In an abbreviated version of my usual 10 picks, I thought I’d showcase five finds/trends I’m currently preoccupied with.
Find No. 1: Laura Berger Art
I am smitten with the artwork of Laura Berger, whose pieces are shown above and below. I love the strong female figures, the nearly hieroglyphic styling, the muted palette. They feel timeless and yet contemporary at the same time — there’s something almost spiritual about them. I would love to frame one of these in my home, especially this or this.
Find No. 2: The Tibi Spring Dress
I absolutely love the floral/botanica/insect print of this Tibi Dress ($550), and the palette is right up my alley. Tucking this away as a possibility for Easter this year! I also love the idea of this statement blouse with some chic white trousers, or this dress I recently snagged.
I’ve been on the hunt for a sleek, white magazine rack for my desk area — I feel like I’m constantly shuffling around piles of magazines, books, and miscellaneous receipts and bills and so forth. I’d originally contemplated a few of these or these, but my desktop/countertop space is SO precious — every spare inch of it — and I just couldn’t afford to lose any. This one can sit on the floor, is well-priced, and has a sleek modern vibe to it. (P.S. — More small space storage finds/solutions.)
Find No. 5: The Striped Sleepshirt
Though this set is at the top of my sleepwear lust list, I thought this sleepshirt was ADORABLE!
I occasionally audit old posts I’ve written, alternately cringing at and nodding along with the content, and always grimacing at grammatical errors and typos. I have come to prioritize publication over perfection, which contradicts much of the drawing-within-the-lines constitution of my personality (or does it?!), and this — much to my dismay — has given way to far too many mechanical blunders in my writing.
I apologize to you.
I apologize to the profession of writing.
I apologize to Strunk and White, authors of the widely-used style guide Elements of Style which was, at one point in my life, when I was running a small freelance editing business, my Bible of sorts.
Mainly, though, I apologize to my sophomore year English teacher, Mrs. Mattingly, who might suffer a heart attack were she to read one of said posts.
One particularly pervasive style crutch I noted in several recent posts was my overuse of the em dash, which, come to think of it [ed. note: I am currently straining to avoid the em dash while writing about it and it is tough going. I am an em dash addict!], is something of a persona non grata in the technical world of writing. If memory serves, Strunk and White encouraged sparing use of the em dash, and only when other forms of punctation wouldn’t suffice. The colon is king in most cases where an em dash might be contemplated: “The colon has more effect than the comma, less power to separate than the semicolon, and more formality than the dash.”
I mulled over this unwelcome information for several days.
I chewed on it.
And I spit it out.
You see, I’d hate to be accused of slovenly writing, but I cannot commit to disabusing myself of the em dash, in part because old dogs can’t learn new tricks (or unlearn old ones), and in part because I’m unconvinced that Strunk and White form the appropriate jury on matters of memoir-style writing, where style may not fall within the dotted lines. I recently wrote that “I’m living life in bullet-point these days: staccato, disjointed, neither here nor there.” The em dash, I realize, is a convenient grammatical gesture towards this state-of-being: it can tie and untie the sequence of borderline non sequitur discoveries and musings that populate my day-to-day life, suggesting a casual but nonetheless existent relationship between clauses, thoughts, concepts. In other words: I need the em dash, gesticulative as it is of informality, of pastiche, of self-interruption, of mid-stream revision that currently define my writing and, well, my life.
A dear friend generously described my writing as follows (and yes, K., I did screenshot this and cry about it for a good long while, and I now often re-read my own writing with this gorgeous imagery in mind and wonder about how well I’ve upheld your casting):
“You just dive in and rummage around in a thought for awhile and then get comfortable and then rummage some more until you’ve made this awesome little thought room on a subject. And then you like leave the room with the door open and are like, “Hey everyone, come on in and see what you think.” And I get to walk in and see all these little thought nooks and thought crannies.”
Of course she’s lavishing me with questionably-earned praise here, and my intent is not to self-aggrandize, but there is something true about her description of my writing, and it is this: that I rarely sit down with an end-point in mind, and that I am often more interested in writing to know what I think than in communicating a fully-formed thought. In this pursuit, the em dash is not only a worthy companion but a necessary accomplice. It enables movement, real-time course correction, ad hoc shifts in perspective. It tethers thoughts of unequal value together in hasty, temporary arrangement. It reflects the flit and flutter of my magpie mind.
So–
Cheers to the em-dash, the Friday to my Robinson Crusoe.
Post-Script.
+I know that there are many well-educated grammar and literature experts who read this blog (heiiii Roya!) and, a propos of the foregoing, you may find Between You and Me: Confessions of a Comma Queen by Mary Norris, head of copy at The New Yorker for many years, interesting. Ms. Norris were certainly disapprove of my overuse of the em dash, but that’s neither here nor there: she’s priggish but brilliant.
+This slim little book (mentioned above as well) would be a good gift for a talented, young writer. Though I now apparently eschew many of their rules (#grammarrebel), it made me aware of the conventions and improved my writing when I was starting out.
+These were just restocked in a bunch of colors — I love that pale pink color!
+I wish this hadn’t sold out in my size already — so chic, plus an extra 20% off when in cart! Available in more sizes, but not on sale, here. It’s the perfect statement piece during these lingering winter months when you’re so sick of wearing the same 5 sweaters in rotation.
+I’ve been very into the look of bodysuits lately and have my eyes on this, this, and this.
+Did anyone else love the movie Space Camp growing up? Such an excellent 80s kids’ flick, the premise of which is mind-boggling but amazing: kids are accidentally sent into space. I was obsessed with space when I was little and daydreamed about this “accidentally” happening to me, too. Therefore, this must be purchased.
OK, I’ve not yet made the score, but I had to take you on this semi-boring journey with me: among the many questionable items Mr. Magpie and I schlepped from Chicago to New York are two paella pans. A paella pan is not meant to live in a small New York City apartment — it’s large and flat but does not play well with other pans (it doesn’t lay totally flat and its diameter is just small enough to preclude stacking beneath other pans/serving dishes), and, above all, it’s a single-use tool, which is a major no-no when space is a premium.
But did I mention we have TWO paella pans?! Nuts. Nuts, I tell you! What were we thinking?
We’re overly sentimental about these pans, though. They represent a part of our not-so-recent past when we were young(er), just married, and still doing adventurous things like traveling to Spain together and staying at ridiculous hotels like this one, as we did while visiting San Sebastian, which is, quite possibly, my favorite place on the planet besides the basement of my parents’-in-law home after a holiday meal, when Mr. Magpie and I curl up on the flip-out sofa and drink wine and watch Christmas movies until late at night.
Those pans, though — they hearken back to a time when we were excitedly learning about a new culture and hosting dinner parties with friends, dazzling them with our recently acquired worldly knowledge of the delicacies of Spain, paella included. Mr. Magpie once made an outrageous chicken and mushroom paella and I supplemented it with a frisee, marcona-almond, and orange salad with a citrus vinaigrette, patatas bravas, and shishito peppers sprinkled with flakes of sea salt. We drank cava, we laughed, we loved our happy little lives.
So the paella pans remind us of a simpler time, a more decadent time, a more youthful and carefree time. And we cannot part with them.
But now we need to store them somewhere and it occurred to me that these two paella pans are actually rather pretty — oversized, slightly rusted with wear, and a rather unique homage to a passion we share — and that they might do well hanging on a wall near our kitchen. But we can’t just hang them on a nail — they need proper framing. I have spent far too much time seeking a solution (thoughts, my friends?!) and my issues are these: pretty ones like this and this are intended for towels and hats and may not be able to withstand their 4 lb weight, but a lot of the other options I found on Amazon, at Home Depot, etc. are super boring and utility-looking. I love the simple, industrial look of the hooks on the pot-and-pan wall shown above, but those are special hooks for a magnetic wall you can purchase (super cool solution to a small kitchen!!!) I guess I could land on something simple like this…or maybe something like these, but are they too cutesy?!
