Archive for December, 2017

Off I go

OK ladies, I’m out of here until after the New Year; expect me back on the 2nd or the 3rd, depending on how long it takes me to get it together after I return from my trip to Mexico (which I mentioned here; I will be leaving the clogs at home thanks to the many warnings you lodged about the tricky cobblestone streets of San Miguel). I hope you all have the most excellent holidays imaginable, and if this time of year is tough for you, I hope it passes as smoothly as possible and is over before you know it. I’m happy to see batshit 2017 draw to a close, but am so inspired by the many ways in which women have risen up over the course of the past year, and look forward to more of the same moving forward. And on a personal note: I recently noticed that this blog has had over 35,000 comments since it launched back in 2012, and am so grateful to those of you who’ve made this such a lively, happy, deeply supportive environment. You bring me happiness every day. Meanwhile: I’m very curious as to what you are up to during the break, and would love to hear about any and all of your favorite holiday traditions (which I know I’ve asked you before, but I’m curious again).

11 Bright and happy scarves for the dreariest of days

I love bright, borderline loud scarves this time of year, when it’s too easy to walk out of the house in the drabbest colors from head to toe. The right scarf can light up your whole face even when makeup fails you, and I’m also always looking for items to put a little spring in my step when it gets to be grey and miserable out and I start feeling deathly pallid no matter how much bronzer I apply. This one from Missoni is all fierce oranges and yellows, with a little black thrown in for good measure.

There is a very subtle herringbone pattern here that I quite like, and the combination of reds is so good. It’s Eileen Fisher, who occasionally surprises one.

This is possibly a bit much, but just the right thing for certain circumstances.

Red leopard is never a bad idea, and the price is quite nice.

I like the chunkiness of this option,and the stripes are cute in a slightly preppy Ali McGraw kind of a way.

This is White + Warren’s excellent travel scarf, which is absolute genius on a frigid airplane, and again, I’m liking the stripes.

I always get really happy when I see red, white, and blue together: it’s so graphic and appealing.

Houndstooth is so chic and under-used, and the stripes of color are fun.

Pendelton’s National Parks series strikes again. I’m going to venture to say that this is actually a really sophisticated color combination, and that it looks fancier than it is—sort of like Gucci right now, if that’s your thing.

Why not something pink and floofy?

This has a small diamond-plaid print, something I’d never seen before but quite like—it makes the wee-est of statements.

I’m thinking of doing another week of requests

I kicked off 2017 by taking suggestions from the audience, and am considering doing it again. Is there a post you’re itching to see here? Please share in the comments.

Things I bought, things I want

The other day it was so cruelly cold out that I marched right over to No. 6, and purchased myself these shearling-lined boots, which I have somehow been living without all these years and now I don’t know how that was even possible. They are so comfortable and so, so damn cozy that I practically look forward to walking the dogs on super-chilly nights.

This quilt is by Eskayel, one of my favorite producers of unstoppably good prints, and I nabbed it the other day when they were running a Cyber Monday special. It looks excellently matchy-clashy with my headboard, which is also upholstered in Eskayel fabric.

And on that theme, this quilt scarf might be crazy, but it’s a kind of crazy I can get behind.

All the cool kids are walking around my hipster neighborhood in fanny packs these days, and I am a little embarrassed to admit that I’m sort of the eensiest bit intrigued. This one in millennial pink is almost impossibly trendy, but I think it’s super-cute anyway. (Here’s a slightly more grown-up option in black velvet, and an adorable crocheted one from Rachel Comey).

This space dye hoodie just looks like the coziness. It’d make an excellent layer.

The chicest neck pillow ever, from designer Lauren Manoogian. This would actually make a really good gift, if you’re doing some last-minute shopping.

I’m always on the lookout for red tops, because the color looks good on me, but it’s frequently a struggle to find the exactly right one: either the red is wrong—usually too orange-y, sometimes too brown—or the item in question is overly prissy or fussy. It’s rare that I happen upon a red top that gets everything right, but this one comes pretty damn close. It’s ever-so-slightly fussy, but manageable, and well-priced too.

 

The GOACA guide: Ten gifts I would love to receive

I believe in buying people the kind of gifts they’d never buy themselves, and all of the following items fall under that heading for me. They’re all deeply unnecessary, but each in its own way quite excellent. For starters: I have been trying again to meditate—it is so hard!—and believe I could at least do so stylishly (if not effectively) on this cushion.

The cutest speaker maybe ever.

And these socks just delight me.

A diminutive photo printer would come in so handy. I miss actual pictures.

This wrought iron snake would look perfect on a coffee table.

Such an unstoppably gorgeous Murano glass vase.

I have it in my mind that I need a red puffer, and I like the shirttail hem on this one.

These black cutting boards are so unexpected and cool.

This skull print mug from Astier de Villatte is just precisely the type of item I would never buy for myself—it’s so pricey for a mug—but would be impossibly thrilled to receive.

It exceeds the GOACA price limit, and I don’t have my fingers crossed that anyone’s going to splurge on it for me, but I have wanted this knot ring for ages and ages.

My new favorite Fornasetti plate.

 

Tuesday links

 

• So many good psychedelic posters by artist Victor Moscoso. (Dangerous Minds)
• I love that there is such a thing as flower-bombing. (Colossal)
• Pretty aerial photos of NYC in the fall. (Flavorwire)
• Weird gift-giving superstitions. (Mental Floss)
• The author of the “Cat Person” story in the New Yorker is about to have a million-dollar book deal. (Elle)