Je suis un peu scattered this week — I feel like I’m still catching up from a household that was sick for the better part of two weeks, leading to a nanny that was out for several days, and then the long weekend. But one thing that I’ve been gravitating towards? The color ice blue. It felt so dated — so 90s, so Cher-in-Clueless — for so long, and now, suddenly, feels fresh and modern and classy. Maybe the logical counterpart to millennial pink!? See above and below and let me know if you agree.
My mother did the lion’s share (read: 99.99%) of the cooking in my childhood home, but my father was celebrated in the family for making the following two signature dishes:
Lipia kala, a milk-based cod stew from my grandfather’s home of Finland. (It tasted just like it sounds: unappetizing.)
Cinnamon toast. On rare occasions, my father would have a hankering for cinnamon toast — usually around nine p.m., when “the kitchen was closed,” as my mother put it, and such extravagances felt illicit. He’d toast white bread (does white bread even exist anymore?) and douse it with cinnamon sugar he kept in a small tupperware for just such occasions and then cut it, hastily, on the diagonal. He’d usually make a big stack of four or five pieces of toast and we’d inhale them together, often on the floor by the fireplace in our sunroom.
It was rainy and cool the other morning — not cold, exactly, but damp in a way that settled into my bones. I’d recently come across James Blake’s arresting version of “Vincent,” a song my father loved when we were growing up. (I believe the original song was by Don McLean, but I could be wrong.) I listened to it three times in a row, like a weirdo, as I walked through 15 blocks of driving rain. (It was just far enough to be a nuisance, but taking the subway one stop felt wrong.) There’s something breathtakingly artful about the word choice in the lyrics: “the snowy linen land”? “weathered faces lined in pain”? And then the real kicker: “with eyes that know the darkness of my soul”?!?! Holy cow.
And I thought about my Dad, about the recent email he’d sent all of my siblings and siblings-in-law urging us to re-read The Great Gatsby as he had, just a week earlier, concluding the short email with: “So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.” I thought about my father’s love of language (Fitzgerald is, in my opinion, the ultimate in artful writing and I often worry that he will be written off as a thin aesthete in years to come, underrated for a time to come). I thought about how moved my father can be by the mot juste — how he has repeated back to me on many occasions one of the captions of an Instagram I posted when minimagpie was just a few weeks old: “I can’t believe she’s mine.” He’ll say this to me and put his hand over his heart, as if to say: “Oh, my heart.” And I thought about how capable a writer he is himself. How often he says the right thing at the right time — as when he told me, without preamble: “Motherhood suits you.” Just casually, tucked into an otherwise unremarkable Saturday afternoon. How those words have never left me. How I sometimes look in the mirror and say those words to myself, turning my face to the left and to the right, analyzing my angles: “Motherhood suits you.” How sometimes I doubt myself in my new role as a mother and then, his voice arrives — “Motherhood suits you.” My own chorus. My own Mount Helicon, too.
So when I walked through the door, feet wet and heart aching, I knew exactly what I needed: cinnamon toast.
Cinnamon Toast
-Four slices white bread
-Kerrygold butter
-2 tablespoons sugar
-1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Mix sugar and cinnamon in a small tupperware. Shake until thoroughly married. Toast bread lightly and slather generously with butter; there should still be little bits of butter visible when done if you follow my father’s who-cares-about-cholesterol strategy. Sprinkle cinnamon sugar mixture on top. Eat hastily with a loved one.
100% Unrelated.
But…some other things on my mind:
+Can’t put this down. I legitimately have to give myself a pep talk when mini falls asleep: “no, you don’t need to read your book right now. You need to wash the dishes, clean up the kitchen, and get that blog post done AND THEN YOU CAN READ IT.”
+These are supposed to be INCREDIBLE for little kids. Sort of like Legos!
+This has been sitting in my Amazon cart for the past two months. I really want it because any time I lift mini out of the bath, my shirt is spotted with water for the remainder of the evening, and the genius design of this product keeps you and the baby dry.
+Has anyone ordered anything from Parachute before? I’m intrigued by these pillows. I’ve used and loved these (affordable and fluffy and JUST READ THE REVIEWS!), but those Parachute beauties are actually down-filled…
First — I saw I, Tanya yesterday and it was EXCELLENT. Alison Janney is a genius, and the commentary on celebrity, perception, reality, and media was fascinating. A lot to think about. Have you seen it?
Second — I’ve received a number of fun email inquiries and direct messages about items seen on Instastory, so I’m answering them below! If you have similar inquiries, please know I LOVE hearing from my smart and stylish magpies; you can always drop me a line at jennifer@thefashionmagpie.com.
Q: I am planning a girls’ trip weekend as a surprise birthday for my mom. What would you put in a swag bag for the guests?
A: Ooh la la! What a fun challenge! Here are a few items I’d consider — basically a roundup of my favorite products that many women in my life have also fallen in love with, and at various price-points depending on your budget.
+Diamond dazzle stick — I keep raving about this to everyone. The easiest way to keep your ring sparkly!
+Lavender-scented hand sanitizer spray. (The link is for a pack of 6!) So much chic-er and better-smelling than your run-of-the-mill Purell. Or you could buy a bag of these and toss a few in each gift bag.
In terms of presentation, I’d get something like these cute little burlap bags or you can get these ones customized with the date/name of the event (i.e., “Babs’ Birthday!”) If you go the latter route and want to make sure your items aren’t just rolling around loosely in a jumble, buy some of this. I’ve given a few gift bags and some of that stuff really pulls everything together and make things look a little more…pulled-together. You might also consider wrapping each of your little gifts in cellophane and tying them off with a ribbon. It’s all about presentation! My mother-in-law is the queen of presentation/wrapping, and believe me — she makes even just a handful of pretzels look like a million bucks all wrapped up in cellophane with a dramatic grosgrain or satin ribbon.
Q: My friend just had a baby and I want to give her something — not just something for the baby. Ideas?
A: So, so thoughtful of you. I feel like I’ve answered this somewhere but can’t find it. My favorite thing to do is to buy a bunch of high-end sliced cheese and sandwich meat from a good butcher (in Manhattan, a place like Citarella), some good bread from a bakery I love, and then a bunch of condiments that are nicely packaged in glass jars — Dijon mustard, Wickles, Sir Kensington’s Mayonnaise. Then I also throw in some chips, dried fruit, nuts, trail mixes, etc. My secret is to buy all of those items and then to put them in cellophane bags (these ones are also good depending on what you have — they’re perfect for nuts/trail mix) tied off with ribbon so that they look fun and pretty. Then I put everything in a big gift bag filled with this. Believe me — easy-to-eat sandwiches and snacks will be welcome during those first few weeks. I remember feeling like I had no time to make anything!
If you don’t live close by, some other lovely and thoughtful gifts I received as a new mom were this extravagant Tata Harper body balm, a gift card for a manicure, flowers, and a pretty water bottle. One of my mom friends also gave me this Gap nursing tank, and it turned out to be my favorite for lounging around the house in. Super soft and very long, so it covered EVERYTHING and could be worn with leggings.
Q: My birthday is next week and I’m trying to find something understated but fabulous to wear. For reference, I am hosting my friends for dinner at my home and then we are heading out for drinks afterwards. I also live in Seattle, so being warm is important! I’m at a loss of how to be both relaxed and fabulous at the same time. Any help is appreciated!
A: Happy birthday! I understand your conundrum — you want to step things up but not look overly fancy in a casual setting, or like you’re trying too hard. My strategy here is to pick one statement piece and then leave the rest fairly straight-forward. So I might do a statement shoe (still love these — get the look for less with these or any of these; I love these ones!) and then wear my favorite jeans and a blouse. Or, I might reach for a statement earring — these are amazing and on super sale!, and these are sitting in my shopping cart (also in a cool navy/gold combo) — but wear a dress in a solid color (I’m currently dying over this!). Finally — a statement blouse paired with simple studs and jeans is another festive option. I’m obsessing over all of the stunning Caroline Constas pieces that are on sale right now; she’s THE QUEEN of the statement blouse. I like this and this, both under $100!