I’ve written a lot about the odd, elastic experience of time as a new mom (and have repeatedly set and broken intentions around living in the present more often) and have recently reflected on how much time I spend reflecting on the past, so I was fascinated when, while listening to an interview with Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy on the podcast I’ve been obsessing over, he shared a fascinating insight into our perception of the past, the present, and the future. He explained that he was visiting Thailand shortly after the tsunami and he met with a priest who had been working with children who had lost their homes, their families, their worlds (!) in the tragedy. The priest had been giving the children four sheets of paper and asking them to draw the following: on the first, a picture of the past; on the second, a picture of the tsunami; on the third, a picture of the present; and on the fourth, a picture of the future. The priest noted how much difficulty the children had portraying the present — a world new but painfully real to them. Kennedy notes that the present is probably the hardest for any of us to capture. We might get things wrong about the future, but at least we have conviction in what we wish it to look like, what it should look like. The past, while mediated through memory, seems clear to us as well. It’s the present that’s impossible to paint; how do we capture something mid-movement? We lack the vantage.
Something clicked and I felt a strange falling-off feeling, a zooming out: could it be that in the years to come I look back on those early days in our life in New York, where we are excessively happy with our sassy and sweet baby girl and our wild but loving puppy and our petite but charming apartment and our healthy and spirited family, and think: “those were The Days”?
Am I adequately cherishing these moments? Even the messy, crazy bits, like Tilden yanking the leash and nearly pulling me into an ice-plated pond in Central Park this morning? And panting while lugging minimagpie up and down the subway stairs as we explore Manhattan together? And opening our closets and having to wade through what feels like the seven layers of hell to get to the lightbulbs buried in the back?
Because when I took a moment to mentally sketch myself in the past, and in the present, and in the future, I lingered extra-long over the present diorama and found that, net-net, life is being pretty kind right now and I’m not sure that I’ve ever been more at peace.
#Shopaholic: The Ladylike Dress.
+This is the number one item on my lust list right now. The prettiest blouse for spring. I need it.
+I can’t think of a body shape this ladylike, work-appropriate dress (under $120!) won’t flatter. So elegant and timeless. Wear it when you’re 22, 42, 62, or 82, and you’ll look just as chic.
+These were in Mr. Magpie’s stocking this Christmas, and I love them — for a household of cooks low on space, they’re extremely handy: we do all of our mise en place in advance and store them on the counter in these so that the cutting board / countertop can then be cleared for other activities. When not in use, they stack! I also love that they’re semi-sheer (easy to see what’s what) and have measurements on the side.
+Love the feather detailing on this sweater, and the color is amazing, too — would look fetching, and highly coordinated, with these!
+GUYS! Some amazing Dodo Bar Or finds on super sale here! (Yes.)
I’m living life in bullet-point these days: staccato, disjointed, neither here nor there. So below, true to form, a miscellany of observations and obsessions:
+Maybe it’s because I’m not super pleased with my hair R.N. (although I do enjoy the abbreviated blow-dry time with my “thinned out” hair), but I’ve been swooning over a wide range of hairstyles lately, including the adorable short bob-with-bangs situation on the chic pea above. Could I pull this off? BRB, buying a linen-shirt-and-shorts combo and digging out some gold hoops, too…(Basically, can I be her?!)
+I shared some reflections cultivated while listening to the What It Takes podcast from the American Academy of Achievement recently — and now I am aware of two things: 1) I need these because my wired earbuds keep getting yanked out of my ears when Tilly chases a squirrel or caught in the 34 layers of clothing I’m sporting, and 2) I’m also adding these NPR podcasts to my queue — they seem like they’re of the same cloth as my What It Takes podcast.
+I had coffee with the sharp, energetic, and accomplished Hitha (she has a published book, reads about 100 books a year, runs a pharmaceutical start-up, and writes a thoughtful blog — all with a three-year-old son…um. Superwoman.), and we are coordinating an in-person book club in NYC together! So, for all of my lovely readers who wrote me a month or so ago when I first debuted the concept to say you were interesting in taking part, STAY TUNED! Details to come. We spent a good bit of time swapping book reviews and recommendations, and I have about 3498 new entrants into my unwieldily-long book wishlist, which brings me to…
+I’m currently halfway through Jenna and Barbara Bush’s co-memoir, Sisters First. I’m something of an omnivore when it comes to memoir; it’s my absolute favorite genre–a special form of fiction, mediated as it is by the frailties of memory, ego, and wishful revisionism. I found it interesting to read the Bush sister book because I’m struck, now, by the revisionist moment in which we live: back in the Bush 43 era, everyone was gloom and doom about the state of the presidency. Now many of us look back on those years as “the good old days” contrasted to the here-and-now. So, a curious and perhaps genius time for this book to arrive on the scene, in a moment where many Americans’ sentiments have shifted. Plus, it offers a true insider’s look at the personalities of one of America’s major political dynasties, and captures one of the most memorable presidential moments I can recall in recent history: when Bush threw the first pitch at the third game of the World Series, just a month after 9/11. Do you remember that? The intensity and emotion of that moment, as he bravely walked out into the middle of an open ball field at a time where everything seemed insecure and precarious, gave the thumbs up, and threw a pitch right down the center of the plate? As if to say: “Play ball; life goes on — we’re not afraid.” Incredible — it still sends shivers down my spine. Two other memoirs on my list: Hitha recommended Diane Keaton’s Then Again, and my cousin — who works in the restaurant industry — recommended Alice Waters’ Coming to My Senses: The Making of a Counterculture Cook, which I think both Mr. Magpie and I will enjoy, fans as we are of the Chez Panisse style of cooking.
+I recently attended an event put on by ScoutBags, and they generously gifted me a few of their products. I am OBSESSED! I had not known that they had expanded beyond their reusable grocery tote-type bags, which I remember seeing all over DC a few years ago. Now they have EVERYTHING. I’m especially into this tote which folds up into a small pouch — perfect for travel! I’m bringing it to Florida with us in our suitcase, as I can imagine throwing all of our pool/beach stuff in it once we’re there. I also love this little cosmetics bag, which wipes down easily. My favorite piece, though, is a tech clutch/pouch that’s not yet up on their site (I believe it launches in the next week) that Inslee hand-painted at the event for me — I’ve been carrying it EVERYWHERE. It fits my Kindle (#must), phone, and a few other essentials, like one of these (link is for a pack of 4), which I am legitimately NEVER without. It’s the easiest way to quickly clean my paws after a subway ride, trip to the library, etc.
+These stunning shoes are back in stock and I’m in love. The perfect statement flat for spring.
+I recently visited my friend Jen, who just gave birth to the most adorable baby girl, and while visiting her gorgeously appointed apartment, I realized I have a long way to go in finishing mine. Her nursery is #goalzzzz. I specifically am in the market for an area rug for minimagpie’s nursery now that she’s crawling everywhere. Up until recently, I’ve just been fine with a little decorative rug situation in there, but now the hardwood is no bueno. Any suggestions? Jen had a broadloom from Georgetown Carpet cut into an area rug which is basically beyond my pay grade in terms of complexity of coordination. I’m wondering about something simple and inexpensive like this or this.
+My bestie and I get together for wine + snacks about once a week, alternating who hosts (it’s glorious: I put mini down, hop on the Subway, and am at her door in 15 minutes — #ilovenewyork). I recently suggested we also test out some beauty products during these lovely girls’ nights, and at the top of my list is this black mask, which apparently REALLY hurts to peel off but REALLY works. Speaking of new beauty products, what’s the deal with these? I keep hearing buzz about them but am lost. Has anyone tried it?
