Latest Posts

My Looks

The Big Stock-Up

jcpenney fall clothing

Shirt | Pants | Bag | Boots

For someone who has objectively quite a lot of clothing, I spend a bizarre amount of time standing in front of my closet feeling like I have nothing to wear. Because while I own plenty of cool stuff that's fun to put on when I feel like getting all dressed up, what I actually wear on a day-to-day basis are basics in neutral colors - striped tees, grey sweaters, black pants or jeans. But since I have a limited number of these items, what happens is I wear the same four or five shirts and the same two or three bottoms over and over and over and over until finally they're completely falling apart.

Which brings me to the fact that fall is a great time to stock up on basics: those things that you should always have sitting in your closet because they're what you'll really wear. A perfect sweater, jeans you can live in, a comfortable pair of boots, a button-down plaid shirt, etc. What I'm wearing here are a few wear-everywhere-everyday basics from JCPenney: a great pair of grey combat boots, a striped tee (with a twist, so it's not boring; I love those dropped sleeves), and cropped, stretchy black pants that feel like pajamas but are cute enough to wear out at night.

Lifestyle

Camp Out

You know what launch parties are?

Stressful.

You worry about the guest list and the food and the drinks and the gift bags and the decor and will anybody come and what if it rains and what if it's too hot and what if it's too cold and yaaaaaargh.

Lifestyle

A Ridiculously Good Giveaway To Set You Up For Fall

ecco domani giveaway

It's officially fall, woo! To celebrate the arrival of my favorite season, I worked with RG partner Ecco Domani to put together what might be the most amazing giveaway ever (I mean seriously: an iPad and a J.Crew tote? And other stuff??).

If you’re the (very) lucky winner, you’ll be going home with a special curated package consisting of everything you need to step up your autumnal style. The prize includes:

  • J. Crew Uptown Tote Bag in Camel
  • White iPad Mini
  • Dior Nailpolish in Grege
  • Jayson Home Wine Rack
  • Jayson Home Wine Carafe.

(Total retail value $600.)

Lifestyle

Links & Love & Stuff

eyelash extensions

 In search of tattoo inspiration? Wes Lang's work (that's his book on my piano, pictured above) is a good place to start.

 Love this dusty-rose polish for fall (and love the name, P.Y.T.).

 Last night I had a conversation about Donald Trump with my friend, and for real: I need someone to explain to me in human terms why the fact that he's running for president is not a joke. Because it seems like a joke to me, so I'm having trouble taking seriously the (apparently very real) threat that this man could one day have the job of speaking on behalf of my country. (Donald Trump Thinks Vaccines Cause Autism, Which Should Probably Preclude A Person From Becoming President, via Mommyish.)

DIARY

Biker Girl

This is my Dad, racing on the track at Laguna Seca. He is 70 years old. 

For many, many years, my primary mode of transportation was a motorcycle. I've been on one since I was about seven months old, tucked into a kind of rucksack contraption on my dad's back with a teeny-tiny helmet on my head (this is obviously pretty crazy - not to mention definitely illegal nowadays - but was apparently more or less acceptable behavior back in 1981). When I turned sixteen, my parents did the opposite of what every other parent in the world would do, and signed me up for a motorcycle training course so I could get my license as soon as possible and join in on the family pastime. I spent the weekend at some kind of army base camp-type place, practicing my turns around orange traffic cones alongside the four middle-aged men and two twentysomething guys who comprised the rest of the class.

My bike was a yellow Suzuki Savage 650. It wasn't the prettiest thing I've ever seen - it was really yellow - but I loved it. I think you always love the first vehicle you own. I rode it to school in the mornings, and on weekends I sometimes took solo drives up towards Bear Mountain, my heart pounding as I took the curves on the Henry Hudson Parkway, my mind screaming don't fall don't fall don't fall. Riding never felt comfortable to me, exactly, but I pretended that it did - because walking into class with my helmet in my hand, I was The Girl Who Rode A Motorcycle.

Lifestyle

In Monterey, With Hammerheads

Everyone talks about the Monterey Aquarium. Or everyone around here, at least. I've been putting off going because the prices are honestly kind of ludicrous - $40 per adult and $25 per child, so you're looking at over a hundred bucks for a family of three - but since we had a few hours to kill in between watching my dad race at Laguna Seca (more on that later) and dinnertime, and since I'm actually kind of okay with ludicrous ticket prices at museums and such because the money goes towards supporting the institution...we went.

It is amazing and worth every cent.

First of all: how did I not know how cute Monterey is? Adorable shops and adorable restaurants and adorable basically everything. We ended up getting an okay sushi lunch from a restaurant on the Marina (the kind of place where you pay for the view rather than the food) and an okay American-style dinner at a restaurant near my dad's hotel, but I saw a lot of extremely enticing spots as we drove around - so if anyone has recommendations for our next visit, would love to hear them.

Lifestyle

A Bundle For Mama

bundle club mom subscription gift

A few weeks ago, Kendrick e-introduced me to a friend of a friend from business school who had created a startup service geared at new moms, just because he thought I’d think it was interesting. The friend-of-a-friend, Nisreen, and I started chatting via email, and then got lunch when she came to the Bay Area, and when she showed me what she'd been working on I knew I'd want to share it with you guys - and now I finally can, because Bundle Club launches today (big congrats!).

What Bundle Club Is: A membership service for new mothers that helps them get the products that they need for their child when they need them.

How Bundle Club Works: Each month, members pay $25 to receive a carefully curated box of items specifically tailored to their child's developmental stage. It's the same business model as StitchFix (which I've never used personally, but have heard a lot about from friends): you have a few days to look at the products in the box, and then you send back what you don't want and only pay for what you keep, with the monthly membership fee being applied to the purchase (so if, for example,  you purchase $100 worth of items, you only end up paying $75).

Lifestyle

How To Visit Your New Mom Friend

The First Rule Of New Mom-Visiting: Bring Pizza

This weekend, we're planning on visiting a couple of friends who live in San Francisco to meet their new baby, and it got me thinking about how different "visiting" is when a very newly hatched person is in residence. Visiting with a second baby is a whole different story, because second-time parents are much less panicky about whether the baby's head will stay on its body when they pick it up and are likely to be really, really excited when someone offers to hold their child for so a second so they can do something other than holding their child, but visiting with a first-timer?

It's tricky. Because there is a LOT of emotion and a LOT of exhaustion going on, and different people deal with emotion and exhaustion in very different ways, so it can be hard to know what, exactly, you're walking into when you go visit a new mom. She may want a break from staring at the baby, or she may really want you to leave as quickly as possible so she can get back to doing what she wants to do (staring at the baby). She may want to show off her newborn, but she may not be in the mood to get partially naked in front of a crowd and not have any idea how that breastfeeding cover works yet. She may be straightforward with you about all this...or she may just act really, really weird.


powered by chloédigital