“Listen! I will be honest with you, I do not offer the old smooth prizes, but offer rough new prizes, These are the days that must happen to you…”
“…Allons! the road is before us! It is safe—I have tried it—my own feet have tried it well—be not detain’d!
Let the paper remain on the desk unwritten, and the book on the shelf unopen’d! Let the tools remain in the workshop! let the money remain unearn’d! Let the school stand! mind not the cry of the teacher! Let the preacher preach in his pulpit! let the lawyer plead in the court, and the judge expound the law.
Camerado, I give you my hand! I give you my love more precious than money, I give you myself before preaching or law; Will you give me yourself? will you come travel with me? Shall we stick by each other as long as we live?”
-Walt Whitman, “Song of the Open Road”
*****
A rallying cry for those heading into the new, the unknown, the out-of-the-routine, the scary:
These are the days that must happen to you.
Allons! The road is before us!
Onward!
Post-Scripts.
+”I am not living an alternity, or a rehearsal, or a dressing room. I am living, to quote HRH Mary Oliver, “my one wild and precious life.” Onward, again!
+J. Crew has some great shirtdresses on sale at the moment – I bought this gingham and may go back (finally, been eyeing this for months) for this Liberty floral.
+Recently had a reader ask for chic moving announcements with a custom sketch of the new home on the front. How a propos! I am working with my girl Erin to design my own, but you can find some great Etsy vendors to work with on projects like this — see South Paw and Co and Ground Up Home. Both have a lot of positive reviews. If you aren’t into a custom rendering of your house, I like the simplicity of this numbers-driven style!
+While we’re on Etsy, I found two vendors with good reviews that sell makeup bags with patches that are reminiscent of Stoney Clover for like 1/10th the price here and here.
+Another reader recently asked where to find a chic straw hat. My answer: “I bought a Sarah Bray sunhat this year that I am obsessed with. You can swap out the ribbon colors and even buy extra ones in different patterns. So, so chic. For something a bit sportier, people have been going crazy for Janessa Leone’s styles! Very chic. Pam Munson has a few styles that are more in the retro/Palm Beach prep vibe.”
+I mentioned awhile ago that I basically only buy super high-end shampoo/conditioner or the drugstore variety (specifically, Pantene Pro V — the best), and that I find a lot of the mid-price-range hair products not worth it. My sister insists that Olaplex No. 4 and No. 5 are the exception to this rule, and I’ve been convinced. Going to try to see if they buck the trend.
+In case you’re having trouble adjusting to WFH with your kids home from school for the summer…you might find some luck creating a conscious “buffer” in your day.
+You all have been loving this Anthro dress! Such a great pattern and style.
+In the process of this move, I finally came to terms with the fact that the interior of my large Cuyana makeup bag had tattered to the point of disrepair. I’ve had these for at least five or six years, and they have been used heavily. I actually have kept most of my everyday makeup in the large one in my bathroom drawer for the past few years — because we have been tight on space, it’s been easier for me to keep my “going out / fun” makeup in separate pouches underneath the sink, and to keep just the pared down, everyday essentials in this makeup bag so it is easy to access on a daily basis. (Can’t wait for my new home, with far more space/storage in the bathroom!). Anyway, the interior started peeling and cracking and there were little bits of the liner all over my cosmetics by the end. I finally threw it away in preparation of this move and bought one of these similar ones from White Elephant Designs as a replacement, since they conveniently sell the small and large sizes separately, and I really only wanted another large size. Woo!
+Lots of great storage pouches and bags here, too.
+Just ordered this Agua x Agua Bendita dress to wear for either my eleven year wedding anniversary (in a month! what!) or a baby shower I have coming up.
+I haven’t had a case on my iPhone for the last two years, but I just saw this Goyard-inspired case and had to have it in pink. I had one similar to this on my old phone and just never upgraded when I got the new model. Little treat to self!
