No preamble, just 10 random items I am thinking about today.
Well, plus this: Santa gave me a 1 lb bag of Swedish Fish in my stocking and they are sitting in a jar right next to me right now (I have a bunch of these from C+B and love to keep my snacks in them — they stay fresher and they look so tidy in the cupboard!) and I can’t stop.
And Mr. Magpie is currently making beef stock and our home smells so enchanting.* (He makes all of his own stocks, riffing on some of the techniques in both the Zuni Cookbook by Judy Rodgers, one of his bibles, and the Ad Hoc cookbook by Thomas Keller, another one of his favorites. Incidentally, both of these books would make great gifts for a diligent chef–someone interested in technique and willing to take on projects.)
And also, I’m giving Lady GaGa’s newest album a second chance after seeing her on Carpool Karaoke. She’s incredibly talented–such a chameleon! I love this song from the album, a collaboration with Florence Welch. But if you really want something delightful to cook/clean/chill to, check out “Mistakes” by Lake Street Dive. Actually, check out all of their songs, but especially “Mistakes.” There is something arresting about the soulfulness of the lead singer against that trumpet in this ballad (? not quite a ballad — sort of an anti-ballad). It pulls at my heart strings.
*My tacit, unconsidered sanction of the intermingling of the scent of beef and the taste of Swedish Fish did not strike me as odd until just now. But it’s actually the perfect palette cleanser for this mutt of a post, disparate and far-flung as the picks it features are.
So:
I’ve featured these Alo moto leggings a bunch of times over the past year, but now that I’m in the third trimester and am anxiously (eagerly!) awaiting a time when I can get back to running and exercising, I really want + need them. How freaking chic is this bloggerina (badass Audi and all) in them!? Very bold in the white. I think I need them in the white. Still: black or navy would probably be more flattering as I whip myself back into shape…but they’re 50% off in the rust color here. Decisions, decisions. For some reason, as I pondered the color options, I thought of the sister in Home Alone telling Macauley Culkin: “You’re what the French call…les incompetents.” (One of my favorite scenes ever.)
But, I am also seriously thinking I need these scalloped-waisted leggings ($103) from Into the Moonlight. How CUTE and flattering?!
I am still very much not over the Dior So Real sunglasses ($560+). I’ve been banging on about them for the better part of a year (two years, maybe?) and it may be time for me to finally take the plunge. The price continues to haunt me, though — and I’m still considering these hella chic Spektre shades, which are about 1/3 or 1/4 of the price (and achieve a similar look). Opinions?
This boucle dress is TRES Chanel and TRES ladylike ($495). It would be such a great workhorse in your work wardrobe. Pair with heels or captoe flats for a true Jackie O. moment. If the price is a little steep for your liking, go for this metallic tweed cropped jacket from J. Crew (on sale for $159, plus 50% off for the time being!!!) BUT ALSO. Check out this affordable bell-sleeved (!!!) tweed jacket from Loft for less than $90!
This charcoal suede, bow-toed beauty (on sale for $115) is just the kind of shoe you don’t think you need but then wear with everything. And it would look radical with the boucle pieces above, too.
OK, talk about a budget buy: I’m going to let you in on a lil secret: this Maybelline lipstick in the Pink Me Up color (I mentioned this on Snapchat + Twitter last week) is THE BEST everyday color. Adds a nice but natural-looking pink and has a great, moisturizing formula — AND it costs around $5. I first learned about it from one of my favorite lifestyle bloggers, Naomi of LoveTaza (shown wearing it below) and have been hooked ever since. Take that, Nars. Sorry the snaps below make the lipstick color look totally different; it doesn’t look as fuchsia in person as it does in the snap of Naomi below (who is, BTW, GORGINE). I find it looks just like my natural lip color but a little darker and fuller? Give it a whirl and lemme know what you think.
