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+ON CLUTTER: In support of my oddball resolution to spend less time tidying in 2025, I loved this quote from Anne Lamott: “Clutter and mess show us that life is being lived…Tidiness makes me think of held breath, of suspended animation… Perfectionism is a mean, frozen form of idealism, while messes are the artist’s true friend. What people somehow forgot to mention when we were children was that we need to make messes in order to find out who we are and why we are here.” I don’t know if I have fully befriended the mess, but after reading this quote, I realized that it has been a constant companion in my creative undertakings–and that I mind it a lot less in that venue. How can I apply a writerly mindset — the understanding that all good things start with half-formed ingredients? — to my home space? Creating, and life, are full of middles, and middles are messy.
+THE INTRINSIC VALUE OF DOING THINGS JUST BECAUSE: In the introduction to Fox and I, Catherine Raven writes: “I realized that a fox, like a rainbow and every other gift from Nature, had an intrinsic value that was quite independent of its longevity.” I thought for some reason not of the foxes in our yard that have become something of a personal cipher, or the the now-fat redbirds in the trees outside my window that charm me, or even the roses on the far side of our home that remind me of Elizabeth, but of how sometimes I “waste” time drafting fiction that I know, even as I write it, I will never publish. How this creative wandering can seem like time poorly, or foolishly, spent. And yet. The act of writing, the communion with the blank page for no purpose other than imaginative expression — it, too, has an “intrinsic value,” independent of its landing place, or reception, or even its accidental deletion at some point down the road.
+V. GOOD SALES: (1) Ann Mashburn has further reduced its sale prices. Don’t miss this wool shirtdress (their shirtdresses are impeccably cut) or these joyful flats. The flats!! They’d make a simple pair of jeans and a button-down sing! (On the button-down front: my girlfriend Inslee was wearing one of these boxy, cropped button-down shirts from TWP when I visited her in Raleigh and I was obsessed! The afore-linked Julia Amory shirt is a good look for less.) (2) Veronica Beard’s sale section is almost entirely 70% off. One of my most-worn blazers is now $209. I love an ivory blazer! It goes so well with dark wash denim, light wash denim, cords!
+WHAT I ORDERED THIS WEEK: Two new beauties from Veronica Beard: this blazer and this denim vest, plus the Julia Amory top I just mentioned. While visiting Inslee, I brought her this gorgeous poetic book on the Greek gods — such a source of inspiration for me — and these beautiful trinket plates from potterist Laetitia Rouget. For home: some new folders to organize paperwork and this water bottle storage solution. New-to-me intimates label LDMA is sending me some of their gorgeous underthings, too!
+LANDON’S BIRTHDAY: At this point in our lives, Landon cooks 100% of the time. I enjoy cooking but he is far more talented, motivated, and passionate in the kitchen, and I am the happy beneficiary of his culinary enthusiasm. I was reminded this week when I offered to cook him a birthday feast of just how complex and time-consuming it is to meal plan and prep around the normal business of our lives…! Feeling doubly grateful for his commitment! I spent more or less two days running errands, prepping, cooking in order to make him a Spanish feast inspired by our trip to San Sebastian about a decade ago. We enjoyed two tapas: a bacon-shrimp skewer dressed in a sweet pepper and garlic vinaigrette and served over a slice of baguette, and croquettes with ham in them. The latter was quite an undertaking (frying!), but Landon helped me out with having some homemade bechamel in our freezer that I used as the base. For the entree, we had a clam and rice dish and a cauliflower-marcona-almond-arugula salad in a parsley-garlic vinaigrette. I got all the recipes except for the cauliflower dish from this Basque cookbook. For dessert, I made a classic yellow cake with chocolate frosting from this baking cookbook Landon got me for Christmas. Everything went well and it was fun to make the tapas, enjoy those with a glass of cava, and then return to the stove to make the entrees. (I’d parcooked multiple elements from the entree course to make this happen. It required so much careful planning!) Very leisurely pace to really celebrate the man of the house. How do you celebrate birthdays in your home? For us, the birthday dinner is the big event.
+BESTSELLERS: So glad so many of you snapped up my favorite jeans this week! You will love them!
01. RAG AND BONE SOFIE FLEXI JEANS // 02. VERONICA BEARD FAIR ISLE KNIT JOGGERS // 03. VERONICA BEARD STRIPED POPLIN DRESS (SO CHIC AND ON SUPER SALE) // 04. BEST CASHMERE TRACK PANTS // 05. AYR EARLY MORNINGS TEE // 06. J. CREW HIGH RISE SLIM WIDE LEG JEANS // 07. H&M TOP // 08. ISABEL MARANT SNEAKERS // 09. CHAPPYWRAP BLANKET (ON SALE!) // 10. BEST QUARTER CREW SOCKS // 11. JEFFREY CAMPBELL FLATS // 12. VERONICA BEARD DENIM VEST
Messes are personal. My mother wasn’t much on keeping the house and I always felt it oppressive. Definitely defined my style. While shopping Dillards, I spied Fox sheets and thought of you!