically confers “woman of substance” virtues, but that — we wanted her name to feel big enough to hold outsized dreams. And just this year we discovered that her middle name, Lucia, has a profound hidden meaning — that it somehow bears a signature of her spirit, too.
Emory at seven days old
I am sitting here today, torturing myself: did I adequately treasure her at seven years old? With her sardonic humor and wavy hair and teeth growing in too-big? Did I sufficiently soak up the way she sprints off to the school building, her backpack dwarfing her frame? Did I nurture her love of graphic novels and Squishmallows and snap peas and popcorn? Did I stand in the doorway frequently enough to love on the way she sprawls out on her carpet every night, dutifully writing in her journal? Today, and all days, I must remind myself not to worry: I carry all of her ages inside, even the ones from that blurry first fledgling year of motherhood, in which we were both born.
Happy birthday, Emory. I’m lucky to carry every version of you.
Below: Emory’s first year — wow. The trip of a lifetime.
