Site icon Magpie by Jen Shoop

Weekend Vibes, Edition No. 67: Are You a Repeater?

My Latest Hunt: The Birthday Dress.

I turn 34 on June 26th, and have been casually on the lookout for a dress to wear to my birthday dinner.  I don’t need a new dress because I have plenty, and my fallback is a white tiered Self-Portrait that I have only worn once before but that is SO DARN PRETTY (similar in ethos to this) I have been looking for any excuse to pull it out of its garment bag.  But still…it’s MA BIRFDAY.  I love this (shown above), thisthis, and this.

You’re Sooooo Popular: The Sale Summer Blouse.

The most popular items on Le Blog this week:

+Two darling statement blouses for summer — this one and this one — both on serious sale!

+The new “Gone-Girl-on-a-Train-in-the-Water-” thrilleryou must read this summer.

+The latest addition to my organization addiction.

+I can’t believe the price on this adorable blush dress.

+Obsessed with this scent.

+People are losing their minds over this sunless tanner

+A sweet dress for summer.

+These beauties are finally on sale!

#Turbothot: Are You a Repeater?

My siblings and siblings-in-law and I got into a funny debate at our family reunion when it emerged that one of my sisters will occasionally like a song so much that she will replay it five or ten or even fifteen times in a row.  This gave way to a protracted, passionate conversation about whether it was weird or not to be a “repeater” in the way only siblings or very close friends can dive into petty topics with fervor and hyperbole without royally offending anyone (to my knowledge…) — and we discovered that there was a fairly even split among us.  About half repeated songs regularly and the other half determinedly did not.  What was interesting about the conversation was that the non-repeaters were overbearing in their conviction that repeating songs was “weird” and “not how music was meant to be listened to,” and the repeaters were all sheepish about their habits: “I feel guilty, but I can’t help it!”

Was this a case of rule followers (non-repeaters) against rule skirters (repeaters)?  A case of curfew-keepers against curfew breakers?  And why did the repeaters seem to know that they were breaking some invisible law of music-listening?

What do you think?

For the record, I’m an alternative, third kind of music-listener: the very occasional repeater.  (This seems consistent with much in my life: I’m a little of this, a little of that, but wear only a handful of labels comfortably: wife, Catholic, and — more recently, after extensive soul-searching — mother and writer.)  Only rarely, when I’m really into a song, will I listen to it two times in a row or a handful of times over the course of an evening — but the thought of listening to the same song backtobacktoback feels claustrophobic to me.

What about you?  Repeater?  Non-repeater?

#Shopaholic: A One-Piece.

+I am DYING over this white one-piece.  I very much do not need another swimsuit — I barely use the drawer-full of them I currently own! — but I think I might need it.

+I already own this Mara Hoffman cover-up kaftan in a different colorway, but it’s on sale, PLUS AN EXTRA 40% OFF NOW!

+I’m digging this easy tunic dress — I kind of like the shapelessness of it, with lace up brown sandals?!

+A straw bag with a hand-painted monogram?! YES PLS.

+My dad gave my mom a pair of these (with a little guidance from yours truly) for their 38-year anniversary.  So sweet.

+Do you use a primer before you apply makeup?  This stuff is supposed to be amazing.

+I love the look of these for storing dry goods.

+This crib or this crib would make SUCH a huge statement in a chic nursery!

+In love with this acrylic x-bench — though I should say I’ve had really good luck finding amazing x-benches at Target, and this in the gray-and-cream cabana stripe has my full attention right now!  I might put it under the window in our bedroom…

+ADORABLE.