The din of Scott Stadium muffled, a featureless kaleidoscope of orange and blue. I wore the colors, too, comme il faut, but there were girls beside me who knew the yardage and threw their hands up in dismay at bad calls, their cheeks pink with outrage, the orange ribbons in their hair signifying spirit I only borrowed for the purpose of finding him.
I had known I would find him that still-warm fall day, can remember looking for him. In a stadium of thousands, the odds were stacked against us, but still, I’d craned my neck for him.
He was by the exit onto Alderman and Whitehead. He turned twice, the second time in recognition. Then: the shortest greeting, a half-hug, half-hand-grab, and his friends were paces ahead of him, wandering into the fracas, and he tossed something to me over his shoulder — have a good first semester!, maybe, the brim of his hat over his hazel eyes, but
here is his hand in mine,
as though blotting out the sun.
Afterward, the wild flailing inward! My companions were talking about the yard line or the muddy grass beneath their Jack Rogers sandals, and I was wandering extraterrestrial.
I think of that, often, the way you can be standing next to someone on Mars, and not know it. That is, she might have just heard terrific news, or enjoyed some windfall, or fallen in love, and yet here you are, complaining about the sod. I felt that way — as though on another planet — that day, moonstruck and thunder-bolted, and then many times while engaged and then pregnant, too, only my other-worldliness in the latter two cases was visible by way of ring and roundness, and I found these “tells” strangely and occasionally annoyingly intimate. I think sometimes my private joys are the most satisfying: there are no performances, no “well, anyway –” when you’ve gone on too long. You can sit in Maupin Hall and think for hours about his eyes on yours and no one can tell you to shut up about it. You can wander for as long as you’d like in that ether, knowing — just knowing — that you’ll find him again, and that the spacewalk will be worth it.
+Inexpensive rash guards for toddlers in great solid colors, plus $20 swim trunks for boys in great patterns.
+Shopbop is offering an extra 25% off sale — obsessed with this top (pair with our favorite Spanx pants for a chic, crisp work look) and this saucy apron-style dress from SEA.
+Not part of the sale, but love the heart motif on the hem of this dress.
+Very into racing green at the moment, this striped sweater no exception.
+Apparently this eye cream had a 3,000 person waitlist? Very intrigued. Really love their balmy lip gloss. I’ve turned into a lip color gal over the past few weeks, after using mainly EA 8-Hour Cream for many years.
+Does anyone love her wireless sport headphones? I feel like mine (which I’ve loved — waterproof, sweatproof, lightweight, never fall out my ears) are on their last legs. Do I go with another pair or does anyone have something she is passionate about? The Beats ones get good reviews.
+These 6-oz juice glasses are my absolute favorite for drinking everything from juice to wine. We call them “stubs” in our house. Ha! For water, we love these cooler glasses (in the taller height) from CB2.
A couple of gift ideas for the fathers in your life! A few notes…
+If you’re looking for some new grilling gear, Mr. Magpie recently bought this “grill rescue” brush and this CharGon grill cleaner after seeing that the classic wiry ones you tend to buy can shed! He said he came across a photo of a dude picking a piece of wire out of his steak because he’d cleaned his grill with one of the wire ones. He’s also been liking this ultra-wide grill spatula.
+If you have an outdoorsy guy, or someone who frequently takes short day trips/adventures, this Bellroy lite daypack has so many clever features (including a raised sunglasses pocket, a key ring clip, an expandable water bottle pocket, etc) and the price is right at $100. I’m eyeing for our next-summer trip to Colorado — would be a great hiking option.
+Mr. Magpie just upgraded our coffee grinder to this Fellow one. He loves it. He’d been using a manual grinder for awhile, but it was so much work, especially when we have guests over. We both think it’s yielding an even smoother cup.
+Lake is currently offering 10% off sitewide with code GIFTLAKE — a nice little perk if ordering your man some new pajamas. I like this pair. I might also just use the code for myself.
One of my girlfriends recently told me, “I’m letting myself have a BMM this week — a Bare Minimum Monday. I just need it after the weekend.” We all need a soft landing or a slow pitch every now and then. I say lean into the BMM because Lord knows we often have “Absolute Maximum” Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays…!
This icebreaker post is one such way to ease into the week. Pure fun. I always love reading your answers. (You can see prior posts here, here, here.)
Onward —
+Preferred pizza order.
+What song would be playing on repeat in hell?
+What question do you wish someone would ask you?
+A smell you hate that other people seem not to mind.
+A smell you love that other people seem to hate.