ALL THAT SAID. Sometimes you just gotta pull out all the stops. Who cares if you’re overdressed? A fun dress like this or this (both on ridic sale) or a statement piece like this (great buy!) might be just what the doctor ordered…
Q: My fiancé and I are getting married in October and we’re in the process of creating our wedding registry before sending out save the dates. What items do you recommend for the registry? Are there items you regret putting on yours or that we should skip?
A: What a great provocation! I had to think on this for awhile. Some scattershot thoughts:
+In a sense, you need to tailor your registry to the size of your wedding and the types of guests you have. I have a girlfriend who invited all of her parents’ (very wealthy) friends and therefore felt comfortable putting a bunch of bigger ticket items on the registry. I have another girlfriend who got married right out of college, so she principally selected items within the $50-$100 range, knowing that adding anything higher would never be purchased. Then there’s the issue of headcount — you want to make sure you have enough stuff on there that people can find items they want to give, but not so much stuff that it’s overwhelming. So, that’s the first filter I would think through.
+In terms of specific items, the things I’m SO happy we registered for are:
1) Our nice china (ours is dishwasher-friendly — it’s Kate Spade’s June Lane, which I still adore). We use these dishes frequently when entertaining or just when serving up a particularly fancy meal. A $40 ribeye deserves a good dish!
2) Lots of serving dishes — both ones that coordinated with our china and big platters/bowls that did not (most of them white). My mother-in-law insisted on this, and I’m so glad she did — we got multiples of the larger serving bowls and platters and they really come in handy when you’re serving Thanksgiving dinner or even just having guests over. They really tie everything together.
3) Steak knives. We registered for Laguiole steak knives and I’m obsessed with them. Totally something you don’t want to spend money on, but they come in handy! They’re the right implement when serving pork, steak, even chicken.
4) Towels. We asked for ones monogrammed with our new initials, which was great, but if I were to do it again, I’d ask for a bunch of Yves Delorme’s Etoile towels in white. They are LE BEST. Towels are something I hate spending money on, and people love giving a nice set of towels as a gift! They’re so big and voluminous and you can wrap them up in a huge and dramatic box!
5) High-quality bakeware. I registered for all of Williams-Sonoma’s goldtouch pans — loaf pans, muffin tins, etc — and they are 100% the best. They never warp, are dishwasher-friendly, and conduct heat very well. I bake a lot (a lot!) so having this set has paid off manifold. I also asked for nice measuring cups, measuring spoons, coordinating spatulas, etc.
6) Nice frames for our wedding photos. Again, something you’d hate to drop $100 on, but truly come in handy for showcasing you and your hubby in your finest.
7) A good knife set — we have Shuns, but Globals are also very nice and lighter-weight. We already own our sets, but I would absolutely add a set to the list if I didn’t have them — these, a stand mixer, and a cuisinart. Things you should 100% have in your kitchen if you don’t have them already.
8) Everyday cutlery.
Of course, the above reflects my preferences and lifestyle. I love entertaining and cooking. I would spend time thinking about what you love — wine? Maybe a bunch of very nice wine glasses for different wine types. Tea? A great electric tea kettle and tea cup set.
+Things I would not register for: martini glasses (they take up so much damn space and we never use them; on the rare occasion we mix up a martini, we prefer to drink them out of drinking glasses anyway!) and a vacuum (in my opinion, it’s weird when people register for housekeeping stuff — I once saw someone put a TOILET PLUNGER (!?!?!?!?) on the registry!; who wants to buy these things?)
+FINALLY. Big finally. I really, really wish I had registered for everyday china. I can’t remember why we didn’t — I think we said, “you know, between the two of us, we already have some everyday dishes; we’d rather get other stuff.” But I majorly regret it. I would register for classic white everyday china. I love my ones from Aerin, but they’re down to the last few now. I know it sounds boring but colored/patterned ones get old super fast; white ones show food well and never go out of style. I’d register for 8 or 10 of each: dinner plates, salad plates, coffee mugs (!!!! we have such a horrid miscellany!), and butter plates.
Finally I’ve received a bunch of direct messages about items seen in my home on Instastory — answering them here:
+On my couch, I have a mix of green velvet pillows from here, printed pillows from here and here (they are super similar and I need to pick one pattern and store the rest but haven’t gotten around to it yet, so you’ll see an awkward blend of both prints right now), and this monogram pillow. Pro-tip: when you buy the pillow insert, order a size up. So if you ordered 20″ pillowcases, buy 22″ pillow inserts. Otherwise, the pillow will look sad and loose in there.
+On my gallery wall, most of the pieces are vintage scores, things I’ve inherited, or one-of-a-kind Etsy discoveries, but the print that says “Old Dominion” with the state of Virginia beneath it is from The Old Try. Also, and I selfishly hesitated to share this information, but one of my favorite Etsy boutiques for amazing vintage scores is FloridaFound. Sometimes there’s not much, but — on occasion — there are absolutely insane finds at wonderful prices. I’ve purchased several items from her, including a stunning original oil on canvas of a snauzer dog that probably should have gone for a few thousand, but that I scored for $175. This is pretty epic!!!
+The green area rug in my living room is very old (maybe over a decade?) from Ballard Designs. They no longer have the exact style, but this is similar. It’s an indoor/outdoor rug, so it’s not as soft and plush, but it’s currently highly practical with a baby who throws everything on the floor — it’s easier to sweep/vacuum food up. I also really like this one.
I came across this provocation while scrolling through social media and spent the better part of a rainy walk home from Citarella — where I’d picked up Spanish mackerel, a small bouquet of ranunculus, and a baguette — marinating on it. (To be fair, I also stopped into the hellhole more commonly known as the Upper West Side Fairway, where shopping is a full-contact sport, because one small head of frisee at Citarella cost $5.77 — FIVE SEVENTY SEVEN — and it cost 1/5th that next door at Fairway, and homegirl needed some bitter lettuce for dinner. I had it in my head as the perfect accoutrement to my planned Spanish mackerel dish.) At first, I scrambled to think about something concrete I’d learned in 2017. I hadn’t studied a language, or picked up a new sport, or traveled, or —
But wait. Yes. I’ve learned a lot in the last year. A lot about caring for a child, about what pregnancy and birth do to a woman’s mind, body, and soul, about what it takes to move across a country, about how to piss off readers (<< being facetious), about running and dissolving a business. But if I could hone in on the chief learning from 2017? That would be how to advocate for myself. And more specifically, how to work up the courage to do so. I used to worry that asking for things or pushing for clarification or disagreeing with someone would make me seem impolite, or annoying, or unlikeable. I’m a people pleaser by nature, so even the mildest friction is wont to make my stomach churn. But you don’t need to be a jerk to make your point. A very smart person once told me that a well-timed, thoughtful question almost always outweighs a strident, know-it-all declarative in terms of intellectual heft. Over the past year, I’ve learned to advocate for myself by asking questions.
Specific examples, big and small:
+I was quoted a certain price for partial highlights at the salon I tried a week or two ago when I made the booking. When I went to check out, I was surprised to see the total $50 higher than expected. The old Jen would have shrugged and forked over her credit card. The new Jen paused and said: “Hm — would you double check the rate for that colorist? Because I was quoted x.” It turned out the stylist had increased her rate at the dawn of the new year, but, because I’d mentioned that I’d been quoted a different rate, they honored her former rate.
+While fundraising, I was in the hot seat, peppered with questions and made to feel about an inch tall. I found that the only way I could achieve a sense of equal footing was by turning the tables and asking questions about the investors. What was their investment philosophy? What KPIs mattered most to them? How many deals had they made in the last year? How involved were they as investors? At the end of the day, though the power dynamic will always be in the favor of the investor, an investment is a transaction between two entities, and we had every right to interrogate them. I believe it made them respect us more, too — it showed them that we were in the mode of learning and evaluating.
