I’ve been noticing bungee cord/roping subtly incorporated into sandals, bags, and jewelry — a summer trend is upon us! Below, I’ve picked out a few of my favorite finds and some ways to style for summer.
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By: Jen Shoop
Niche content alert — but many of you have asked for my thoughts on our recent trip to Disney. First, a disclaimer: I am not an expert! I am an average mom sharing very earnest thoughts on our first experience visiting as a family! Take everything with a grain of salt and feel free to share your thoughts and approaches in the comments.
The main takeaway I had: there are many ways to enjoy Disney, and you shouldn’t let the hype intimidate you! The number one question I’ve received from Magpie readers on this subject: do you need a planner?! I do not think so. We did not, and we had a fantastic and magical time. But (!) as I will expand on below, it depends on your priorities for this trip. We wanted ours to be fun, full of rides, and focused on the kids, but also somewhat relaxing for us. As Landon put it: “we don’t necessarily want to squeeze everything we can out of Disney–that’s not our objective.” To this end, we were not pressed to get on every ride. We did not prioritize getting to the parks for “rope drop” (opening) each morning. If we missed something, we shrugged it off. But! You may have a different outlook depending on how much time you have, your kids’ ages, the degree to which you are “a Disney person,” your willingness to do your own research/figure out which rides to go on, etc, in which case having a planner map your experience might make sense for you. In general, though, Disney makes having fun easy — they are, after all, experts in operations and entertainment. You do not need to read 1,000 blogs; you will have a good time even if you take a lower-key approach (as we did). In fact, I found that a lot of the things I’d read online billed as “key to making the most of Disney” did not apply to our experience and unnecessarily stressed me out. This does not make those wisdoms wrong — we are perhaps idiosyncratic travelers? — but just a little reminder that for any one destination there are multiple valid paths. Trust yourself and your priorities!
The only aspect of the trip I think you really need to be on top of is buying the lightning lane multi-pass at 7 am sharp on the first day it becomes available to you (for us, three days before our first park visit — but you get more advanced access if staying at a Disney resort) and knowing which rides to pre-book using the pass. (Notes on this below.) Otherwise, you will miss out on opportunities to skip the longest lines for the most coveted rides, which I think would have been a disappointment/frustration.
Below, I’m going to share some thoughts on our travel plans, why we made them as we did, and what other options were recommended/might be worth considering. These are non-canonical! I know many friends who went about this very differently and had great experiences; will include their notes below.
+HOTEL: We stayed at the Waldorf Astoria. Most guides/friends urged us to stay “on campus” (on the monorail) in a Disney resort, but Landon and I were willing to forgo proximity to parks for a slightly quieter and more elevated hotel experience. We ended up loving this arrangement. We’d spend the bulk of the day in the parks, and then retreat to the quiet hotel pool, and eat dinner there, too. It made for really easy evenings after long, hot, busy, stimulating days! (Bonus: we found the food at WA quite good.) I would not describe the Waldorf as “a destination hotel” but it was well-appointed, spacious, and had incredible staff. In general, the hospitality in Orlando is insanely good.
If you have younger children, you might find staying on the monorail easier, because it’s one leg of transit closer to the park. You just pop over and get started. By contrast, we had to take a shuttle or Uber to get to the monorail/ferry to then get to the park. We did not find this an issue (hotel shuttles were clean and timely; Ubers are plentiful) but could be worth considering, especially if you have littler kids with lower patience levels. I will say that we had anticipated we might spend time at the park, come back to the hotel, and then return to the parks later in the day (for fireworks, etc) but we found it impossible to motivate ourselves to get back to the park after we’d returned. It was just too much! So if you want to bounce back and forth between park and hotel (especially if you have kids that might still need to nap in the hotel), you probably want to stay on the monorail. The Disney resorts also give you earlier access to the parks and character breakfasts — not priorities for us but worth consideration if those things are important to you.