+Dream car.
+Food you associate with your mother.
+A food you feel like you should hate but secretly like.
+Trick for preventing yourself from crying at inopportune moments.
+Trick for preventing yourself from laughing at inopportune moments.
+Would you rather be infamous (e.g., famous for bad reasons) or forgotten?
+An acquaintance or friend from the past that you think of frequently and wish you knew more about — who is it? Why did he/she stick with you?
+Something superstitious you do.
I’ll go first!
**********
+Preferred pizza order. I love when Neapolitan-style pizza places have broccoli rabe and sausage on the menu — honestly, anything with sausage. From a more standard parlor: classic pepperoni.
+What song would be playing on repeat in hell? Right now, my vote would be “Peaches” from the new Super Mario Bros movie because my children have over-played it to the point of madness. But more longterm, I cannot stand “Brown Eyed Girl” by Van Morrison (and I LOVE Van Morrison — that particular song just makes me cringe) or anything by that band Owl City.
+What question do you wish someone would ask you? Probably something about writing. I could talk forever about it.
+A smell you hate that other people seem not to mind. Air fresheners.
+A smell you love that other people seem to hate. In general, I prefer scented cosmetics/beauty products — I know “unscented” is usually considered a selling point, but I like something fragranced, even subtly, like the terracotta powder from Guerlain. I know it’s such a turn off for others!
+Dream car. One of those little red or green Porsche Boxsters from the 90s.
+Food you associate with your mother. Mango, English muffins, Crispix cereal, coq au vin.
+A food you feel like you should hate but secretly like. Cooler ranch doritos. Really any chip, even the super-artificially-flavored ones.
+Trick for preventing yourself from crying at inopportune moments. If someone has the answer to this, pls alert me ASAP. I cry all the time and have never figured out how to turn off the waterworks. It’s a joke in my family.
+Trick for preventing yourself from laughing at inopportune moments. Thinking of something terribly boring and specific, like converting measurements from tablespoons to ounces or miles to KM.
+An acquaintance or friend from the past that you think of frequently and wish you knew more about — who is it? Why did he/she stick with you? I had a girlfriend in college who studied abroad with me and then we amicably went our separate ways after — no real reason, no hard feelings, just different friend groups and majors and, eventually, cities. She was so funny and smart and observant and I felt instantly that I could be my truest self around her with no judgment. She seemed to find me funny, too — we laughed all the way through Lyon together. I think of her far more frequently than our relatively short friendship might suggest. She was (is) a bright light. I miss you, Emily!
+Something superstitious you do. I’m not superstitious per se, but I am a fan of rituals and routines. For writing, I need a tidy office, clear desk, and no music at all, and I prefer to sit down in the morning to put pen to paper.
Share your answers by copying and pasting the questions above into the comments!
Shopping Break.
+I think I might pull the trigger on one of these mesh Longchamp bags. They’ve been popping up all over the place! Love.
+Just ordered this striped button-front sweatshirt. I wish it had a collar instead of a hoodie but SO good. Throw on with white jeans or a pair of shorts.
+I love the look of a French kitchen with lots of copper pots and bowls hanging from the ceiling.
By: Jen Shoop
This Magpie Edit series has slowly evolved into a journal of the truest form: whatever is percolating in my narrow world at the time. Thank you for accommodating these meanderings! This week, on my mind: I watched several interesting (not always in the way the producers intentioned) things this week that I’ve been itching to unpack.
First, did anyone else catch HBO’s “documentary” “Bama Rush”? I place the word documentary in quotations because it was a disaster and I would argue barely qualifies for the genre. Midway through, the director inexplicably shoehorns her own personal story about living with alopecia into a barely-scratches-the-surface, unsatisfying, flimsily-constructed look at sorority rush at a big Southern school. I’m not sure why HBO published this because it had “gag rule” written all over it in the sense that the film showed virtually none of the actual participants in the sorority rush process and instead followed a couple of individual girls, most of whom ended up not rushing or refusing to film midway through, whose stories felt more idiosyncratic than demonstrative. Their stories were touching and they revealed the relatable identity crises so many of us endured in our late teens, but they did not illuminate the subject matter in any material way. There is so much interesting and disturbing stuff to discuss when it comes to Greek life and the rush process in particular, and we got none of it from the movie. The director’s decision to insert her own narrative into the plot felt not only distracting but inappropriate, self-centered, confused? I’m writing with uncharacteristic critical intensity in part because — well, it’s HBO! I expect more! and this film was saddled with misfires and misdirection — and also because I find the content published about Greek life at Southern schools strangely marred by external, irrelevant drama, and there is a lot to unpack and grapple with! I’m thinking of the scathing Rolling Stones article on the UVA frat scene that ended up having been fabricated by its author, and now this film, which similarly jack-knifed into weird and adjacent areas, too? The movie is only worth watching in the sense that it led to so many questions about how and why it came to be. (Like, was the trailer produced by an entirely different crew? How did the director manage to shepherd this strange film through to the end?)
