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Weekend Vibes: On Discovering Where You’re Headed.

By: Jen Shoop
"The truth is, most of us discover where we are headed when we arrive." -Bill Watterson

My Latest Snag: My Easter Dress.

My favorite purchase this week was my Easter dress: this spectacular Horror Vacui Freja style. The silhouette, the neckline, the print, the tiers — it’s beyond gorgeous. This brand is an investment but I have a skirt of theirs in a retired Liberty floral that I pull out every season and it always sparks joy and garners compliments. Very much my style. I will be sharing more Easter/spring dress picks this week, but in the meantime, I just updated Le Shop with lots of pretty spring favorites.

This Week’s Most Popular: Early Spring Finds.

early spring fashion

01. STRIPED BAG STRAP // 02. WHITE TOP // 03. APIECE APART MESA DRESS // 04. TUCKER DINING CHAIR // 05. AVENE CICALFATE INTENSIVE REPAIR BALM // 06. CROPPED LADY CARDIGAN // 07. TARGET BOYS SWIM TRUNKS // 08. GIRLS FLORAL DRESS // 09. FRESHWATER PEARL HEART EARRINGS // 10. GANNI COAT // 11. AMAZON WOVEN BAG // 12. TARGET POLO SWEATSHIRT

Weekend Musings: On Discovering Where We’re Headed.

Cartoonist Bill Watterson said: “The truth is, most of us discover where we are headed when we arrive.” This general sentiment has been on my mind all week, ever since writing about the concept of the “quarterlife,” and the ways in which the stretch of time between our adolescence and our midlives are almost universally defined by meandering and exploration, despite prevalent narratives that propose the inverse. Could my 22 year old self have even imagined I’d be writing, shopping, and chatting with smart friends I’ve met on the Internet for a living? Absolutely not. But looking back, I can see the breadcrumb trail that brought me here.

Bill Watterson authored the comic strip “Calvin & Hobbes,” which my brother loved as a child. I can still remember the row of comic book spines in his bedroom, the way I dared not touch them. I knew only the stick figure outlines of their content: a boy and his anthropomorphic tiger, a taste of mischief and satire. I always felt that they “weren’t for me” because — well, why? He secreted them away from the prying hands of his four little sisters? I shied from them because they were too difficult when he first started reading them (as he is two years my senior), and the challenge stigma never dissipated? Comics were “for boys”? (Where I absorbed that last notion, I do not know, but I can tell you that I take retributive pleasure in the fact that my daughter is deep into the same Dogman comic series the older boys next door love. This is not to say I don’t question the series’ literary merit, but to say: girls can and should read comic books, too.) I am preserving this paragraph-long digression because I think it underscores an important point about creativity, and about living (especially in the quarterlife, but I am convinced this is true across a lifespan):

A lot of writing, and a lot of life, is about taking leaps of faith, and then answering for them. About doing something in dim lighting and then going back and prodding at where we went wrong: the books we did not read, the things we did not say, the things we said but regret, and, most beautifully:

The things we did that turned out great.

Usually, those great things are born of love.

Shopping Break.

+Have we talked about this moisturizer? It is relatively inexpensive (around $20) but super similar to Clarins’ Energy formula, yielding a similar glowy result. I wore this all last summer and just bought a new pot as I head into warmer weather.

+OMG this skirt looks just like Agua Bendita but under $100! You can pair with the matching cropped top but I know some of us aren’t thrilled about a bared midriff. Would also look great with a white button-down like this or this, or with a cashmere crewneck as we head towards warmer weather.

+Khaki seems to be enjoying a moment this spring. More detail on this trend in an upcoming post.

+Loewe sneakers on sale!!!!

+Cute spring dress for a little girl — under $30.

+My daughter has asked for a bathrobe (!) because I have been wearing the Weezie one I raved about here so much. I’m leaning towards this alphabet one or this gingham one (thinking she might prefer the lighter weight of this one in fact), but this rosebud style is precious, too.

+Excuse me, this Target bench is fabulous. More recent Target finds here.

+These slingbacks make me weak in the knees…SWOON.

+La Ligne just launched denim! This brand just gets how we want to dress.

+Pretty pouches.

+I’ve never ordered from this brand, but this sweater of theirs is marketed as “just like Jenni Kayne, but less.” The fit and texture look right!

+Speaking of Jenni Kayne: new colors in their popular Marina culottes!

+Fun spring barrettes for a little love.

+While we’re talking girls: my daughter absolutely loves the camisoles from TBBC. They are really soft and stretchy and come in the sweetest prints. She likes to swap out the tops of her pajamas for these! I guess she runs hot at night? She also likes these plain white ones (much less expensive) — size up, though. These run snug.

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9 thoughts on “Weekend Vibes: On Discovering Where You’re Headed.

  1. I love this quote. For me, being back on my college campus as en employee, things I haven’t thought about in years are coming back. But I am an adult now whatever that means. Do you watch The Sex Lives of College Girls on HBO? The character Becca reminds me of your paragraph on comics are ‘for boys,’ because women were left out of comedy writing amongst other things. Kinda like the film Late Show…the one with Emma Thompson and Mindy Kaling. Kaling is behind Sex Lives. And Kaling is a huge influence and inspiration to me. It wasn’t until The Office that someone who looked like me was on mainstream TV. To my knowledge. And being the only non-white human in my family this was huge. Representation matters and exposure to all kinds of things such as comics is important. Women should be at the table not only to be a part of the conversation but to be leading it.
    My 22-year old self I think would be happy for where I am. Coincidentally I graduated there on my 22. A lot to soak in. At 35 I’m still learning.
    ❤️

    1. I’m 38 and still learning, too! Feel like some things are just finally starting to click.

      I love Kaling, too, and thank you so much for sharing her personal significance to you!!! Lots of love and respect for Mindy!

      xx

  2. Oh, ILOVED Calvin and Hobbes! I still have all my books, now I feel like pulling one out at random and paging through it this afternoon. I wonder if it holds up? I also love the low-pressure vibes of that quote. It’s like releasing a held breath – ahhh, I don’t necessarily need to know where I’m going after all!

    We have not gotten into Dogman (yet) but my 5yo keeps checking out Rainbow Magic Fairies books from the school library…speaking of books with questionable literary merit :/ Could be worse, at least she wants to read!

    1. Yes — like “releasing a held breath” is such a good characterization. Made me feel instantly better.

      I’ve had the same loop of thoughts re: books of questionable content. At least they’re excited to read on their own!!

      xx

  3. I love these musings. One of the quotes I think of most often is “not all those who wander are lost” which feels adjacent to the waterston observation.

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