If you stay at Disney, the top rec from our travel agent and several other trusted resources is The Polynesian. However, we have friends who stayed at the Contemporary, and they said they preferred to spend less on the room, as they prioritized riding as many rides as they could, and spent so little time in the rooms anyway. Again, priorities/trade-offs!
If you want a more luxe experience, stay at the Four Seasons. We seriously considered it, but Landon and I have learned that we really appreciate a separate sleeping area from our kids in order to enjoy a trip of any duration, and the price of a suite at the Four Seasons was around $3500/night when we were booking (!) — not worth the expense in our view. We were able to get a suite at the Waldorf for less than 1/3 that price, and were able to use our AMEX amenities at the Waldorf to get complimentary breakfast, resort credits, upgraded room, etc. These were really nice perks for us — especially (surprisingly?) the breakfast. We’d fuel up with a big hotel breakfast before going into the parks so we could have a lighter, easier lunch on the go.
+PARKS: We did two days at Magic Kingdom and one day at Animal Kingdom–the rec from most friends with kids similar in age to ours. This felt exactly right for the children’s ages (5 and 8) and the scope of the respective parks. I think a third day at MK would have been too much; if we had one extra day, we would have gone to Hollywood Studios, but I’ve heard this is generally a better fit for older kids anyway. We spent around six hours per day at the parks. This was plenty for us; everyone was tired and ready for quiet/rest by this point. I’ve heard EPCOT is better for adults / more oriented around food, which was not our interest.
+LENGTH OF TRIP: We felt three nights / four days was perfect. We had a very early flight on Monday (left at 6:35 a.m.) and were at Animal Kingdom by around 10, so we did treat that first day as a true “park day.” Then we did two days at Magic Kingdom. Our travel agent had said most people prefer to stay one extra day (for a total of four nights/five days), during which you don’t go to a park / just stay at pool or do something lower key, but we felt our length was ideal. We were ready to get back after three park days.
+PASSES AND RIDES: This was the single area of our trip that required the most work, and I have two strong recs here: first, buy your kids the Birnbaum guide to Disney and second, splurge on the the lightning lane multi-pass. On the first matter: we gave our kids these guides (on the rec of a Magpie reader) a few months before heading to Disney, and our kids read them cover to cover dozens of times. The guides not only gave them a realistic preview of the parks and their rides, but got them very excited and, in the end, made them incredible sources of information! We’d ask Emory “what’s this ride?” and she’d know every detail about it, which was helpful in figuring out which rides might be too scary or too baby-ish, which rides would be the most in-demand, etc. Cannot rec enough. They also have an autograph section in the book that the kids used at the park. (Thank you to the Magpie who recommended these guides!)
On the lightning lane: Disney recently launched a version of the lightning lane pass that gives you access to every single ride but I don’t think this is necessary unless you are determined to get on every ride multiple times with no wait. Just get the standard “multi pass” one that gives you three passes to use, and make sure you have one for each member of your party. I say this is essential because we skipped multiple hour-long lines for the most popular rides AND it gave our days a useful shape, as you need to select a time for each ride, and you therefore create a little itinerary that becomes helpful to organizing your day. The key is to primarily use the lightning lane passes for the rides/experiences that have long waits. The TL;DR: try to book the following rides using the lightning pass at Magic Kingdom, and I’m listing them in descending order in terms of my kids’ enjoyment of them/the length of lines as we experienced it: Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, Peter Pan, Haunted Mansion, Buzz Lightyear, Jungle Cruise. At Animal Kingdom: Kali River Cruise, Expedition Everest, Kilimanjaro Safari, Dinosaur. I’m excluding from this list several of the more intense roller coasters, because our kids weren’t interested in them!