+When we ran into a snafu (understatement) with the move-in to our new apartment, I ended up contacting the leasing agent directly rather than going through my (inept) broker. Keeping emotion entirely out of things, I asked her — politely — a series of questions about the status of our application. “How long on average does it take the board to approve?” “If you were in our shoes, would you be doing anything differently?” “Is there anything at all I can get to you to make your job easier?” The result was a sense of rapport and openness between myself and the agent, and she personally saw to it that the application was expedited on my behalf.
Similar stories cropped up when it came to switching pediatricians (the first was a very bad fit), dealing with the dozens (!) of botched online deliveries/orders we routinely encounter now that we literally have everything delivered, interviewing nannies, managing nannies, and just the bric a brac of running a household (I now routinely ask for new customer discounts whenever it occurs to me! what’s the worst thing that happens — someone says no?)
In short, I’ve learned to look out for number one. I also look out for number two — my husband — and number three — my baby — and usually not in that order, but you know what I mean. No one is going to do my bidding for me. Nothing is going to fall into my lap. To take a quote from an entirely different arena, Michael J. Fox once said of Parkinson’s, a horrible disease of which he is afflicted: “The cure isn’t going to fall from the sky. We need to start throwing rocks at it.” That’s more or less how I’ve come to think about most things in life — nothing just happens to you. You make it happen through intentionality and work. And, as someone who struggles with being direct, questions are my preferred methodology. They feel less aggressive and tend to open the door for empathy.
This year, I’d like to learn how to be patient. Not necessarily with people — I consider myself fairly forebearing with my loved ones — but rather, with my days. I coil up into a funk when things don’t go my way, or when I’ve been unsuccessful in ticking off the majority of the items on my to-do list by 2 PM, or when I realize, with a heavy sigh, that my intention to work out, go grocery shopping, clean the house, and spend quality time with minimagpie in a single afternoon just won’t happen. I am too type A for my own good. Most of the moms I admire have figured out how to go with the flow, how to shrug things off when there’s a change in plans or the outfit you’d planned for a big event has been soiled by 9 a.m., or your baby screams through the entirety of the over-priced music class you’ve made your way into, dashing your fantasies of educational mommy-baby time. The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry. So this year, I’d like to learn to be patient when the chasm between expectation and reality widens.
What have you learned recently, I wonder? What do you want to learn next year?
While I’m on this general topic, I thought I’d share a few things that keep me organized on a daily basis:
+My Day Designer. I use this less as a diary/to track appointments (I do that digitally using Google Calendar) and more as a running to-do list. I record even the tiniest of intentions here — things like “clean out humidifier,” and “give Tilly a bath,” and “restock bathrooms with toilet paper.” Because I find that these menial tasks can somehow together take up the better part of a morning, and when I can tick them off as I complete them, I feel like I’ve made progress — instead of wondering where the hell the day’s gone. Also, whenever I need to remember to check on something — confirm a refund was processed, schedule an appointment, follow up on an email inquiry, etc — I’ll flip forward to an appropriate day later this week or month and make a note: “Follow up on X.”
+A julep cup of Le Pens and Sharpies in every color under the sun and a drawer full of post-its. I don’t know why, but these tools make me feel prepared. I’m always jotting down things on Post-its and affixing them to various pages of my day designer. Phone numbers, ideas for blog posts, quotes, reminders — they all make their way onto post-its.
+The Wunderlist app. I keep wishlists, grocery lists, to-do lists, blogpost ideas, etc on this app (which you can install on both mobile and desktop, and sync across devices), and I can share them with Mr. Magpie. It’s wonderful because if Mr. Magpie happens to run out to the grocery, he can check the app and see what else is on the list, and vice versa.
+Poppin trays (also these) to keep my desk and bedside table organized. I always have a mess of small items — stamps, earbuds, paperclips, etc. These keep them contained. (I also love this desk set!)
+These file organizers to keep all important documents, bills, etc sorted and off my desk. They can look chic, too, when lined up on a bookshelf, especially if you pick a color that complements your office space.
+Random, but with a small space, we try to keep as much stuff hidden as possible to avoid the feeling of clutter. These 3M hooks are a wonderful hack for things like oven mitts, which we now keep hanging on the inside of our kitchen cabinet thanks to these hooks. I’m also planning to affix some to the inside of mini’s closet door to sto
A couple of organizational items on my current (Wunderlist) wishlist:
+These magazine organizers. I currently keep my magazines in a huge and unsightly stack that I in turn shuffle around my apartment — sometimes on my desk, sometimes on my bedside table, sometimes on the coffee table. Being able to keep them in one place, upright, would be an easy way to keep things tidy in the home.
+This is going to sound ridiculous, but I need a spot to keep whatever bag I’m wearing for the day (usually my diaper bag). I usually fling it onto an armchair in the living room or on the floor next to my desk, where Tilly noses through it. But there’s this little 1.5-foot spot directly to the left of my desk that would be the perfect location for a stool or ottoman that I could in turn use to stow my bag and keep it off the ground. I’m considering this, this, or this. We have a few chinoiserie pieces elsewhere in the room, so any of those might work, though they may also compete with the orange and white print of my upholstered desk chair. Maybe this solid white one is a better bet. I would love to splurge and have one of these made in the les touches fabric in a smaller size, but we still need other items, like proper dining chairs, and those are higher priority big purchases at the moment…
+Mr. Magpie makes fun of the number of acrylic organizers we have in all of our cabinets and closets — but they keep things tidy without obscuring them! I just ordered two of these for my eye makeup/blush/etc situation. I use this to keep my lipstick organized. My only gripe with it is that the height of the organizer is a little high for many lipsticks — it works great for glosses, which tend to be in taller wand bottles. Still, love having things tidily organized.
I had my hair cut and colored recently and can’t say I’m thrilled with the hair style — the stylist majorly “thinned out” (well, in her euphemistic words: “took some of the bulk out of”) the back of my hair and I feel like I have approx. three strands left. It’s just too edgy for me. I think I crossed the line from Kate Mara to Kate Moss territory (aka purposefully beachy >> unwashed and bedraggled) and it just doesn’t feel like me anymore. But, it’s hair. It grows back. And it can also always go up into a convenient bun. I’ll ride the edgy wave for the next few months and then I might go back to a more straight-forward/blunt haircut. I recently saw a picture of myself back when I got married — before I’d ever highlighted my hair or thought about wearing it wavy, and I liked what I saw. I can pull off blonder highlights but my natural dark brown hair suits my coloring best. And, at one point, I had this great set of French girl bangs somewhat similar to the photo above. LOVE. Maybe I’ll re-do?
In the meantime, I’m using a lot of this volumizing thickening spray ($30), which I mist on while my hair is still wet. Once dry, I use this finishing spray, which I’ve raved about for a long while. Basically, I need as much lift and volume as I can get…
At a recent event, Mr. Magpie and I found ourselves chatting with a very sharp gentleman in his 20s. Over the course of the evening, our conversation turned to books, and he mentioned that he facilitates–in his words–“a bro book club.” He went on to say that they recently came upon the unsettling discovery that they’d not read a single book by a female author, and intended to rectify the situation. “So, what should we read?” he asked.
My first thought was a classic by Austen or one of the Brontes — but then I decided that those can be polarizing; some find the old-fashioned diction tedious and impossible to get through, and those unaccustomed to close readings might write off the domestic subject matter as less important and powerful than it actually is. I decided that their first encounter with a female author should be more contemporary. I mentally scrolled through my list of the best books I’ve read in the past 10 years, and cherry-picked the ones written by female authors. The first that came to mind was Girls by Emma Cline. I felt that it was sufficiently juicy and plot-driven to engage even the most bro-y of bros, but with enough meat on the bone to really sink into. (I still maintain that she is one of the most talented new writers of our generation, from a purely aesthetic standpoint — the pastiche of language! her diction! it’s perfection!).
