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Jen’s Weekend Drafts: Country Cinema, The People Worth Impressing, + A New Fall Candle.

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+COUNTRY CINEMA: I love the music video for “You Look Like You Love Me” by Riley Green and Ella Langley. Fine cinema if you ask me — iconic storytelling, stirring visual texture, and Green’s styling is perfection. (I wish Ella hadn’t worn the feather hat situation but I’m picking nits.) Very into this country duo — and not hard on the eyes either. I watched a video of Green talking about making the song with Langley and he said (paraphrasing): “She has a real country sound I like.” I found that discernment so fascinating. I started listening to country music in college when Mr. Magpie burned me a CD titled “JMN’s First Sticks Mix,” and it was packed with Alan Jackson, one of Mr. Magpie’s favorites. To me, Jackson is “a real country sound,” but of course, that’s idiosyncratic to my own (truncated) listening history and the fact that he became a touchstone or forefather in my mind to all my country music. As an aside, I remember that within the first few weeks of dating Landon, he picked me up from my house on Tilden Street in NW DC in his black Jeep Cherokee and as he was turning onto Rock Creek Park, Alan Jackson’s “Right on the Money” came on. He started singing the lyrics, and when the first chorus came on, he looked over and pointed at me. I thought I might die with happiness. (“She’s right on the money / She goes direct to my heart / When it comes to lovin’ me / She’s everything I need, bulls eye-perfect / She’s right on the money”). Anyhow, I was interested to learn that Green himself is a huge Jackson fan, and that he’s cited “When Daddy Let Me Drive” as one of his favorite songs. He definitely has elements of his tone and vocal style. Any other Green / Jackson / Langley fans out there? Share thoughts!

+NEW HOTEL LOBBY CANDLE: I know many of you are enormous fans of Hotel Lobby and had to share that their newest candle scent, Napa, is available for order today. They sent me a sneak preview and I’ve been burning it for a week straight. Smells perfect for this entree into fall: jammy, earthy, oaky.

+THE PEOPLE WITH IMPRESSING: How true is this illustration via Mari Andrews? A good question to ask if you’re on the precipice of making a decision, or regretting something, or longing for something. What would my five year old self say? And my 85 year old self? (And to hell with the peanut gallery!) This reminded me, too, of all the things we would tell our 20 year old selves. Which is, more or less: Don’t worry so much; you’re going to be fine.

+MY FAVORITE ADVICE ON WRITING: I’ve shared this before, but I love this sentiment from Anne LaMott: “Thirty years ago my older brother, who was ten years old at the time, was trying to get a report written on birds that he’d had three months to write, which was due the next day. We were out at our family cabin in Bolinas, and he was at the kitchen table close to tears, surrounded by binder paper and pencils and unopened books about birds, immobilized by the hugeness of the task ahead. Then my father sat down beside him put his arm around my brother’s shoulder, and said, “Bird by bird, buddy. Just take it bird by bird.” This may be the best advice I’ve ever heard on writing, and living. Bird by bird, girl.

+EYEING + BUYING: Itching to pull out my Alice Walk cape — not quite cool enough sadly. I curated a roundup of great capes for the season ahead, and am loving this plaid one from Doen. Also, according to the comments on this post, a lot of us are dermaplaning!? I’m intrigued by this one that one of you raved about, but a lot of you on Instagram said the inexpensive Tinkle ones are just as good. I’ve been hearing split reviews about the latter – some of you said they cut you; others said they’re perfect. A few other notes: these $95 gold earrings arrived and I love them (!!) — super lightweight but nail the heavy hardware look. Also obsessing over these green cords in the perfect fall hue. I wore them this week; you can see me in them here. Run TTS. Lastly, I just ordered the bulk box of this Amish country popcorn — we have been loving it as an afternoon snack.

DOEN CAPE // STACKED DERMAPLANING TOOL // HOTEL LOBBY CANDLE // DAPHINE EARRINGS // GANNI SKIRT // AMISH COUNTRY POPCORN // PISTOLA CORDS // FREDA SALVADOR LOAFERS

+MAGPIE POETRY: I converted our crowd-authored list of “alt titles for September” into this little square for Instagram and had to share here, too. (You can see all the suggestions in this post.) An evocative little poem, isn’t it? Funny, slightly fraught, thoughtful. And how are we feeling about October, just walking through the doorframe?

+BESTSELLERS: This CHIC cropped wool J. Crew coat was the topseller by a landslide this week. Obsessed with the color

01. J. CREW WOOL COAT // 02. QUINCE CARDIGAN (LOOK FOR LESS FOR JENNI KAYNE COOPER) // 03. THE FAMILY PORTRAIT DRESS // 04. POLO SWEATSHIRT // 05. MY FAUX-SEUDE MINI SKIRT // 06. GAP SLOUCHY BAG // 07. PAISLEY DRESS // 08. RUE DE VERNEUIL TOTE // 09. MY FAV MOISTURIZER // 10. FREDA SALVADOR LOAFERS // 11. VERONICA BEARD SNEAKERS // 12. OUR LATEST TOOTHCARE OBSESSION

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