Second — spoiler alerts! — I’m mourning the end of “Succession.” It needed to end — we’d traveled so many times around the sun watching the siblings rise and fall and scramble all over one another that I was beginning to forget who’d done what to whom, and was finding the siblings interchangeable, like a string of balloons being inflated, deflated, inflated, deflated depending on the episode. “OK, Roman’s showing strength and power and Kendall looks weak. Now Roman’s crying at the funeral and Kendall looks strong. Now Shiv is looking strong aligning herself with Matteson. Now she’s looking weak because he went behind her back, and the other brothers look strong.” It felt like the characters had lost their individuality and were becoming pawns of the script, or perhaps their merging into one another was an intentional effect: their moralities had been so eroded by the nastiness of prior episodes that they seemed like featureless nubs, only distinguishable by their mode of conversation and loose references to their personal lives. Without the gravitas of Logan Roy’s character, their machinations felt as pointless and petty as Connor’s political ambitions — the narrative intent, of course, but it made the show feel as though it was starting to run on helium. He was the ballast we needed! I applaud the producers for ending it while still in the aftershock of Roy’s death. I thoroughly enjoyed the final episode — especially the part where we see the siblings being true siblings in the kitchen at their mom’s spectacular island home. What do we think the “there, there” was with the ending sequence? A reification of the characters’ lust for power? The siblings had already backstabbed one another enough times that it came as no surprise that Shiv would abandon her brother at the last minute. And her decision to stick with Tom in order to stay close to power in spite of her own personal wellbeing felt on-track. In that sense, thematically, it felt like a slow bludgeon that played out over multiple seasons without much variation on the theme. I’ve been reflecting on why Tom would win in the end. Was it because the children were so embroiled in their own finger-pointing and one-up-man-ship that they had forgotten to keep an eye on the circle just outside themselves? Was it somehow suggesting that an outsider — born without the privilege and silver spoons — would be that much more conniving? Would “want it” that much more, would travel to deeper and more clandestine depths to make it happen? Open to theories! All in, such an enjoyable show, with wildly witty repartee, cleverly crafted Shakespearean family drama, eye-popping backdrops, and fantastic acting. I am going to miss this show dearly. In absentia, enjoying all of the clever memes and videos people have been producing in its aftermath. I laughed out loud at this one on TikTok!
Finally, we re-watched “The Great Outdoors” this week — it’s becoming our new kick-off-to-summer tradition. It’s not as good as “Uncle Buck” or “Planes, Trains, and Automobiles” (the other two films starring John Candy and directed by John Hughes), but I adore it. Candy is so lovable in his role as the down-to-earth arbiter of traditional Midwest family values. It’s interesting, the way these movies seem to pit the slick, uppity, rudder-less city folk against the unfussy but earnest and heartfelt uncles and brothers who stayed closer to their roots. In all of these films, Hughes is cautioning us against getting too wrapped up in the material world. The message rings as true now as it did in the 80s. Worth a watch, and the aesthetic is peak nostalgia kitsch: wood-paneled Wagoneers, log cabins with green trim, fly swatters.
Did you watch anything interesting this week?
A few other highlights from the week…
I made my Grandma Carm’s Ranch Crackers (recipe here) with my son. My grandmother and my mother used to mix up enormous batches of these and we’d steal them by the handful as children. I associate them with slow afternoons during which my mother and grandmother would play cards while we’d splash in the inflatable pool in my grandparents’ backyard. They’re also harbingers of party: my mother only made these when we were having guests over, and so they always make me feel celebratory. I prepared this batch to serve the adult guests at my son’s birthday party, and watching my son mix in the seasonings was yet another reminder of the way in which our lives become mosaics of the people we love. Such a small thing, but it felt good to remember my grandmother in this very direct way. Also, a little commotion for my son’s milk mustache? Oh, darlin, don’t you ever grow up…
Above, I’m blending in with the Mrs. Alice tablecloth in my Marea dress. Also, if you don’t have one, you really need one of these ginormous Vollrath mixing bowls (8 quart size). Truly one of our favorite kitchen tools. Great for tossing salads, marinating meats, whipping up big batches of snack mix, etc.
