Jen's Weekend Drafts: Slowmaxxing and Dried Flower Art.

+SLOWMAXXING: A propos of “the legato list,” love the sister notion of “slowmaxxing” this season:

+DRIED FLOWERS, ART, AND PLAY: I am swooning over the dried floral designs of Tennessee Jane via her company Saint Maide. Such a gorgeous, sustainable concept, and bold way of seeing the discarded in a new light.

IMAGE VIA SAINT MAIDE

She recently designed the in-store holiday arrangements for the jeweler Hart. Don’t you love the idea?!

IMAGES VIA SAINT MAIDE

I am gushing over this reel she shared of her arranging dried flowers against the backdrop of John Cleese commenting: “If you are going to be creative, you have to be in a state of play. You can’t play if you’re being careful. If you’re trying to not make mistakes it destroy creativity completely.” You can buy Tennessee’s book on dried flower art here. I just ordered a copy. (Fun discovery: I’ve never met her, but she went to high school with my husband!)

+WHAT WERE YOUR FIRSTS THIS MONTH? What was the first bird you saw? What was the first meal you had? What was the first album you listened to? Are these setting the tone for your year? I love to play this game. I am sitting here the morning of January 1st slightly bummed because I haven’t seen a single bird this morning. I even stood outside in the 20 degree wind watching; I guess we’re all in hibernation? (There was also a squall warning at 5 a.m. today!) But that’s OK. I’m already internalizing the lesson: patience, Jen; patience. The truth will out!

+SOMETHING TO ADD TO THE RANDOMLY CHIC LIST: Why is it that I consider it the peak of glamor when a woman brings her own nail polish to the salon? It implies expertise in herself; it suggests a pragmatic ownership over her own fate. (What if the salon is out of her preferred color? What if she needs to touch up in a week?). Just this past week, an ultra-chic Scandinavian woman sitting next to me at the nail salon retrieved her own bottle of mauve Chanel polish (I think it was this “Sorciere” color) from her logo-less taupe leather bag (what brand was it?!). I was in love with her immediately, of course.

+EYEING + BUYING:

+I’ve mentioned this countless times over the years, but I’m both a sentimental person and a believer in talismans, which means I really love to pick up special pieces of jewelry to commemorate specific moments, goals, ambitions, memories, etc. When Tilly passed, I ordered a delicate signet ring with her initial; this courage pendant meant a lot to me during a tough time in my life. One of my friends recently gave me one of these gorgeous bracelets engraved with the name of my book on it (it made me weep), and I wore it on New Year’s Eve and Day as a little invitation for good will around its publication in April. When I travel, I like to wear my heart necklaces — one engraved with my husband’s initials; another with my childrens’. Anyhow. I am currently eyeing this clover necklace for my stack. Landon and I were talking on NYE about how we feel we’ve really come into a string of years that have “answered” for us (vs. asked, per Zora Neale Hurston’s famous quote); how things feel intact, secure. I like the idea of this clover necklace celebrating this phase of life, with our close-knit family of four cuddled together.

+A few office upgrades I’m eyeing: a gorgeous Macbook cover for purely aesthetic reasons (I do stare at it all day); a linen pin board to keep notes, clippings, phrases, art that inspire (I also thought this was chic); a fresh new Inslee calendar for the year.

+I have bags on the brain! I’m currently planning to buy this Savette 19, but this spectacular linen Toteme t-lock bag is on sale, and I love the shape of this Loro Piana-inspired pochette crossbody (compare with).

+A new pair of dark rinse denim to lust after. (This is a big trend to follow in 2026!)

+Loving baby pink right now. This gorgeous La Ligne sweater has captured my imagination, and I also love their rendering of their classic cotton mini marina in the hue. This mohair is also spectacular. Lastly, loving baby pink tees with dark rinse denim: this Coucou; this Tuckernuck; this Negative.