My Latest Score: Chanel Mascara Base.
I am mildly to aggressively obsessed with my lashes. They are probably my favorite feature, as they have always been naturally long — and, when I have the time and inclination, I love to amp them up with extensions, which are pretty much the ultimate in luxury beauty. (But — very hard on your lashes. I can never go more than a couple of months with them before I get finnicky and worry my lashes will never grow back. Don’t worry; they do. But it takes time.) I am fairly confident I’ve tried about 90% of the mascaras on the market, and the absolute best IMHO is DiorShow. It’s inky and dramatic but not clumpy, and it doesn’t flake like so many other (inferior) mascaras. I recently added Chanel’s Mascara Base to my rotation and am legit dying over the results.
Also shown in the snap above: Nars’ gloss in Turkish Delight (I’m not normally a gloss person, but I love the frosted natural look of this gloss!) and Bobbi Brown’s Extra Lip Tint in Bare Pink, which is super moisturizing and adds just the right amount of polish.
You’re Sooooo Popular:
The most popular items on Le Blog this week:
+The most perfect swimsuit ever. I actually featured this in my weekly secret magpie micropost series, which I distribute to my email subscribers. I use that series to feature just one product a week that I’m dying over — something specific and small that doesn’t necessarily merit a full post!
+The easiest breeziest coverup, which I would actually wear around the house even when not at the beach, with my hair up in a top knot and bare feet.
+The cutest linen stripe skirt!
+An under $20 adorable straw hat that sold out but was just restocked with a new grosgrain band color!
+A unique gift for a hostess. Imagine tying it up with a dramatic white bow!
+Monogrammed tumblers for your next al fresco meal.
#Turbothot: The Weird Thing We Do After Vacations.
Joanna of Cup of Jo recently shared “the weird thing” she and her husband do on vacation, which sounds interesting but I’m not quite sure it’s for Mr. Magpie and I, because, recently, I suggested that for Father’s Day, I take both mini and our dog out for the afternoon so that he could pass the day in blessed silence doing whatever he’d like to do. His response was a sad frown and then: “No, but I want to be with you guys.” (And it’s not that we don’t enjoy time apart or time to ourselves, but that — on that particular day of all days — he felt it would be a disservice to spend it separate from one another. I have a sense he’d feel the same about vacation time.)
That said, the prompt led me to realize that there are all different types of vacationers, with different vacationing styles and priorities. In high school, a friend of mine returned from a weeklong trip to France and blew my mind when she told me all that she’d seen and done, as she rattled off various sites and museums and excursions and performances she’d taken in.
“How did you…do that much?” I puzzled, in wonderment. Our family vacations tended to be long, do-nothing days at the pool punctuated by occasional family excursions to see a rodeo, or go to the chili cookoff, or sit on the Main Street curb for the fourth of july parade, or head out into the Rockies for a family hike (we spent most of our summers in Colorado) — but never more than one attraction per day.
“My mom schedules everything down to a tee,” she explained. “It’s awesome. We get up at six and get our day started.”
I’ve always gravitated more towards my parents’ style, though I know that this predilection has been shaped by the vacations I grew up with. Luckily, Mr. Magpie shares a similar outlook: we aim for one or two activities — maybe a museum in the morning and a historical site in the afternoon — and let ourselves wander, rest in the hotel room, or sidle up to a cute bar for a midday glass of wine if we’re so inclined. We like a relaxed, ambling pace; it feels blissfully different from the harried life we live at home. But the one weird thing we always do? We leave a day earlier than we might otherwise so that we can spend the final day of “vacation” back home — doing laundry, unpacking, re-acclimating — but mainly, doing nothing at all. For us, vacation means a true break, a slowing down, a restoration, and that last glorious day of nothingness seals the deal. I can see the appeal of using vacation time to experience the world and bond with your loved ones over new adventures you can’t access anywhere else, but — we prefer to use vacation time to recharge the batteries.
How do you vacation?
(And where are you vacationing?!)
#Shopaholic: The Floral Statement Earring.
+I’m sure you’re thinking — ENOUGH, ENOUGH WITH THE FLORALS — but these earrings!!!! (More amazing floral finds here; and I already bought these floral statement makers.)
+If I were a surfer girl, I’d wear this wetsuit in a heartbeat. So chic! (P.S. Rashguards for your minis here!)
+An EPIC find for wedding guest attire. I’M OBSESSED. The color, the neckline, the shape! And well-priced for what it is!
+Remember the pastel blue H+M biker leather jacket everyone lost their mind over a couple of season ago?! Club Monaco has NAILED its own version. Super chic.
+I have a dress SUPER similar to this style and I love it so much — I feel Italian in it, like a Missoni granddaughter who might also wear a turban and keeps her hair long and boho-like.
+Were you a fan of Fate + Furies? I loved it. (Incidentally, Barack Obama once said it was his favorite book.) The author is out with a new book! So curious to take it in.
+I’m coveting this illuminating face balm.
+Ordering one of these for mini’s ever-growing bow collection…
P.S. The elegant, lopsided dance of motherhood.
P.P.S. That time I read a young adult novel…and my thoughts on reading highbrow vs. lowbrow fare.