+THE PLUM YOU’RE GOING TO EAT NEXT SUMMER: I’ve shared this poem before, but I keep returning to its sentiment when I’m uncertain, or in wait. Landon and I have been in a steady, comfortable groove for the past few years, since moving to Bethesda, and yet I have also been working on big projects that are changing my day-to-day work, and shaping my creative process. I keep wondering where it will lead, and then I think of this poem, and I stand reassured. Trust the process. The plums are growing just for me. Related: I absolutely loved the energy of this reel I found this week (“she doesn’t know it yet, but the random guy her friends recorded her talking to at the bar last St. Patrick’s day was about to end her four years of being single” — wow!) Love is looking for us everywhere! Good things coming.
+IN PRAISE OF A NORMAL DAY: My daughter keeps a daily journal and I am disciplined about avoiding the temptation to read it; I want to honor her privacy, and keep it a sacred space for her. I have this searing memory of an afternoon that I find my childhood nanny reading my journal, and I was devastated! I had written a lot of nothing in it, but I had also documented petty complaints against her, and my siblings, and my parents, and I was sick with worry that she’d encountered one. I remember tiptoing around her for weeks, wondering whether I’d offended, and not knowing. I can’t in good conscious give my daughter that same experience. However, the other night, I was reading her “The Borrowers” as she was writing in her journal, and I accidentally saw what she’d written: “Today was a normal day. I felt good today.” I thought: That’s the heart of it, girl. To feel good on a normal day. To stretch out comfortably in the center of your life, not needing anything but its comfortable contours to feel good. Wow! From the mouth of babes. Also: in praise of a normal day.
+BESTSELLERS: So many of you picked up my favorite cropped terry sweatpants from Frank and Eileen, currently almost 50% off. I love them because they hold their shape nicely and look a bit more polished than your run of the mill sweats. I own them in white, navy, and pale blue. Several asked about sizing/fit; I take my true size in these (xs) and the fit is perfect. I am 5’0 and they are a perfect cropped length on me — hit an inch above my ankle maybe?
01. THE BEST CROPPED SWEATPANTS (RUN TTS) // 02. THE OUTSET LIP OASIS (GET THE NUDE/DUNE COLOR!!!) // 03. CURRENTBODY RED LIGHT LED MASK (USE JEN10 FOR 10% OFF) // 04. TUCKERNUCK DRESS // 05. LEE RADZIWILL BAG (!!!) — IF YOU FOLLOW ME ON INSTA/READ MY “WHAT I LOVED WEARING” SERIES, YOU KNOW I HAVE BEEN CARRYING HER EVERYWHERE // 06. BODEN STRIPED SHIRTDRESS // 07. THE COSIMA NAP DRESS (I BOUGHT THIS TOO, IN THE GREEN/WHITE STRIPE) // 08. J. CREW PATTERNED PANTS // 09. HANNI MOISTURIZING STICK // 10. COTTON SWEATER
+JUST FOR LAUGHS: This video on stopping into a tiny boutique (how familiar is this?!), how I feel when I eat a croissant (I can’t not love Timothee Chalamet, even though I have no interest in the Dylan movie; he was a very convincing Laurie in Greta Gerwig’s “Little Women,” and he had absurdly big shoes to fill after Christian Bale, and so I’ll forever love him), and some inside baseball humor for those of us in the field of letters.
+EYEING + BUYING: A few things on my radar at the moment…I am so excited about this TWP shirt I got. I think it’s the most excited I’ve been for a wardrobe addition in awhile! I just love the unusual silhouette — elevated and interesting basic — and this is exactly what I want to wear right now, with statement jeans.
I also wanted to give you a heads up that most of the Dorsey paracord necklaces sold out in under 24 hours of going live to public, but a few colors are left, and I think this khaki/green colorway is wildly chic. I have the navy and it adds such great dimension and interest to my daily stack. I love it layered beneath a button-down.
Lastly – I’ve mentioned these a bunch but I can’t stop raving about these open Bose earpods. They are one of my favorite upgrades for running. Not only do they stay in the ear (they have an over-ear design and never fall out) but are much more comfortable (a looser fit) and safe (you can hear more ambient noises). But one of the top selling points for me? It holds its charge for, like, ever. I think I’ve charged them once, or maybe twice, since I got them a few months ago.
SOLD OUT NYC DRESS (15% OFF WITH MAGPIE15) // TWP STRIPED BUTTON DOWN // ZARA TANK // DORSEY PARACORD NECKLACE // EVERLANE JEANS // LOEWE SUNGLASSES // CELINE SANDALS // LORO PIANA BAG // BOSE OPEN EARPODS
+KACEY MUSGRAVES X FINNEAS: Fellow Spacey Kacey lovers! I can’t wait to watch this entire set.
I love that you reposted this. I appreciate being able to slip in your DMs and finding this because it just always hits me where I am at in life. Not sure if you’ve put me together with my Instagram handle or not as I have appreciated the space you hold for all of us fellow magpies. Perhaps us Millennials can help undo the generational trauma and being comfortable with writing our feelings and feeling them and acknowledging them and showing children it’s okay to feel x, y, and z and writing about them is the best coping mechanism to pass on and witness! What a great role model you are for your children!!
Also thank you for launching the hats. I am planning to wear my Bad Book Girl hat at all future literary events. One of my friends asked me if we (us magpie follwers) all solemnly swore we were up to no good haha. I am forever a fan of Harry Potter and appreciate the sentiment too and also your post on a bad book girl!! Enjoy the weekend!!
I did make the connection and I’m SO glad that you love this poem as much as I do / have found such comfort in it. It has really helped me round the corner when I’m in the midst of a change, uncertainty, etc.
LOVE that you will be wearing your Bad Book Girl hat to literary events!!! I’m deeply charmed by this!! Go on with your bad book self!
xx
Ah, Jen! I’m surprising myself with how passionately I feel about this yet here we go: please see A Complete Unknown. I similarly had no interest in the film and then my parents gave it the most thorough endorsement that I thawed on my position, Following this I read more about the making of the film and decided to give it a go…
Wow, both my husband and I were utterly smitten with it and honestly, I’m still thinking about it. Firstly, every casting is surprisingly excellent and everyone is completely believable in their roles — we were clutching our chests over so many different things and could sink completely into each person being their characters/artists.
Secondly, the sets and costuming are gorgeous — I was watching a featurette and they hand-painted everything so there’s a faithfulness that, as a lover of the time period, was thrilled by visually and atmospherically.
Thirdly, wow, what a fascinating approach to discussing the role of folk music in the time period and social justice history, the issues within the community, and deft handling of key, possibly overlooked, events — my husband knows a lot about music history and they really effectively showed rather than told the history.
Fourthly, I know that Dylan is a poet and a titan of music — and somehow the story managed to elevate both the songs (there is one scene where he’s nutting out the lyrics of Girl from the North Country and I swear it’s rewired my brain with its absolute restraint and reverent delicacy) and what it is to be an artist in such a moving, probing and open way, plus god, those lyrics/wordsmithing kills me!
Lastly, the dialogue is so sharp and it cracked us up, made us think, and left the story with breathing space.
As always, I feel emotional writing this. I was so unexpectedly delighted and inspired by this film with all the credit to everyone who worked on it. It was the perfect Sunday night date night at home watch xx
What a mini essay — I clearly really liked it lol! But it was poetic and felt like it managed to honour Dylan. It was a treat!
I loved reading it!!!
OMG, I love the passion of this comment! OK, definitely reconsidering thanks to this note — you’ve won me over!
xx