I love the tufted pink velveteen chairs in these two interior snaps:
Anthro has a fab chair ($1,398) that would enable you to nail the look — but in my hunt for online options, I also found this retro blush accent chair for $229 at World Market and seriously contemplating changing the color scheme in our living room to make it work. Other pieces to mix in:
+West Elm chair ($799);
+Mirrored side table ($269) — I love mirrored furniture; I have mirrored nightstands in our bedroom!
+Blush knit blanket ($31);
+Faux fur pillow ($69).
Last week, Mr. Magpie and I cleaned out every single closet in our house. With the exception of the one in the upstairs guest bedroom, which is scary. #Closetscaries. But everyone has one messy closet, right?
Anyway, our organization bender felt SO good. This is what my closet looks like now:
LOLOLOL. No. But a girl can dream. (PS — I have started sharing snaps of my ACTUAL home on social media so you can see what I’m working with IRL.)
But GUYS. This organization process has been giving me LIFE. Nothing makes me happier than opening our mud room closet without fear of being knocked out cold by a falling pile of boxes, or rooting around my for snow boots and finding an old, dank towel of Tilly’s balled up in a corner. (I swear we are tidy people, but this happened.) A few of the must-haves we ordered as we went through this process:
+Wood hangers ($16 for 16). Such a small investment but having coordinating, sturdy-looking hangers can be such a quick and easy upgrade to a front closet. It just looks so much tidier than a bunch of wire hangers or mismatchies. BTW, my favorite resource for home goods, TheSweetHome blog, recommended these, but I wanted a darker wood and didn’t know if I needed a package of 50 hangers either.
+I’ve mentioned these too many times (sorry), but these 13″ foldable fabric cubes from Target ($10/pop) have been one of my favorite organization tools. They just seem to slide perfectly into place and they look so tidy all in a row. Plus, I bought about 15 all in a coordinating textured neutral color over the summer, and had about 3-4 that I’d not yet used, and they pack up so tightly when not in use! So buy a bunch in the same color lest they sell out and save ’em for later!
+We got a few of these pantry hooks to hang on the inside of our mud room / pantry closet so we could finally hang our aprons somewhere. We’d kept them rolled in a bin that we then forgot about for way too long. Our major goal with this reorg was to get rid of stuff we just wouldn’t use and to make the things we would want to use more accessible. I also found a ton of hats and gloves I’d forgotten about in the process. #Winning.
+We ordered this narrow little organizer for our front hall closet (on sale for $19!!!), which is SUPER deep (so well-designed: it runs underneath our front stairs, so there’s tons of storage space — so much so that we will be able to wheel our stroller right into it to keep it out of eye’s view!)
One of my favorite writers of all time, Molly Wizenberg of Orangette (fantastic food blog; her writing is so incredibly dear and beautiful, it truly transcends the food blog category! Her books are also lovely. I think someone else said this about her, but her books feel like a lump in your throat. So poignant and gorgeous!), consistently lists Michael Chabon as one of her favorite authors, and I have not yet read anything of his. I have like 4 books I’m dying to read next, but I just added this one to the never-ending list. It’s getting a lot of press and acclaim. JUICY.
OK, talk about random. This blog post may actually top the list for the most RANDOM things I’ve ever featured — from $5 lipstick to closet organization (ew, who am I?) to what’s coming here — but about a year or two ago, I bought this inexpensive roll-top sugar bowl ($10) to store my Splenda in (yes, I take Splenda in my coffee…shame on me). And every morning, it genuinely delights me sitting on my counter. It’s the little things, people. It reminds me that my father always delighted in a set of retro coffee cups he’d taken from his parents’ home — they were little cups and saucers in earthy, 70s-approved, earthenware colors. He remarked on them almost every time he drank his coffee out of them. I’m the same with my silly little roll-top sugar bowl. It just adds a little juju to my coffee-morning regimen.
Some things just never go out of style. One of those things is a leopard coat. Slightly rock n roll thanks to Kate Moss, slightly UES thanks to…the ladies of the UES, it can be both edgy and classic.
I am dying (dying!) over this $219 Eliza faux fur coat. It looks so plush and fancy and perfect and I swear to God I need it.