The Magpie Diary: October 1, 2023.

This week presented me with a litany of autumnal joys:

+moody, charcoal, Jane-Austen-protagonist-on-a-foggy-heath weather;

+a dinner of roast chicken, Boulud carrots (the best, my mouth waters for them), and roasted potatoes, with a big glass of jammy red;

+two pairs Uggs for the hygge season (these and these), presently en route to me;

+horror movies (we watched The Blackening and Scream VI — the first excellent, the second too mired-in-its-own-legacy to be legible to more casual viewers, but still jump-off-your-seat fun), thrillers on Kindle (I started this), and a new psychological thriller audiobook;

+this fall candle burning*

+a crisp fall walk with a girlfriend wearing brown leggings, a Patagonia fleece, and my $20 sherpa pouch;

+fall puzzle out on the kitchen counter;

+the first turn in the trees in my neighborhood — I love the way autumn creeps in, on cat-like paws, and I also love how Mother Nature continuously models accepting change with grace;

+swapped out my summer desk sweater for a fall one;

+made salted brown butter rice krispie treats (outrageously good — a Magpie introduced me to this recipe years ago!);

+a long run in chilly September rain;

+my first occasion to wear a fall coat.

*10% off with code MAGPIE10.

You can find links to nearly everything worn above in Friday’s WILW (What I Loved Wearing) Post, but the jacket I’m wearing top left and in the header photo for this post is Wyeth’s Jacey Barn coat. It is, truly, a perfect fall jacket. A great weight — not too heavy, not too light — and I love the corduroy detail on the patch pockets. (Also, the pockets are lined in soft corduroy — so cozy when you tuck your hands in there!). I also appreciate the shape: clearly, this was designed by a woman, as it fits easily over knits but still offers a cropped/feminine vibe.

I also wanted to mention that in the mirror selfie above, I’m wearing two new beauty products I’m loving: Goop’s Color Blur (wearing in shade Afterglow) and UBeauty’s Lip Plasma (wearing in shade Rose, which keeps selling out!, but they just introduced a bunch of new hues). I’m in love with both of these products and think they have particularly great color options. Goop’s color blur is basically tinted skincare (!). It’s packed with vitamins and designed to hydrate skin. It also looks gorgeous on and boasts buildable, semi-sheer color (which I personally prefer over more pigmented formulas — more room for applicator error). It reminds me a bit of Merit’s Cheek Balm for that reason, but I will say I find Merit a tad easier to apply because you can glide the whole balm right onto your cheek. The Goop blur requires fingers and a brush. I am loving the Lip Plasma, too — it is wildly expensive for a lip product, but (!) I have to be honest that it does wonders for my thin lips! Adds a pillowy fullness? A new secret weapon.

A few random things on my mind today…

+Jane Win is offering 20% off sitewide now through Tuesday. This is their biggest and last sale of the year. If you’ve followed me for awhile, you know I adore their necklaces and wear this petite hearts pendant close to daily (sometimes swapping out depending on what I’m wearing from Dorsey). I also wore this larger “joy” coin for weeks on end earlier this year, and will often put it on when I need to remind myself to pause and reach for those slivers of joy in my everyday life. They also have a smaller version of the joy coin (and different styles/motifs — protection, hope, faith, etc). How beautiful would it be to buy your sister this “sisters” coin necklace for Christmas/an upcoming special occasion? Or this “STRONG” one for a loved one undergoing a difficult time? These make such spectacular gifts. My mom has given me one and I treasure it.

+Cannot stop thinking about this poem on watching your children grow up. (I feel constantly torn between the sentiments of “Fly, be free!” and “I don’t want anything to change.”)

+This week would marked my friend Elizabeth’s 40th birthday. I’ve been visiting a lot with her in my heart. Toasting her in heaven!

+I had a lot of readers ask me to report back on the Nili Lotan “Shon” pants, which most of us now refer to as “The Hamptons Pants” because my Internet friend Stephanie said she saw them all over the Hamptons this past summer. They run big — size down one size — and are better suited to tall Magpies. I am 5’0 and I’d need to have them hemmed a good few inches, but then I worry the dimensions might look off, and this is a style all about silhouette/proportions. That said — I was surprised at how wearable and flattering the pants were (if only they came in a petite version!). The “horseshoe” shaped pant sort of creates an illusion of more slender, long legs? I’m sharing a couple of photos below. I like how they look on the thigh especially. When I shared these snapshots on Insta, a few of you mentioned that Velvet has a similar style called “The Brylie” that is almost half the price and better suited to petites. This feedback was corroborated by the stylist Mary Glenn, who mentioned a few weeks ago that a petite client of hers was wearing these and looked incredible in them. Sadly, these are sold out nearly everywhere, but you can still find a few pairs here, here, and here. Last but not least — another Magpie reader wrote in to say she’d tried the Shons, found them too big, and then fallen in love with this $30 pair from Target, which go down to a size XXS. They don’t have the same dramatic shape as the Shons or Brylies, but they do nail the “elevated cargo” look.

+I’m taking my daughter to see the Taylor Swift Eras Concert in theaters! It’s launching October 13th. We’re going with her best friend and her best friend’s mom and we’re all equally excited — ha! I’m eyeing this “Taylor” shirt and these boots for mini for the occasion, and she’s already told me she wants to wear one lightning bolt earring and one heart earring for the occasion from her Pip Pop Post collection. How cute is that? I’m torn between wearing this 1989 t-shirt and calling it a day, or maybe going the bejeweled route with a top like this. (I do love the “Midnights album”…). I also ordered two sets of these — one for my daughter and one for her friend. I can’t believe my daughter is getting to an age where we can do these kinds of things together! I cannot wait.

+Fellow mamas with little ones at home: could this be more accurate? My husband has a rule that when he’s talked over more than twice in a row, he just “buries what he was going to say deep in his soul.” Haha.

+New go-to gift for little girls aged six or seven. More gift ideas for young children here.

+Both of my children want to be Mario for Halloween. HA! I could not convince either of them to be another Nintendo character, so we’re rolling with it. I bought them these costumes because I think the padded belly makes a big difference. A lot of the less expensive options don’t have that extra detail. They have been begging me to dress up as Princess Peach and Mr. Magpie to be Toad. (I absolutely died laughing when I found this Toad “cap” — hideous! I don’t think I can convince Lan to wear it.)

+This spectacular VB blazer is en route to me. I could not love it more. I really hemmed and hawed between this cropped style and the longline version but the crop just feels better for my petite frame/more “me.”

+Strongly advise us all to buy these feather-trim button-downs now, in advance of holiday season. They are SO amazing for festive wear. Just throw on with jeans and heels, or tuck into a patterned skirt, and you’re done. Imagine that top with this skirt for Christmas Eve?! Or with high-waisted denim, a red lip, and a Savette clutch for cocktails?! Too good.

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P.S. My favorite audiobooks.

P.P.S. I made this cocktail twice this week. So delicious. It’s a great riff on a daiquiri if you want to venture out to try something a little different.

P.P.P.S. Mr. Magpie is making this party dish for an upcoming gathering at our home.

If you want more Magpie, you can subscribe to my Magpie Email Digest for a weekly roundup of top essays, musings, conversations, and finds!