Just discovered that Farm Rio is running an extra 25% off sale prices and up to 30% off regular prices through today, 7/5. (Most FOJ sales are ending today — a couple great scores here.) This is one of my favorite brands this season — lots of bold colors and festive prints. Just right for big post-COVID celebrations! Note: I find their pieces run a tad big. A few standouts at amazing prices…
Despite mentioning a few days ago that we had not bought anything for the house, we used FOJ promotions this weekend to snag our outdoor dining furniture, which we simply need! We are desperate to avail ourselves of the outdoor space we’ve been craving for the past four years. We went through multiple rounds of conversations on this front and decided that this expandable teak table was perfect. I had more or less settled on this teak style with white legs, but when we re-measured the space and thought about how we wanted to use it (lots of large family parties! crab feasts! etc!), we decided it was too small and preferred the option of being able to wedge lots of happy family members around a longer table. (The teak one we bought expands to 102″ and can seat up to 10 — probably more if you squeeze in some folding chairs.) Then we bought these gorgeous white cast aluminum chairs inspired by Mediterranean tilework to go with it, and I added the box edge cushions in the yellow and white stripe sunbrella fabric. I think it will make for the sunniest, cheeriest spot for countless meals, and I also think we selected pieces that won’t be too difficult to maintain. (We ended up ruling out a stone slab-top outdoor table that’s been in our family for years because we decided we were too nervous about red wine rings and children’s spills and teak is such a great, durable material — “one of the few woods in the world containing a natural oil which repels water, keeping it from warping, cracking or becoming brittle.”) I also thought the gray teak color would look nice with the flagstone underfoot, and the yellow/white chairs would play nicely against the white rattan seating set we have on the opposite side of the patio, which we are planning to outfit in navy and white cushions. Woohoo! Now we just have to wait until the end of August for everything to arrive, but that’s actually not as bad as I was anticipating…!
A good friend of mine just had a baby, and visiting her in the first few days after she’d given birth brought me right back to those sleepless, awed, overwhelmed early days of motherhood. I found myself remembering when my girlfriends had visited me just after my children were born, and I specifically recalled myself wondering: “Will I ever feel normal again? Like, be able to sit on a couch and chat idly about TV shows and nuanced interactions with colleagues without feeling like my brain and heart are spiraling in twenty-two different directions? Without being vaguely concerned about how long I had until the next feed, or whether that strange twinge I just felt along my scar is normal?” In some ways — the metaphysical ones — life after having a baby has never felt “normal” again. But I found myself wondering, on a more practical level, how long did it take me to heal?
Physically, I think it took about two or three months to technically recover from my c-sections. The first felt far more difficult and painful than the consecutive, most likely because I was able to brace myself the second go around, but with both, the first ten days were miserable; there was a major turning point around four weeks; by six weeks, I would occasionally forget I’d had a major abdominal surgery; and by three months, I felt more or less “normal.” At the same time, there are still movements — even now, two years after the birth of my second! — that leave me feeling strange along my scar, and I still feel like the entire area is a little numb. I’ve had a number of friends say the same things, and a doctor confirmed that these sensation are normal.
Emotionally, I don’t think I healed from the shock of mini’s birth until my son was born two years later. My second birth experience was so much more positive than the first. Understanding that birth by c-section could be — if not pleasant, exactly, just better, more supported, less alienating — made me feel validated, or exonerated (?), for having struggled to come to terms with the experience of my daughter’s birth. After mini was born, I had trouble thinking directly about the c-section. I would do anything to distract myself from its memory. I hated — refused! — to be alone for the first two weeks after she was born because I did not want to be left on my own without a fellow conversationalist to prevent me from dwelling on it. When a good friend told me a few months later that her c-section was “a breeze,” I felt defeated. Why was I having so much trouble getting over it? Why was I having trouble to begin with? There was nothing traumatic, complicated, or abnormal about her birth. Still, I would think back to the feeling of shuffling into the operating room on my own, then getting the epidural by myself, then laying down on the operating table under those bright lights with what felt like twenty three people milling about but feeling completely, entirely alone, alienated, and almost anonymous. I was flooded with relief when they let Mr. Magpie in, but by then, I was in a full-on panic. Next came the out-of-body experience of being awake while being operated on. I was shaking so violently from the medication that I felt as though I was jumping an inch off the table every other second, and the tugging was so intense, I could feel my body being dragged downward. After she was born, I was still shaking so badly that I couldn’t hold her, an unanticipated reality that left me bereft, and then it felt like absolute agony waiting the 30 or 40 minutes for them to finish stitching me up. Even writing about this now, I feel the prick of tears in my eyes.
