Happy 2026! Wishing you all the best in this new year, Magpies. Onward we go —
Over the weekend, I had my three-week-old, peeling cherry red gel polish removed and replaced by a barely-there, non-gel, “Ballet Slippers” pink manicure. I felt like a new woman! How to explain this feeling to a man…? Well, here’s a start — a couple of tiny turnovers that give us that blank page feeling (several of these supplied by or inspired by Magpie readers!):
Page one of a new book
Clean sheets on a freshly-made bed
Shower after air travel (a true rebirth)
Getting your peeling gel nail polished removed
A full tank of gas
A hair trim
Cracking the spine on a new journal
Monday mornings and Septembers
Ordering something other than “the usual”
Putting all the clutter on the drying rack away
Realizing something that used to bother you no longer does
The way the house feels after Christmas has been put away
Real, round forgiveness
Returning library books or packages that have been sitting on the kitchen counter
The first flame of a new candle in a recently-cleaned room
“Results are normal”
New pen with strong ink flow
Vacuum tracks on the carpet
Cracking open a window on a cool day to air out a room
January 1st
The daybreak realization that you can begin anything today, and with no one’s permission
What would you add?
IMAGES ONE* // TWO // THREE // FOUR
*She’s wearing Jenni Kayne Saturday sweats, which are 25% off in gray here.
IMAGES ONE // TWO // THREE // FOUR
Post-Scripts.
+Did you fill out your 2026 bingo card?
+Can’t wait to find out what my “first bird” this year will be…
Shopping Break.
+If you’re going somewhere warm this season, this is the dress for you. Also love in blouse format!
+Epic Tory Burch sale (extra 25% off sale) that includes a little black dress you’ll wear for eternity (love the sleeve length), a highly sophisticated satin shirtdress, and a deeply gorgeous leather satchel. (For my winter birds: this white poplin skirt will carry a lot of mileage.)
+Time to break out my new desk calendar. Do you have one? I can’t live my life without it. I can’t tell you how often I’m on the phone, scheduling a meeting, making plans, and I need a quick at-a-glance view of the month! My friend Inslee’s are the most gorgeous. I also mark the days I’ve exercised on this calendar. I find the visual highly motivating. I do this in addition to marking it on my habit tracker! Why not celebrate the completion twice?!
+While we’re talking habit tracker, I also love this weekly planning pad. On Monday mornings, I use it to jot down just the most essential 1-2 items each day of the week. Sometimes these are more philosophical than tactical, i.e., “show up for Emory at her lacrosse game!” Sometimes that’s the most important thing! You can buy them together in this bundle and they will ship free!
+A lucite bath hook for your new robe, and it’s on sale!
+Everyday earrings I love and wear frequently: these Dorseys; these Dana Rebeccas.
+Our favorite kitchen towels. Super absorbent, great size, and come in lots of beautiful prints. I like that they’re less bulky than most kitchen towels — they lay neatly in a drawer!
+The most gorgeous glider for a child’s room or nursery. While we’re talking kids’ furniture, I’m in the market for a new bedside table for my daughter, and am dialing in on this one. I want it to be more interesting than solid white, but with at least two drawers for storage.
+My current favorite pens. I have them everywhere — in every drawer, bag, closet! Really love the fine point and flow of the gel. My SIL just gave me one of these Lamy pens, though, and while it’s not as fine-point, I really enjoy the feeling of writing with it. She bundled it with a few other goodies, including this One-Line-a-Day journal. I’ve always seen them and been intrigued but it didn’t feel like the sort of thing to buy myself?! Anyway, I am delighted by it! It starts today and I plan to use it to jot down just one word or phrase — a new one I’ve acquired, one related to a piece I’m writing, one the captures the day’s energy.
+I organized a bunch of my favorite office/studio/desktop finds here. Year in and year out, this inexpensive weekly planner keeps my life together. I add all my to-dos for each day to it.
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Love your new bird mug! I just ordered myself this cute reading mug with my anthro birthday discount: https://www.anthropologie.com/anthrohome/shop/hybrid/molly-hatch-hobby-stoneware-mugs. Almost got the adorable bow mug in butter yellow but it seemed a bit petite for my personal coffee needs 🙂
Boy, do we need a fresh clean slate here! I’m finally emerging from a week+ struggling with something flu-like, which of course disrupted nearly all of our Christmas plans (not to mention several other family members were also sick) and totally ruined any plans to tackle and tidy household clutter while the kids are off. And now my husband seems to be coming down with it! But maybe what we all needed to end this year was a week of rest and recovery?? I’ll add to your clean slate list, from immediate personal experience – the first time you get dressed in a real outfit after being sick and only wearing sweats/pjs/loungewear. Not there yet…maybe tomorrow! Fingers crossed.
P.S. I bought Azul for my husband for Christmas on your rec, and we played our inaugural game last night as our big NYE plans! While wearing our loungewear, haha. He gave the game a thumbs up, so thank you.
OMG! Those hobby mugs are adorable! I think I’m going to order, too…
I love the reframe of using the end of the year not to do a big push but rather to give yourself a slow start, a rest, a soft beginning. Beautiful if you think about it!
AMEN to getting dressed (or even showering) for the first time after being sick in bed. Sending you the best healing vibes!!
xx
Something that gives me a blank page feeling is the first song that pops in my head and somehow becomes my song of the year. For 2025 (totally not kidding) the soundtrack of The Duchess was my mantra. Music sets the tone. Welcomes in nee light
And unites us all and is a beautiful form of art.
I absolutely love this idea! I hadn’t thought of this until I started playing Addison Rae’s album while working yesterday morning and I really liked the fresh vibe it gave me on my first workday in the new year!
xx