A pastiche of observations on my nearly-eleven-month-old daughter, shown above as my blog assistant at a recent event, wearing a Ralph Lauren corduroy set from her sweet godmother (my sister!) with Jacadi Liberty of London floral shoes (no longer available, but they have a ton of other cute items in Liberty London prints!)…
+Mini very suddenly has a very big personality. It’s as though she went to bed one night as a baby and woke up the next morning as a toddler — she screeches and arches her back when she doesn’t like something, shrieks with naughty laughter whenever she tosses food to Tilly, waves coyly at strangers, pants heavily with excitement when Mr. Magpie comes through the door. She has learned to communicate her — very bold — likes and dislikes. I love her sassiness, her spark, her conviction. Her passion reminds me of her father, who is inclined toward similar dramatics in his opinions.
+I’m obsessed with everything about her.
+Chief among mini’s dislikes: being changed (she will squirm with all of her strength to avoid laying flat on her back mid-diaper change and then shriek with frustration when I attempt to hold her in place), having her hands and face cleaned after mealtime, having a “toy” (my glasses, the remote, earbuds, etc.) pried from her hands. I often distract her from these inconveniences with decoys (silly noises, songs, toys), but there are times where we just squirm and scream right through it. Me, learning to keep my cool and drown out the histrionics, and her, learning to test my resolve. There was a time in the middle of last week where I was consistently attempting to diaper her while she was in a crawling position, the insanity of which is not lost on me. It was not a good look for anyone, least of all future me, who would soon be dealing with a blowout owing to a poorly affixed diaper. So we’re working through the theatrics of diaper changing time head-on now, cutesy upside-down diaper attempts excluded.
+My nanny mentioned two weeks ago that she felt mini might not need a second nap. I was instantly resistant — for many months now, those naps have been two pillars of sanity, two pockets of an hour and change that I can count on to GSD. Even when the nanny’s here, those two quiet sessions are perhaps the only times over the course of the day that I can truly focus on work unless I’m out of the house working elsewhere. (Living in close quarters with “my office” visible from mini’s play area and the dining room, the loci of much of her daily time in the apartment, I am dialed into whatever’s going on with mini.) I phoned in the expert: “Mom, when do babies stop sleeping two times a day?!” Her response: “Every baby is different, but usually around a year. But, honey, it doesn’t mean you can’t put her in her crib for a little quiet time by herself.” So, for now, even though mini will only nap on occasion in the afternoons, I will still put her in her crib and leave her to play. She’ll often tolerate it for stretches of 30 minutes — just rolling around, chatting to herself and her beloved babydoll, crawling from one end of the crib to the other — and then she gets bored and my time is up. As Mr. Magpie says: “She’s learning to play on her own.” As my mom says: “Everyone needs downtime.” I’ll take it, even 30 minutes of it.
+Mini started sleeping through the night at around nine months, and I felt like a whole new person. Then she had an odd regression that started about two weeks ago where she would wake up at 5 a.m. and fuss and cry consistently until I’d make her a bottle — when she would then promptly fall back asleep until around 7:30 a.m. We were perplexed. Mr. Magpie insisted that I let her fuss through it, but whenever she’d hit the 30 or 45 minute mark, I’d give in and go to her. After consulting with Le Expert (my mom), we changed three things: first, we started feeding her more formula before bed; sometimes, she takes 8 oz right before bed, and sometimes she takes closer to 6. But now we always offer her an 8-oz bottle in the hopes of filling her up. Second, we realized that her bedroom was often oppressively hot in the mornings. We live in an old, pre-war building where the heat is centrally controlled, meaning that you can either turn the radiator in your room on and enjoy 3948394838 degree heat or you can turn it off and freeze. I wondered whether the sauna-like conditions of her bedroom in the morning was disturbing her and started to creep into her room around my bedtime to turn off the heat. Now, in the mornings, her room is a cool but completely comfortable temperature. Third, we started putting her down to sleep 15-30 minutes later than we had been. Between these three changes, we’re back in business and she’s consistently sleeping from around 7:15 P.M. until 7 A.M. It’s heaven. I share because — while none of these are shocking secrets to getting a child to STTN — they are small improvements that have restored sanity in our mornings and may help another mama out there.
+Mini continues to expand her palate in the most delightful of ways. I now routinely feed her from my plate and she’s recently tried — and liked! — olive, artichoke, various meat-and-cheese stuffed pastas from I Sodi (omg omg the best the best), and ramen. I am so proud of her and, to be honest, so proud of myself. It’s making life so much easier. Thank you x 10000 to the reader who politely, gently suggested that I disabuse myself of the mental division between “kid food” and “our food.” Of course, we can’t feed her everything we eat, but a good amount of it is doable.
+Did I mention I’m obsessed with her?
+Mini’s nanny is Colombian and will often sing her “la vaca lola” and “los pollitos dicen” and now the entire family is in tune. Mr. Magpie and I are constantly singing these songs around the house — we’re driving each other crazy! — but mini LOVES them and will twirl her ankles in excitement when we sing them. She also said the word “teh-teh,” which is what the nanny calls her bottle. Are we inadvertently raising a bilingual child?!?
None of this is here or there — but I thought some other mamas might take comfort in noting parallels with their own babies, or, possibly, as I have, benefit from the quiet and unremarkable observations of other mothers.
Post-Script: Some Items on My Radar for My 10-Month Old
+LOVE that these jammies for girls have dinosaurs on them! Who says only boys like dinosaurs?!
+I’ve been meaning to mention this FOREVER, but the lovely owner of The Monogram Studio sent mini a monogrammed Widgeon fleece before she was even born, and I had no idea what an MVP this little fleece would be! She’s worn it nearly every day this winter. It’s so easy to put on — no snaps! Just two easy velcros! — and I love that you can “cinch” the hood so that it fits snugly around her face. Every other hood comes off or lets in a ton of air; this keeps her nice and warm on these briskly cold January mornings. HIGHLY recommend. I will be buying a second one for next winter, and it’s on sale right now so chop chop!
+For our upcoming Florida trip, I’m buying mini some swim diapers — does anyone have a strong recommendation on brand? I used Bummis last summer and found that they ran very small (although you definitely don’t want these too big or you’ll have…ahem…containment issues) and were kind of pricey for what they were. Anyone know anything about these? They have solid reviews and come in cute prints.
+I’m finally going to buy an umbrella stroller for mini and am in the hugest quandary right now. I feel as though everyone has and loves the Babyzen Yoyo (reviews are INSANE!) but I’m having a hard time rationalizing the price especially given that — normally — I don’t have a need for an umbrella stroller in my day-to-day life. I use my Bugaboo CONSTANTLY. I wonder if this will change as mini outgrows her carrier and subway trips begin to look a little different. But still — $500 for a second stroller?! I’m inclined towards the Maclaren Mark II with recline, which is the lightest weight of the “fuller featured” umbrella strollers out there, weighing under 8 lbs. I’m always a sucker for light weight items because I’m not particularly “swoll.” (HAHA.) It also got a lovely review from Lucie’s List, and I really trust her — she’s thorough and realistic and logical. I spent hours reading umbrella stroller reviews and it feels like the only unimpeachable option is the Yoyo — all of the others have complaints about quality, sunshade, etc, etc. — but I’m wondering if those issues are all a little over-precious given that this is, after all, meant to be a lightweight solution for travel and intermittent use. We shall see…
+Have had a bunch of friends and readers recommended Kickee Pants pajamas — going to order a pair for mini!
+I’m always in the market for new books for mini — this and this are now in my shopping cart.
+Mini’s too young for this, but I recently read about Trunkis — a ride-on suitcase for you mini when traveling! Genius! And so cute.
+Tilly recently chewed — and destroyed — one of minimagpie’s adorable Tom’s crib shoes, and I was devastated — it was only the second time she’d worn them! I re-ordered a pair — even though Tom’s aren’t really my style, they look SO CUTE on a baby! — but was temporarily sidetracked by these precious shoes, which are in the same lane but a touch more feminine.
By: Jen Shoop
My ten picks for the week, this time topped by the French line Sezane — are you familiar?