There were a few of these rides that were fully booked / unavailable to us, even with the lightning pass — they are so popular! — but don’t fret if this happens to you. We did end up waiting for a handful of these rides in the standard lines; we’d just prioritize them when the waits were a tad shorter (Disney makes this easy to see in the app) and/or earlier in the morning, when the lines are generally shorter and our kids were less likely to complain. We played games and had snacks while waiting, and most of the rides have lots of interesting things to look at and keep you moving every minute or two. Truthfully, the few waits we had in line were not bad at all, but I think this is because we were able to more or less walk on to most of the other ones using the pass. And, our kids’ ages! I’m not sure how it would feel to stand in line with a 2 and 4 year old.
Our kids’ favorite rides were Tiana, Seven Dwarfs, and Kali River Cruise. Dinosaur was a little scary for Hill. Emory LOVED Expedition Everest, but Hill was too scared to go on it.
The one area we could have been better about — mapping our days geographically. We criss-crossed the parks so many times because we’d use the lightning pass to book one ride at one end of the park, and then have a pass for another ride at the opposite end. Sometimes this just can’t be avoided because several of the rides are extremely popular and you’re more or less at the whim of when there’s availability! But I do think there are probably ways to be more organized about which order to see which rides in to reduce walking.
Final note: if budget is no issue for you, you might consider booking a VIP Guide. I think these run you ~$800/per hour, with a five hour minimium, for a family of four. But you basically show up and have a guide take you on a custom itinerary and wait in no lines whatsoever.
+KIDS’ AGES: Hill will turn six on May 31 and Emory turned eight in March. We felt the ages were absolutely perfect — they’re still delighted by the magic of the characters, found even the slower moving classic rides (“It’s a Small World”) fun, and are tall enough to go on most of the rides. They were also capable of walking the entire park on their own, per my note below! We did see tons and tons of younger kids but I feel like 4 is probably the youngest I would have taken mine just in terms of their ability to enjoy it, the expense of it, the complication of still needing naps, etc. But you know your kids, of course, and I’m sure there are many Disney-goers who have had magical times with their babies in tow, too.
+STROLLERS: I feel like I’m going to get in hot water for this one, so take with a big grain of salt. Literally every single person we consulted with insisted we needed a stroller, even for children our ages. So I rented a double stroller with Kingdom Strollers (the top stroller rental rec I found on Reddit), which made it very easy: they deliver the stroller to your hotel and you don’t even need to be there/sign off. It’s just down by the bellhop and ready for you. Same goes for pick up. Couldn’t have been simpler. But we did not use that stroller once! Landon took one look at it the day we arrived and said — “let’s see how they do without it.” He felt that if they were given the option, they’d just ride in it all the time, and it seemed unnecessary to him; we both cling to the old Montessori wisdom that “a child can walk their age in miles each day” and generally push our kids to walk farther than they think they can. Plus, the double jogging stroller was really bulky and would have been unwieldy when in dense crowds. And he was right — the kids did great! They walked almost 20 miles in three days! It was nice not to have anything to push/pull/park/etc. We went at the kids’ pace, took frequent breaks, and being stroller-free led us to pause and look at things we might otherwise have missed if we were zig-zagging from ride to ride. For example, we stopped to get signatures from Cinderella’s evil stepsisters because Emory noticed them under an awning; we accidentally wound up watching two performances while the kids were taking a break; etc.
All that said, I think a stroller would be essential for kids any younger than ours, and possibly necessary if you plan to stay from, say, rope drop at 7:30 am until fireworks at 8:30 pm. By contrast, we’d typically only spend six hours at the park per day, and Hill was pretty tired by that point — as were we. (This did not stop him from then swimming for two hours at the pool after, but still…!). The arrangement worked for our family and it made us feel that we were experiencing Disney through their eyes. But you know your kids…! Maybe you already know they’ll be whining about tired feet within an hour…!
If you are on the fence about this, and have kids of a similar age to ours, I would personally recommend skipping the Kingdom Stroller situation and renting one from the park if you really need it/are in a bind. They aren’t that much more expensive on a daily basis. Bonus that you don’t need to schlep the stroller onto the monorail/shuttle/etc. Caveat that the strollers available at the parks are much smaller and less comfortable (more like molded plastic vs the name brand options you can get via Kingdom Strollers). Still, they’ll work if you’re in a pinch.