+Dig the wash and hem of these jeans. I’ve never tried Rag + Bone jeans, but I know people SWEAR by them.
+This is my favorite blanket of minimagpie’s. Still super soft even after tons of washings. Though I received about a dozen baby blankets, this is the only one I’ve used consistently.
+This blouse is marked WAY down (and an extra 40% off)! It’s SO hard to buy out of season, but sometimes the deals are just too good to pass up…this shirt ends up being $29, marked down from $149!!! Also out of season, but I am contemplating this boho dress. I’d wear it with my Hermes Oran sandals!
First, I’m going to unapologetically plug an incredible upcoming event for a wonderful cause: if you live in D.C., please consider attending this Gin + Jazz: Taste of the 20s event, in support of The For a Day Foundation, which creates emotionally therapeutic experiences to bring smiles and laughter to children with cancer. I mean, come on — bringing smiles to babies with cancer?! The event is taking place in Georgetown the evening of March 3rd and is being coordinated by my incredibly generous sister, Liz. If you go, you’ll not only be supporting an incredible organization, but you’ll be able to meet the prettier, kinder version of me: my sister 🙂
Second, I have been so touched by all of the comments on this post. I love that so many of my wonderful Magpie readers were standing behind and supporting my friend on such a difficult day. Love love love love love. Love.
Pick No. 1: The Striped Caroline Constas Shirtdress.
Caroline Constas is one of my current favorite brands. The quality of her products are INSANE. I have been getting so many compliments on this blouse I scored on RIDIC sale, and I think I might also buy this lovely dress, styled on the beautiful Aimee in the pic at the top of this post. Also eyeing this fun little top! These sales are killing me!
Pick No. 2: Lake Sleepwear.
I feel like every blogger on the planet has written about Lake Sleepwear, so I’m sorry if this is redundant, but one of these soft cotton robes and coordinating short sets just shot to the top of my lust-list. I have long been a devotee of Pottery Barn’s waffle robes (currently on sale and so fluffy and delicious!), and mine currently has holes in the sleeves. (Bof.) However. Our apartment’s heat is centrally controlled by the building, so it’s either 82398 degrees inside OR we turn our radiators entirely off and it’s freezing. We obviously opt for slightly hot most of the time in deference to minimagpie, which means that putting on a heavy waffle robe sounds absolutely horrible most days. So, I’m looking for something a little lightweight that won’t leave me sweating bullets, and I LOVE the print on the set below!
Pick No. 3: Ornament Storage.
I know the last thing anyone wants to think about is Christmas right now, but HOW DID I NOT KNOW ABOUT THIS ORNAMENT STORAGE THING? I discovered it on Grace’s Instastories and it is GENIUS. Ordering for ornament organization next year. So much better than hurling everything into a box and hoping for the best. Also, now is the time to stock up on ornaments for next year, while they’re all marked down to like 90% off. Pottery Barn has a great selection — I think I need this and these.
Pick No. 4: Lip Balm.
I know I just mentioned this universally flattering lip glow balm from Dior, but a reader wrote in to let me know that this Bobbi Brown stuff is even better. (Thanks, reader! Ordering this thanks to your referral!) I happen to find everything Bobbi does to be the best quality, so I feel like it’s a good bet anyway. I love their eye makeup remover when I really need to pull out the big guns (for everything else, I use a combination of these and this), and have worn their blush in pale pink for the last decade. Unlike other brands (ahem, NARS), the blush palette / formula stays intact without crumbling for a VERY LONG TIME. I think my blush has lasted over two years and I wear it daily! Ridiculous. I also own a number of their brushes and love them.
Come to think of it, maybe I’ll just order this set and the lip balm is essentially free!
Pick No. 5: Printed Flats.
These Aquazzuras might be my top contenders for my spring statement shoe. They’re the definition of a workhorse item: they’d instantly elevate/finish jeans and a basic white tee into something artful and chic.
Pick No. 6: The Statement Earring.
Guys, how darling are these drop earrings ($130) from designer Nicola Bathie?! I love them in all the colors! Bonus: they are apparently super lightweight!
Pick No. 7: The Bow Flat.
I went nuts over these velveteen beauties by Tory Burch earlier this year, and now they’ve been seriously discounted — $299 plus an extra 30% off! How can you not?!
Pick No. 8: The Must-Read Thriller.
I’m ditching all my book list plans to tear through this after my girl Mackenzie said she legitimately couldn’t do anything but sit and listen to the audiobook one afternoon. Mental vacation, I’m ready for you.
Pick No. 9: The Statement Sweater.
A cheery exclamation point the next time you need a pick-me-up. Ganni-esque but under $70! LOVE the sleeves.
Pick No. 10: The New Shades.
These Celines are at the tippy top of my splurge list. Red would be so FUN!
Mamas, tell me whether this sounds familiar: you are in motion all day long, a blur of dicing fruit into tiny pieces, reading Brown Bear, Brown Bear for the 7th or 19th or 23rd time in the past few days, prying whatever semi-dangerous item she’s managed to wrap her fingers around out of said fingers, changing diapers, rocking to sleep, clowning around in an attempt to elicit laughter, wiping down sticky surfaces, mixing bottles — and then you slide the pocket door to her nursery closed and, after tidying up her toys and washing the final bottle of the day, you feel a sense of accomplishment. There. Another day on the books. I made it. And then, maybe two hours later, as you finish an episode of The Crown, or enjoy a glass of wine, or lay down with your Kindle, you feel an odd tug at your heart. You open your phone to swipe through the photos and videos you’ve taken of your daughter. You share a brief anecdote with your husband — “she thought it was hilarious when Tilly was shaking her stuffed animal today,” or “I think she tried to say giraffe!” or “she waved at everyone in Whole Foods while we were in line.” Sometimes the two of you fall silent, into a sort of warm and nostalgic fog, as you watch photos of her at three weeks and seven months and earlier today parade across the screen of your Apple TV; your husband recently updated the screen saver settings to run a slideshow of pictures from your shared minimagpie folder.
And you miss her.
You miss the ecstatic kicking of her legs when you first pick her up out of her activity center — electric with happiness to be back in mama’s arms. You miss her toothy grin (now five teeth showing!) when she is laying on her back and you tickle her belly. You miss the way she clutches her babydoll — Lulu — to her chest and uses her tiny, chubby pointer finger to poke at her eyes. You miss the “dthih” sound she makes all day long when observing things — “this,” you think she’s saying, attempting to isolate and call attention to items she finds interesting, sharing her world with you in the most precious of ways. You miss the inevitable burst of laughter when you say “Peek-a…” and then turn the ghost page of “Peek-a-Who” and shout: “BOOOO!” You miss the way she patiently, delicately stacks little pieces of fabric from her Maileg Princess + the Pea set on top of the roof of the box — so funny, so observant of her, after you did this once, and she’s been mimicking it ever since. You miss the way she rests her head on your shoulder while drifting off to sleep. The way she always attempts to pull off your glasses in the morning — and sometimes succeeds at it. You miss her semi-uncoordinated attempts at clapping. You miss the feel of her in your arms.
Time is moving fast and slow. The days are chaotic and at the same time methodical, routinized — and they fly by. But the nights — the nights are where things slow down and you have a minute to drink her in, to admire her in all her 10-month-old glory.
You promise yourself that tomorrow, you will bring this presence of mind to bear during the day. You think about the hair colorist and mother to a four-year-old daughter who, while tending to your hair, said: “Oh, my. Enjoy these days. Because I can’t even hold my daughter any more. She’s too big. She has a little woman body now! She’s not my baby anymore.”
And you remember as best you can as you rock her to sleep the next morning for her first nap of the day that these days when she can fit comfortably in your arms are painfully short-lived. But you’re back on the rollercoaster and such sentimentalities enjoy a lifespan of about 32 seconds, before you’re mentally compiling a list of to-dos that must be completed by the end of her hour long nap: put duvet in dryer, wash bottles, check status of Dapple detergent supply, add YoBaby to Instacart order and arrange delivery.