This week was a big one for my boy. He celebrated his fourth birthday and “graduated” from Montessori. Sure, why not layer in a couple of enormous milestones for this emotional mama to digest? I’ve written about this before, but these reversible “first day / last day” flags are clutch. I’ve seen other sets that designate the school year / class, but these can be used for all years/grades, and the front says “First Day” and the back says “Last Day.” Nice to only have to purchase one.
My son’s two favorite gifts were his Bruder crane truck and his Brio crane. He’d asked for a “construction site” for his birthday, so we came at it from a few angles. He loves all of the moving/functioning parts on these toys — doors that open, cranes that reel in and out, hidden chambers to stow gear, etc. He also has Bruder’s skid steer, Mack truck, and Cat excavator.
On the dining front, Mr. Magpie made Publican Chicken this week — you really must try this chicken if you haven’t. It’s the end-all, be-all for grilled chicken. So flavorful and moist. We have a hard time making chicken any other way during the summer! We first discovered this dish at the restaurant, Publican, in Chicago, and were thrilled when we were able to recreate at home. In true Midwest style, it’s served with garlic-laced sausage and potatoes. Absolutely delicious. Mr. Magpie complemented it with grilled asparagus dressed with calabrian chile. If you have questions about food/grilling, email me at jennifer@magpiebyjenshoop.com — I’m going to try to put together a “Ask Mr. Magpie” post with him answering them. He’s so knowledgable on all things food, grilling, gardening, cooking. I received a few questions about what grill he uses, and below, you can see his exact Weber kettle. I know he has preferences on wood chips and all that stuff so feel free to send a note if you want his input!
I also mixed us up some Hemingway daiquiris this week. If you can find Flor de Cana Extra Seco White rum, it will make the best daiq you’ve ever tasted. It has this great, light, fruity flavor to it that changes the game. We’re drinking out of my favorite coupes and you can see our mini hi-soft cutting board above. I wrote about the virtues of this cutting surface in this post, but it really is excellent and strangely pleasant to cut on. Also above: my new little woven cocktail napkin holder. This is a small snap of our bar area. We’ve been talking on and off about one day redoing this area so that it has an ice maker and a mini fridge, too. (It currently has a sink and lots of storage for glassware, liquor, etc.) I think the previous owners must have used it more for gardening purposes, as it’s off the mud room, and right by the side entrance to our home, and they were enormously talented gardeners. I could imagine the station having been useful for cut flowers and cleaning out pots and that sort of thing. We’re grateful just to have the nook, of course, but are always scheming about different home improvement possibilities.
On the fashion front, I wore both of my new Hill House dresses over Memorial Day — this little cover-up to the pool and this striped maxi to a BBQ. The latter is ultra-flattering! It creates one long, lean line. J’adore. The pool tote below is Paravel, which I found on sale (!) here for 30% off! I’ve never seen it so heavily discounted; it’s been around for multiple seasons now. But if you want it monogrammed, you need to go straight to the source.
This embroidered Zara dress also arrived this week and it is a delight — super loose-fitting, soft, easy to throw on. One Magpie asked whether it was from Julia Amory when I share on Instagram. It really does have that vibe! I love this one and this one from her collection.
This Alemais dress and it is SO fabulous. I’m planning to wear it today to my son’s birthday party! We’re having a magician come (The Great Zucchini, for fellow locals!) and are otherwise keeping it simple. I bought some magician’s top hats for the children to decorate with foam stickers and stick-on gems and found this “scratch-offs” that the kids can use to compete to win a little surprise. I’m serving “Dirt” instead of cupcakes this year — have you had it? It’s that horribly artificial but delicious once-in-awhile treat where you crumble devil’s food cake as the first layer, then add a layer of pudding mixed in with whipped topping, then complete with a shower of crumbled oreos. It looks like dirt! You decorate with gummy worms. Perfect for a four year old!
One of the poets interviewed in the Mary Oliver memoir-slash-poetry-reading-slash-oral-history project I wrote so much about last month said something that has echoed in my mind for weeks now. He observed that everyone he has met in his life has experienced some kind of heartbreak, and that all of us are “just walking around broken-hearted, pretending like we aren’t.” (Paraphrased.)
It probably won’t come as a surprise that I don’t love the sentiment. I would propose that anyone who has experienced heartbreak has also experienced the love, or hope, or happiness that preceded it? And so why focus on hurt as a universal condition, versus capacity for touch, connection, full-heartedness? Two sides of the same coin?