Last consideration: we had good friends who took their three kids to Disney a few weeks before ours and insisted the stroller was essential, BUT they were much more ambitious about riding every single ride, often multiple times. I think that if your priority is getting on as many rides as you can, the stroller does make sense, as you’re flitting from lightning pass booking to lightning pass booking. That was not our priority/vibe, so we did fine just going at our own pace, going on a few rides with the lightning pass, waiting in shorter lines for the classics like the tea cups, Dumbo, etc. Just my thoughts!
+SHOWS/CHARACTER VISITS: For some reason, I was deeply moved watching total strangers hug their favorite Disney characters! I teared up multiple times?! I found it so charming. We were sort of casual about this — Landon checked the app a few times to see which characters were close by, and we got a few signatures, but we weren’t hyper-motivated about it. The character schedules seem to change at the last minute so it can be hard to map out. I’m glad we were able to see Pooh and Tigger; the kids were very excited. I would personally prioritize doing at least one character visit with your kids. For the shows — we LOVED the Mickey’s Philharmagic show. It was the first thing we did at Magic Kingdom and it was the perfect way to set the tone. It might have been my favorite “stop” at Magic Kingdom!
+TIMING: A lot of friends/guides told us to get to the parks as early as possible. I do think the parks get more crowded as the day goes on and the rides are easier to get on in the morning, but — !! We sort of went the opposite direction. In general, on this vacation and all others, we prefer to move at a relaxed pace. So this trip, we would get up (I would set my alarm for 7-ish, and the kids were usually still asleep!), have a nice breakfast, and then head to the park, arriving around 8:30-9. This worked well for us and gave the morning a less harried pace. Again, this is a personal preference; if you’re aiming to get on every single ride as quickly as you can, maybe waking up and getting there first is a priority for you.
+CLOTHING: I was really whipsawed by this; I had people tell me all kinds of conflicting things! Don’t wear socks and sneakers because you’ll get wet and have to walk around in marshy shoes! Don’t wear sandals because you’ll get a blister! Don’t wear jean shorts because they’ll get wet and you’ll be miserable! Etc. The first day, I wore jean shorts, an airy Doen blouse, my raffia hat, and Birks. The second day, I wore an athletic dress, sneakers, an Addison Bay athletic long-sleeved top, and a Clare Vivier ballcap. The third day, I wore a HHH nap dress, Birks, and had my AYR Early Morning tee for when cold.
I was hands down the happiest in the HHH nap dress and Birks. The dress is so airy and breathable; the material dries quickly; and I preferred my feet in sandals versus sweating in sneaks all day. It’s also a great length so you’re not flashing people getting out of rides, but it’s not so long you’re tripping over it. Finally, it’s machine-washable / not so precious that if you get something on it, you’ll be devastated. That said, I’d say 95% of park-goers were wearing sneakers, socks, and shorts — so I’m probably the outlier, and maybe trust the crowds on this one. But I was personally the least happy in the athletic outfit.
Re: getting wet on rides. There are only a handful that get you wet (Tiana / Kali come to mind) and you dry quickly in the FL sun — I wouldn’t fret too much about the impact this will have on you, but probably don’t wear an all white outfit.
Two details I thought were really helpful: 1) wear a belt bag / crossbody that can hold your phone, ID, credit card, and Disney pass (my Celine sling worked perfectly!; I also saw a few women wearing this Cuyana version) as you can then keep all of this on your person safely even while on rides, and have your husband wear a backpack with essentials. This worked SO well for us. 2) Bring a top layer if you get chilly easily! I would often slip into this while waiting in the air conditioned lines on rides!
My kids wore t-shirts, shorts, and either Crocs or sneakers and did not complain at all about discomfort. Definitely pack hats for them (and yourself!). I forgot to do this the first day and regretted it — they both liked having them on because it was so sunny. PS — Zara has really cute classic Disney tees for kids! I bought multiple for my son!
