Finding myself very much in a Gayle Brandeis “the plum you’re going to eat next summer” mood. Who’s with me? What wonderful things are waiting for us? (That spring agita has arrived, and I’m all nascent plans and mid-summer dreams!) Little “good harbinger” thoughts that occur to me and leave me looking forward to what’s coming:
+My first outdoor run with shorts on. Wow! The sun on my legs felt like a blessing. I felt blissfully unencumbered.
+The thought that somewhere out there Sally Rooney is writing a new book and Celine Song is dreaming up a new movie. Aren’t we lucky to live in a world with their creativity? (I just re-watched “The Materialists,” of which I know Magpie readers hold dissenting opinion, but I absolutely love this movie. The wide shots and artful settings, the character evolution, the incredible wardrobe, the romance of it, the big star quality of its casting! It’s just what I want in cinema. Give me Chris Evans saying “I look at you and see gray hair and kids that look like you” all day every day. I’m not even a Chris Evans fan but I love him in that movie, in that scene, and then in the one at the end with his “final offer” — whew!)
+The verdancy of our yard! Everything in virid bud.
+Fresh candle for the new season. I’ve been deftly avoiding mentioning this because it was under embargo until today, but Hotel Lobby has this crisp “Racquet Club” candle that I’m completely obsessed with. OMG. I’ve been burning it around the clock since they sent it to me a few weeks ago. Listen to the scent profile: Morning dew, mineral mist, vetiver, iced cucumber towel (!), blonde woods?!?! You had me at iced cucumber towel. It really does have that fresh, green, outdoors-but-manicured smell to it.
+Last weekend, Landon and I cleared out the closet in the children’s bathroom. It was stuffed with old towels, shower curtains (we’ve lived in a house with no showers that call for curtains for five years now…these needed to go!), expired medications, and toothpastes my children stoutly refuse to use. (They’re Hello fans, to the exclusion of all us.) The closet is now airy — with white space and tidy folded rows of towels and linens — and it’s made me optimistic about barreling my way through other over-stuffed closets and drawers in similar short bursts of activity. A Magpie reader once wrote that she tries to “touch ever drawer/closet once a year” and I love the simplicity of this diagnostic, and the way it implies that this can happen over a wide spread of time.
+Carley Fortune’s latest novel (who else pre-ordered?) — my favorite dawn of summer ritual! Last year, I ordered cupcakes the day it showed up in my mailbox and had a little “first flush of summer” party for one, reading it with the windows open and a glass of rose. (BTW, the photo above is exactly where I want to read this book…!)
+The promise of summer reading in general. I have a deliciously dense TBR to get through.
+The imminent return of our favorite fruit and vegetable stand (Norman’s, on Mass Ave). The easiest and non-fussiest way to get incredible local produce without the mass mayhem of a true farmer’s market. We spend a lot of time at this stand in the summer months — they often carry that incredible Maryland Silver Queen corn!
+Just turned over a new card in my desk calendar for the new month. Such a great fresh slate feeling.
+The release of Ella Langley’s “Dandelion” album on April 10th. I love the first three tracks and, as I’ve over-mentioned already, the dandelion is something of an avatar for my book, coming out a few days after! (BTW, the pre-order price on my book is still ultra-low in case you want to jump on a good deal!)
+The fact that April is here and my book comes out in less than two weeks (!!!). My pub month!
+Last night, Landon grilled a thick ribeye on the Weber kettle, and we ate on our back patio, drinking in the soft bowl of the twilight sky, the warm spring air around us, and Benny Goodman on the speaker. This vignette gave me the deepest feeling of well-being. A harbinger for al-fresco dining season.
+The first true week of bare ankles. (All my favorite statement shorts and skirts for right now here.)
+Reaching for “summer makeup” for the first time — including this luminizing bronzer and this SPF-packed tinted moisturizer.
+Switching to spring sheets. We have these on our bed right now — seen below! (Mentioned recently, but apparently these affordable ones are Nancy Meyers’ favorites!)
+The return of the hummingbirds! I haven’t yet seen one in our yard, but we put up a hummingbird feeder for them in the summer and I’m finding myself looking forward to the tiny, offbeat seasonal ritual of mounting it. (They travel all the way to Mexico in the cold months — can you imagine?! Small but mighty.)
What has you speaking in exclamation points right now?
Post-Scripts.
+More of our favorite offbeat seasonal rituals.
+We carry all the ages of our children inside. I sometimes need this quieting reminder!
(The Poem You’re Going to Eat Next Summer.)
Just so you have it here…
Shopping Break.
