*Image above via Cara Cara, showcasing their stunning Blue Hill dress.
My Latest Snag: The Gingham Maxi Skirt.
This under-$60 gingham skirt just arrived in the mail and it is SO adorable. I’ll be pairing mine with my go-to seamless tank. I’ve decided I’m just not a Birks gal (just cannot do it, but I love the look on other people), but if I did wear that style of shoe, I feel like the look would be so good and on-trend with these white Moses sandals and clear shades. I’ll probably style it with more of a feminine flair, finishing with slides, pretty earrings, and a straw bag.
P.S. I also love these similar gingham maxi skirts from Staud in red and blue.
You’re Sooooo Popular: Raffia Sandals.
The most popular items on le blog this week:
+These $40 raffia sandals are flying. So incredibly chic! Dead ringer for Carrie Forbes at a fraction of the price.
+Sweet dress for a little girl.
+A great boxy cut tee at a reasonable price. (I own in a few colors.)
+Striped tee dress perfect for Saturday morning trips to the farmer’s market.
+Rattan soap dispenser — a fraction of the price of similar designer styles.
+Personalized straw baskets — great gift for girlfriends, little ladies, bridesmaids, etc.
+Target leggings in great colors (love the sage green).
+Such a chic everyday dress for summer — I love the easy shape and demure length. Throw and go.
+A woven storage basket at a great price.
+Cute sandals for a little one heading into summer – great colors, velcro fasten, waterproof!
Weekend Musings: Music To Work To.
What music do you listen to while working? I need some fresh playlists. While pursuing my degrees a million years ago, I listened exclusively to classical music while studying and writing, and I especially loved Chopin’s nocturnes and etudes. I found anything with lyrics too distracting. Nowadays, I can tolerate a wider repertoire, but if I’m in serious artistic flow, I reflexively mute my music so I can eliminate every extraneous input. If I’m doing something less focused, I have been liking Haim, H.E.R., the soundtrack to the “Pride and Prejudice” movie starring Kiera Knightly (thank you to the Magpie who recommended this album!), Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande’s FIRST album (and only her first album), and sometimes my country favorites (though I find I am a seasonal listener of country, preferring it in the warm weather months), like The Chicks (early stuff only), The Highwomen, Sturgill Simpson. But I’ve exhausted them all now!
What are your recommendations? I’m coming up dry! Need suggestions!
P.P.S. A song that takes me right back to the early days of my relationship with Mr. Magpie.
Post-Scripts.
+Gorgeous embroidered face mask.
+I love these printed toddler bike shorts for layering under pima cotton dresses like this (currently on sale for 40% off!)
+I love the color yellow. This and this are so lovely.
+This stool is so pretty — almost like a side table serving as an art installation in a living room!
+This $20 top is so chic in the gingham, white, or stripe! (Or all three!)
+Adore these pearl earrings. They brought to mind this more expensive pair I’ve been eyeing for the last few weeks.
+These little girl athletic shorts keep selling out in a flash.
+This breakfast tray is just so good.
+OMG this double chaise lounge for little ones — too cute! (More backyard finds here.)
+Chic pitcher for margaritas, lemonade, or bloody marys.
+This adorable gingham bubble!
+I keep coming back to look at this dress and this one, too.
Oh, I love this prompt/request! I love music and take it very seriously … haha. I listen to WFMU a lot (a freeform station based out of Jersey City), but also have a very regimented way of making playlists on Apple Music (which I use instead of Spotify) — I add new songs to quarterly playlists, beginning new ones at the beginning of January, April, July, and October. Then, during the week between Christmas & New Year’s Day, I make a mega-playlist of all of my favorite songs from the year (though I try not to let it top 100ish songs). I have annual playlists dating all the way back to 2006!!
Anyway, favorite artists/songs in my current Spring 2021 playlist that you might enjoy include Phoenix, Lana del Rey (?), Blossom Dearie, Devendra Banhart (specifically ‘Lucky’ and ‘Love Song’), “Your Good Girl’s Gonna Go Bad” (I love old country in this vein), and William Orbit’s version of Barber’s Adagio for Strings.
P.S. That Lug von Sia dress is a dreeeeam!
xx
Ooo — I love all these song suggestions and haven’t heard of some of these artists! I also love the regimented approach to music curation. I feel like this is JUST like my brother-in-law who is very organized about these kinds of things!
xx
Music: Silk Sonic (a new duo just formed by Anderson Paak and Bruno Mars,
Band of Horses, The Bahamas, the XX and you can never go wrong with Sade!
Oh and Pink Martini- a little orchestra, classical, traditional pop, latin and jazz, sung in French, Farsi, Armenian, Portuguese, Arabic, Turkish, Xhosa and English !!
I love (!) “Leave the Door Open” by Silk Sonic — Landon and I have listened to this song about 200 times, and he is a staunch “non-repeater,” so this is saying something. We’ve always been huge Bruno Mars fans. Bucket list for us is to hear him live some day…
Thanks for these other recs! I LOVE SADE!
xx
I love listening to Mark Knopfler when I’m working; he has a lot of instrumental albums so you can avoid lyrics, if necessary, but Sailing to Philadelphia is one of my favorites.
I also like Celine Dion compilations (On ne change pas on Spotify) – my French isn’t good enough to translate all the lyrics so they do not distract me, and there’s a nice mix of tempo.
Thank you, Taryn!!! Love these suggestions!! Woohoo, now I have a whole list of playlists to try. xx
I think you might enjoy Neil Tatar. Learning to Fly is the album and song I enjoy most from him.
Thank you SO much! Going to check out now!
Cinematic Chillout playlist on Spotify has kept me alert but focused during many a late nights in my college’s library. It’s curated to include numbers from various scores, all without lyrics. It’s also updated frequently which I appreciate. Otherwise I’ll switch between The Dark Knight, Inception, Game of Thrones and Harry Potter soundtracks.
Sidenote – I will never understand how people are able to read/write listening to music with lyrics! I find it so distracting!
LOVE – thank you!! xx
Ina Garten’s Trip to Paris and the Molly Martini playlist on Spotify are both AMAZING. I know you said only early Chicks, but Gaslighter is just SUCH a good album – give it a shot if you haven’t listened to it! Xo
You had me at Ina Garten and Paris. YES. Thanks for these recs! xx
Kacey Musgraves- Golden Hour!
OH yes! I love that album, will need to revisit! xx
I just love the 80’s era for music. The underground London beats were my favorite. I don’t “work” but if I’m driving, cooking or doing household chores that is my go to. I love the pitcher from Anthropologie but I don’t understand why there is no handle, it may as well be a vase!
Love these suggestions – ha! I hadn’t even thought through the mechanics of pouring with the pitcher but you are right! Pretty but impractical…
xx
I, too, just discovered Explosions in the Sky! Also the soundtrack to If Beale Street Could Talk.
!! So interesting to have TWO upvotes for this group! Thanks!
I used to listen to the “Friday Night Lights” film soundrack by Explosions in the Sky on repeat when I was working as a copy editor. It’s all instrumental, so not distracting, but stylistically a nice change of pace from classical!
Oo thank you so much!
Do you like jazz? I’m pretty loyal to Spotify but I also use the radio.net app where I listen to TSF jazz, which is a jazz radio station in France.
I can get down with jazz – will give this a try!
xx
The Nancy Meyers Kitchen playlist on Spotify is my all time favorite. Most songs have lyrics so definitely not for when you’re in the throes of writing, but for lighter tasks. Bonus: it’s a great one to cook to as well!
!!! Thank you for the rec!!