+WHAT TO BRING WITH YOU: This was another area of worry for me because I also had seen all these checklists of what to bring, and it was a lot. I read on some blog “be prepared because if you need cough syrup, you’ll never find it at Disney” and the sentiment kept reverberating in my head. I personally think a lot of this was over-hyped. I mean, of course, random things can happen but I don’t think you need to go out of your way to imagine every possible contingency. Just pack like you’ll be going to a playground for a few hours — bandaids, shout wipes, neosporin, wipes, etc. A few things I think are important to have that are maybe a little out of the ordinary: 1) an external phone battery — we have this one — because you will use your phone to access the lightning pass / map / etc a lot; 2) snacks for the kids that have a little protein in them, like peanut butter crackers; and 3) more sanitizer than you think you’ll need. We went through so much sanitizer! Disney is a nightmare for germaphobes. I mean, the kids touch EVERYTHING while waiting in line, and then have their hands all over the lap bars at the rides, etc! Pack extra sanitizer!
+FOOD: Again, lots of opinions on this. I read a lot of posts saying “don’t waste your time/money at the sit-down restaurants in Disney” and others with extensive dining itineraries (“don’t miss x here and y there!”). I don’t know where I land on this because I generally found the food in the parks smeh (don’t come after me!), but one of our favorite moments was a quiet, cool lunch at Skipper’s Canteen at Magic Kingdom! The meal was fun (great service with his own little performance!), the food was solid, and we enjoyed having a break to sit down in a quiet, air conditioned spot in the middle of the day. Then again, I can understand if you’re there to get on as many rides as possible, you probably don’t want to spend one hour of your day at a restaurant on premises–so it comes back to priorities.
+RANDOM NOTE: For some reason, sunglasses cases set off some kind of internal alarm if packed in your bag while going through security/detectors at Disney. We learned that if you take your sunglass cases out of your bag/backpack and hold them out in front of you as you walk through the detectors, you can avoid having security guards take everything out of your backpack for inspection. After we’d learned this, we waltzed through security holding our sunglass cases out in front of us, and the security gal said: “you’re old pros!”
Let me know if I missed anything you’re hoping to have thoughts on!
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By: Jen Shoop
I recently came across these Kotetsu Sneakers by Flower Mountain — and it made me realize how much I love a good pop of color on my feet. Instant joy trigger! Below, sharing some colorful and chic sneakers for spring.
This post may contain affiliate links. If you make a purchase through the links above, I may receive compensation.
By: Jen Shoop
I love the earthiness of all three of these poems — they ground me in different ways.
Some prompts to think about on the heels of these lyrics:
+What are you doing today that honors the reality that you are “small and hungry and alive”? (And living one of your limited-edition, wild and precious days?)
+If those threadbare daisies can succeed in “a pinch of dirt,” so, too, can you. Where are you feeling tenuous in your life right now? How can you replant your feet?
+Do you feel like the falcon, the storm, or the great song today?
Post-Scripts.
+In the above photo — Elizabeth’s roses in bloom as of yesterday! Thoughts on her roses, and missing her, here and here.
+Speaking of Joy Creative: I just ordered my kids some new gift enclosure cards and this grab bag set of gift tags for lots of different occasions. I noticed they have some really cute ideas for graduates and end of year gifts for teachers, like this mini tag set! My code MAGPIE10 gets you 10% off too.
+Speaking of gifts, I just ordered one of these to a sweet friend of my daughter’s.
This post may contain affiliate links. If you make a purchase through the links above, I may receive compensation.
By: Jen Shoop
In my last Ask Magpie series, several readers asked for packing suggestions for European travel this spring and summer and a subset of those readers specifically requested dresses that can work for day or night. I loved this challenge and wanted to share some stand-out picks, plus how to style more casually versus more formally.