+OMG! Chappywrap gave us a custom code — JEN20 for 20% off!!! Been asking for one of these for awhile. Their new arrivals are singing spring and early summer songs, too — this bandana print one for Fourth of July, BBQs, outdoor music, reading on an adirondack! And then how gorgeous are this blue and this peach?! The best blankets, period. Perfect weight and size. And I love that the patterns are so elevated — these really work well with our family room, which was designed by Kelley Proxmire!
+Another elevated, family-friendly home find: this runner/rug, which features a motif from a highly acclaimed wallpaper/fabric company. (They also just launched an entire outdoor rug collection, from the boho/bold to the crisply striped!)
+Speaking of crisp stripes. Pair with optic white jeans and these sandals. Perfect.
+Smartly cut denim dress (love the belt and silhouette) — on sale!
+New colorway for our favorite swimsuit. J’ADORE. (ICYMI: this is THE BEST swimsuit for mom life. Perfect fit, good amount of coverage, but with those playful cut-outs and the little v notch up top. SO GOOD. I have in red.). How cute with the matching cover-up?! Or pair with my favorite pareo, back available for pre-order. (I always get compliments on this!)
+Final day of the Shopbop 20% off promo. If you don’t have one of these magic brushes, now is the time! Other top recs: jellies for summer pool season (these are a really soft plastic – comfortable!), a pretty spring top, and the chicest pajamas that can be worn as evening wear. (I have a pair in black that I trot out every holiday season!)
+For my racquets ladies: a perfect white tennis dress. I’m also still loving my Rhoback one in that great racing green.
+All Bowie pants at Oso + Me are 40% off today only. These are the best pants for boys between the ages of 2-5 or so (once Hill turned six, I started to prefer him in a true pant / big boy pant so he doesn’t look like I’m babying him?). They are pull-on, come in the greatest colors and sometimes prints, and they are a really forgiving shape/style so I often got a few seasons out of each pair. Like you can cuff them and cinch the cord waist when younger, and they can look a tad cropped when they’re older, and they look great all ways!
+Nordies now carries a great assortment of Leset, including the cool girl pants I’ve been yapping about in a great stripe!
+Perfect ballet flats for spring: the A. Soliani Como in peony or butter yellow, or the Margaux Fonteyn in raffia (almost sold out) or satin green.
+Doen’s special occasion wear is so spectacular. I can’t stop thinking about this romantic slip dress. Someone needs to elope in it, or wear it on a romantic getaway to Paris, or something! Please! It’s just begging to be layered beneath a lover’s blazer. I also think this is nothing short of CHIC. Quelle statement!
+Another perfect LR find: these eyelet jeans! Love the silhouette, washes, rise!
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I live (and was raised) in Charleston, and the jasmine and roses come alive in April—it’s euphoric, like living inside a real-life perfume bottle. Climbing vines cover the garden walls, and their scent wafts through the Southern air, not yet heavy with summer humidity. You’re picking the absolute best time for your visit here, and I’m so crushed that I’ll be out of town the day of your event. Enjoy celebrating all of your hard work this month, and remember to stop and smell the flowers! xx
Oh Hettie! This description is just breath-taking. I’m so sorry to miss you, but appreciate the encouragement nonetheless! 🙂
xx
I’m so charmed by your summer reading party for one! Must pick a book and plan one for myself. Maybe with ice cream and very cold bubbly. We are on spring break this week, and it has been a perfect mix of activity and relaxation. Sleeping in! Play dates! Baking! Lunch picnics on a towel in the front yard (no patio set yet! I’ve barely retired the snow shovels…fingers crossed). The weather is not great, but the rain is greening up the grass and the forsythia are blooming. I love this time of year when the grass is green but hasn’t really started to grow so everyone’s yards look neat and tidy. My husband will start a new job soon and is off next week so I have visions of us tackling some decluttering and going on lunch dates when the girls are back in school.
Yes!! Love it. Please replicate the solo summer reading party :). What will you read?
Your spring break sounds perfect, by the way. Very much how ours has felt!
xx
I’ve tucked away Mansion Beach by Meg Mitchell Moore to read during the summer, and it seems perfect for my reading party!! Have you read her? I’ve read and enjoyed most of her novels.
BTW – just finished The Correspondent. Still recovering emotionally and waiting for my mom, my cousin, and my college roommate to read so I can discuss. I also went back and read your review – wish I could have commented in real time!
I haven’t read Meg Mitchell Moore but I feel like I’ve heard good things — tucking away for a summer read!
Oy, I can’t believe how much that book hurt me! I don’t think I have the heart to think about “The Correspondent” anymore — it makes me ache just thinking about it…!
xx