Micro’s birth was a different story. I was mentally prepared. Mr. Magpie had given me an Hermes scarf with a soldier pattern on it the day before, reminding me I was strong and could take on anything. I felt determined. I went in ready to advocate for myself. I begged the anaesthesiologist to help me avoid the violent shakes, and he was deeply empathetic and did everything he could to help me avoid them, placing funny warm air-filled pillows and blankets all over my arms and teaching Mr. Magpie about a pressure point on my palm that apparently helps with preventing them. When I did start shaking, he squeezed my shoulder and said, “Shoot, I’m so sorry, Jen. Let me see what I can do.” I felt supported, and heard, and not in the least bit alone. I was able to hold micro within seconds of his birth, and it was heaven. The 30-40 minutes it took to stitch me up flew by this go around — I had my treasure in my hands. When the wheeled me out of the OR, I felt redeemed, healed, triumphant. After the nurse left us in the recovery room, I remember clutching Mr. Magpie to me with one arm, cradling our baby with my other, and feeling a wonderful sensation of intactness. My boy was here, and he had made me and my family whole.
I’m curious — what about you? How long did it take you to heal, physically or emotionally or both?
+Majorly drawn to platforms at the moment — can’t explain why — but especially these two styles from Castaner: daisy and raffia. So fun with a cute mini like this or this.
Happy Fourth! Hope you are enjoying some time outside with your loved ones!
I am in the market for new towels for our home and I had to mention that Bloomingdale’s is currently running an incredible promotion on Matouk towels. I already have a few sets of their Cairo style with the azure blue piping and they are my absolute favorites — I legitimately can’t wait for them to come out of the wash, as they are the softest, plushest bath towels. Currently, they are on sale for $68 for a bath towel, with an extra 20% off once in cart — meaning each is around $50. I am debating between more of those or adding this classic chain style to the mix. Then, of course, there are my beloved Matouk Auberge monogram towels, which I both own myself and have given as housewarming gifts to several friends and family members. For some reason, they are marked down even lower at Neiman’s to only $33 per bath towel (!) Kind of hard to turn down! (Side note: if you are a planner, this is a good promotion to buy ahead of time for a family member’s Christmas gift!)
At the same time, I have been eyeing a few other brands to mix things up:
+I’m drawn to Hill House’s personalization options. Their Marella style is very similar to Matouk’s Cairo, and I love the tailored, crisp vibe. I also like the idea of mixing them in with their striped towels in the children’s bath.
+These waffle weave towels from Serena & Lily would make me feel like I was living at the spa. Just add a teak shower stool and I’m set. Parachute (currently running a 15% off promotion) has a similar style, FYI — has anyone tried this brand? I feel like I keep coming across it.
+More minimalist, but I have been so impressed with Boll & Branch’s sheets, I am intrigued by their simple white towels. They look ultra-plush.
+Not for the bathroom, but I also had to share that I came across a four-pack of cabana striped towels in a great blue color for $50 that I think I will order for our new home, as I anticipate a lot of time spent splashing in the inflatable pool and running through the sprinkler after we move. I also find these towels handy in general for children — we use them to cover chairs while the children are eating, have “indoor picnics,” do water-based sensory play, etc. I also thought these more expensive printed beach towels were amazing! So fun.
+While we’re on the subject of bath towels, one of our most useful purchases in our small Manhattan apartments was a free-standing towel rack. Our bathrooms have been small without much extra space for spare towel storage, so it has been clutch! (Also a handy drying rack in a pinch…) I love this marble style I just discovered, but this one is classic, and this ladder style is chic and reasonably-priced. Along these lines: I shared some fun bathroom accessories in this post if you’re looking to make a change!
For bedding, I have had all-white linens — or white linens with a tiny bit of embroidery/piping along the edge — for awhile now. I find an all-white bed ultra-inviting and given the drama of our bed’s design, it made sense to me keep the linens a little quieter. We currently use Boll & Branch bedding, and I personally think it’s the best bedding we’ve ever had. I’ve used Matouk, Hill House, and Restoration Hardware in the past. B&B launders much better than Matouk (for some reason a total pain to iron — an observation corroborated by several Magpies!), is cooler to the touch than RH, and softer than Hill House. I will for sure be sticking with their sheeting whatever we do. However. I am kind of intrigued by the idea of buying a boldly patterned duvet cover and decorative shams whenever we upgrade to our King-sized bed (which I hope will be a four post or canopy style!) A few fun patterned duvet covers to contemplate:
I would also be remiss not to mention Yves Delorme and Frette as worth consideration if you don’t like Boll &Branch’s sheet styles — I do wish they had slightly more interesting designs on offer. In fact, the limited and basic styles are the only demerit I can think of for the brand! Yves Delorme and Frette are used in lots of high-end hotels, including at the beloved Carlyle in NYC. I’ve mentioned this in the past, but during my last stay at the Carlyle, I was so in love with the bath towels there (Yves Delorme’s Etoile) that I immediately ordered a set for myself. They are VERY soft (rival Matouk) but I found that they did not hold their color well in the wash, even after I’d followed the instructions of using a gentler detergent and laundering separately, which was itself kind of a pain to be honest. Maybe ordering in solid white is the way to go?