I am specifically obsessed with the easy, iconic polka dot looks I’ve pulled together below — wow! Love the way the two gals on the left have dressed these looks down, and the two on the right have dressed them up. So incredibly chic! A few great polka dot dresses to consider adding to your suitcase: this Ciao Lucia, this Anthro, this Aritzia, this Zimmermann, this Doen, and this Self-Portrait.
This post may contain affiliate links. If you make a purchase through the links above, I may receive compensation. Image via Pinterest.
By: Jen Shoop
I love matching sets for spring and summer — effortless, but somehow make me feel like I tried just a little harder. Above, wearing my favorite Frank and Eileen linen set (which I own in white and the sand color above), but I will say I wore this gauze set (shirt, pants) layered with a SoldOut tank on my travel day down to Orlando last week and felt chic and also insanely comfortable. Like wearing a cloud. I find sets are fantastic for travel. Worn together, they feel intentional and polished (great for travel days), but you can also re-style the separates to maximize your travel wardrobe.
I just picked up this hot pink linen shirt and shorts set from Aligne. I would layer over a swimsuit, style the shorts with a tee or tank and a big necklace and heel for dinner — so many options.
This post may contain affiliate links. If you make a purchase through the links above, I may receive compensation.
By: Jen Shoop
Above, wearing a Hill House Cosima dress but Target has some really great looks for less, including this and this! Sharing this and a few other great Target finds below…Note: I am obsessed with the recent Kate Spade x Target collaboration (lots of items sold through in 24 hours but have since become available again / possibly returns? restock?), as well as their new home arrivals!
02. Per my comment at the top of this post, I love the blue print on this mini sundress. Serious Hill House vibes (compare with this). Side bar: speaking of HHH, did you see the latest Cosima pattern that just dropped?! OMG. I do NOT need another nap dress, and specifically not another Cosima, but this one is SO GOOD. I just got the green and white stripe though…speaking of, this $35 dress reminds me of mine in the green and white stripe!
This post may contain affiliate links. If you make a purchase through the links above, I may receive compensation. Image via Pinterest.
By: Jen Shoop
When we left for Florida last week, our lilacs were in bloom. When we returned four days later, the fragrant blossoms had vanished, leaving an unpunctuated, lush green. I mourned their absence; in my personal lexicon, lilacs are a signifier of things remembered. But the next morning, I ran my usual route through my neighborhood and discovered that we’d entered peak azalea season, which —
Mother Nature never fails to deliver the right message at the right time.
I am in a time of transition. My daughter is switching schools next fall, my daily writing flow is now forked between my blog and my book (!!!), and there are other changes afoot in our family life that I trust I will write about in good time. Add to this the ocean turbulence of perimenopause and, well, my world feels slightly askew.
I know I will find my sea-legs. I trust myself. This, a great gift of age: the awareness that life continues, and so do we. As we sat by the pool in Orlando making vacation friends, Landon was talking about UVA basketball, Tony Bennett’s departure, the team’s performance last season. Our new friend said: “Well, you can’t win every season. I’m sure they’ll be back.” We all tutted in agreement; it was a perfect expression of “the long view” that forty years on this earth will bestow upon you.
So I find myself leaning with surprising dexterity on this and other well-worn crutches — foremost among them, getting outside and looking to nature for reassurance. (“When I am among the trees, especially the willows and the honey locust, equally the beech, the oaks and the pines, they give off such hints of gladness, I would almost say that they save me, and daily.” – Mary Oliver.) She did not disappoint this past weekend, as she waved to me from the azalea bushes, telling me:
Don’t linger on the lost lilac;
there is always something good growing.
The azaleas of late April, the roses of mid May, the hydrangea of June —
+Love this little brown-centric curation I put together from Shopbop’s new arrivals. How cute is this “ciao” tropical print set with the skirt and matching top?! I would wear this head-to-toe look, complete with these $118 sandals!
+I know a lot of Magpies are “anticipators” (vs procrastinators) — if you’re already thinking ahead to peak summer wardrobe, how great is this under-$200 dress for FOJ?
