How do you address yourself when in inner monologue? Is it by your last name, drill sergeant style — “Shoop, what are you doing?!” Is it in the plural — “we really need to get moving” or “guys, what the heck are we doing here?” Does it change depending on tone, i.e.: frustrated: “Dude, what were you thinking?”; motivating: “You got this, Shoop!”; tender: “We’re going to be just fine”? Or do you have a specific nickname or term of endearment for yourself — honey, Jenny-girl, etc?
I’m curious about this because I was noticing the other day that I call myself “girl” when I’m exercising and flagging in energy. “C’mon girl,” I’ll mutter to myself. “Let’s go, girl!” I’d somehow never been conscious of this until a few weeks ago. Maybe I also call myself “girl” in other contexts but haven’t yet caught myself in the expression?
In a more self-aware way, I refer to myself as “Jen Shimp” when I need to be taken down a peg. A family member consistently called Landon by the incorrect last name “Shimp” when he was first dating. We thought this was hilarious, and in turn referred to ourselves, whenever we were in the throes of threadbare humility, as “The Shimps,” i.e., something terribly embarrassing just happened: “It’s OK, just the Shimps bumbling around.” For example, a few years ago, we spent an entire day on a boat with a big group of people, some of whom we knew, and others of whom we got to know by making jokes, swimming, exploring an island over the course of the afternoon. We all dispersed for afternoon naps and showers before reconvening for dinner with additional friends who were on the trip with us a few hours later. At the restaurant, I was seated next to one of the new friends we’d made on the boat, and he turned to me and said: “I just spent a fantastic afternoon on a boat, what have you been up to?” As in, he had no recollection of who I was despite the fact that we’d had several interactions I could recall in detail. Ah, just the unmemorable Jen Shimp. You have to laugh at yourself! Jen Shimp is my reminder not to take myself too seriously.
What about you? What secret nicknames do you have for yourself?
Post-Scripts.
+Adjacent thread: who were you named after?
+People who make appointments and keep them.
Shopping Break.
+Addison Bay is running an archive sale — up to 70% off! I really love their active mesh tops (rarely on sale) and they have so many cute half-zips included, like this gingham and this stripe! Fun to have fun with athletic wear. (Choose color!)
+More incredible new arrivals at J. Crew: this linen mini (love the shoulder ties — Doen vibes), this Miu-Miu-coded bag (compare with this!), and this Liberty floral one-piece. Also: the Luna pants with a fun paracord waist tie!
+Tuckernuck released a variation on the Alice Walk crochet short — use code YOUROCK or YOURULE and snag for under $80.
+New striped tee silhouette over at Kule. Love the fit and colorways! This tank dress is seriously fun.
+Left on Friday just relaunched their incredibly popular striped swimwear pieces. You can mix and match tops and bottoms; I love the look of this top with these bottoms. I really appreciate these brands that think about common styling preferences / feature accommodations; this brand has an entire section of tops for the well-endowed.
+Over at Alex Mill, a rainbow of fun finds: pointelle shells, mini beaded bags for under $100, and a Euro-chic linen midi dress in butter yellow. While you’re there: this is the summer mom bag you need. Practical, generously-sized, but so chic with the Goyard-esque hand-lettering!
+A cotton gauze dress you will want to live in all summer. Insane, cloud-like softness. This is the brand that first got me hooked on gauze! They used to have a collarless popover top called “the Lark” and it was for so long my favorite alt to a white tee — so insanely soft — and they no longer make it! They do have a button-down and a short sleeved version though. Trust me, you’re going to only want this material against your skin this summer.
+We’re in the final days of the Blue Mercury sale. I wanted to add that the sale includes Dr. Diamond products, and I unfortunately was sent this “microcollagen matrix” a few months ago in a PR package and am now on my second bottle. It’s super spendy but I noticed a difference within like 3 days of use — your skin becomes so smooth and even! The top seller among Magpies has been the Ptiox by Skinceuticals, a brand that almost never goes on sale. I’ve heard this product referred to as “a Botox extender.” (You know it’s good when the store sets a limit on the number of bottles you can buy at a time…)
+If you’re still shopping for your FOJ outfit, my top recs here. The top three most popular dresses from that edit: this striped mini (in my closet), this caftan (SO GOOD), and this striped midi from Farm Rio. Sort of a shortlist of top hits from the edit, and in very different silhouettes/styles!
+Wardrobe staple: this white button-down to wear with everything. Often sold out, currently in stock! J.A. has also released a bunch of new airy caftan styles this week! I’m so impressed with the velocity of new releases over there!
+This flip flops come in the BEST colors. Love the kiwi green?!
+Popular this week: this gingham maxi dress.
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Many of mine are negative unfortunately, but I’m trying to change that. In better times I use a nickname that my partner and I both use for me, in different tones and different levels of intensity depending on mood and activity.
Aw, love that it’s a nickname your partner knows about!!
xx