It’s a dance, and we’re moving fast and slow through it.
Minimagpie: Mealtime at 10 Months.
We’ve turned a huge corner with mini’s eating habits in the past two weeks and I rarely use pouches anymore (even after I shared some mom guilt on the topic) or need to bother with purees. She’s gotten rather good at mashing food with her gums and five new teeth, and I cut food into tiny pea-sized pieces anyway, so the worst that would happen is that she swallows a bit whole. Breakfast is often fruit and yogurt — she loves both of these things, and especially likes very tart fruit! She eats grapefruit and under-ripened blackberries like they’re nothing. We feed her whatever fruit we’ve purchased for ourselves for the week — pears, pineapple, melon, mango, kiwis, berries — she eats it all. I’ve been giving her YoBaby yogurt but it just dawned on me that I could probably save some coin by buying her a big tub of Greek Yogurt instead. When it’s not fruit and yogurt, I’ll feed her pancakes, toast with peanut butter on it cut into little squares, cottage cheese, or oatmeal. She’s not big into eggs, but sometimes I can trick her into eating them by including some other vegetables — I’ll grate some zucchini and mix it in with the eggs and then scramble everything and it seems more palatable to her.
Lunch and dinner are a blend of standbys (applesauce, shredded cheese, cottage cheese, mac and cheese, pasta, quesadilla, Dr. Prager’s veggie bites), vegetables I’ve steamed/roasted (this week, I roasted a huge sweet potato, cut it into soft cubes, and tossed with butter and herbs, and I also sauteed zucchini strips and seasoned them with salt and garlic), and whatever we’re eating. This week, for example, we had some leftover food from a big Jin Ramen order, and she ate a lot of a rice bowl — I was shocked! She’ll also eat bites of my avocado and cheese sandwiches, or gnaw on a biscuit leftover from Mr. Magpie’s amazing Golden Globes spread, or eat little cubes of his fried chicken (skin removed). I used to be hesitant about feeding her anything with too much salt or seasoning, but my pediatrician said, “There’s really no medical evidence saying you can’t. Who doesn’t want salt or seasoning on her food? Just be reasonable.” So, I won’t feed her spicy food or anything that’s insanely seasoned, but I’m pretty lenient now with what she tries. I’ll usually share a bite of whatever I’m eating — this week, she ate a few bites of truffle cheese (fancypants), gnawed on an apple, and tried a few bites of my cereal bar.
It suddenly feels very liberating.
That said, I feel as though I’m constantly making lists and mentally mapping what she might eat for what meal, and it can be admittedly a bit of hamster wheel situation.
She takes four 6-oz bottles a day. My pediatrician said we should probably get it down to three feeds a day, but this works well for us right now. She has one as soon as she wakes up in the morning, one at each of her daytime naps, and then one right before bed. She’s still figuring out how to drink water from a sippy cup, but these seem to be the ones that she most consistently “gets.” When she was sick with her cold, I watered down some juice and fed it into one of her small bottles to ensure she would actually drink it, as I was worried she was dehydrated.
Finally, ever since we started using this mat on her high chair (which we still obsess over), she’s begun to eat a lot more. She used to smear her food around her high chair tray, or dangle it over the edge for Tilly within a few minutes of starting her meal. Now, she’s very intent on eating everything in her little mat — she loves to feed herself.
Minimagpie: Playtime at 10 Months.
More for my sanity than anything else, we tend to play at different “stations” at different times of the day. When she first wakes up in the morning, I take her out to the living room, lay down a blanket, and surround her with a couple of toys so she can crawl and roll around. I try to mix up which “big” toys I bring out — sometimes it’s her musical set (she LOVES this), or her building blocks, or her sit-to-stand walker, or a wooden play pancake set her grandparents gave her (similar to this), or her balls. We also read a few books together — she’s very into the two sound books she has, including this one. We’ll read and press the animal buttons together. Once Mr. Magpie is up, I move her to her activity center and add a couple of her favorite smaller toys to the tray, so I can make breakfast. I feel like her days in this wunderproduct are numbered — she’ll soon be too tall for it and will be waddling around. Sigh. It’s such a nice way to keep her contained and entertained. Once breakfast is ready, we all sit around the dining room table listening to the news and enjoying our twenty minutes of family time until Mr. Magpie leaves us. Then, I put her into her booster seat on the floor of the kitchen and toss a couple of toys on her tray — she loves her measuring spoons — while I clean up (there’s always a huge mess after breakfast — bottles from last night and this morning to clean, our plates, the toaster, coffee accoutrements, whatever we left in the sink last night, her highchair tray) and then I temporarily stow her in her crib with her Maileg set while I get myself dressed and make the bed. For the rest of the day, we’ll alternate between crawling around the living room carpet, hanging out on my bed, or rolling around in her crib. The activity center is really just a holding zone when I’m trying to GSD.
I should point out that she’s crawling, but in a limited capacity. Any day now she’ll be fully cruising around, but for the last week, she’s been crawling for two moves forward, then rocking back and forth and dropping onto her stomach. Then she’ll do a weird army crawl/dead leg pull before pushing back up onto her knees. She LOVES to “walk” with our support and to grab onto the chair/sofa and stand by herself, but she’s still very wobbly and it feels like walking is a far way away. (As my mom would say, “Enjoy this time while you can. She’ll be into everything before you know it.”)
I’m impressed with her dexterity right now — she’s very careful when stacking the “mattresses” of her Maileg set, placing the rings of her Fisher Price rock-a-stock in place, fingering the velcro on her babydoll’s sleepsack, and placing the pieces of toast back in her play toaster (similar to this).
I also love that she can happily entertain herself for increasingly long stretches, just rolling around and playing with the toys around her. This is especially handy in the mornings. Our pediatrician gave us the green light to leave a toy in her crib with her so that we could score a little bit of extra sleep, so we usually leave her babydoll with her and I can hear her babbling away to it for at least twenty minutes after she’s woken up.
Just earlier this week, I started adding art-time to our menu of daily activities, and she tried her hand at drawing using this paper dispenser and these crayons. Close readers of this blog will note that I originally planned to order these, but every time I’d go to check out, I’d balk at the price — $23 for crayons?! I couldn’t pull the trigger. It turns out that was a good call because a certain Airedale developed a certain hankering for a certain crayon the other day, and if said crayons were the equivalent of $2 apiece, I’d be livid. My mother pointed out that the larger crayons I’d ordered were good for developing gross motor skills, but that I might also consider buying some of these for her fine motor skills. (My mom used to be a teacher.) Noted, and ordered.
Minimagpie: Sleeptime at 10 Months.
Hallelujah! Mini has been sleeping through the night for the last month. She goes to bed at 7 PM and wakes up between 6-7 AM. Every now and then, she wakes up between 5-6 AM, and I’ll feed her a bottle and she’ll go back to sleep until around 8, and we can’t quite figure out why, but I’m not complaining; she was routinely waking up at 3 a.m. until about 8 months of age, so I AM IN HEAVEN. (Also, sleeping in until 8 AM feels like a ridiculous extravagance, even if I have to wake up and feed her for 20 minutes at 5 A.M.)
I used to fully rock her to sleep before bed, which I know is a major no no (“put her down while drowsy but awake” blah blah blah), but in the past two weeks, I’ve begun to put her down while she’s still awake, and it’s been a shockingly easy transition. Some nights, she’ll fuss for about 10 minutes, but most of the time, she’ll just roll over onto her stomach and fall right asleep. It’s a trivial accomplishment in the grand scheme of things, but I’m proud of it nonetheless — it took me way too long to be comfortable with her fussing for a bit before sleeping!
During the day, she goes down for naps at 9:30 AM and 2:30 PM, and she’ll usually sleep for an hour and a half at each. We follow the same pattern at every sleeptime: change diaper, put in sleepsack (I currently love these ones), and turn on SleepSheep. At night, we also read a book and say our prayers together just before bed.
Minimagpie: Wishlist at 10 Months.
