Hiya,
Despite February being a short month, it led to no shortage of treasures.
Let’s take a look — ‘chal we?
Splurge-worthy
This fleece screams spring and I’m all about it.
My latest pantry indulgence: the nut butters from Big Spoon Roasters. An article in Bon Appetit first put this indie brand on my radar, and I’m so thankful for it. My favorite is the Chai Spice, followed by Hot Mamba. If you do partake, I recommend checking out their suggested recipes/uses.
Take a snooze in this cheeky number. Or these silky boxers, coming in hot with a $$$ price tag.
Recently, I had to get a mole extracted. Not fun. What was fun though? The plethora of bright bandage options my dermatologist let me pick from. It reminded me of being a little kid at the dentist’s office and carefully selecting what flavor fluoride I wanted (strawberries and cream? bubble gum? lemon lime?). Perhaps my doctor ran out of “adult” options, or perhaps she recognized an opportunity to inject some cheer into an otherwise tedious and unpleasurable procedure. In any event, I found the experience oddly touching and it inspired me to purchase these pastel gradient bandaids, or “bravery badges.” Now, there will be a silver lining of sorts the next time someone in our household gets a “boo boo.”
Can they make this adorable childrens sweater in my size, please?
These mobiles, if you’re in the market for a statement piece for your baby’s nursery…
A friend once described my style as being akin to what a Swedish mormor might dress her six-year-old grandchild in. I don’t object, and in fact, often embrace this observation. Most recently, by purchasing this Helmstedt swimsuit. I am contemplating pre-ordering the matching tote bag, and suggest you do, too.
It feels criminal to spend $200 on sweatpants, but if I were going to, I’d buy these. Haley Nahman describes purchasing them in her newsletter Maybe Baby (which, by the way, I highly recommend subscribing to):
“I’ve been avoiding telling anyone because I find the price tag so egregious, but worse was realizing that they were in fact perfect: thick, sturdy, and structured, cut with a high waist and tapered ankle, and so comfortable I never want to take them off and didn’t for days. I’ve tried and hated so many sweatpants before them that discovering them elicited an unprecedented combination of thrill and dread. They’ve made me hate all my other pants.”
Related side note — ever since reading this tweet from Kat Aaron, I’ve introduced the term “hard pants” to my vocabulary, used to describe jeans, trousers with a zipper, or any non-soft pants.
Special touches for the home
I discovered a new vase purveyor online — the Paris-based Volume Ceramics, which sells a mix of contemporary makers, like Jade Paton and Xanthe Somers, and vintage pieces. Each piece ships with a custom-made wooden box, which could probably be repurposed into a vase of its own for dried flowers.
All of the textiles from Rosita Studio.
I was on the hunt for a rolling pin and this Wirecutter article pointed me toward Whetstone, a small business in Indiana with beautiful handmade goods. In search of an additional item to justify the shipping costs, I came across their turned wooden scoops. I could see multiple uses for all three sizes — e.g. the small one would be perfect for a salt cellar, medium for coffee grinds, and the large for flour or even dog kibble.
This set of trays in Mediterranean hues.
Another Object of Use (great name for a store, BTW): these Ukrainian milk cans/kitchen caddies. Especially like the yellow one — perfect for containing your compost.
These storage boxes — ideal for those letters from long lost lovers or receipts in desperate need of reimbursement — are inspiring me to do a paper mache project with the miscellaneous boxes and pretty paper scraps I seem to accrue.
Found: 5 Office Wastebaskets. Particularly, #1, #3 and #5.
Art-y things
I love, love, love the work of Brian Rideout (click “show thumbnails” in the bottom right to see full portfolio) who paints interiors from old books and magazines, and was pleased to discover his Tokyo counterpart, Miki Matsuyama, who paints new interiors that she finds on Instagram and in magazines, like Christian Siriano’s house.
This “Pure Corn” lithograph might be my favorite February find (although technically my friend Elise found it). I am bookmarking it for my future home that has a proper kitchen with four walls… unless one of you gets to it first…
Leanne Shapton’s works. (All of Picture Room’s collections, really).
The Paper, Cards & Prints section at Pentreath & Hall. I love their bigger works, like the English landscapes or Greek vase prints, but could also see one of their beautiful greeting cards framed on a bookshelf or windowsill.
This month I stumbled on the paintings of Jonathan Gardner, which I really like. Not just the ones of strange shapes and objects, but also his portraits of women (follow the link to his page at Casey Kaplan gallery to see those). They have a little bit of a Rousseau-meets-Dali feeling, I think.
Reading material
Lauren Mechling is one of my favorite journalists and her recent piece on age-appropriate workouts didn’t disappoint.
My friend Anna, a voracious reader and generally funny human, recently started a bookstagram that is definitely worth a follow.
A cogent investigation into where the post-pandemic office is going, full of tangible reporting instead of vague prognostications.
Wall Street Journal’s Off-Duty section has some of the most consistently entertaining style writing out there. The editors know their audience: how to start bidding in online furniture auctions, cute dog beds, and kitchen countertops matched to personality types.
“The Pandemic Has Erased Entire Categories of Friendship,” by Amanda Mull for The Atlantic, which finally put to words something I’ve been trying to express for a while: I miss my outer circle.
On a similar note, I enjoyed this excerpt from Alisha Ramos’ weekly newsletter:
“What feels lost is all the good friend stuff in the middle. The hyper specific preferences. The quirks. The mannerisms and inflection. The backstories so deeply personal only the friend delivering them could string that exact series of words together. I miss hearing why a friend is fundamentally against $40 candles, or why they simply do not care if middle parts are in style. The reason I miss all of these things is because they’re the idiosyncrasies that make each friend completely their own.
That’s a wrap! See you all next time, and in the meantime, share this newsletter with all your group chats by clicking this fun button:
xoxo, Marichal
So fun! xoxo
Ace’d it my dear MG ❤️❤️❤️