*Image via.
My Latest Snag: New Beauty Products.
This week, I switched up my daily cleanser to this Youth to the People superfood cleanser, which I am loving — great lather, great scent, great clean-but-not-tight feeling — and picked up a few Merit finds, including a new cream blush color (“cheeky” is a good starting-off color — great everyday natural flushed look…I’ve been wearing daily since January) and their tinted lip oil in the “les deux” shade. All of these items are up to 20% off depending on your “insider status” at Sephora through Monday. I know I’ve already made a big hullabulloo about their bronzing balm but do yourself a favor and toss it into the cart while you’re restocking your beauty must-haves. It is SUCH a great product. I use the clay color on cheeks and bridge of my nose for the perfect just-sat-outside-for-a-few-hours-reading look.
This Week’s Bestsellers.
I cannot believe how many of you snagged these J. Crew raffia sandals — run! almost sold out! — but then again, I can. They are the perfect on ramp to a trendy look — the raffia and glossy gold buckles makes the “clunky sandal trend” a bit more approachable and feminine. A lot of us also bought this under-$100 blazer. You can see me in it here, channeling early-aughts Gwyneth Paltrow. And! I’m ecstatic that many of you are trying my beloved bronzer balm (mentioned above). Yay! Is it weird to say I’m excited for you to try it? Earlier this week, I had dinner at Lutece in Georgetown (strongly recommend — great cocktail/wine program, indulgent and elevated French fare, an NYC energy) and our server seemed genuinely excited when we selected a few of the items she’d recommended off the menu. I swear she squealed once! That’s how I feel about you trying the bronzer balm. I feel like the guy in those Men’s Warehouse commercials: “You’re gonna like the way you look.”
01. AGUA BENDITA DRESS // 02. J. CREW SANDALS // 03. FLORAL EYELET BLOUSE (SEE ME IN IT HERE) // 04. PATCH POCKET JEANS // 05. LIONESS BLAZER // 06. PRADA-INSPIRED BAG // 07. THEY ALL SAW A CAT // 08. RAFFIA MULES // 09. AQUIS HAIR TOWEL // 10. TERRY FLIP FLOPS // 11. MERIT BRONZER BALM // 12. IPHONE CASE // 13. SEA TOP
Weekend Musings: What I Learned from My Mother x Julia Kasdorf.
I’ve written about this poem before, but it moved me for the tenth or eleventh time this week and I wanted to leave it here, alone, resonating:
What I Learned from My Mother
By Julia Kasdorf
I learned from my mother how to love
the living, to have plenty of vases on hand
in case you have to rush to the hospital
with peonies cut from the lawn, black ants
still stuck to the buds. I learned to save jars
large enough to hold fruit salad for a whole
grieving household, to cube home-canned pears
and peaches, to slice through maroon grape skins
and flick out the sexual seeds with a knife point.
I learned to attend viewings even if I didn’t know
the deceased, to press the moist hands
of the living, to look in their eyes and offer
sympathy, as though I understood loss even then.
I learned that whatever we say means nothing,
what anyone will remember is that we came.
I learned to believe I had the power to ease
awful pains materially like an angel.
Like a doctor, I learned to create
from another’s suffering my own usefulness, and once
you know how to do this, you can never refuse.
To every house you enter, you must offer
healing: a chocolate cake you baked yourself,
the blessing of your voice, your chaste touch.
The specificity of these learnings touches me. Despite the narrator’s idiosyncratic observations, they feel universal — aren’t these, at their core, the things all mothers teach us? “How to care for the living?”
Anyhow, a good primer for sitting down to write your own mother or mother figure a thank you note this May. What is something specific, narrow that you learned from your mother, that now makes you an extension of her gestures?
If you need a little moment to celebrate the love between a mother and her child, you must watch this brief video of a baby seeing his mother clearly for the first time with glasses. God is good.
Shopping Break.
+Ordering this dress to try. I haven’t worn an asymmetric dress in awhile but the pattern is SO good.
+Another footwear slam dunk from J. Crew. These remind me of the more expensive ones from Mansur Gavriel.
+Into this ric rac trim blouse. I love an unexpected detail like this!
+Lusting after these Prada slides. Vibe for less with these.
+I’m a longtime fan of Molton Brown hand soap and body washes — we use them nearly exclusively in our home (specifically their Rhubarb and Rose scent — the best THE BEST) because they have a great, rich lather; don’t dry out skin; and are gender-neutral enough that my husband doesn’t complain about hands that smell like peonies. Even the rhubarb and rose is not overly floral. I know many of you are similarly obsessed with the scent — a few of you also use it as body wash, body lotion, etc. This new scent intrigues me.
+Love this coffee table.
+FUN beach pants.
+I haven’t worn a strapless mini in awhile either but my goodness this makes a compelling case to try. I love the pattern! Also comes in an oversized button-down that could be adorable over our favorite swimsuit.
+Speaking of beach cover-up wear, eyeing these pink gingham shorts, which look a lot like the Hill House “nap shorts” but cost $20.
+Speaking of HHH, I am currently wearing this adorable maxi skirt of theirs. J’adore j’adore.
+A super roomy tote for park/picnic/pool adventures.
+I wrote about this yesterday, but Mille’s newest pattern is calling my name — I own this blouse in two other patterns and might need it in this one. And this dress…!!!!
+It’s the little things, like this beautiful tissue box cover…
+On-the-go play set for your little one (perfect for car, restaurant, church, etc).
+Into this bomber-style cotton utility jacket.
+A sweet and well-priced rash guard for a little love — UPF50!
+Love this sporty jacket for chilly mornings.