Some fabrics are just destined to be pleated. It’s almost as if the print is one thing on its own, but she takes off her glasses and shakes out her pony tail, and becomes something entirely new once she’s pleated. I’ve decided to look at 2024 the same way. You might think it’s yet another year, but just fold and crease and press a bit, and it could turn into something unexpected.
I’m sure I’m not the only one who feels this way, but I swear summer days move more quickly than winter days. And I don’t just mean in a daylight savings type of way, but more a blink-and-you-miss-it-because-summer-is-much-more-fun type of way. Summer afternoons zip happily by in a fiery swirl of lazy cocktails, BBQs, and travel, without a care in the world. On the other hand, winter days crawl forward inch by frozen inch, reaching for a tomorrow that always feels just out of reach.
When most people style an outfit, they probably start with the base: The dress. The skirt. The cigarette pant. They build from the foundation and find shoes and accessories to match. Now, while I’ve been known to be inspired by a dress a time or two, more often than not, I start with the perfect handbag…
You always hear that the start of a new year is supposed to imbue you with a renewed sense of impending possibility. Of hope for a new beginning. Now, as a glass half full kind of person, I can confess I’ve definitely bought into this a time or two. Despite knowing intellectually that New Year is just a time-honored construct of “endings” and “beginnings”, it still does help to have a mental model of leaving things in the past. But, this year I’m trying something new. This year, I think, instead of a “fresh start”, I’m going to tentatively sidestep…
Ahhhh sweet friends, that magical time of year is upon us. When we hear the crinkle of wrapping paper to the tune of “All I Want For Christmas”, while sneaking spiked eggnog and trying to keep the cat from eating the fake tree (and vomiting it up a few minutes later). But, most importantly: It’s time for my annual Lust List: Christmas Edition!
With the Turkey in the oven and the sounds of family swirling around my house, I sat down during a quick lull to put together my annual list of Black Friday Deals! I love shopping small around the holidays, and have really embraced getting huge chunks of Christmas shopping done before December even starts, when I can snag some amazing deals!
I’m not sure where you guys live, but here in North Carolina, there is an autumnal inevitability: regardless of whether you are smack in the middle of October or November and have busted out all manner of light coats and tights, there is always a day where you step outside in all of your glorious layers to feel a bit like Dorothy when she comes out of the house after the tornado. Except instead of walking from a world of black and white into one of color, you emerge from a presupposed expectation of the autumnal chill into a veritable…
Well, it’s officially September. And even though we are still experiencing pretty sweltering temps some days here in NC, I’m already dreaming of layers and hot chocolate and leaves crunching underfoot. What can I say? I’m almost always in an autumn frame of mind.
Things have certainly been pretty busy of late. And whenever this time of year rolls around, my eye can’t help but cast to some sort of greener pasture. Be it next week once that paper has been submitted or that deadline has been met. Next month, once the semester has passed and there are no longer undergraduates flooding my inbox. Or next year, when we might see the end of this long line of bone chilling weariness at the state of the world.
There is nothing more important than self-care. After the kind of semester I’ve just had (and let’s face it, the kind of 2 years we’ve all just had), I’m looking for it more than ever. And self care can take a variety of forms: either spending some time to yourself getting lost in a good book, heading to the beach for a girl’s weekend, or a splurge on the cutest new handbag range from Vendula London.