I also want to mention that several Magpies have raved about Comphy’s reasonable sheets! Worth looking into if you want a basic white set / for guest room / etc. It’s funny — several Magpies mentioned discovering these while renting AirBnB’s, and I noted a lot of comments on their site run along the same lines: “I first discovered these in a rental and have never gone back!”
Happy Fourth of July weekend! Hope you are enjoying yourself somewhere sunny but not too hot, with lots of watermelon and rose.
My Latest Snag: My New Office Chair.
We are finally close enough to the move to order my new office chair for my new Magpie writing nook! I know many of you purchased and loved this chair and I cannot wait for it to arrive!
We have actually not yet ordered anything else (!) for the house. The last few weeks have been unbelievably busy — mainly with fun things, like completing final NYC bucket list items, celebrating my birthday, visiting our friends in East Hampton, etc., but also with so much admin. (Just the process of finding a new pediatrician, pediatric dentist, and pediatric ophthalmologist; transferring medical records; and lining up appointments to get the required school forms filled out by a certain date consumed an unbelievable amount of time. Yikes! Thanks to all my D.C. Magpies for referrals!) On top of it all (as is always the case), both of my children came down with a cold that turned into an ear infection for mini, and so there were a few days spent with my feverish children laying on top of me. (Side note: the pediatrician mentioned that there has been a huge influx in common colds and viruses since things have opened up again!)
We have found an interior decorator to help us with some aspects of outfitting the home and are going to get started after the move, once we’re in the space and things have settled down just a little. (There will still be so much — new nanny, buy a car, get new license, etc. — but at least we will be in the house.) Anyway, here’s to living in a vastly under-furnished home for the next six months…! Eh well. A small chapter in the grand scheme, and I want to take the time to make measured decisions for this house we hope to live in for a long time.
But. I did want a new desk chair! So that’s one lovely find to look forward to immediately!
I have a theory: I am only capable of successfully, attentively juggling three parts of my life at a time. The first two categories are nearly always reserved for family and writing. The third category typically rotates between fitness, social life, and reading. At the moment, however, that third category has been co-opted by this unwieldy move and all its moving parts. I am straining to accommodate that reality. It pains me to say, for example, that I have only gone on a handful of runs since the week we closed in early June after working so hard to make it a non-negotiable part of my weekly routine for the many months prior. I can feel my body changing — runs are harder, even after only a few weeks of easing up! However. If there is anything I learned from reflecting on my son’s birth, it’s that I want myself to lean into these brief periods absent of “normalcy.” I simply do not have the time to run at the moment. That hour is now handily consumed by the million other more pressing to-dos related to the move, and (this week) by my sick children to boot! I must remind myself: That’s OK. I will get back into it. Life will resume its patterns. This is temporary. I know that it is extremely challenging for me to be operating well in more than three categories, and I’m not doing anyone a favor (least of all myself) by shoe-horning an extra into the mix. For now, I’m going to let myself enjoy the fact that I don’t need to scaffold the time to run and shower into my day, and I don’t need to give myself an informal pep talk when I’m not in the mood to run in 85 degree heat. I’m instead going to continue to make small, determined progress on this transition.
The other day, I posted the words: “Enjoy the now” on my Instastories. That’s it! This is my life at the moment, and I’m doing my best and attempting to enjoy the reprieve from running in this suffocating heat and the opportunity to get my family settled in our new home.
What are you doing for the holiday weekend? We are staying put in Manhattan — our final weekend here as New Yorkers! — and planning to eat American food (making Ina Garten’s pan fried onion dip to serve with Ruffles and rose for a park hang and then having burgers later in the weekend!) and make a classic flag cake with mini.