The number of times I’ve promised I’ll “take a break from nail polish to give my nails a breather” but promptly backed out is…beyond count. I just can’t bring myself to go polish-free, except for a brief time during the move from hell when I had no choice. I remember when my bestie saw me: “But J…your nails!” Haha! I doubt Mr. Magpie has seen me without a manicure for more than a few days at a time. But that’s why this Julep nail strengthener is brilliant: it “protects and repairs dry, brittle nails by allowing your nail beds to breathe” but leaves a chic pale pink tint so you don’t feel unkempt. BTW: these nail polish removing wipes are my JAM. No fuss, no muss, and they’re very well moistened.
Pick No. 4: The Statement Shades
I’d not heard of the Swedish sunglasses label Chimi until recently, but I’m sold on these beauties ($100).
Pick No. 5: The Lee Jofa Throw Pillow
I’m dying over this Lee Jofa bunny print on these adorable toss pillows ($40+ depending on size). I recently mentioned that my couch is a weird hodge-podge of kinda-coordinating pillows because we sold one of our couches in the move to New York and now have about 34 different throw pillows that kinda work but kinda don’t. I’m partly inclined to do a full refresh so that everything looks tied together, and these rabbit print ones are the perfect balance of whimsical and traditional. If that’s too loud for you, but you like the idea of a throw pillow with panache, I LOVE the look of these linen pillows with their funky pom trim. GORGE.
Pick No. 6: The Prada Kitten Heel Slingbacks
White boots were a major trend this winter but I couldn’t quite get into them — so assertive. And, if you kind of relax your eyes, a little bit like you’re wearing nurse shoes or something? But these slingbacks?!?!?!? I could get on board with these NO PROBLEM.
Pick No. 7: The Lobster Tote
How beyond is this frayed canvas lobster tote ($50) for the beach — particularly the New England/East Coast beach?! So funky and adorable. I’m imagining pairing it with one of the breezy-chic I-vacation-in-St-Barths dresses/rompers from either Hemant and Nandita or Poupette St. Barth (THIS!!!).
Pick No. 8: The Fancy Schmancy Dog Treat
These “green juice” dog treats made me laugh. I love this brand of dog treat (so does Tilly) — they have the most clever, boujee names/flavors. I’ve given these as gifts to new dog moms, usually along with a monogrammed LL Bean tote (and p.s. — they’re also fun gifts to give to friends/family members with inside jokes/nicknames on them, or, if you’re super clever, a witty saying like “House #4” or “Yacht Gear”…)
Pick No. 9: The Inexpensive Legging
Though I’ve long been an evangelist for David Lerner leggings, a good friend recently told me she LIVES in her Old Navy leggings — she said they have the perfect amount of stretch. And at $8-$12/pop…worth a try!
P.P.S. Shopbop’s doing what it does best — offering unexpected discounts via promo codes, this time an extra 25% off select sale items with code GETLUXE — and bankrupting me. I’m loving this, these, and this feminine blouse.
Do you do anything for Valentine’s Day? I know a lot of people write it off as a “Hallmark holiday,” but I’ll take any occasion I can to get dolled up and spend solo time with Mr. Magpie. We hardly ever get out just the two of us anymore — in fact, I can’t remember the last time we did something on our own, without minimagpie or friends in tow! (Yikes.) I find that we’re far more likely to get a babysitter and spend evenings out when we have friends around, which — in retrospect — doesn’t seem quite right. So this Valentine’s Day, I’ve already asked our nanny to stay a few hours late and I’m determined to meet up with Mr. Magpie for an old-fashioned date — lipstick, heels, and all. I’d love to wear something pink or red. The chic pea above is just SLAYING it. (I believe she’s wearing Paula Raia.) I’m inclined to wear this dress, but we’ll see if the weather plays along. (The best laid plans…)
Some other Valentine’s-appropriate pieces I’m loving:
+Absolutely dying over this well-priced blush dress with its trendy balloon-sleeve. So versatile! I could just as easily doll it up with funky statement shoes for date night as I could pair it with smart flats for work.
+If pink isn’t your palette, how chic is this statement blouse in black and white heart print?!
+Very of-the-moment, but I love this frilly, off-the-shoulder dress with its sporty grosgrain trim. (Bonus: on sale!) Would also be fun for a bachelorette at the beach!
As I was walking Tilly on Monday morning, I was in a bit of a fog. I had just completely deleted, closed, and canceled all of the various accounts and services we’d used for our business, which we officially dissolved at the turn of the year, and was jarred by the finality of it all. I had been postponing these cancellations for two weeks — “but maybe someone will need access to…” or “but what if I need to find that email where…”
The truth was that I liked to keep a little bit of the business alive, leaving the door ajar. I’ve been muddling through a wild transition from founder and COO of my own business to full-time writer and mother and maybe, just maybe, I was taking comfort in the loose ends: “yes, there are some final details to attend to,” and “mhm, maybe I should log back in just to see….” as though such trivial tasks meant that I still had a toe in a swimming pool in which I used to lap — and competitively, I might add.
On Monday mornings, I used to message my team on Slack with my top priorities for the day, followed by “an inspiration.” Sometimes my inspiration for the day was inane — “the box of oreos I am looking forward to eating at lunch” or “the unseasonably warm weather” — and sometimes it was heavier-hitting: a team member’s recent demonstration of his above-and-beyond dedication to the job; a bit of hopeful news; a podcast I’d listened to; a missive from a happy customer. My team members followed suit, dutifully, though I would never have required them to do so, and I found this weekly ritual a small, quiet way to develop meaningful relationships with them. Their inspirations fluctuated from weekend plans with friends to “finally getting to the bottom of that damn bug so we could release that latest version” to words of encouragement they’d received from a fellow teammate or Landon or myself.
I liked the forward-looking perspective of this activity. It suggested, to me, that every Monday morning should start with momentum and ambition.
This hasn’t changed, but — as I walked Tilly around the now-familiar-to-me trails of Central Park that spilled out in front of us, marinating on the fact that I’d just deleted the Slack account that once housed such narrow and quiet weekly aspirations — maybe I should have also concluded the week with a twin provocation: what have I learned this week?
Now, I recently mused over what I’ve learned in the past year, and maybe it’s the dawn of the new year or the dissolution of our business in the most specific and mundane of ways (who knew deleting a gmail account would feel so incredibly momentous?), but I am finding that the looking-backwards is just as important as the looking-forwards.
Is this something that happens in the middle of our lives, as we edge towards middle age? We’ve accrued such a wide expanse of experience and memory that the looking back becomes just as natural of an activity as the looking forward? Do we hit some sort of tipping point in our lives where we spend more time in memory than we do in musing over the future?
I don’t know.
I’m encouraged by an anecdote my dear friend Alison recently shared: a big shot producer decided, after a remarkable career at the helm of a big-name company, that she was going to step down. This, without provocation or tension or any sort of behind-the-scenes politicking. She decided, simply, that she needed to do something else. In her mid 40s, she wanted a new challenge. A new beginning. From the outside in, the decision seems impossible: why would you want to step away from what seems to be the pinnacle of her career aspirations? And at a time where you might be able to “lock it up” and enjoy a relatively comfortable career at the top? Alison and I both marveled of her guts, her reinvention.
What this says to me is that there is always time for new beginnings. A few of you wrote me lovely emails about how strongly you related to my flitting thoughts on big decision-making in your 30s (see the turbothot), and I think it’s important to know that while we feel that the decisions we are making now have enormous, heft-y strings (I’m talking Navy-grade hemp ropes) attached to them, that there is always space for changing course.
I digress a bit here but my point is this: at some point in the last few years, I have become just as attuned to the arc of aspiration as I have to the quiet downslope of self-reflection. Meaning this: I find myself spending an increasingly equal proportion of time moving through my day as I do reflecting on what I’ve done.
