The following post may contain affiliate links. If you make a purchase through the links below, I may receive compensation.
My Latest Snags.
A big shopping week for us all! My favorite buys were this Julia Amory caftan (I’d been eyeing all last summer, and it’s now on sale plus an extra 35% off when added to cart — can’t wait to wear it on a warm weather getaway we have planned for January) and the holiday outfits I bought for my children from Little English (this was my order — use code BLACKFRIDAY for 40% off) and La Coqueta (this, this, and this — all 25% off).
P.S. All my top Black Friday / Cyber Monday finds here.
This Week’s Bestsellers.
Nearly everything below is on sale right now!
01. J. CREW FAIR ISLE SWEATER (50% OFF) // 02. SEVEN FOR ALL MANKIND COATED JEANS (20% OFF) // 03. J. CREW METALLIC TURTLENECK (50% OFF) // 04. TUCKERNUCK TARTAN TOP (20% OFF) // 05. ALC NORA DRESS (25% OFF) // 06. MERIT THE MINIMALIST PERFECTION STICK (20% OFF) // 07. PETITE PLUME HOLIDAY JOURNEY PAJAMAS (20% OFF) // 08. NUTCRACKER STORY ORCHESTRA BOOK // 09. JENNI KAYNE EVERYDAY SWEATER (25% OFF) // 10. LESET POINTELLE TEE (25% OFF)* // 11. FARM RIO SKIRT // 12. TRAVEL MIRROR (EXTRA 30% OFF) // 13. LAKE PAJAMAS RELAX SET (25% OFF) // 14. VINTAGE YALE PENNANT (MORE SCHOOLS / FLAGS AVAILABLE) // 15. BLOCKPRINT WASTE BASKET
*I also learned that Leset has discounted its entire site — 30% off everything, including the LS version of this tee.
Weekend Musing: Holding Hands.
“We would nap and sweat through the deep heat, our limbs loose as rags, and walk once more down the elm-tented street for a dip, holding hands which had held our bodies together better than our bones.” – William Gass
In my notebooks, I collect sticky passages and words as tactile as talismans. They sit like dream traps on the page: my eyes will skitter across them and I fall into another world. The Gass sentence says more about intimacy and that reviere-like, peak-summer heat than ten pages could. I have been thinking of the phrase “hands which had held our bodies together better than our bones” a lot. The way the people we love might “not be doing a thing that [we can] see, except standing there leaning on the balcony railing, holding the universe together.” (J.D. Salinger.) How sometimes the touch of someone’s hand can be a lifeline. (Have you ever been on the verge of tears, and someone touches your shoulder, and the shocking gentleness and goodness of it sends you over the edge? Again, I say, it’s never the cream…!)
What does the passage feel like to you? Do you have any other excerpts that you return to over and over again, even if you’re not quite sure why?
P.S. I occasionally revisit the comments on my posts on footholds and the literary fragments we carry with us for inspiration.
Post-Scripts.
+Obsessing over this satin mini in the merlot color. SO GOOD with some velvet heels!
+Also obsessing over these satin trousers from La Ligne. The color! The silhouette! Oo la la! (You can get $25 off your order with code MAGPIE25.)
+Great pair of “inspired by” mesh ballet flats. Under $50 but nail the Loeffler look (<<20% off the real deal though!).
+These Target knit pants and matching top are so chic! They look like Spanx or something? Someone told me that they are even better IRL.
+GapKids has some really cute holiday pajama prints at great prices! Love this one for your mini.
+This silk Lunya face mask would make for a luxe gift or upgrade. Do you sleep with a sleep mask regularly? Am I missing out on something?! By the time you read this, I will have been in possession of my new weighted NodPod eye mask for a few days. Cannot wait to report back. Unclear on whether I’ll be able to sleep with it on since I’m more of a side sleeper…!
+Lots of great holiday fashion finds here.
+Adorable storage solution for your little one’s nursery.
+Can’t stop thinking about this spendy makeup balm after a Magpie raved about it…I am dying to try!
+CHIC structured top!
+Still a major splurge, but this Altuzarra dress is almost half off. WOW.
+M.Z. Wallace’s holiday collection is SO cute. Why am I so drawn to the sequined things?
+Handsome quilted pullover for your man.
P.S. If you want more Magpie, you can subscribe to my Magpie Email Digest for a weekly roundup of top essays, musings, conversations, and finds. Subscribers will be getting a surprise holiday treat in their inboxes next week.
Your notebook reminds me of the practice of keeping a commonplace book, sort of a 19th-century scrapbook full of quotes and snippets and letters, witty sayings and jokes, bits of poetry. Perfect for a Magpie 😉
I get a new notebook for Christmas each year and they’re such snapshots of my life at that time, separate from my journal. I began the standard practice in my old job (strategy consultant leading a product team) of each person keeping their own “commonplace” google doc. If a snippet of a document or article particularly grabbed you, a quote or statistic that stuck with you, you’d paste it in along with the link, loosely categorized. It kept anything top of mind or relevant or with a lovely human element available to reference, rather than just “I think I read something about this a while back….” They were so individual to each person. And literary quotes were just as common as snippets of articles on tech trends or user data! Whenever we needed to pull together a deck it was a wonderful source. In my personal life I’ve used the Evernote web clipper for the same thing for over a decade, and a fair few of your posts have paragraphs saved into my personal “notebook.”
I love this concept and had never heard of it before! Thanks for sharing. Great practice for creative, professional, and personal reasons. I love!
xx
I have this all the time with song lyrics more than anything else. And I adore these two that you’ve shared.
Off the top of my head, the one that feels like it says the most about romantic love — but the connective tissue we have with people we care about deeply are — are:
Apartment Story by The National — it feels like it captures the inherent intimacy of shared space. This song really informed what I thought grown-up love would be like when I was 18 and now, almost 16 years since I first heard it, that’s still how it feels. This lyric in particular feels like it reaches out spiritually to Johnny Cash’s “in the morning, with her, having coffee” through to Taylor Swift’s description of “leaving the lights up until January” (in fact I think much of Lover has connections to the National album this track is from, Boxer):
“Hold ourselves together with our arms around the stereo for hours”
When I think of this song and this lyric, it’s the depth of knowledge you have in love with another person. In every glance, in the lifting of an arm to tuck your hand in by their side, in tidying the kitchen and filling the kettle so it’s ready for the next cup of tea. It’s in everything shared and the idea of it being this ‘Apartment Story’ of the invisible made tangible through the metaphor of that intimate, recognisable space.
I love these notes and references so much, Aoife. Thank you so much for sharing. There is a Frank Sinatra song that I have been sitting here straining to remember more details about but he sings about making eggs on Sunday morning for his love and it is also wonderfully intimate. I will pop back her to share that when I finally pin it down!! It’s driving me crazy!!
xx