And, as always, a couple of great sale deals to contemplate…
+30% off sitewide at Nicola Bathie with code 4JULY. I believe this is the steepest discount she offers on any of her sales, and it’s the perfect time to buy a pair to wear in a family portrait, wedding, or special occasion. I love these, these, and these. I have a few pairs of her floral studs (like these!) that I wear with every day dresses, and then I’ve been startled by how often I wear a pair of strawberry earrings from her I bought last summer that are similar to these. Such a fun little whimsical detail to pair with a dress with pink in it, like this, this, or this.
+60% off at Bellabliss! Honestly a great time to buy next year’s FOJ outfit for your littles. Mini wore this exact flag set (they reprise some of their styles year after year) when she was two and it was just beyond precious. Also love these swim trunks (this style is cut short, the way I like them!) and this gingham dress.
P.S. I have been going back and re-reading posts from exactly a year ago and — wow. Look how far we’ve come. The chasm between July 2020 and July 2021 is nearly unfathomable. I actually found tears in my eyes reading bits of last year’s post written the Fourth of July weekend. Oh, it was a hard time to be parents during those childcare-less, fear-filled, peak-of-quarantine months. I am startled by how quickly I have snapped back into the “norm” of being able to roam about, run errands, enjoy company. Good to take a moment, stare that period right in the face, and say — amen amen amen, I’m glad we’re beyond that.
By: Jen Shoop
I have been noticing a lot of statement pieces inspired by sea life lately and I’m loving them — a fun twist on the botanical patterns that have been all over the place the past few seasons. A few stand-out finds:
My mother was always on us about writing thank you notes immediately after the receipt of a gift. It’s a lesson she engrained so deeply in me that I even now feel her peering over my shoulder if I’ve not written a thank you note within a few days! I’m hoping to instill the same urgency around thank you etiquette in my own children, and having cute stationery on hand helps. Pro tip: order a few sets with all of your children’s names across the top, or with your family name across the top (“The Shoop Children” or “The Shoop Family”), as there are a number of instances where the note should come from more than just one!
For personalized name stickers and tags (for gear at school / playground), these are great for backpacks or strollers (there was “stroller parking” at mini’s NYC school so we could leave the Yoyo there during the day!) and for everything else: these gingham, these rainbow plaid, and these trucks.
On a separate but related note — I am loving this little “It’s a Girl / It’s a Boy” sign for bringing home baby, and if you are looking for chic letterpress birth announcements, I have worked with both Sweetly Said Press and Dinglewood Design and they put out the loveliest letterpress pieces at a reasonable price. For non-letterpress styles (more affordable), check out Erin Wallace’s new selection! How sweet is this Herend-inspired one? I love the script she uses at the bottom. I have sent out birth announcements sans photo for both of my children, but most Etsy vendors will work with you to alter the design upon request.
Do you negotiate? Are you good at it? I have a good friend in commercial real estate who practically salivates over the opportunity to negotiate. He bought a parking spot beneath his building here in Manhattan a few years ago and I remember him intoning: “It was the best, most exciting deal I’ve ever done.” (Clearly, he’s chosen the correct profession.) I can’t say I share in his thrill with negotiating, but Mr. Magpie and I have been through countless negotiations together, both as business owners and determined administrators of our home life together, and I have gradually worked my way from a place of dreading them to viewing them as a necessary evil to re-interpreting them as an occasion to advocate for myself.
When I was younger, I tended to assume the answer was always “no,” and would talk myself out of negotiating before the conversation had even started. (I would later learn this to be a chief tactic amongst seasoned negotiators: get the other party to negotiate with itself — usually by refusing to make the first offer — and you don’t need to do as much work.) I was particularly this way about formally-presented offers, i.e., “We are pleased to offer you this position with a starting salary of x” or “Your application for this apartment has been approved; the rent will be $x.” The declarative structure of these “invitations” made me feel as though everything was a done deal and that I would be out of line to ask for anything different. (Once a rule follower, always a rule follower…) I now understand that everything is a posture — including the formal language! — and that there is very little that isn’t negotiable. With intensive coaching from Mr. Magpie, who has reminded me on countless occasions that “you miss every shot you don’t take” and “if you don’t ask, the answer is always ‘no,'” I have gotten more comfortable with countering. At the beginning, I was often worried that countering would make me unlikeable or would hurt someone’s feelings, but those assumptions have proven either incorrect or unfair to myself — or both. The key for me has been realizing that I don’t need to be rude or unpleasant to negotiate. I can present an alternative calmly and politely in a way that gestures toward fairness for all parties. I typically start my counter offers by saying: “Thank you so much for the generous offer” or “I’m honored by this opportunity…” or “This is such exciting news!” A small thing, but starting the conversation from a place of gratitude and acknowledgement helps me put my best foot forward and tends to build goodwill.