As I trotted Tilly around the park on that particular Monday morning, I realized I was in a rather poetic position, somehow cast in a perfect microcosm of the very thoughts I’d been mulling over. I found myself caught between two differently-oriented intellectual movements: I was both dragging myself down the familiar lanes of mourning the end of our business, while I was listening to a podcast I’ve recently become obsessed with, “What It Takes,” by the Academy of Achievement, described in the headnotes as “Revealing, intimate conversations with visionaries and leaders in the arts, science, technology, public service, sports and business. These engaging personal stories are drawn from interviews with the American Academy of Achievement, and offer insights you’ll want to apply to your own life.” I was listening that morning to a piece on Edward Teller, “father of the hydrogen bomb” — a sadly relevant voice in today’s climate of nuclear brinkmanship — and exercising a part of my brain that has lain dormant since twelfth grade physics: unstable electrons and all that jazz.
Backwards, forwards, backwards, forwards, but always in a posture of the novitiate.
Now I think I will reprise my habit of forward-looking weekly inspiration while I add to it a new ritual of backward-looking self-reflection — “what have I learned this week?”
Inspiration for the week of 1/22: executing Mr. Magpie’s birthday dinner (roast pork with fennel, celery root and potato puree, and rum raising pudding) to perfection without being flustered by the mess and chaos of our kitchen and our more general lives in the process. (Tilly WILL eat something off the counter; mini WILL need me while I’m knee-deep in mise en place. But dinner WILL be made and I WILL try to enjoy the process.)
Learnings from the week leading up to 1/22:
+that Maya Lin was only 21 when she submitted her proposal for what would eventually become the Vietnam War Memorial for a blind competition, and that she did so after spending a semester of college in a student-organized seminar on the relationship between architecture and cultural conceptions of death (wowza);
+that General Grant did not actually want to join the military;
+that these cookies, which have been something of an Internet/Instagram sensation, have very strange instructions (when have you ever started a cookie with cold butter?!), but are prettttty darn good;
+that I am going to ban the word “unlikable” from my vocabulary, as I tend to only use it when describing a woman with a strident personality — I tend describe men of a similar disposition as “aggressive” (UGH);
+that washing every dish by hand is a horrible burden. (Our dishwasher is broken. And we cook a lot. And minimagpie eats a lot. AHHH. I will never take our dishwasher for granted again.)
+I haven’t been into a Banana Republic in so long, but I was walking by the store on the UWS and I was struck by this chic glen plaid trench! So startling! Glen plaid has been a huge fashion trend over the last season or two, and I liked Banana’s ladylike, conservative take on it. I imagine wearing it with distressed jeans and even some super casual sneakers to mix things up — or, slipped on over some trim black cigarette pants and kitten heels for a killer workday look. Also love this of-the-moment frilled-sleeved utility jacket!
+I don’t know why, but Petit Bateau’s iconic rain coat is on sale temporarily!!! Snag one while you can — I’ve never seen these discounted. You can match your mini!
+While we’re on the topic of rain, these umbrellas are the absolute best.
+I’ve been very into space dye sweaters lately after I snagged this one from Gap. This Loft steal is on my radar — and I also love this flecked, fringed one in the black-and-white on super sale!
+THESE IN THE BLACK SUEDE ARE ALL I WANT TO WEAR ALL SUMMER. Well, maybe interspersed with these. (Heart eye emojis.)
P.S. Need a mental vacation? Check out the book I could literally not put down. It goes wild halfway through and very weird/dark. Mackenzie and I were joking that it’s like the author sat down and brainstormed: “What are the weirdest/grossest things I can possibly imagine? OK, I’ll write those.” I have some thoughts on it that I’ll share for a book club post later this month. Also, more excellent beach reads to get you through these winter doldrums.
P.P.S. I never go anywhere without these anymore, especially after a recent trip to the public library with mini. It was so grubby and germy in there!
P.P.P.S. I always keep my bar stocked with Caspari napkins — I just ordered these.
By: Jen Shoop
I thought I’d share the items that are currently sitting in my digital shopping cart today…
+One of my favorite fashion bloggers, Arielle of SomethingNavy (shown above!), recently mentioned that Rag & Bone Jeans are her absolute favorite. I’ve never owned a pair and am obsessing over these (available in more sizes here). I think that the step-hem is going out of vogue, but I love the wash and cut of this pair — the way they taper at the ankle seems particularly flattering, and I die over the way Shopbop styled it: with a simple white tee and some chunky loafers (I’d wear these).
+I eyed these slides all last season but held off because I splurged on these beauties (mine are in a different colorway from last season, but the new ones in black are wearable with EVERYTHING). Now they’re marked WAY down and still available in my size (a 5!) and I think I may need them for my upcoming trip to Florida…
+I have to be honest with myself: while I love dressing up and have always felt that getting dressed for the day — even while working from home, and for myself, with no plans to interact with anyone else! — is important for getting into a productive headspace, there are days when loungewear/athleisure is simply the most practical, as I’m rolling around on the floor with mini, fending off incoming missiles of food, prying trash out of Tilly’s mouth, wiping butts, running around Central Park, and being splashed with water during bathtime. And so, I think I have earned a new pair of these. These are also in my cart, but I’m having decision paralysis when it comes to color. I had wanted the pink and was bummed to learn they’d sold out in my size. Now I’m torn between the blue quartz (kinda cool) and the oatmeal (but will I regret such a light colored legging?!)
+Now that I’ve learned mini eats MUCH better when we use these at mealtime, I’m ordering two more.
+I’m debating between these and these for our bed — we need a new set of pillows because I have no idea how but we lost a bunch of them in the move and somehow wound up with a set of very very flat/thin ones that drive me nuts. I’m intrigued by Parachute — well-priced for down pillows! — but those Amazon beauties are affordable and wonderful (read the reviews!).
+In my quest for complete cabinet/fridge organization, two of these are hanging in my Amazon cart. I spent a good twenty minutes looking for ones that would stack on top of each other to make better use of our fridge space, which is currently a sea of La Croix — I was surprised how hard it was to find a set that stacked!
+I want to buy mini a piggy bank for her birthday — she’s received random gifts of money from friends and family. I am torn between this one (we have a major giraffe theme going on in her room!) and this one in the elephant shape (maybe I’ve gone too far with the giraffe theme already?!) Of course I’d love to buy her one of these ones, but the pricepoint is a leeeetle steep for a vesicle meant to promote financial responsibility.
Over-eager for spring, I snagged this stunning, ladylike floral dress from Lover, shown hanging off my new bookcase in the snap above. Maybe ideal for Valentine’s day? I also love this, which is a tad more friendly on the wallet.
I’ve been struggling to write a post about the identity and role transitions I’ve gone through over the past year — from start-up co-founder to new mother to full-time writer/blogger and primary caregiver for our baby girl with the unexpected also full-time role of household manager (more on that at some point, but that element of working from home/staying at home surprised me! it’s a lot!) — but I can’t manage to prune my thoughts into a readable arrangement that I deem passably interesting. I’ve been chatting a lot with my friends — women with demanding careers, women with multiple children and varying degrees of help, women who work for themselves, women between jobs, women unhappy in their jobs, women struggling to get pregnant, women not interested in having children any time soon — and it strikes me that so many of us in our late 20s and early 30s are operating in a shared headspace regardless of the diversity of life experiences we’re going through: we are all grappling with the (occasionally crippling) feeling that every decision we make now will dramatically impact the rest of our lives. In our early 20s, it felt that we had space to make mistakes. We could try one job and change to another without too much of an impact on our career. We could date around without worrying whether we were seeing someone with long-term potential. We could uproot ourselves to “try LA” or “try New York” without thinking about the implications for career, savings, family, etc. But now I find that many of us feel an intense level of pressure to “make the right decision.” OR ELSE.
“Should I start having kids now? Because if I don’t, I probably can’t have more than 2.”
“Should I change careers now? Because if I don’t, I’m probably stuck in this industry for the long haul.”