+And don’t miss Cecil and Lou’s just-launched FOJ collection! I picked up this dress for my daughter and this shorts set for my son. Also couldn’t resist this “grandpa hat” for my boy! Pieces are surprisingly already selling out in sizes — lots of forward-thinking moms! All my picks from the collection here.
+Speaking of my daughter, I’ve been having a tougher and tougher time finding outfits she approves of. She really loved these shorts and this shirt from La Coqueta, and she recently selected these white jeans shorts with this tee. What I’m finding is that it’s crucial to buy her a shirt to go with a pair of shorts; she’ll always wear them as a cohesive set if they arrive coupled together.
+Just got one of these mini wipes sets for the car. I am forever reaching in to my glove box to pull out half-opened/semi-dry wipes! Hoping this is a better solution.
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By: Jen Shoop
I often think — how lucky I am that some things didn’t work out. How fortunate that I didn’t get into my first choice college, that I broke up with my college boyfriend, that I did not get that job in San Francisco, that we closed our first business, that our first offer on a house in DC was rejected. Those endings opened my life up to the beautiful shape it has now taken. As we often say, rejection equals redirection.
Each time I think of these “failings,” I float into a zen-like state. I find myself swinging my arms a little more loosely. Letting the day be what it is. Sitting more comfortably with the version of me that is here today — imperfect, but trying. I see myself as a body of water, lapping and occasionally spilling over its banks, and my experiences and emotions are the lively creatures within it. I am the water, though, I must remind myself; not the fleeing or spearing or furious fish within. Which is to say we are not what happens to us, and we are not our emotions, either. We are the sky-giving, liquid body that holds those things and persists.
Each time I write a post here on my blog, WordPress prompts me to tag it with various keywords. I realized recently that my most-used keyword is perspective. That this is the bullseye towards which my writing forever aims. Today, another shot at the target.
P.S. – I am loving this lightweight barrier rescue balm! After multiple days in the Florida sun and two airplane rides, I felt parched all over. I love that this is a very lightweight balm formula – not as unctuous and sticky as, say, Elizabeth Arden 8 Hour Cream. I put on my lips, forehead, nose, nail beds!
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By: Jen Shoop
+THE BIG QUESTION: How about this quote from Mary Oliver for a little andale today?!
+AMY POEHLER ON CRINGE AND TIMING: I have this interview between Amy Poehler, Matt Rogers, and Bowen Yang queued up for a morning walk (with my weighted vest) this weekend, but I’m already loving some of the snippets I’ve seen circulating from the podcast, seen below — especially her entreaty to “climb cringe mountain.” Yes! You might as well…! My friend and collaborator Caroline (she helps me with some aspects of running this blog) often tells me: “The world needs your art! Keep creating!” Get over the cringe! Don’t play it cool!
+FRENCH CHATEAU ENERGY: I wrote a week or two ago that I want my 50s to be “my French chateau era” — not literally, just in ethos. A big open kitchen; doors through which a dog wanders in and out; sun and tomato vine and that endless summer feeling. I realized this week that I have been subconsciously clinging to the lifestyle of long time creator Vivi et Margot — her Instagram feed seen below! Wow! Goals for my 50s.
+FOR LAUGHS:Playground designers…lol. “So the kids are just like shouting into the void?” “Yeah, that’s good.”
+OUR SIGNATURE SUMMER SCENT: We burned The Hamptons candle all summer long and my sister later described it as “the Shoop signature scent.” Yes! Hotel Lobby just restocked and I secured a bunch for the season ahead. Also make great gifts.