Nowadays, my biggest stumbling block in the negotiations arena is the old “bird in the hand” mindset I occupy in all realms of my life — that is, “a bird in the hand is better than two in the bush.” I can’t tell whether this mentality is a condition of expediency or risk intolerance. Mr. Magpie will go through multiple rounds of counter-offers to get to a place that he deems fair. Meanwhile, I would rather have a firm resolution that’s in the ballpark of what I want than sit uncomfortably in limbo going back and forth and worry that I’ve risked the entire enchilada. Mr. Magpie often makes the valid point that it is pretty rare an entire deal will go asunder by adding an extra round of negotiation — most of the time, both parties are pot-committed and determined to make things work by that point. This has proven to be correct over time, but doesn’t make the experience any less of a nail-biter for me.
Mr. Magpie and I have been in a number of these kinds of negotiations recently in the process of buying our new home, finding movers, renting our current apartment in NYC, selling various items in our home, etc, and I’m always a bundle of nerves, begging him not to go back again, while he displays flinty determination in getting to a satisfactory result. I should note that he is never untoward or unpleasant in these conversations. He is calm, collected, rational, gentlemanly. Still, I find the process gut-turning. On my run the other morning, I found myself wondering whether the delta between us in this regard is a gender thing, a personality thing, or the result of his MBA? (Probably a combination of all three?) One framework he shared the other week that has helped me better accommodate his perspective involved acknowledging and identifying constraints on both sides of the negotiation. That is, it often feels as though I have the most to lose in a negotiation, but that’s not necessarily true. As an example, I have worked with various vendors over the years. It has felt at times as though I will run the risk of entirely losing the opportunity to work together if I don’t accept the proposed terms, my constraints being budget and ability (I actually cannot do that thing by myself). However, the vendor is operating under its own constraints, and it is worthwhile to take a minute to imagine what they might be. As an example, it probably cost the vendor a lot of time and money (whether marketing, staff time, etc) to acquire me as a customer, and it is less expensive for them to drop the price on my project than it is to find a new lead and bring her to the point of contract.
My broad point here is that negotiating is a skill developed over time, and it is worthy of practice. Running two businesses has taught me that no one will advocate for you. You must be willing to advance your own objectives or someone else’s will supersede your own. (Sometimes, by the way, that’s OK — there are issues that are not particularly important, or costly, or worth your time, or maybe you just think the other party deserves it. But sometimes, it is a matter of fairness, and sometimes you are being taken for a ride. I have been!) I should add that these principles do not only apply to my narrow experiences with entrepreneurship. Some of the best negotiators I know are stay-at-home mothers who know how to navigate healthcare systems with sophistication, get a fair deal on home services, achieve a better outcome with customer service representatives, etc. You have to show up for yourself — no one else will!
What about you? How do you approach negotiation? Are you good at it?
+Speaking of, I feel as though I’ve worn statement earrings for years now but completely neglected statement necklaces. This Roxanne Assoulin and this Lizzie Fortunato are helping me course-correct.
+These shoes are SO chic! I know a lot of you are fans of this brand. I think they’d be a great summer alternative to my velvet Birdie mules I wore all winter long!
+They are an investment, but these Minnow rash guards are just the best. They fit snugly and the blue color goes with so many of the suits I tend to buy. Plus, gender neutral so can be passed down from sibling to sibling!
+Did you know Free People sells activewear? These $30 shorts are a bestseller and come in fantastic colors.
+Speaking of outdoors: PSA — S&L has marked down their outdoor furniture through July 6. A few of their tables have been contenders in my current search for patio dining furniture and this promo might push me over the edge. This this teak garden table (I like that the white legs open up fun possibilities for contrasting chairs) is towards the top of my list.
+Such a pretty pillow — would be great for pattern/color mixing. (More chic throw pillows here.)