“Should I have a second child? Because if I do, I probably need to stop working to make it work out financially since childcare is so expensive.”
“Should I stay at home with my son while he’s so young? I want to, but I’m scared that I’ll regret leaving the workforce and be unable to get back into it because it’s so cutthroat.”
So many of my girlfriends are carrying the weight of the world on their shoulders as they weigh the pros and cons of these life decisions. I don’t have much helpful to offer in the way of consolation because I’m right there with them. The only constructive observations that I continue to return to are these:
One of my dear friends once told me: “Everything that happens in life is the best thing that can happen. Whether it’s health issues, changes in careers, financial shifts — no matter how painful it is in the short-term, it’s all leading to something else that’s the best thing that can happen to you.” << This, from a friend who bounced back from emergent, life-saving surgery and has gone through considerable difficulty in its aftermath. Talk about perspective! I’m trying it on for size: no matter what I’m facing, it’s all a stepping stone to the next thing, and it’s meant to be. (I realize, by the way, that this perspective will not be universally palatable — fate v. agency is possibly the oldest conflict in literary/intellectual history. I guess you can see where I land on that one.)
My best friend took a psychology class at UVA and I remember her being fascinated by the concept of choice-supportive bias, or “the tendency to retroactively ascribe positive attributes to an option one has selected.” This doesn’t necessarily mean you are making the right choice, but it means that, once a decision has made, you immediately get to work rallying your emotional and intellectual energy around rationalizing that decision. This, in a weird way, comforts me. It means that once I make a choice, given time, I will probably start to feel pretty damn good about it.
You do you // you do you // you do you. It can be hard to feel confident about your decisions when you feel shamed by them, and I can think of very few women who haven’t withstood prying questions, judgmental comments, or uninformed observations from the peanut gallery. You know the type: “Are you thinking about having kids soon?” to a woman privately struggling through IVF; “I could never work while my daughter is this little. I’d only see her for, like, an hour a day — how awful” to a new mom returning to work and feeling weepy about it; “What do you do besides take care of your kids during the day?” to a state-at-home mother to two who is exhausted and in need of some alone time. These questions often reflect more about the insecurities and ignorances of the commenter, but they can often lodge deep in your soul, biting away at the little conviction you’ve managed to build around your decisions. And to this I say, “you do you, you do you, you do.” Go boldly into the decisions you’ve made and to hell with the peanut gallery! (Easier said than done. Woof. The comments can be tough-going; I carry them with me.)
More soon…I invite your thoughts below!
#Shopaholic: The Ladylike Dress.
+Call me crazy, but I’m obsessed with these. I just don’t understand what kind of weather merits their use…
+I’ve heard great things about these onesies — has anyone tried them?
+Digging the space-dyed/marbleized/heathered effect of these joggers! V. chic!
+This bag has quite the cult following, and is now fully restocked.
+Has anyone tried this as a sleep-aid? I just read about it and am very curious — I find that I wake up so frequently throughout the night these days, but maybe that’s just #momlife?
+For my expecting mamas — this is totally the kind of non-maternity thing I’d wear while pregnant. Love!
By: Jen Shoop
Pick No. 1: Oversized Earrings
I have been very into the oversized earring look lately — in large part inspired by the chic pea above. On the splurge side, I’m flipping out over these quatrefoil beauties by new-to-me Annie Costello Brown. Absolutely stunning! On the more realistic side, I love these oversized floral studs and these lily earrings in the white.
Now these are are a chic picks for your next apres-ski look…
Pick No. 4: The Architectural Blouse
I love (l-o-v-e) the architectural elements of this blouse — the slightly blouse-y sleeve, the wide cuff, the origami-like folding a the shoulders. I even like the way it’s styled below: with lighter-wash, loose-fit jeans and beachy hair. A study in contrasts. Bonus: under $30.
Pick No. 5: The Key Finder
Have trouble finding your keys? Your remote? The dog leash? This little doo-dad promises to change all that — you affix it to your belonging and then track it down with your phone! A cool gift for a techie brother-in-law…
This is SUCH a cool shape for a statement bag this spring, and — while it’s not cheap, it’s also better-priced than I would have expected with such a fashion-forward shape and high-end finishes. (The hardware!)
P.S. This blouse, which was one of the most popular on the blog in the past few months, is now on sale!
P.P.S. UGH this dress for a bride-to-be at a shower or rehearsal dinner?!?!?! IT IS TOO GOOD.
P.P.P.S. This dress is haunting my dreams. Do I need it?!
By: Jen Shoop
*Note: nursery above designed by the exquisitely talented Nina Bandman. A full post dedicated to this swoon-worthy nursery (and how to get the look) here.
I’ve written extensively about a lot of the baby gear we’ve found helpful at different stages of minimagpie’s life, but a few of you have written to say that it can be difficult to ferret them out across so many minimagpie posts. Below, a complete list of all of my absolute favorite baby products — possibly a one-stop shop for your baby registry!
The Best Baby Diapering Gear
Diaper Pail: Ubbi. It really contains the smell, and you can use regular trash bags in it (doesn’t require you to buy their own brand). Plus — it’s sleek and comes in good colors; I don’t mind it in her nursery.
Wipes dispenser: OXO Tot. This sounds like a silly extravagance, but try it — the weighted plate makes it so much easier to grab just one wipe at a time, and they keep your wipes from drying out (every other disposable wipes container lets air in!)
On-the-go diaper bags: Munchkin. Trust me, you need a roll of these in your diaper bag at all times. Handy not only for disposing of diapers on the go, but for containing soiled clothes.
To-go wipes dispenser: OXO. This fits into one of the pockets of my diaper bag organizer and means that I can just order huge bags of wipes in bulk and then distribute them between the wipes dispenser in her nursery and this one.
Wipes: Huggies Fragrance-Free Natural Care. We bought these at first because they were available at Costco and we assumed all wipes were created equal. But then I tried some organic fancy all natural wipe and it was dry as a bone. These are well-moistened and gentle. I’ll never use anything else! We’ve always used Pampers Swaddlers diapers, but there’s no real rhyme or reason to it; it’s what they used at the hospital so we stuck with them. We have them delivered monthly via Amazon. I’ve heard that the Honest Company ones are scratchy even though they have great designs; not sure if that’s true or not, but it was enough of a deterrent, along with their higher price, to prevent me from testing them.
Diaper cream: Weleda Calendula. [Updated October 2018.] I used to say Aquaphor; it’s what the nurses and pediatricians I’ve consulted almost universally recommend. It’s gentle but it works. But now I say Weleda because it clears up mini’s rashes the most quickly.
Changing table gear: We repurposed a dresser as mini’s changing table and to be honest it’s a little high for me to comfortably change her on it (I’m 5’1), so I always change her in her crib by putting one of these down beneath her. We also always have one on top of her changing pad, which is already covered by a changing pad cover. It’s just an extra layer of security so you don’t need to change the whole cover if — I mean when — there’s a little spillage, which basically happens daily. The liners can be tossed in the laundry. If we have a second baby, I am intrigued by these, which get wonderful reviews. One big surprise to me when I had mini was that you really need to have stations around the house for changing diapers; I did not feel like schlepping upstairs to change her diaper if we were all on the first floor. I think the Keekaroo could be a good solution for that — you just bring it down with you in the morning. We used Gathre mats as stations around the house — one at the foot of our bed, another down in the living area, and always one in my diaper bag. These are WONDERFUL because they fold up into a small square, come in lovely designs, and are easy to wipe clean.
The Best Baby Bath Gear
+Wash cloths: Gerber. Tiny and inexpensive, with one scrubby side and one soft side. These are very well-designed for all your baby cleansing needs. A normal sized wash cloth is just HUGE! I found it felt like I was dragging a yard of fabric through the water.