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By: Jen Shoop
This week, I came across this old post from 2018 (…!) and almost didn’t recognize myself in it. I mean — I still love some of these things, but not all of them, and I try to avoid the word “should” as much as I can nowadays. I would never title a post this way in 2025. (What good has “should” ever done? It’s a guilt-inducer, a shame-chute. And nothing grinds my gears more than someone telling me: “you should have done x”!) But the past is a foreign land; they do things differently there. And 2018 was pre-Bethesda, pre-COVID, pre-Hill, pre-second-apartment-in-NYC, pre-coming-into-my-own-at-40. So much has changed. One of Landon’s mentors talks frequently about how things tend to happen in clusters of four year periods, which she calls epochs, and I find the concept interesting. I often contemplate where I might be within an epoch. Am I at the start of a new one with the book deal? Am I in the middle of things with the blog in full swing? I don’t know, but I can say that this post was over an epoch ago, and it reads that way.
But, we are in constant re-writing. And we are always raising future versions of ourselves. I am confident that Jen at 50 will have an entirely different tack. This reminds me of a time in college when an old friend told me: “You’ve changed so much,” and it had the slightest underbelly of insult. I didn’t know how to respond then, but all these years later, I wish I could go back and say: “Isn’t that the point?” It’s a beautiful thing, to realize you’ve changed for the better.
Anyhow, if I were writing a list along the same lines of my 2018 one, here’s how it might run:
10 Weird but Harmless Things I Love
+Eating the best bite of something first. (My husband is the opposite! He will literally eat his way around a sandwich so that the last bite is the best.)
+Going to bed with wet hair. (Still a favorite “bad girl behavior.” I pay for it in the morning but damn does it feel good.)
+Bird-watching — I can’t not comment on a bird. God forbid one lands on a branch outside my studio. The funny thing is: I don’t even know much about birds. I would consider myself a pre-amateur bird enthusiast. Usually when I’m into something, I’m all in, but this is just a situation of fuzzy wonderment. Funny enough, when I went to find a photo for the top of this (edited) post, I searched for “birds” in my Apple photos library, and I took this one in 2013, when I lived in Chicago and took much fewer photographs of my life. Not much has changed, I suppose. Once a bird enthusiast, always a bird enthusiast.
+Drinking iced lattes all year round. (My sister has described this behavior as unacceptable.)
+Needing to use a word the week I learn it. I collect words in my journals, and sometimes write exciting new discoveries on individual post-it notes on my desk. I am literally vibrating with energy until I find a way to work the newcomers into an essay.
+Reading my Kindle in bed with the lights out. Why the lights out, I don’t know — I could easily have the light on and a better reading experience. But it feels one step closer to sleep, one bridge closer to comfort.
+Room temperature foods. I mean, of course I like the things that are meant to be hot hot (i.e., soups), but I have no prohibitions against room temperature foods. Grilled asparagus? Fried chicken? Charcuterie? A pasta salad? Love all of these things at room temp.
+Eating cherries and savoring the pits for a long time. This one is, admittedly, very weird.
+Wearing socks to bed. I know there are sock-in-bed haters out there, but my feet are always freezing!
+Deferring substantive conversations until I’m sitting. Landon really got me on board with this one. Sometimes we’ll be flitting around the kitchen, and we’ll start talking about something more substantive, and one or the other of us will say: “Wait! Let’s sit and talk.” I find it much easier to really focus and think carefully this way. It also makes the conversation “the thing.” I’m not shoe-horning it into my day, around chores and errands. I’m sitting and making the conversation the main course.
Now your turn — what weird but harmless things do you love?
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My original (2018) version of the list:
10 Things I Love But Shouldn’t (2018 Edition)
+Going to bed with wet hair.
+Buying toiletries in bulk ostensibly to appear to be a prepared adult but principally in order to line them up in neat rows in the cabinet.
+Falling asleep with the TV on.
+”Accidentally” eating the fatty bits of pork or steak.
+OMG! Splendid is offering an extra 60% off their sale section here. Lots of great buys, but do not miss this $52 cardigan (orig $188). Love it in the cactus color. And I hate to be the devil on your shoulder, but this white gauze set is next level in terms of fit and comfort. Get it in the white! Layer the pants over swimwear, with tanks, etc — or wear as a set for summer travel days, lounge before bed, etc!