+These “gootensils” (ughhh the name) — they’re supposed to be great transitional tools for teaching your baby to eat with a spoon/fork.
+I’m usually more on the traditional side when it comes to dressing mini, but every now and then I’ll mix in a little something hipster. For example, I adore these embroidered sweatshirts!
+Cecil and Lou is having an incredible sale — I’ve been adding a number of personalized things, like this, to my cart for mini’s next winter wardobe! I also think this is darling!
+Speaking of, I’m SO sad I missed the boat on ordering these — they would have been the perfect birthday pajama, but now they’re sold out in her size. Womp womp. Also, I know we’re edging out of winter territory, but I just love this pair of jammies. Should I order them for her in her current size or size way up and save them for next winter?
+When is mini the right age for this?! (Not that we have the room for it…)
+I’m sure she’s a little young for this, but then again she loves her pancake set — she’ll pluck the pieces of fruit velcroed onto the pancake off and then stick them back on again.
+I think I might have to order this in both prints…
By: Jen Shoop
I met entrepreneur Kristi Zuhlke while participating in an accelerator program for female tech founders. She was the guest of honor at a roundtable and, when she sat down and started sharing the story of building her business — for maybe the first and only time across all of my experiences interacting with founders in the startup world — I felt as though she was actually telling the truth. No puffery, no self-aggrandizement, no smoke and mirrors: just the facts. The hardships, the triumphs, the emotional topographies of building something new and convincing others to see the value in it. I met with her a number of times afterwards, and was continuously struck by her earnestness. There was no beating around the bush with Kristi: she was refreshingly straight-forward. And she was also exceptionally generous. When Mr. Magpie and I started fundraising for our business, she made legitimate connections to top Chicago investors for us. She put her neck out there, talking enthusiastically about our product and urging her investor connections to sit down with us to hear what we had to say. And the response was universal: “Any friend of Kristi’s is worth meeting.”
So you can probably tell while Kristi is this month’s woman of substance.
Kristi is a serial entrepreneur with an exit under her belt. She launched her first business while still in college. After graduating, she joined Procter & Gamble, where she worked with billion-dollar brands like Gillette and Always. In 2011, Kristi launched a smartphone app technology that analyzed moles for characteristics of skin cancer, which she in turn sold in 2012 (#badass). Kristi is now CEO and Founder of her third business, KnowledgeHound, a technology designed to “cure corporate amnesia and create data democratization.” She came up with the idea while working at Proctor & Gamble, when the GM asked her, “What percentage of men shave in the shower?” “I’m sure we know it,” she replied, but was then surprised to find that they did not have that data on hand. She started realizing that companies spend millions of dollars on product research and market studies every year, but that information in turn dies with the end of a marketing campaign and is impossible to ferret out again for future use.
There aren’t too many founders who successfully launch a business, close a seed round, and then close a Series A round in short order. There are even fewer female founders who do so. Kristi is the real deal.
I don’t often think in terms of gender when it comes to noting the qualities of people I admire. That said, my favorite quality in powerful female founders is conviction in their decision-making. They do not stand down when someone challenges them and can speak with eloquence and strength to get people onboard with their vision and beliefs.
Your favorite heroine.
My mother, who survived both raising me and battling breast cancer.
Your main fault.
Fault? I struggle with that word. It’s not one that I let enter my vocabulary. I have found that as a CEO with strengths in vision, sales, product, and relationship management, I need to surround myself with others who are stronger at operations and finance.
Your greatest strength.
My optimism. As an entrepreneur, you get knocked down on a daily basis. You have to see the glass half full to make it through founding a company.
Your idea of happiness.
The way I feel most loved is spending time with others. Happiness is hanging out with family and friends who are dear to me.
Your idea of misery.
I am an extrovert, so being on an island by myself would be miserable.
Currently at the top of your shopping lust list.
I am moving into a new condo and am in need of some living room furniture. Boring. I know.
Desert island beauty product.
If it’s deserted then I really don’t need a beauty item besides endless amounts of sunscreen.
Last thing you bought.
A Lyft ride. I love that company. Ridesharing has provided so many ways for people to earn money with flexibility.
I feel most empowered wearing…
My leather jacket.
Favorite Magpie post.
This one. I love simple fashion. It’s perfect for a woman on the go who doesn’t like to spend time thinking about what to wear.
Channeling Kristi…
Below, a few products I’ve curated that are inspired by the fearless, on-the-go Kristi Zuhlke. Click on each item for details, or see links below!
P.S. When I was running my business, my daily uniform was dark wash denim and a statement blouse (this or this — marked wayyyy down right now!) OR a well-cut dress (I would have worn this — on super sale! — or this…can you tell I’m still not over the pearl trend?) with pointed toe flats. I am also obsessing over this but just don’t know that I’d wear it as often now that I wear more casual stuff day-to-day. LOVE.
When we were young, we would laugh at the same inside jokes over and over — “put that thing back where it came from, or so help me!!!” — and they never got old.
When we were young, we rushed and pledged sororities together and attended date functions with our beaus together and would purposefully skip Sunday chapter together because, “ugh, we can’t be bothered.”
When we were young, we would talk in shorthand about the boys we were seeing and you would occasionally intervene to suggest that maybe I shouldn’t spend so much time with that boy in that super Southern frat who had just made me a mixed CD full of Van Morrison because he was maybe not the best of guys — delivered in your characteristic delicate but direct way — and also, because he dipped. And we both agreed that dipping was disgusting.
When we were young, we would occasionally go to Catholic Mass together at the ugly Church on Alderman that we would walk to and laugh about “Catholic hair.” Why was it that every other girl in the pew had the same haircut — a straight cut midway between a bob and shoulder-length style?
When we were young, we would go on spring breaks together, all pastels and madras and Lilly Pulitzer and youth, and we were reckless, careless, tan, and happy.
When we were young, you always felt like home, even when we were far away from it.
When we were young, we spent summers with our high school friend groups coalescing and intermingling, wearing too-short Abercrombie skirts and too-high platform flip flops, spending evenings in grimey Georgetown bars like Rhino or on the back patio of my childhood home, hushed in conversation so as not to perturb my parents.
When we were young, you told me I needed to buy a pair of Rainbow flip flops. “You haven’t noticed that everyone’s wearing them?” you asked, in disbelief. I hadn’t. (A blogger was born…?)
When we were young, you would drive the scenic way back from Charlottesville when we carpooled home those many autumns, winters, and springs. I always loved this curiously sentimental preference about you — you were otherwise so very pragmatic.
When we were young, we would pour vodka into cherry coke slurpees and crawl through the second floor window of my second year house leading onto the rooftop and sit in the warm spring air, waiting for the boys to arrive.
When we were young, you drove me to the hospital when I had a fever of 104 and stayed up until well past two a.m. on a school-night to make sure I was OK.
When we were young, we studied abroad for a semester — in two different countries — and I visited you and you showed me around in great style, generously parading me around in front of all of your new, cool European friends while we both nursed heartaches of different sorts. When I left for the airport early on Sunday morning, we clung to each other in the early, gray Rome dawn. I didn’t want to leave.
When we were young, you would drive me to my 9 a.m. history class in your feminine but sporty gray Jetta, which always smelled like crayons, because “ugh, no one wants to walk to class at 9 a.m.,” you would say shruggingly, unbothered by the imposition in your schedule.
When we were young, we would pile into our friend’s two-door red car — the one where you had to push the front seat all the way up to the dash to climb into the backseat — and drive around Charlottesville collecting the rest of our friends, and then head to Bodo’s bagels on Saturday mornings, an errand that — done solo — would take about 15 minutes. With the whole gang in tow, it was an hourlong laugh-fest.
But now we are not so young. We are navigating the complexities and disappointments and aspirations and realities of our 30-something lives. Today is a hard day for you. And I just thought you should know that even these many years later, when we are not so young anymore, that I still think of you as I did back then: full of promise, destined for good things.