+Infant tub: Puj. I loved that I could fit this into the sink and then unfold it and stow it flat; I used it until mini was maybe 5 months old, even though she was probably a little too long for it by month 4. My one gripe with it is that it was a little difficult to clean; everything clings to that styrafoam material, and it can discolor easily. I would stick with the blue or gray.
+Baby tub: Boon. Love this tub. It’s a simple and inoffensive design, you can reposition the seat at different levels of recline for different ages, and there’s a drain in the bottom of it, which is highly helpful and not a universal feature across all baby tubs, which is mindboggling — how often do you overfill it after rinsing baby’s hair?! I do wish it balanced better on its side when drying, but overall, I would give this the highest marks. I’d read a lot of other baby tubs are difficult to keep clean — mold issues abound — but there’s never been an issue with that in this tub!
+Rinser: Skip Hop. This sounds like a silly purchase, but trust me — you need it. Keeps soap and water out of baby’s eyes!
+Kneeler: Puj. Another seemingly silly purchase, but when you’re bathing your baby while kneeling every night of the week, this makes a huge difference! I also like the simple design.
+Shampoo/Body Wash: Noodle + Boo. I also like Mustela, but Noodle + Boo edges Mustela out just a bit because it lasts a LONG time and just the tiniest amount of it suds up really well. I find that I go through Mustela much more quickly.
+Body lotion: Mustela. They say that babies don’t need lotion — that it can in fact dry out delicate baby skin — but I have used their body cream since day one as I felt mini’s skin was dry and it’s worked like a charm. I love the scent.
+Bath toys: Rubber ducky (must-have; this one is neat because it will change colors if the water is too hot) and Skip Hop squirties. Oh my God, mini loves those squirties and their accompanying mini life rings so much. She thinks it’s hilarious when I squirt water at her, and she likes to stack the squirties inside of the floating rings. Plus, anything with lots of little parts is heaven for her. Also: very important: these bathtub crayons and color drops have completely changed the game when it comes to bathtime. Mini LOVES jumping in the tub when I ply her with promises of “putting color in the water.” And sometimes she’ll forgo playing with any of her other toys in favor of coloring on the tub and walls. GREAT buys.
+Nail scissors: Piyo Piyo. These have always felt easier to use than nail clippers. Trimming baby nails is actually very difficult — they’re so tiny and paper-thin! — so I always do it while mini is asleep.
+Ear swabs: Johnson + Johnson. Believe it or not, babies produce earwax. I use these after bathtime. I remember reading a random blog from someone sharing her biggest surprises with a newborn, and one of them was that she had no idea she needed to clean her baby’s ears until her doctor told her, gently, that her baby did not have good ear hygiene. Whoops! I learned my lesson through her!
The Best Baby Mealtime Gear
+Bottles: Philips Avent. Bottles can be so particular to the baby, but a lot of my mom friends have had good luck with these. You can change out the nipple for a faster speed if your baby seems to be angry at the slowest flow. We also liked Comotomos but found that the caps were difficult to keep in place. When it came time to transition mini away from her bottles, we found these Nuk “transition” soft spout sippies were the best. She would literally not drink her milk if it wasn’t in either a bottle or the Nuk. Then gradually we were able to wean her off the bottles and solely use Nuks and then introduced her to these.
+Burp cloths: Aden + Anais and Gerber Cloth Diapers. The Aden and Anais ones are very smartly designed to fit over your shoulder/around the crook of your neck, or to be worn around the baby’s neck. But at the recommendation of my sister, we also bought a huge pack of Gerber cloth diapers that we used as burp cloths, and they’re super-thick and absorbent. An excellent utility play, too — I’ve wiped up noses, messes, butts, spills — EVERYTHING — with these.
+Formula: Hipp, the Dutch version. I’ve written about this at least a dozen times, but I find this to be the best formula. A lot of the domestic ones have a horrible smell and stain clothing easily; Hipp is virtually odorless and we’ve had no issues with staining. It also has no synthetic ingredients in it, unlike most domestic brands, and I found it to be much gentler on mini; she was less gassy once we switched. Thank you to the reader who turned me onto A New York Baby as my source for Hipp! She ships free and SO QUICKLY. I usually get my orders within a day or two.
+Drying rack: Boon. Before mini, I didn’t get why bottle racks were necessary. “Can’t you just let them airdry on a towel like other items?” Boon grass dries bottles and bottle parts so much more quickly by letting air in all the right places, and it contains the mess. When you don’t need it (which is admittedly close to never), you can stow it on its side in a cabinet. I loved this so much I bought one for our upstairs bathroom since we were frequently feeding mini in our bedroom and then would have to schlep all her dirty bottles downstairs several times a day; this enabled us to have a cleaning station upstairs, too. I also bought a travel set by them!
+Spoons: For first bites: Boon Swap and Olababy. I love the Boons because they have a super tiny well — just the right size for baby-size bites! — and you can use the metal end to saw things into smaller pieces if you need to. It also means you don’t need two spoons if you’re feeding your baby yogurt followed by chicken. The Olababy ones are wonderful for letting mini learn to feed herself. She loves holding a spoon! For increased dexterity/when they are a little older: Beaba. I liked these because there was no metal involved and mini couldn’t accidentally stab her eye. Once she was more coordinated, we upgraded to OXO.
+Pulp feeder: Ashtonbee. I loved this for feeding mini strawberries and apples and oranges before she was old enough for finger food. I would often freeze fruit and put it in there, which was helpful while teething. I’d seen others that were made of fabric; these are super easy to clean because they’re silicon.
+High chair: Phil + Ted. Full review here. I did a TON of research on this one!
+Bibs: Superbibs. We have some of the Baby Bjorns, which are solid plastic with a trough at the end to catch food, and those are decent, too, but I find that they get in minimagpie’s way — they sort of awkwardly bash into her high chair plastic tray. The superbibs are a lightweight fabric that can be tucked in front of her. They also fold easily — perfect for on-the-go mealtime — and are a cinch to clean. I just rinse them down with water and soap, and throw them in the wash once a week. They also come in a smaller size we used when mini was younger.
+Mat: Ezpz mini mat. This has totally changed the game at mealtime — she used to love to smear her food all around her tray. This prevents that and keeps her focused on eating. There’s a larger size version of this, but the mini fits on her Phil + Ted tray, which is a little bit smaller than most trays.
+Booster seat: Ingenuity. We loved this in our old home — we’d put her in this right up on the counter (which was super wide) and she’d play happily while we’d cook dinner. It was also easy to feed her in this. I still use it when I’m cleaning the kitchen or applying my makeup and want to keep an eye on her close by. You can remove the colored insert so that she fits into it for longer!
+Bottle soap: Dapple. I tried a bunch of brands before settling on this — it’s the best, and I have a reader to thank for the rec! It has no scent (a problem with most detergents; I hated that she was drinking soap-scented milk for so long!) but it actually cuts through the fat/grease of breastmilk/formula.
+Freezer tray: Beaba. I like that you can pop individual portions out of this from the freezer without disturbing the other “pods” of food.
+Snack catcher: Munchkin. I did way too much research on this. But trust me — this is the best. Keeps snacks from spilling, but easy for mini to get her hand in and out.
+Sippy cups: We tried every sippy cup under the sun for a stretch there — if you’re in the same boat, don’t despair! It takes awhile for kiddos to get the hang of drinking from anything but a bottle. Honestly, the best thing for mini was letting her play with other kids and their sippy cups; for some reason, little ones are always fascinated with drinking water out of cups that don’t belong to them. The first cup mini truly “got” was the Munchkin 360 miracle cup. She also has always liked the Camelbak and Thinkbaby straw cups. A lot of my mom friends swear by these weighted straw cups.
+Formula dispenser: OXO. Possibly my most commented on piece of baby gear. The number of parents who have seen it and, eyes wide, ordered it on the spot? At least five I can think of. I did a LOT of research on this little doo-dad, too, and it’s the best — fairly easy to pour the formula out; simple to clean; small enough to fit in a diaper bag; easy to use with one hand! A MUST for travel! I would just pre-fill bottles with water and then pre-apportion the right amount of formula in this. Genius.