At the same time —
Wow. Let’s sit with this insight for a minute. Everyone has experienced heartbreak. Many of us are broken hearts wandering around, pretending we don’t have them. I find those words cropping up close to daily when I have an encounter with a stranger, whether pleasant or not. What worlds lie within? What pain or happiness is just beyond the surface smile at carpool pick-up, the perfunctory interaction at the grocery till, the erratic driver in the next lane, the kind gesture in the cul de sac?
It’s really made me think this week.
Another way of reminding myself: give people grace and a wide berth.
Shopping Break.
+When I finish my current tube of tinted moisturizer, I’m excited to try this Kosas one!
+These pants are giving major La Double J vibes for under $75.
+I’m really on a fitness-buying binge! I just bought this cropped fitness tee.
+Moment of appreciation for the best lip liner ever. I rarely use lip liner, but this stuff is REALLY GOOD and I find myself reaching for it frequently. And it’s easy to apply. I got it in the cult-favorite pillow talk color!
+This cute waterfall writing desk is reasonably priced and compact. Love the raffia drawer!
+This smocked top is so CUTE. Love in the blue/chambray hue with white denim. It’s under $30!
+Have my eye on this dress from Parterre’s latest launch!
+This patchwork dress looks so delightful for everyday wear.
+This diaper bag is really chic. I don’t think you NEED a diaper bag per se — but I do like that this one stands up on its own and seems specifically outfitted for everything you’d need as a mama on the go.
+This funky little half-knit-half-shirting dress is having a moment. Already sold out in one colorway!
+This Pippa Holt caftan is SO GOOD. Her caftans are $$$ but spectacular.
+It’s hard to think forward to fall, but I have to say I really love this black smocked dress. Would be so chic with a flat at the first hint of chilly weather.
By: Jen Shoop
Today, inspired by coastal and sealife-inspired jewelry, which I’ve been seeing everywhere this season. My friend Meg of Meg Carter Designs just sent over the most spectacular necklace (seen above, nestled into my jewelry case), and I cannot wait to pair with white tees and dresses all summer long.
Below, some additional, fabulous coastal-inspired finds.
*If you like the Marysia suit, you can get the look for less with this under-$120 style, and if you like the Alemais dress, you might like this patterned Ciao Lucia (on sale for $200).
P.S. 20 capsule wardrobe pieces to wear over and over.
Our SUV is a tight fit in our garage. I consider myself a competent, confident driver (an excellent parallel parker, if I may be so bold), but every now and then, I get what Mr. Magpie and I refer to as “a case of the yips” when pulling the car in. “A case of the yips” is sports jargon capturing the situation in which a seasoned athlete suddenly appears to lose his or her bearings, and — for a time, perhaps brought on by stress or overthinking or exhaustion — pitches wildly, or misses the turns on the slope, or whiffs at the tee. In my car-garage application, “yips” is when I panic and find myself virtually incapable of pulling the car in straight, despite the fact that I accomplish this feat close to daily with no problem.
The last time I came down with a case of the garage yips, I noticed that the easiest way through was to focus on how far my left side-view mirror was from the frame of the garage door. If there’s a 3-5″ clearance, we’re gold. Much wider or much narrower suggests I’m misaligned. But truly, the only thing that matters is ensuring that measurement, and the rest follows. The car is not going to magically side-swipe something or crash if I’m within that range of distance from the left side of the garage.
It occurred to me, as I polished this insight, how broadly applicable it was in realms far beyond parking my car. I can see the benefit of applying the principle to any big or unwieldy undertaking — a new project at work, moving houses or cities, a high-stakes presentation, and even more nebulous behemoths like parenting, challenging relationships, spirituality!
The point is this: in a moment of panic or self-doubt or windmilling, I need to find a small, meaningful guide post and forget the rest. Or, rather, trust that the rest will follow.
For big presentations, for example — thinking too much about the audience, or about how I’m going to survive 30 minutes of slides will bind me up in knots. Instead, I focus only on getting through the first sentence very slowly (excruciatingly slowly) and then taking a full, three-second pause. It’s all about controlling my pace and breath in those opening moments. If I can get through the opener with good measure, I know I’ll be rock solid for the rest. The first sentence — delivered slowly, with an intentional caesura at the period — is the guide post. The rest flows out fluidly after.
In moving, on the other hand, it’s more about sticking to the checklist we’ve pre-arranged and sorted by due date. I force myself to forget about everything else looming ahead and think only of the items on my tick-list for today. The completion of only today’s to-do’s is the guide post. The rest will follow, get done, and eventually lead to us sitting in our new home.
