My Latest Score: The Chanel-Lookalike Jacket
Remember when I talked about Chanel-lookalike flats? I’m back, today, with a Chanel-esque tweed jacket. I HAD TO HAVE this $45 Mango steal! I’ll be wearing mine with light-wash jeans and some captoe flats…
You’re Sooooo Popular: The J. Crew Rollneck Sweater
The most popular items on Le Blog this week:
+That J. Crew rollneck sweater I’ve been going on and on about. (More on why I love it here.)
+This super flattering (love the tunic length) and ridiculously discounted top.
+The latest addition to my white blouse collection.
+One of my favorite books — interestingly, a lot of folks have been revisiting my list of 10 books that will change your life! (And, ICYMI, I just started a more formal monthly book club. Read along with me!)
+The best hand wash. I have it in every bathroom in my house.
+Lots of love for the goodies in my gift wrapping guide, including satin ribbon and the best scissors for trimming said ribbon without leaving frayed edges.
+This custom wedding dress label — must have some adorable bride-to-bes out there!
#Turbothot: The 8 PM Hug.
I have always been exceptionally devoted to my mother — so much so that I cried every time she dropped me off at an afternoon art camp when I was in second or third grade (and far too old to be such a baby about it). The teachers had no idea what to do with me; it was, after all, only a two-hour-long program twice a week, and I’d spend half of it sulking and wiping tears from my eyes. Things were especially rocky when my parents left town. I remember once rifling through the packet of itineraries and emergency phone numbers my parents had left the nanny and then tentatively placing an undoubtedly exorbitantly-priced call to The Dorchester Hotel in London: “Hello, I need to leave a message for my parents?” The front desk was very kind to me and my parents called me back in a panic. “I just miss you,” I cried.
After that, my mother instated something called “The 8 PM Hug”: “No matter where I am or where you are, I’ll always be thinking of my girl at 8 PM and giving you a big hug.”
So many years later, I marvel at all the clever and thoughtful and sweet little innovations my mom devised to make sure that each of her five children felt loved. The “Special Days” we’d have, where she’d take just one of us a time for an ice cream sundae at Swenson’s or a trip to the local toy store (Sullivan’s, on Wisconsin Avenue — do you remember it, fellow Washingtonians?). The little gifts we’d find tucked in our carry-on bags when we traveled by plane. The love notes written in her perfect, looping cursive on the napkins in our lunchboxes every single day of our childhoods spent at school — “Thinking of you!” “Hump day!” “Good luck on your test!” “Love you!”
Moms are the best. Apparently I have become one myself: time to copycat my beloved mother and instate some of these special traditions myself.
#Shopaholic: Clare Vivier Monogram Jacket
+Shown in the pic above, and the ones below, too — this Clare Vivier hand-painted bomber jacket, part of a special collaboration with the oh-so-chic Marlien Rentmeester, is TOO GOOD ($395).
+I love drinking wine out of Crate and Barrel’s crescent juice glasses. Can’t explain why. I just do.
+The prettiest biscuit cutter there ever was. Incidentally, a great gift to pair with one of my favorite cookbooks in a little bundle for a cooking enthusiast. (And, more gift ideas here.)
+Speaking of cookbooks, this is now on my lust list. It’s more about food styling — I can just imagine poring over it over Saturday morning coffee and getting some fresh ideas on presentation for some upcoming dinners we’re hosting at our home. Also, as a baking enthusiast, I need this.
+Lots of Saloni on sale at The Outnet!!! You know I love me some Saloni.
+Very chic fall-appropriate dress — perfect for work or Sunday Mass (more Sunday Best ideas).
+This coat will haunt my dreams if I don’t figure out a way to buy it.
+Um, I want everything. EV.ERY.THING. from Veronica Beard’s Newest Arrivals. But especially this in that luscious forest green color, and this form-fitting midi dress (so hot and so staid at the same time), and this in the marigold color.
+I know I pooh-poohed Olivia Palermo’s latest collection for Banana, but this is the one exception.