I shared some real-life snapshots on what I was wearing/eating/listening to/reading/etc both in May and October of last year and it was a lovely traipse down memory lane to reread them. The May one left me in a transitory nostalgic fog, as it had been written while I was still breastfeeding mini and still living in our cherished Chicago home, oblivious to upcoming uprootings and re-plantings. But just as quickly as the emotional clouds gathered, they dissipated, as I found myself turning to my highly serviceable 2018 mantra: “Go boldly.”
Currently Wearing…
Truthfully, I’m currently wearing Monrow sweats as ride out this sinus infection. But most days I have been wearing a pair of distressed J. Crew jeans, this sweater (my absolute favorite right now — so, so warm and now on sale for under $40), and either snowboots or, if it’s warm enough, my Golden Goose sneakers. I hate these dead months of winter, where it’s sweaters on repeat for weeks on end. It reminds me of Chicago winters, which stretch, impossibly, from September until June. That said, I’m heading to a dinner this week wearing this adorable statement top I found on sale for only $118! I like the idea of showing a little shoulder in winter. And those SLEEVES. The picture doesn’t do them justice — they are maj volume. (Should I also buy it in the denim?!)
Currently Playing…
Live from Las Vegas by Dean Martin. It’s not the Dean Martin you’re thinking of — it’s full of soulful songs and hymns and Mr. Magpie and I couldn’t believe it was him. Wonderful dining and postprandial listening.
For daytime, I’ve been enjoying Sam Smith’s new album and my OG chill music from my student days: Chopin’s nocturnes performed by Arthur Rubenstein. I studied piano until I was in my teens, and dynamics are everything with Chopin; Rubenstein happens to be masterful at them.
Finally, we’ve been listening to a lot of top 40 in our apartment — while cooped up and under the weather, we needed something lively. I am very into The Weekend by SZA today — she sounds like a mash-up of Justin Beiber and Chris Brown.
Currently Eating…
Most days I have an English muffin with Plugra butter (and occasionally a heap of zaatar) and fruit (this week, we’ve diced up a pineapple) for breakfast along with pourover coffee. We’ve been using beans from Toby Estate, which is based in Brooklyn.
Lunch is usually a mad scramble for whatever I can cobble together in the fridge — today, it was a leftover rice bowl from Jin Ramen with teriyaki chicken, broccoli, and carrots, but my fallback is toasted rye bread with avocado, Swiss cheese, and Trader Joe’s everything bagel seasoning. I’ve gotten into a bad habit of buying mini cans of Coke Zero Sugar, and one of those will often accompany lunch. When I’m not being naughty, I’ll try to drink a full glass of water with my lunch.
For dinner, it’s always an adventure. Mr. Magpie fried chicken and made incredible baking powder biscuits for the Golden Globes, so we’ve had that the last two nights. (Did you watch? Such a somber ceremony, but powerful. Oprah’s speech was everything, and I could not love the cast of Big Little Lies more. Such a prescient show for the year, between the strong female cast and the probing analysis of abuse, rape, and gender dynamics!) At any rate: fried chicken. Mr. Magpie used a combination of this recipe and this one to create perfectly moist chicken with the crispiest skin. Yum. Tonight we’re making a penne puttanesca dish from his boi Tony Mantuano.
P.S. I recently made gougeres (for NYE), and this recipe is perfect — it yielded the best batch I’ve ever made, and they are the perfect companion to a glass of champagne.
Currently Watching…
The Bachelor (smeh), The Crown (we’re behind), and Veep. We’re usually borderline omniverous when it comes to new movie releases on iTunes, but we’ve been totally bored by the options coming out over the past few months. The best recent movie we saw was Wind River. UNBELIEVABLE but not for the faint of heart — there is an exceptionally troubling scene in there that we could hardly watch. We liked Dunkirk, but my usual litmus test for movie quality is whether or not I am still thinking about the movie the next morning. Dunkirk was in and out of my mind within minutes. It was an interesting take on a war movie — de-centralized, less of a central plot, an off-kilter denouement — which I take to reflect the actual experience of war a bit better than the usual hero narrative we’ve grown accustomed to in the cinema. But, at the end of the day, underwhelming.
We haven’t been to the theater in…maybe a year? But we’re going with our best friends to see I, Tanya on Monday and I cannot wait. I’m equally excited about the popcorn.
Currently Reading…
The Grant autobiography, which has little morsels of wisdom and intrigue nestled among long, soporific stretches of military history. I’m alternating between that and Watch Me Disappear, which is not grabbing me as much as I’d hoped, but is passable fare while waiting for my nails to dry at the salon or passing the time in the doctor’s waiting room.
+The enormous gallery wall (shown at the top of this post!) Mr. Magpie hung this past weekend over our couch. Now that we’ve ordered our media console (in white!) and hung this wall of paintings, the room is inching towards completion!
+Going to bed early (around 8:30), reading, and then watching an episode or two of Veep.
+Ironing my sheets with our new fancy iron and ironing board. Our nanny very generously does our laundry for us while mini is napping, and one day, I found her ironing our sheets. It’s a love/hate discovery because now that I’ve seen the light, I don’t know that I can go back to un-ironed sheets again, and they are a ROYAL PAIN to iron. I know because I spent the better part of Sunday afternoon trying to iron my duvet, sheets, and all the pillowcases, and it was a slog. But getting into your freshly-ironed, freshly-pressed sheets? The ultimate in luxury.
+Zaatar. I mentioned that we’ve been putting it on English muffins in the morning, but I also put it on popcorn and swirl it into hummus. If you’re not familiar with it, you are in for a treat. It’s a Mediterranean spice blend heavy on sesame and sumac; you can order some through Prime if you can’t find it at your grocery.
+Making mini laugh. The motions, voices, and mimographies I perform on a daily basis for a chuckle are outrageous. To the neighbor across the courtyard: I’m sorry if you see me huffing around like a gorilla, stomping my legs through the apartment. All in the name of my baby’s laughter.
I’ve been down for the count with a sinus infection for the past few days (so has Mr. Magpie, though he stubbornly refuses to see a doctor…ever…), which has meant early bedtimes and hours of Veep, a show I can’t believe I just got into. It is so, so good. The dialogue is unbelievably smart. I sit there with a cheshire cat grin on my face, eagerly awaiting the next zinging one-liner. Fabulous from start to finish, and I absolutely adore Julia Louis Dreyfuss — she has incredible comedic timing and such expressivity! — and her WARDROBE! Ugh, the whole thing is too good.
At any rate, not much happening upstairs while in this fog, so I’ll just share 10 things I’m into today…
Pick No. 1: The Sorel Snowboot
I know I’ve mentioned my Sorel snowboots (shown above; a different color here) a quadrillion times, but they came in SUPER DUPER handy during the #bombcyclone this past week. (After my rant, I’m not sure it’s appropriate that I use that hashtag.) They are the thickest, sturdiest, warmest boots you can imagine. Even in subzero temperatures, wading through 6″ of snow, my feet were warm. (I might go so far as to say they were even a little hot??) They never let in any snow or moisture thanks to a high shaft and they have great traction. If you live anywhere that snows or is impacted by these wicked cold snaps — do yourself a favor and grab a pair. Also, mine coordinate with mini’s snowboots, which literally KILL me they are SO CUTE.
Pick No. 2: The Polka Dot Blouse
I’m v. into this polka dot blouse by Ganni that I first spotted on the lovely blogger TheFashionBug. How adorable does she look in it? I need to up my ante with the statement blouse game, and this looks like a lovely starting point. I’m also dying over this one by Zimmermann, this maxi for summertime, and the Oscar de la Renta vibe of this frock. Finally, I think this Caroline Constas statement blouse would be SO FUN for summer with white jeans.
Pick No. 3: The Floral Tablecloth
I am smitten with all of the chic tablecloths by India Amory, but especially this peony print one for spring. Hint: she also carries robes for mama and baby!
