Coming Up For Air.

Y’all.

Sorry I went M.I.A.

Travel (including a ridiculous 10-day vacation to Spain!!!), work, house-hunting (!!!), dog-buying (!!!), wedding season, and a lot of other things have come between me and Magpie and it just hasn’t sat right with me.  For the record, this is what I imagine I’ve looked like the past few months as I’ve been navigating a LOT of different things:

But this is what I’ve actually looked like:

Just running around like a crazy person.  Anyway, I’ve been missing the blog and your sweet notes and I realized I was telling myself, “Well, you’ve let it go way too long this time, Magpie…just give it on up.”  But why?!  I started this bloglet with no readers and even if my following has dwindled due to my silence, I still want to share what’s on my mind.  But, I need to be realistic.  My blog posts take a lot of time, and I am short on time these days.  So I’m going to strive for shorter, more focused posts and hope that you’ll continue to love me anyway.  Deal?!

Today, I’ll share an outfit I’m planning on wearing to an upcoming semi-formal brunch situation.  It’s a little bold, so bare with me.  I know some people are totally petrified of the whole crop top trend, but I think if you pair it with a high-waisted skirt, it’s pretty much fail-proof.  (Foolproof too?)  So begin with this lovely cut-out top ($52) and this pleated skirt ($80).  Because it’s all about the bling for me, I’d wait it with this mega statement piece ($150) – live for it.

Let me tell you a heart-breaking tale of injustice a propos of this skirt: I purchased this exact skirt from a Zara in NYC one lovely spring afternoon while on a work trip.  I’d trekked all the way up from Eataly with goodies for a girly evening with my sister and bestie and had stopped into the NY Public Library to snoop around in all its glory.  (And yes, my arms were killing me thanks to all the goodies I was lugging from Eataly.)  As I was about to jump in a cab and head back to my hotel, Zara caught my eye and called to me softly: “Magpie, please come here and waste some money.”  And when Zara calls, you always say “Yes, m’am.”  I found the pleated skirt below, fell in love, purchased it, chatted idly about it on the phone to my sister, and promptly left it in my cab.  Basically, I threw away a $100 bill.  I was sick to my stomach and even filed a lost-and-found complaint thing and wound up calling police precincts for it (?!?! — this is what I was told to do).  Sadness.  I couldn’t bring myself to purchase the exact same skirt twice, so I wound up buying this very similar one for $10 less, out of spite.  BTW, check out the whole Joa line while you’re at it.  Some very interesting pieces for amazing prices.  Also some trash.  But some amazing stuff if you look hard and mix the pieces with higher-end items.  This skirt is CUUUUUTE.

Anyway, finish with either some fab pointed-toe pumps (how rad are these Sophia Webster for J. Crew puppies?!) or some lace-up booties ($130):

I finally splurged on these in nude, but the above are lovely alternatives — and much cheaper, too.  I like it with a punchy clutch — this Tory Burch minaudiere ($325) is a perfect companion piece.  I like that it “goes with” but does not match the necklace and shoes.  It’s all of the same ilk, but it’s not too matchy-mc-matcherson.

OK lovelies, thar she blows.  More to come soon!