The Best Baby Playtime Gear
+Activity mat: Fisher Price. Hideous, but so dearly loved. I can’t tell you how many moms have told me that they wish they’d just gone with the ugly/bold-colored playmats and playcenters. Babies love them and react to them so much more strongly than the cooler-looking Scandi simple wood centers.
+Activity center: Skip Hop. A true lifesaver. How many hours mini has spent playing happily in this, giving our arms a much-needed break! And she found the toys interesting and engaging for MONTHS and MONTHS, if you can believe it! The music isn’t as terrible as some of the other toys she has, which brings me to…
+Sit-to-stand learning walker: Vtech. I can’t tell you how much I despise and loathe the sounds and songs on this little eyesore. But mini is SO HAPPY WITH IT. She loves the picking up the phone and opening and closing the barn door in particular — but there are SO many different interactions she has with it. Pressing buttons, opening doors, pulling things dangling on threads, playing a piano, etc. And that’s just while sitting in front of it. She also loved when we hold her up and help her push it forward. It’s meant to be wonderful at teaching babies to stand/walk. I had really wanted to buy her this, but it’s apparently out of favor with most pediatricians (I think because it’s dangerous if there are stairs around, which we don’t have). But the truth is that we couldn’t fit both her activity center AND this huge walker thing in our apartment.
+Musical set: Hape. She played with this EVERY SINGLE DAY for months on end. She loved the drumsticks and especially putting them into their holes, which took quite a lot of concentration, but she got it!
The Best Baby Sleep Gear
+Sound machine: Sleep Sheep On-the-Go. We like the “travel” version because it comes with a velcro piece that makes it easy to affix to your stroller, crib, rocker, etc. We put this on during every nap and bedtime. I’m sure she could sleep without it, but I think it serves as a cue that it’s bedtime.
+Baby blanket: Little Giraffe. Babies don’t sleep with blankets for the first year of their lives, but I use this all the time while rocking her, snuggling with her, out and about, etc. It’s the softest, snuggliest, plushest blanket.
+Sleepsack: Burts Bees. I’ve tried a few brands, and ran into issues with poorly made zippers and fabric quality. This one is affordable, but has a lovely soft cotton and a nice weight. I love the designs — mini owns it in the star print.
+Crib sheets: Crate & Kids. Most of mini’s crib sheets are from here. They’re very well-made and come in the cutest prints.
+Pajamas: Kissy Kissy. My absolute favorite brand for bedtime — such soft and luxurious cotton, and I find that the sizing generally runs true-to-size. I was so disappointed when I splurged on some monogrammed Beaufort Bonnet Company jammies (which are SUPER CUTE) only to find that they run itty bitty. Mini could only fit into hers for like two weeks!
+Swaddles: Aden + Anais. We never cared for any of the velcro/wrap swaddles. We always swaddled her ourselves using Aden + Anais swaddles, which are super breathable and soft, but the right size. (Apparently not all “swaddles” are square, which they should be!)
+Bassinet: Monte Ninna Nanna. I love love love love the design of this beauty. Mr. Magpie was originally very against spending this kind of money on something the baby would sleep in for a few weeks/months, but I’m so glad we got it — it’s beautiful, silent (doesn’t make a noise when you rock it), and sturdy. I considered so many options and my runner up was the Halo Bassinest. I personally think that for the incremental cost, the Monte is SO MUCH MORE BEAUTIFUL that it’s worth it.
+Humidifier: Crane. I wrote about this more fully in my post on minimagpie’s first fever, which includes other items you should probably have on hand if expecting!
+Baby sleep pods: The Boppy Lounger. Could not have lived without the Boppy lounger. I loved that it was lightweight and I could plop it right down on the bed, couch, or floor wherever I was and she could snooze away. Once I learned (thanks to a reader) that I could just throw it in the wash, it became even better. I’m very intrigued by the Dock-A-Tot, which people rave about — I can’t quite figure out why it’s so much more expensive than the Boppy though when it seems like they do the same thing! We also used the 4Moms Rockaroo quite a bit. I wouldn’t say it was a magical product — it didn’t miraculously soothe mini to sleep or anything — but it was SO handy to have multiple spaces to put her down, and she liked the motion.
+Baby booties: Zutano. These don’t really belong in “sleep gear,” but I didn’t know where else to put them! These are the absolute best, though. Super warm and cozy and they never fell off her feet, even when she was just a week old. They come in super cute colors, too.
The Best Baby Travel Gear
+Stroller: Bugaboo Cameleon. (There is a new model on the market that was not around when I shopped for mini — seems to have a bigger underbasket, which is nice.) Bugaboo is simply the best. The lightest weight and the smallest footprint of all the “full featured” strollers. (Nearly 10 lbs less than the Uppababy.) I am especially loving this investment now that my life is basically 100% pedestrian — we never drive anywhere! — and I realize what a luxury this stroller is. And I still use it daily, even when mini is over two years old! A few things I love about it: the sunshade can be pulled fully over the baby if she falls asleep and the seat can recline to different degrees, so you can have her flat or upright or somewhere in between, which is great when mini falls asleep while we’re out, or back when she wasn’t quite old enough to hold her head up. I also love the harness — one snap and she’s out and it’s easy enough to do with one hand. Finally, the stroller is incredibly adaptable — you can push the handle bar forward or backward so that if you’re, for example, trudging through snow or mud, you can have the big wheels “in front” to help with traction. You can also raise and lower the pushbar easily so Mr. Magpie and I can comfortably stroll with her despite our vastly different heights. It takes a minute to figure out how to collapse it, and — even then — it’s still pretty big, but what else do you expect with a full-feature stroller? P.S. a few of the dads I know insist that the “suspension” on this stroller is “AMAZING!”, especially when compared to the Uppababy, though I know so many parents who have and obsess over the Uppababy Vista. They always rave about the generous size of the basket underneath which, admittedly, is a huge selling point. The Bugaboo has a much smaller storage space. I haven’t found it an issue, though!
+Stroller hooks: Think King. I love these. Super minimalist but hold REALLY heavy bags and can be repositioned easily.
+Foot muff: Bugaboo. A must have for these cold winter days. Also works with other strollers!
+Drink holder: Bugaboo. I love that these hang onto the side and are easy to pull off/snap on. I’ve seen ones that sit up at the handlebar, but those make me so nervous — what if you walk over a divot and your hot coffee spills onto your baby?! Also, I didn’t think I needed these originally, but they come in major handy!
+Infant carseat: Nuna Pipa. Super safe and among the lightest weight of the infant seats. I also liked the design. It snaps right into the Bugaboo base with this.
+Travel crib: Nuna Sena Aire. Sleek and plush. Not as lightweight as you’d think, though — it’s a BIG thing to lug around.
I’m sure I’m forgetting stuff, so feel free to ping me if you have any other questions! I spend SO much time researching all of this gear, so I feel very confident with my choices, and I’ve been very happy with the results. There were a few things we registered for/purchased that I didn’t care for, and I’ve left those off. For example, I just never got into any of the baby carriers. I always felt like mini was going to fall out of the baby Ktan and the Lillebaby is kind of a necessary evil. We use it all the time when taking the subway, but it’s a pain in the butt to configure. We had to watch like 23 videos to understand how to convert it from an inward facing seat to an outward facing seat, and when Mr. Magpie and I switch, it takes a good five minutes to adjust all the straps. It’s just annoying — but we need it. Similarly, I hated basically all nursing covers. I always felt like they were strangling me and getting in my way. Again, a necessary evil. I never got into the nursing pillows either. Smeh.
Anyway, please share any other wonderproducts or reactions in the comments below!
P.S. I didn’t include a lot of Minimagpie’s nursery items — decor, furniture, etc., but you can find most of them listed here, at the bottom of the post.