This post may contain affiliate links. If you make a purchase through the links below, I may receive compensation.This post was originally sponsored by Serena & Lily. It has been updated since its original publication in 2021, and is still loved and treasured in our new home in Bethesda.
A lot of us are in the midst of furnishing or re-furnishing our homes at the moment, and I wanted to shine a spotlight on one of my absolute favorite furniture investment pieces over the past few years: my Serena & Lily Blake dresser. If you have been following this blog for awhile, you probably recall that I had been eyeing this dresser for years, and when we moved into our second Manhattan apartment, I finally had the space to buy it. I bought mine in the “wide size” in fog gray (no longer available, but their coastal blue is very similar), which felt like a perfect match for our predominantly gray/blue/silver bedroom. I was principally attracted to the raffia texture, which contrasts beautifully with the other pieces in our bedroom (upholstered headboard, mirrored side tables, wood desk, and upholstered desk chair), and somehow just makes the space feel “softer” in general. As I have gotten older, I have found myself increasingly drawn towards rooms (and outfits, actually) that feel coordinated but not matchy-matchy, so I loved that the Blake dresser was in the same fog gray as our bed (also Serena and Lily) but they did not look to be purchased as a set. I appreciated the way they both boast strong, nearly architectural (?) designs — the Pondicherry bed with confident curves and the dresser with a bold, block-like Parsons-style design — but they aren’t the same designs. Something about the play of curves with lines in these two major pieces of furniture in my bedroom just makes my heart sing. I have also always loved those gorgeous brass pulls. Mr. Magpie often jokes about my obsession with that detail, as our bedside tables also feature them, and I presented him with several consoles with the same style of pull when we were looking for one for our living room. What can I say? It’s like jewelry? It adds polish? It offers dimension? I don’t know, but the dresser gets me.
From a functionality standpoint, the drawers of the dresser are wide and beautifully constructed of wood. They are a near-perfect match for these drawer-dividers (so much so Mr. Magpie asked whether they came built-in to the dresser!), which help me keep my shirts folded perfectly a la Marie Kondo. A small thing, but the scroll of the drawers along the metal glides really speaks to the quality of the dresser’s construction in my opinion — previously, I had used a cute little bead board style dresser I’d bought from Crate and Barrel right out of college whose drawers would sometimes dribble open (I suppose the dresser was not totally flat, or the metal glides weren’t?), and then I had a love-hate relationship with an old cedar dresser Mr. Magpie inherited — the kind whose drawers sort of hang at an angle when opened. These were not insurmountable problems by any stretch of the imagination, but once I had the S&L dresser, immediately noticed the absence of any such foibles. This thing is built beautifully, and to last. (As an example, the entire back of the dresser is covered in raffia, too, so you could easily position it somewhere in a room where the back is visible without batting an eye! Every detail is done right, no expense spared.)
My one hesitation with buying the dresser was upkeep. I had noted that you shouldn’t use any cleaning products on it, and that you must instead address any spills/stains with “a clean dry cloth.” Does anyone else with children shudder upon reading those words?! I mean, how on earth…? I actually went back and forth on whether to wait to buy it until our children were older, imagining my daughter running into our bedroom and swiping my beloved dresser with chocolate-covered fingers, but in the end, this has not been an issue at all. It’s not common we have food in our bedroom, and in fact the children are rarely in our bedroom, full-stop. I also think that the variegated texture/colors of the dresser could hide a random spot or two — as you can see in the photos above, there are natural variations and color differences in the raffia itself. I have just been using a microfiber cloth to wipe it down and rid it of dust/debris. In fact, my experienceon the upkeep front has made me think differently about outfitting my home with small children in tow. I now feel comfortable investing in pieces in our bedroom and offices, as our dresser has fared beautifully and without incident for nearly two years now, but will continue to be highly cautious and reasonable when outfitting the family room, kitchen, and dining room. Accordingly, I am already contemplating the purchase of one of their stunning chaises for our new bedroom — can you imagine the luxury of reading on it, especially if outfitted in a fabulous print?! — or possibly (finally!) upgrading to a King bed and moving our queen-sized one to one of the guest bedrooms. I have no qualms about having a room almost entirely outfitted in Serena & Lily (we also have their Amelia rug in our bedroom) as I think you can achieve an effect that looks eclectic — different textures, shapes, finishes — but all hangs together. So much to look forward to — just trying to remind myself that slow and steady wins the race when it comes to decorating…!
