The Magpie Diary: Dec. 15, 2024.

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Random flotsam from the week:

All good art has a little dash of “what the hell” in it. I am 20% into All Fours by Miranda July and I’d say this has more than a dash of what the hell in it, but I can also tell it’s true art. I am wrestling with its grip, sucked in and repelled in equal measure. I told Mr. Magpie that the book has made me feel destabilized, unsafe even. I’ve never read something that has made me feel this way — in peril? — but isn’t that the point of (some) art, in a way? Pushing you to see the world in a different way, challenging you. Cognitive dissonance. Etc. I did not read any critical material about the book in advance; a girlfriend said it was quite possibly the best thing she’d ever read, and I jumped on board. But maybe read the description first…! About half of my Magpies who read (or started to read it) said it was one of the top books they’d read in a long while, but there was agita in ever those effusive admissions; the other half abandoned it, or outright hated it. Polarizing! Cannot wait to discuss once I’m done, if I finish. I have found myself needing a palate cleanser between sessions.

I spent two quick nights in New York City this week. Such a strange sensation to visit this place that was my home for four years, and yet now feels washed clean of all references to my existence. It’s not like Georgetown, in which versions of myself collect. In New York, I strain to see anything familiar; I feel as though I was hosed away by one of the doormen on 86th Street the day I left, along with the street detritus and debris. New stores on many corners; the usual self-abnegation of wandering around Manhattan, feeling like a nobody. Have you heard that song by Celeste called “Strange”? A younger, moodier version might have dwelt on its lyrics while in New York: “Isn’t it strange / How people can change / From strangers to friends / Friends into lovers / And strangers again?” Only New York is the person; we went from strangers to friends to lovers (and occasional enemies) back to strangers again. I don’t think you ever belong to New York unless maybe you live there for multiple decades and pass multiple phases of life there, enduring its funny way of embracing and then dismissing you, sometimes within the span of a few minutes. Every time we go back, we wonder whether we’d ever move back? Maybe as empty nesters. But then if I am honest, when I imagine “getting away” from our home in Bethesda, I imagine something even more restful and bucolic — a quiet cottage in poplar or pine in which to write by a window, and play card games on an old wood table in the evenings drinking red wine out of juice glasses, and sleep beneath quilts. And so I don’t know where New York would fit relative to that compulsion. Maybe New York is just a place we visit, and a place we’ve only ever visited.

One thing that fascinates me about New Yorkers (and I did a lot of people watching in the 48 hours I spent there) is their manicured insouciance. Absolutely nothing can startle a New Yorker. Faces arranged into perfect impassivity, they notice everything but act as if they’ve seen nothing. I’ve been soaking in Bethesda for awhile now, and I found it hard to suppress my own jumpiness at the beginning of this visit. I really had to push myself to clip back into the headspace — !

I am 60,000 words into my fictional manuscript. I must now turn to editing and elaborating before I embark on the long process of getting it out into the world. Someone asked me the other day “But why fiction? What would you think of pursuing the publication of a book of your essays instead?” And I didn’t have a great answer (although, maybe I can do both — ?) but I thought about what Sylvia Plath once said about writing The Bell Jar, her only novel: “I feel that in a novel, you can get into toothbrushes, and all the paraphernalia that one finds in daily life. I find that in a novel…I can get more of life; perhaps not such intense life, but certainly more of life, and so I have been very interested in novel writing as a result.” She was differentiating the writing of a novel from the writing of poetry, but I think there’s something similar going on when I conceptually compare writing creative non-fiction with writing fiction: it’s given me this new space in which to tease out some of the thematics that interest me without the constraints of essay or memoir. I can try to conjure certain things in specifics, without being bound by what’s actually happened in my daily life. I feel like I can capture more, or reflect more of the real sky.

A little ticky tacky detail: if you are in NYC and want a really good blowout, go to the Julien Farel Salon at the Loews Regency hotel. You can make an appointment online (so easy and frankly a huge selling point — quick, on-the-go booking!). I saw Wayne there and he gave me probably one of the top three blowouts of my life for $75. Plus I love that ritzy corridor on the UES.

Onward, friends!

Cocktails at Kitana Kitten + a birthday gift for my best friend (inside, luxe nail care: Hermes lacquer + Dior cuticle cream) + my new gorgeous clutch

Bergdorfs at Christmas

Found Mr. Magpie in Manhattan wearing a navy pinstripe suit

Best meal of the trip: Foxface

Inspiration: Samantha Parkington (wearing this tartan coat, a La Ligne cashmere scarf, and these earmuffs with my favorite 3.1 Phillip Lim bag)

Sunday Shopping.

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VARLEY PUFFER // $29 CASHMERE GLOVES // TENNIS BRACELET // LOEWE BAG // MAKEUP BY MARIO EYE PALETTE // HUNTING SEASON CLUTCH

THE CHICEST THING I SAW IN NYC: THESE LOEWE BAGS

I walked through Bergdorf’s while in NYC and the things that tempted me were the display of Ginori, a pair of ultra expensive Loro Piana gloves I don’t need (I have been wearing these $29 cashmere ones — such great colors), and this Loewe bag, which was even chicer IRL. I also saw two women carrying the Loewe bag in the larger size on the Subway this week. I love the glossy gold button, and the larger size actually looks practical for city life. Seemed to hold a lot. // This Varley cableknit puffer is nearly sold out everywhere — SO CHIC. // Today is the final day to redeem your one 20% off code at Sephora (you must be logged in to access — then use code HAVEITALL). Here is what I ordered. I’m especially excited about this eye palette on the heels of our chat about eye makeup. // Dyson Air Wrap on sale for almost 20% off here. You know my thoughts on this tool. Hair-changing, life-changing, etc. // Hunting Season sent me this gorgeous emerald green clutch and I am obsessed with it. Understated luxe. // // Julia Amory discounted her holiday linens — now is a good time to buy one of her beautiful scalloped tree skirts even if just to stow away for next year. // My sister has been hemming and hawing over which tennis bracelet to buy and I steered her towards the Dorsey James — I absolutely love this style. I own the riviere necklace version and wore the entire time in NY this week! //

Sponsored Mention: Healthy meal delivery service Sakara is offering us 20% off with code JENSHOOP. You might remember that they sent me a week’s worth of breakfasts and lunches the week before Thanksgiving and Landon and I were very impressed. (We are going to be enjoying their meal service again this week ahead, in advance of Christmas week!) The key benefits IMO are 1) not having to meal plan, prep, or exert any energy towards deciding what I wanted to eat for the first two thirds of the day (I had not fully realized how much ongoing work this is…); 2) eating healthfully and diversely in a season that tends to be excess-oriented; and 3) enjoying delicious grain and salad bowls that featured ingredients I would not normally have access to / would not think to combine / etc. We were truly impressed with the quality — better than Sweetgreen, and delivered to your door. Mr. Magpie has very discerning tastes in food and it passed his litmus.

You can configure your subscription however you’d like — breakfasts and dinners, lunches and dinners, all three, etc. — but we especially liked the lunches. I think this would be a great investment in your new year — maybe have a few weeks of lunches lined up to get you off and running in 2025, especially after holiday merriment!