Tiny rivulets of thought on my mind this week:

+On math anxiety and making mistakes: I spoke with my daughter’s teacher about her math confidence this week, and she noted that math anxiety can stem from a fear of “being wrong,” or being seen in making a mistake. The teacher had a great suggestion: openly model mistakes and specifically the self-talk that accompanies them in front of my children. I feel that we talk a lot about resilience in our home (last week, I had an issue with my car, and had to call Landon off the golf course for help; when he arrived, he was his usual sanguine, upbeat self, and I told my kids: “do you see how Dad’s attitude is unperturbed by this inconvenience?! A lot of things are out of our control, but you can always control your attitude”) but perhaps I haven’t fully demonstrated what that looks like in situ, myself. I am actively looking for small venues in which to do this, like making a wrong turn while driving, or forgetting something on the grocery list. The provocation: what might my daughter be telling herself when she gets the incorrect answer? How can I provide her with alternative narratives, other ways of talking to herself, when she makes a mistake? As I was thinking about this, the main message that came to mind: it’s not the end of the world. “Shoot, I forgot the rosemary, but it’s OK; we can swap in parsley, or maybe I’ll pop by the farmer’s market after Mass — there are lots of ways to fix this. It’s no big deal.” Or “Oops, wrong turn; I guess I wasn’t paying attention! No problem, we can reroute. Happens to anyone…”

+On Laufey: I loved seeing all the Laufey fangirls (a lot of young girls!) wearing their hairbows, lettuce-edge socks, and chunky black footwear! I find committed fandom so deeply charming, especially in the case of this singer, who has an interesting, mildly subversive orchestra-girl-turned-celebrated-artist narrative that seems to resonate with the slightly-alt crowd she attracts. You could imagine Laufey slotting into the Olivia Rodrigo universe of pop star fame given her insane vocal talent, her main character energy on stage, her polish — and yet she’s firmly in her own lane, incorporating classical ballet and orchestra into her set, jazz shimmying across the stage. Sometimes I am surprised by how on-the-nose she is with her vintage crooner vibe; it almost feels that if she leant a little more modernity to the lyrics (“I’m throwing in my hat / I can’t take another lifeless little chat” leaps out at me as willfully anachronistic), she’d catapult into the mainstream, but she prefers living where she is. Which, to be clear, is just fine on all fronts — 7.5M followers, sold out venues around the world, her own niche and distinctive style! I love her; she’s going her own way. Bad book girl energy!

+On being “non-precious” with reading: I loved your comments on my “bad book girl” post, in which we talked about not finishing books, why we made those decision, and why it’s OK. I especially loved Anna’s comment:

“My mother was a librarian for many years and contrary to common belief, she was (and remains) extremely non-precious, practical, and unfussy in her approach to books and reading in a way I find very inspiring. She has zero qualms about ditching a book she isn’t liking, or just “fast forwarding” through some boring bits to find out what happens at the end. She also was very unsentimental about physical books themselves- if a book has outlived its useful life and holds no special memory or meaning for you, you’re allowed to throw it away!…”

Wow! I think I needed this permission slip. I am so intrigued by the concept of being “non-precious” with reading; it made me think about taking big handfuls of something, or tossing something in a backpack to fend for itself against the possible violence of hairbrush bristles and pencil tips, or using a book as a coaster. Such briskly liberating visions for me. Anna’s comment also reminded me of something another Magpie said in a completely different conversation: “are the habits serving you, or are you serving the habits?” (Who is in charge of your reading program? You or the books? You or the people telling you what is important/worthy/cool to read? Etc! Food for thought!)

+On micro-breaks: I keep coming back to this theme of the micro-break. There are no big breaks in business, in life — just a series of tiny micro-breaks that can only take place when you repeatedly put yourself out there, day in and day out. This week, I had two exciting phone calls about potential projects, and I also received the cover art and interior design for my book. Each of those: a micro-break to celebrate. The calls may lead nowhere, but — wow! A dream to even be considered, to be invited into the room. The book layout — another micro-break on the path to achieving a lifelong dream of mine. One step closer. Let me slow down and hold this moment in my hands.

The micro-break reframe is one way of making sense of “the murky middle of things,” of refusing to dull myself to the wonder of everyday living. What’s a micro-break from your week? Could be a tiny motherhood milestone (“she slept through the night!” “he ate peas without complaining!”), could be something professional, creative, social. A new invitation; realizing you delivered your sales pitch without any hesitation or nervousness; finishing a draft of something!

Sunday Shopping.

+Really loving a color story that involves kiwi green and burgundy and brown. Unexpected but just work?! How fab is this leopard puffer I discovered this week? Love the scarf detail at the neckline. Combining so many great trends in one! The brand has lots of fun pieces, like this The Great-inspired cardigan!

+On the kiwi/chartreuse front: I wore this sweater twice this week. I own it in red, too — I just love the weight and shape of it, and of course La Ligne nails the best colors. J. Crew is offering a slimmer profile version in the same great shape in cashmere, and it’s 20% off this weekend! (As is all J. Crew cashmere — love this cashmere short-sleeved cardigan in leopard!)

+My new fall phone case. I cannot get enough burgundy. This is hyper-niche but I’ve tried lots of those grippy suction things and they always fall off the mirrors for me — ha! This one by the same brand really sticks and can be removed easily (it’s magnetic). You can even add a little wristlet situation. They’ve thought of everything!

+These mittens are currently 50% off with code EXPEDITION. These are the kind of thing I buy to give along with a gift card to my nail technician, house keepers, etc for Christmas.

+I ordered Landon some new luggage — this olive green Away and this matching backpack — but if I’d been shopping for myself, I would have gotten this aluminum-edge style! I love the details. Luggage is a great “big” gift for holiday — last year, we gave each of the kids little suitcases with their Disney tickets inside…! They were so excited to have their own luggage. We got them the limited edition Quince kids suitcases (really good quality, but no longer available — I wonder if they’ll bring back?), and they looked a lot like these ones from State (currently on sale!). Away’s kid size carry-ons come in really fun colors, or you could do Quince’s small carry-on in lilac or another fun color, or Beis’ small size in that perfect atlas pink. Customize with letters like these or these to personalize.

+30% off at LR! Love this woven bag. I’ve seen it out and about in Bethesda and it always looks so chic — great shape, color, texture!

BURGUNDY PHONE CASE AND MAGSAFE MOUNT // KIWI CASHMERE SWEATER (20% OFF) // LEOPARD PUFFER // WESTMAN ATELIER LIT STICK (NEW COLOR FOR HOLIDAY!) // AWAY SUITCASE WITH STICK ON INITIALS // CHOCOLATE BROWN CORDS // SANDRO COLLARED CARDIGAN // MITTENS IN THE BEST COLORS // WOVEN BUCKET BAG (30% OFF) // TARGET PILLOW // TARGET WICKER TREES

This post may contain affiliate links. If you make a purchase through the links below, I may receive compensation.