The Weekly, 10.19.20

Something I am struggling to believe – next weekend marks the end of October, Halloween in a pandemic, falling back one hour, and the last weekend before the fateful presidential election, which will likely dictate a major mood for the reminder of the rollercoaster that is 2020. I’m torn between wanting time to speed up so we can get this over with, and dreading the sense of anxiety that seems to be building with every day we are closer to November.

The last week was truly a whirl wind being busy at work, and now we wait until Tuesday to see if our zip code will return to blended learning on Wednesday. It’s been challenging operating at the mercy of our politicians, many of which are just playing a game of Who’s Ego is Bigger, Anyways? I am really not sure it would matter to me to go back, or not to go back in, but it definitely still feels like the dust hasn’t settled on the start of the school year.

The weather has really started to shift, and while I do hope for mild cold season for our sanity and economy (although certainly not our environment), it’s nice to feel the change into real Fall. I brought out the boots and put away my sandals this weekend, and I’ve got a great post coming this week about the shoes I’ve got my eyes on this season. I’m desperately trying to decide whether to buy these white combat boots – I just love a white shoe, and these boots are just super dreamy.

This week I really impressed myself by spending my time before bed reading instead of watching television. After a hard binge on Yellowstone, I decided to pick up a book Sunday night, and the habit stuck through the week. I cruised through last week’s mention, and finished out Elin Hilderband’s, Troubles in Paradise, the last in a series of terribly silly books about a Midwestern woman who loses her husband in a helicopter accident in the U.S. Virgin Islands, only to discover he had a whole other family down there and some very secret business ties. It’s horribly good in a way that takes your mind off of work when you need it.

I went to a workshop this week, and the facilitators presented a text from, My Grandmother’s Hands, that was deeply moving for me. The book is a look into the way that racialized trauma in America is manifesting itself into the physical body. I am always intentional about balancing my reading for learning and for pleasure, and this will be my next learning read when it arrives. As a reminder, all of my book links come from Bookshop.org, a website that supports local bookstores – it’s a small way to avoid shopping the Amazon giant, and show love to small businesses.

Chris and I are building a tiny obsession with coffee table or decorative books. Although his collection is quite varied – from the masterpieces of the Met, to the NASA Archives – I like to find books that are focused on what I love. In this week’s buy, I recently followed Amber Lewis of @amberinteriors, and love her interior design aesthetic. Her book, Made for Living, comes out this week, and I already placed my pre-order. I can’t wait. Two other coffee table books I have my eye on? This one featuring the costume exhibitions at the Met, and this one with photography by the late Bill Cunningham of New York and Paris (I’m thinking as a gift for our wedding anniversary for Chris).

I am having a real love affair with belts recently. I saw this beautiful belt from a shop I really hadn’t heard about until recently – Séazane – and then went down a rabbit hole of belt browsing on the internet (they have really lovely sweaters, as well, although not a great range of sizing it appears). I definitely have my eye on this YSL belt for a gift wishlist I grow mentally in my head. But I also love this FRAME belt that Grace Atwood posted about trading in her Gucci belts for recently, and I think it’s pretty divine.

I finally caved in and purchased the J.Crew coatigan I have had my eye on for weeks. Reviews say to size down, but it’s supposed to be an oversized fit. The medium still hasn’t come back in stock, and I just love it so much I decided to tempt fate and go with the large while it was on sale this weekend. I just want something camel, and I think it will be great for layering under a coat in colder weather. I also picked up these snakeskin boots while they were on sale, and have no regrets that they will be the perfect neutral for Fall.

In other really great sales to browse this weekend, I found this gorgeous sweater from Anthropologie. I love the quarter-zip trend, and I think it’s stunning in ivory. I’m also tempted to buy another one of my favorite scarf in the mauve color or green. I wore this scarf for my wedding as more of a shawl (I bought it in the store the day before on happenstance), and it was such a stunning addition for our outdoor reception photos. If you are looking for a cozy, chunky scarf, this. is. it. I did grab this scarf, which just looks like a warm sweater and has the prettiest light blue undertones.

For beauty buys this week, I’ve got two for you. I am changing up my exfoliation and hydrating routines now that the weather is changing (more on this this week on the blog). I grabbed this new toner that I claims to be better than the cult-favorite P50 toner, according to TikTok (?). Had to try. And then I am out of night-time moisturizer, so I decided to try this one from Farmacy, since I love everything else I have tried. I’ll let you know if it’s as good as it sounds.

Last week, we had a Toto washlet toilet installed in our apartment (our landlords’ decision), and it all feels very European. But in an effort to refresh our bathroom, we decided to grab a few things to try and give some renewing vibes. For some reason, we always need new towels. We have about 3 different sets we use from, and honestly, that’s because we still haven’t found towels we love. We decided to buy this set from Parachute (all of our bedding is from there, too), and honestly, they are super luxe without being too bulky. I also grabbed this simple linen shower curtain from Brooklinen, and these shower rings from Amazon. To add some color, I found this funky rug in a pink and red patterned print (honestly, the quality is just okay, but it’s good for a bathroom). And lastly, I love any marble details, so I bought this tray and this bowl for the bathroom, as well.

Well, that’s about all I have for this week. I finished off my super energizing and relaxing weekend baking these chocolate chip cookies that I saw in the New York Times, today. It’s a running joke between me, Chris and my mom that any time the Times says something is the “best” of its kind, it is usually just mediocre. My cookies didn’t chill quite as long, but considering you fold Maldon sea salt (my favorite to add to just about anything I eat) into the dough, they are definitely a salty-sweet delicious treat. Stay pretty busy!

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