Analogously, in parenting, I can find myself in a tailspin if I reflect too long on how I’m faring or what I could be doing better or what I’ve forgotten to keep up with. Instead, I remind myself to return to my favorite, most resonant “guide post”: “Did my child feel loved today?” The prompt gives me an immediate focus: go, find your baby, and hug her. Go, find your son, and tell him you’re proud of him and his choices. Fold them up in your arms. The rest, I believe, follows.
It bears noting that your guide posts on any of these undertakings may be wildly different from mine. Perhaps your public speaking guide post is about getting through the first five slides, or making eye contact with two people in the audience, and your parenting guide post is whether or not you raised your voice today, or “Did my child experience more encouragement or correction today?” Or something entirely different!
Regardless of what your specific guide posts are, I love the way this approach dovetails with a couple of different mentalities that I love and have written roundly about in prior posts:
First, the notion of beginning as you mean to continue, in the sense that a healthy dose of opening momentum usually leads to sound follow-through;
Second, the advice that we should “make whatever we’re doing the most important thing,” in the sense that bringing care and focus to the small elements in front of us usually leads to winning results; and
Third, the insight that miles are made of inches, and that any movement, no matter how small and seemingly trivial, can take us further than we think.
Reflecting on this today — what other areas of my life could benefit from clearly-defined guide posts?
+A clever activity/habit log to help with commitment/follow-through. I would imagine good for things like fitness, getting into a writing or prayer practice, etc.
+This romantic white top is SO up my alley. Pair with jeans for the easiest, chicest evening look.
+I have been living in this white half-zip sweatshirt — it’s the perfect spring/summer layer over fitness, jeans, etc when it’s still a tad chilly, and obviously, it goes with everything without looking too wintry. This Addison Bay one is super similar and I’ve heard multiple people rave about this style in particular.
+Apparently Cam Wimberley has been raving about this drugstore shampoo — it’s apparently excellent! I just ordered some for my daughter, actually, as we head towards a chlorine-filled summer.
+This $128 dress reminds me so much of Agua Bendita.
+Perfect under-$100 woven clutch to wear all summer long.
+The kind of flat you can wear with absolutely everything in your closet.
+I pulled these mesh running shorts out the other day and they’ve really grown on me. These, along with my Beyond Yoga stride shorts, are my current top two favorite running shorts. Think I will buy another pair of each for the long summer of running ahead!
+This company has such a clever offering: you buy a “busy bag” for your child full of interesting, screen-free activities, and you can also purchase a subscription where they send refill pouches with new activities every few months. Clever for travel/church/restaurants/etc.
+My daughter is OBSESSED with these athletic shorts. She wants to wear them every day! They do come in cute colors and have a short inseam that actually fits nicely / not too baggy.
I’ve purchased a few fitness dresses and skirts this season for general active wear, and I was heavily drawn to Lululemon’s Align dress after hearing good things about it from a couple of different sources. I wore it this week for a walk with my girlfriend and then to chase the kids around, and found it super comfortable and flattering, plus it has semi-detachable shorts beneath that mean you do not need to take the entire dress off when using the facilities. (It’s hard to describe, but just trust that it works.) I sized up two sizes and found it fit perfectly. (I usually go up one or two sizes in Lululemon’s pieces, especially in the tops — I am narrow but find their sports bras in particular are extremely tight and even constrictive in the rib cage if I take my true size, and life is way too short to wear uncomfortable fitness clothes.) The padding in the bra area is removable, FYI, but I left it in, as I didn’t think it was as aggressive as the padding that’s come with other articles of clothing and it just felt like added coverage.
I have to say that I’ve never been a big athletic wear gal unless I’m working out, but I am finding a lot of use cases for fitness dresses and skirts right now. They feel a bit more feminine and polished than athletic shorts and a tee/tank, but they are just as functional. I’ve been wearing mine for walks with Tilly, my husband, and other friends; Saturday mornings when the children are running around the backyard and riding bikes; hikes; afternoons where we’re hanging indoor/outdoor. I had been hoping I’d carve out time to begin to practice golf, but that’s not yet happened — if/when I do, I’ll also wear them there.
Anyhow, just chiming in to let you know that this dress is an excellent one if you’re in the market. I also bought the Madewell flex dress, and I would rate the Lululemon one just a tad more highly because of the removable shorts function and overall fit/comfort. I slightly prefer the Madewell style’s neckline (I think the thin straps are more flattering on me, and less revealing, too), but the Lululemon one is more comfortable/less restricting overall — it has that patented Align fabric we all know and love — and I find the cut slimming and stylish.