Pick No. 4: The New Lip Balm/Color
Have heard great things about Dior’s Lip Glow, a product “born backstage” described as “the perfect balance betweek make-up and lip care.” Apparently, the formula “reacts to the unique chemistry of each person’s lips to give them a natural flush of custom color that suits each skin tone. Lips look fresh, full, and radiant, as if revived from within.” Um, sign me up?
Pick No. 5: The Rattan Light Fixture
I have been obsessing over the unexpectedness of a rattan light fixture — I love the way it introduces an earthiness or beachiness or jungle-ness (?) into a room. Cases in point:
I especially love that nursery — how epic with them all clustered together?!? You can get the look with this, this, or these sconces. OR. HOLY COW. THIS.
P.S. If you’re not into rattan but are looking for a statement light fixture/chandelier, consider this. Would look amazing in a white wood nursery!
Pick No. 6: The Leaning Bookshelf
After hemming and hawing over our media console, I think we agreed on this one, but — in an unexpected move, in the white color. We have so much brown in that room of our house that I worried introducing another large piece of brown furniture would further close up and darken the space — and the white will provide a nice contrast. I already have a white wood desk in my nook just off the living space, with a white wood mirror right above it, and a white chair upholstered in the cutest orange and white print fabric. So, I trust it won’t look too out of place, especially since I plan to move some of my ceramic white figurals and decor into the living area to bring it all together. We were also in bad need of some extra shelving — we had hoped that the console might house some of overflow books, but ended up with a style that will provide some storage, but not enough to house my gargantuan collection of books. So, we ordered this leaning bookshelf, which got wonderful reviews, and seems like such a reasonable price. I love that it affects an airiness — unlike many bookcases, enclosed on all sides, this lets the wallcolor through and doesn’t block out much light or space. I also think that the white color will further tie the entire room together. I may order a second to go on an opposite wall to really tie things together — or, maybe, move things around in the living space to line the two up alongside one another, which brings me to another reason I love these bookshelves: they are modular! And there’s a coordinating shelf desk (shown below) you could tuck right in there. What a fantastic use of space! I can imagine us repurposing this, maybe with the desk included, in mini’s room as she grows older and needs space for homework.
Pick No. 7: The Mini Tray
I was just reflecting on my most used daily products, and it occurred to me that one unusual item I could not live without is my melamine petite square tray. I use it every mealtime when feeding mini, as I always have a little bit of an entourage — I need her food, bib, sippy cup, spoon, wet paper towel, and often miscellaneous other ramekins and bowls and occasionally some sort of decoy spoon (she will sometimes get into the zone of “reach out and grab the spoon as mom tries to feed me and think it’s hilarious but get applesauce all over the place,” and in those circumstances, having a “decoy spoon” to preoccupy her is a lovely little hack). I believe that the company I bought mine from around the time of my wedding (Fontaine Maury) must have gone out of business because I can’t find it online anymore — but this is similar, these are chic, and I like this one (shown below — endlessly versatile!) if you’re not super into monograms. What I love about all of these styles is that you just need to give them a quick rinse down and you’re done. Plus, it helps contain the mess and prevents me from leaving my drippy spoon on the wood dining table.
Pick No. 8: The Play Tent
I am legitimately dying over these kids’ play tents ($159). What phenomenal colors/prints! Would look so adorable in a nursery or playroom.
Pick No. 9: The New Interior Design Book
I’ve been thinking a lot about interior design lately, and I recently read about Tom Scheerer and was smitten with his designs (see below). I love the way he blends styles — so unconventional. He doesn’t have a “look”; it’s always some fresh new blend. I mean, take a look at (top pick) those traditional audubon bird prints mixed in with a hipster Moroccan rug, a beachy white slipcovered couch, old-fashioned upholstered stools by the fire, and then the cabin-y look of the pine ceiling! WHAT THE WHAT! I think I need his book!
Pick No. 10: The Sanitizers
With mini getting sick, then Mr. Magpie and I both catching whatever she had, and then her nanny falling ill to the same thing (ugh), we feel like a germ factory over here. I put a big hand sanitizer pump by the front door and then also ordered these packs pre-emptively for our trip to FL after Eva Chen recommended them. She does round-ups of her favorite products on occasion and these were listed in her “how to travel with children” list. (I have some thoughts on how to travel with babies, but trust that will change as she grows…) She said to vigorously wipe down the plane seats, buckles, trays, etc before settling in. My mom does the same thing. NOTED. But also — this is the chic-est hand sanitizer I’ve ever seen!!!
By: Jen Shoop
My Latest Score: The Asymmetrical Sweater.
Rebecca Taylor has an epic sale raging right now, and I couldn’t resist this asymmetrical sweater I’ve been eyeing all season long, on sale for even CHEAPER now at Saks here! (My loss is your gain.) I also love this (for a Baptism / shower of some sort), this (with bare feet at a summer BBQ), and this (the perfect sweater!)
+The best laundry baskets ever. I know it’s weird to rave about laundry baskets, but these are seriously sturdy, and they stack, and they have handles. Incidentally, might need to update my favorite home products because I’m also now obsessed with these kitchen towels. They’re absorbent and I like that one side is terry-cloth (great for drying) and the other is waffle (great for wiping hands and leaving items to air dry because of the texture).
When we heard the phrases “bomb cyclone” and “bombogensis” thrown around on Wednesday evening, Mr. Magpie and I exchanged skeptical glances. We’ve long felt that the whole weather “industry” is insane — it’s oddly National Enquirer-esque with its overwrought sloganeering and over-hyped headlines, but it somehow finds its way into serious national news outlets. On Thursday morning, I watched in confusion as the normal news hour (we watch the news every morning while eating breakfast — yogurt, fruit, and a peanut butter-smeared waffle for Mr. Magpie; toast for me; fruit and yogurt for mini) was entirely supplanted by a segment on “The Bomb Cyclone” that showcased stretches of ten minutes or more of uninformative footage of buses driving around Queens and Manhattan, freezing weathermen shivering as they explained that it was “slushy” and “mighty cold” outside, and occasional shots of the snow-covered highways around New York. I mean, yes, the storm was intense and dangerous and something the likes of which we’ve never (?) seen before. But an hour of mulling over the same uninformative bit?
It got me thinking: maybe intense weather “does well” for news programs because it legitimately impacts our lives in the narrowest of ways and people are innately self-interested. (And I don’t mean this in a soapbox-y way, either–I’m just as self-interested as the next Tom, Dick, or Harry.) Like, we might react strongly to or have opinions about the daily news headlines, but I would elect that it’s rare that watching the news elicits much of an immediate reaction from any of us on a daily basis. Intense weather, though: it might send us to the store to stock up (as it clearly did in Manhattan on Wednesday night, when Instacart had no additional delivery windows for the following day and the checkout line at the Whole Foods at Columbus Circle snaked all the way to the produce section), or lead us to ask our bosses whether we can work from home, or nudge us to trek down to the storage unit for snow boots.
Or maybe weather is just one of those topics that all adults gravitate towards. How often do you mention the weather over the course of a week? I probably do it twice daily. It’s an easy bridge to build with a stranger; it often plays a role in our plans — derailing them, or changing them, or stalling them; it can impact our mood; it can serve to remind us that we are, at the end of the day, just (wo-)men in a vast and often unfriendly natural landscape.
In short, I’m sure that news stations cover these intense weather situations for a reason. They know what markets well to their demographics; they know when people will be turning on the news, and for what reasons. But my God — I am so tired of the hype! These weather pieces feel like an elaborate marketing machine, marketing…what? Fearmongering to what end? Why must they send these reporters out onto frosty beaches with 60 mph winds and tidal waves topping out at 8 feet? Just to prove to us that the weather is “really bad”? I wonder whether they think of themselves as courageous for such pieces. No doubt it takes a certain amount of gumption to brave those conditions, but — for what? I’ll take your word for it: it’s cold outside.
#Shopaholic:
+OMG this sweater! It looks so Missoni-esque, and I love the shape! (Bonus: under $60).
