Highlights from the week: grabbed a cocktail with my sister wearing this J. McLaughlin dress (on sale) and the fabulous Elizabeth belt. The latter is noteworthy because it has no pre-bored holes, so you can cinch it at EXACTLY the most comfortable spot for you. I wore with my Dans La Main seagrass kelly bag and a pair of old Aquazzura slides from a limited edition collab they did with De Gournay. I LOVE these slides. I found a pair on The Real Real for someone who wears a size 7!
Earlier this week, Mr. Magpie and I planned the appetizer course of a neighborhood progressive dinner we are co-hosting. (By the time you’re reading this, it will have already happened!). The theme was Mexican, and we spent a lazy Sunday morning sifting through Mr. Magpie’s collection for inspo. We — and by we, I mean Landon — ended up making a ceviche, several homemade salsas, and guacamole from these books, and this required four separate trips to four different markets. Ay! We don’t make things easy on ourselves, do we? I mixed up Death & Co’s excellent, tequila-based “East River Underground” punch and a watermelon-lime agua fresca for the non-drinkers. Punches are the best way to serve cocktails to a crowd. You mix up a big batch with an enormous ice cube in the center (so it won’t dilute the punch, but will keep it cold) and guests serve themselves. This one called for jalapeno-infused tequila, which I made myself in advance — you just steep the ribs and seeds, and a small amoutn of chopped jalapeno flesh, from a couple of jalapenos in tequila for 20 minutes and then strain. We used Los Altos tequila for this cocktail but — and I think I’ve mentioned this before — the brand G4 has a blanco tequila that is, as my brother-in-law might say, “lights out,” meaning absolutely delicious and the best of its kind. I’m sort of sad I’ve tasted G4 because now it’s ruined me for all others. I’m not saying its sipping tequila, but it’s perfect for margs and mixed drinks, and it adds an interesting almost vegetal dimension to the drink. So, so good.
BTW, Williams-Sonoma has a clever cake dome that inverts to become a punch bowl that is a GREAT gift for a newlywed, or for yourself. I mean, you don’t need a punch bowl often, so it’s great that it serves another more routine purpose.
And, if you don’t have the Death & Co cocktail book, please treat yourself! It is our absolute bible. We’ve made so, so many of the cocktails from this book and they’ve taught me how to properly mix a drink, why some drinks are shaken vs stirred, how long to shake, how many ice cubes to use. The book includes classics and inventions alike.
Earlier this week, Mr. Magpie and I went to a friend’s late-afternoon birthday party at a bar downtown, and afterward, came home and ordered El Pollo Rico (THE best Peruvian chicken in the DC area, and conveniently delivers to us) and I insisted that we had enough juice in the tank to start a movie. We put on “Creed III” (?) and immediately talked through the first six minutes of the movie and then turned it off. Ha! Sometimes those nights are the best, though. They remind that marriage is one long conversation, and that — even nearly thirteen years in! — there is still so much to share with one another.
I wore my Juliet Dunn dress, one of my absolute favorite purchases this spring, with this Lizzie Fortunato necklace.
This was the first week my daughter and son were both out of school. They were in camp all week, and the logistics of this week were harrowing for various reasons (too much happening at once!), but it still had the sticky-slow feel of summer. I love the less harried pace of the mornings. Nowhere to be until 9! The children also broke in their new rainbow arch sprinkler (on sale!) and pulled out their beloved watermelon pool for a day of backyard fun. Just look at those smiles! Micro is wearing a Minnow swimsuit and mini is wearing this adorable floral bathing suit (on sale for $15 — but check out all of the J. Crew Kids sale suits, too! I just picked up this two-piece for her for $20). She asked to wear the swimsuit below for water play at camp one day this week, and wore these paper-bag waist jean shorts over top. After she was dressed, I caught her studying her reflection in the mirror, and she said, unprompted: “I like the way I look.” I about died! I couldn’t express my happiness, encouragement, delight at hearing her say that quickly enough. “I love that, I love you, I love that you like the way you look!” It felt like a big win after some of the skirmishes we had earlier this year when she began to express discontentment with the way I was dressing her. She asked me earlier this week if I can buy her “jean shorts with strings hanging off,” by which I’m sure she’s referring to the cut-offs she’s seen her teenage babysitters wearing the past few weeks. I have been working hard to “let go” and accommodate her budding sartorial sense, so dutifully did my homework. I like this pair from J. Crew, but I’m sure she’d prefer this more distressed style from Gap. (I like them in the colored options — they feel less…grown-up.). Onward we go!
In terms of my own shopping this week, I bought myself this Doen dress, this lightweight athletic jacket, and the Hunza G-lookalike suit I shared in detail yesterday. I’ve also been breaking in my new Birkenstocks and I have to say…I love them. I keep them by the door so I can slip into them when I take Tilly for a walk/run out after the kids/grab the mail/pop out to say hi to a neighbor/etc. They go with everything and I love the unexpected pop of metallic.
I also received some really exciting PR packages this week, including Goop’s new shampoo and conditioner set, which I cannot wait to try. I was fully bought in after listening to Gwyneth rave about it — hook, line, sinker — and was planning to purchase after my current lineup was finished. Will report back with a review ASAP! More of my shower favorites here, to which I must add the body oils from Olio E Osso. I now have both their classic body oil and their luster one. The former smells divine and leaves skin so silky. I love the latter, too — makes my skin look candlelit! — but be warned that it can stain! Also, I still stand by my evangelical review of Davines’ conditioner, so Goop has some big shoes to fill. It brings me joy every single time I set foot in the shower stall!
The team at Summersalt reached out offering to send me one of their suits to try and I can’t wait to share a review. I know many, many, many of you have raved about their suits over the years. I think I’m going to try their “Ruffle Backflip” in solid black.
AND — my birthday is coming up! I usually use the occasion to treat myself to a special dress. I have so many already, but…this Ulla?! This Fanm Mon? Eeee!
Have a great week!