Wearing above with my Naghedi tote, my Takeya water bottle, my Reeboks, this phone case, and an old high school hat – you can get a solid one in same hue here.
I shared more great fitness finds for summer in this post, but wanted to share that these budget-buy leggings and this tank are garnering some Internet love. I’m going to try the tank. I have been really enjoying wearing these running shorts, but they only work with a cropped tank/sports bra or they look super bulky/imbalanced IMO, and though I LOVE and regularly wear these racerback tanks from Beyond Yoga, I will say that they show sweat pretty easily and are not exactly moisture-wicking, so as the temperatures climb in D.C., I might need something more performance-material-esque. (I think the Beyond Yoga tanks might be optimal for yoga/pilates? I dunno – I am still wearing them because I love the colors, style, comfort, fit, etc, but wanted to flag. Any other recs for good fitted running tanks?)
Separately, as you may have noticed, I got my hair cut last Friday and am having fun wearing the style sort of wavy? My hairdresser (Ismail at George Salon at the Four Seasons in Georgetown) introduced me to this primer/protectant a few sessions ago and I find it makes my hair much easier to style how I’d like. It also dramatically reduces drying time!
And! While I’m bouncing around, in the back of this photo, you can see our bed made up in Boll and Branch bedding. The waffle blanket on the bed has been a Magpie bestseller this week, and you can get it for 20% off using code MAGPIE20. We also have these sheets, this duvet set, and these euro shams styled there — the code works on all of those items, too.
*Above: the one that got away. I am still bummed I didn’t get this dress before it sold out!
Q: Summer pajamas!
A: I love a fresh pair of Lake shorties for summer, and I’ve been eyeing one of Lunya’s washable silk sets for awhile now. I also like some of the styles from Cozyland, like this set, and these Eberjeys are ultra soft and classic. Also love this whipstitch set! And how cute is this set from J. Crew? If you’re a nightgown gal, check out the dreamy options from If Only If and Lenora.
Q: Maternity jeans. Tried DLs and Hatch and am at a loss.
A: I lived in a few pairs of the Mama J side panel skinny jeans from J. Brand, which has now gone out of business, but you can still find a few pairs here and here. They were so comfortable and I know I turned a lot of Magpies onto that style! I also had good luck with Gap’s maternity jeans. Take your true (pre-maternity) size in both.
I didn’t try them while pregnant, but I think Madewell’s denim is generally excellent – you might check their maternity options out, too! Finally, Spanx has some maternity styles worth a check. I’ve been really impressed with everything I’ve tried of theirs — I truly think they contemplate fit, design, function.
A: Oo, this is a tricky one. I would wear a dress like this or this with polished sandals like these or these, or — if it’s at, like, a football stadium and you feel a dress will be out of place, white jeans and a shirt like this (look for less with this), this, or this tucked in, or white jeans with a polished tee and a big necklace. I like the idea of the jeans with a pair of Vibi Venezias or Ancient Greek sandals. Basically looking for pieces that have a bit of polish/structure/sophistication to them but aren’t too uptight.
Q: Have friends who host us 4x a year. Would love new ideas for local DC gifts we can bring.
A: Appointed paper products! I actually just bought one of their notebooks for a girlfriend of mine. Who doesn’t love beautiful paper products? I use them exclusively at my desk, and they’re a D.C. business. Another idea would be to go to Bread Furst and stock up on some of their pantry items — they have such wonderful items, and many of them are made by Bread Furst so they have a local vibe. Alternately, a bag of the exquisite coffee from Grace Street Roasters or the latest must-read from Politics & Prose, tucked into a Politics & Prose bag.
Q: Did you buy anything from the Doen summer launch?
A: I did not – I am so bummed I didn’t act more quickly on this gingham dress. I saw it the day it launched and had it open in my browser tabs but it sold out before I scooped it up. I love so many of the pieces, though — this patterned dress is so chic, my ultra-chic sister bought this skirt, and how gorgeous is the pattern on this dress?
Q: Casual summer tops.
A: Love the options from Emerson Fry and Mille tucked into shorts/jeans. I also have a major soft spot for gauze (no pun intended), and love this Xirena (own it and adore it), this J. Crew and this Gap (in rainbow stripe or pink especially). If you’re a tee gal, try Ayr’s Sno Cone tee. The fit is perfect.
Q: 40th birthday gift for a girlfriend.
A: My first thought was Goop Glow — this exfoliator I am OBSESSED WITH. I love to gift luxury beauty items to my sisters/mom/friends. My second thought was an Alice Walk sweatshirt — an elevated basic she’ll live in.
If you’re after a crossbody, I use this FRP ALL the time in the summer months. Perfect size for just the essentials. And I’m totally in love with Mansur’s new woven bucket bag, which can be worn as a crossbody. SO CHIC. A girlfriend of mine has one of the Bembien ones, and it’s SO chic, too.
A: WOW. Congratulations! This is over budget, but it’s on sale and is a timeless classic knockout stunner. So elegant. Anything Emilia Wickstead will make you feel and look like a million bucks — this one is on sale for under the budget you’ve specified. Doen also just released a stunning boho bride piece — wowza. For a more casual affair, I love the eyelet pieces from Loretta Caponi — so romantic — or this fabulous Farm Rio. This paneled slip dress or this 1960s-inspired shift would be fantastic minimalist-chic choices, and this sequined panel screams CELEBRATE.
Q: Niche, but any top sale recs from Matches or Net-A-Porter?
A: My kind of question. I’m such a bargain hunter. From Net, this Loretta Caponi is currently in my cart, and you must snag this Hunza G suit while it’s 40% off! I love it! From Matches, take a look at the Thierry Colson pieces. I’m so sad I missed their Venetia dresses — I’ve been eyeing them for seasons and seasons now and keep wanting to snag when they drop in price but they’re now sold out in my size. This black top is fab, too.
By: Jen Shoop
I feel like I’ve really done a good job stocking up on my son’s summer wardrobe. He has tons of polos, shorts, and tees for everyday wear — many of the items in his closet are seen below! For his birthday, we bought him a few new Bruder trucks/accessories, including this and this, a crane for his Brio tracks (he’s been really into Brio lately, which is amazing — just in time for his train table to arrive next week!), a couple of books including this Virginia Lee Burton classic, a 100-pc puzzle (he’s really good at them – this will be a challenge but I think he’ll manage!), and a big box of Legos. He’s going to be a busy boy!
P.P.P.S. Children’s products we love and use daily.
By: Jen Shoop
*Hill at two years of age, above.
I have been moping around the house because my baby is four today, and we are through the wild thicket of toddlerhood, and I can’t bring myself to say goodbye to all that, even though I must, and even though he has reached peak excitement over his birthday and I am happy for him in the way all mothers are: my smile a searching mirror of his. Over the weekend, he splashed in the icy cold pool for hours, pruned and purple-lipped, and for awhile, permitted me to wrap him into a tortilla of towel and hold him on my lap in the sun. I didn’t want to let him out of my arms. I wanted to press his cold feet to my hands forever. It struck me, as he eventually elbowed his way out of our cocoon, that I was a kind of living art installation: a shrine to mothers wanting to hold on to their babies just a little longer.
I am thinking now, as I thaw myself out of this funk, of a quote from Catherine Newman’s We All Want Impossible Things:
“Fly, be free! I want to say. I want to say, Stay with me forever! Come to think of it, these are the two things I want to say to everyone I love most.”
Therein, the entirety of motherhood: the impossible cross-currents of a love so wildly deep that we want everything for our children. We want them as they are now, folding up into our arms; we want them as we hope they will be in the future, enjoying every opportunity and freedom and happiness.
To Hill, on his fourth: fly, be free!
Post-Scripts.
+Whenever I feel weepy about these transitions, I remind myself that we contain all of the ages of our babies.
+I also remember what I wise friend once said to me, when I was weepy about my son going off to school: “You should let yourself feel all the feels. It just shows how much you love your role as a mom.”
+Denim sandals are having a moment. St. Laurent has a pair out, but I love this $60 pair.
+These candles are super luxe and so gorgeously (complex-ly) scented. My husband usually gives me one each Christmas in my stocking and I treasure them!
01. STRIPES AND SHADES. Such a classic look! Love this photo of Mathilde Goehler wearing a striped half-zip and Celine sunnies. Similar sweaters below. Especially love Staud’s new mid-blue stripe and this classic Kule.
03. DAD SANDALS + MAXIS. Loving the look of Dad sandals with loose-fit, boho maxis. Shop the vibe below.
04. RETRO WHITE SNEAKS. Love the retro tennis vibes on the JJJJound x Reeboks above. I’m getting the look with my own Reeboks this summer. Am I bold enough to pair with the throwback white socks?!
