Life

Weekend Update

Sale PSA: A leopard shirtdress from Ganni, now 60% off (I like this as an open duster vs dress), a great packable tote option from Tumi, now 30% off, a pretty puff sleeve eyelet dress from Ulla Johnson, now 50% off, and for anyone looking for kid’s shoes, I bought these classic Vans for my son, now 50% off.

First: thank you all so much for your comments on Monday’s post. I still need to respond to a bunch of them, and all your emails. It’s a stressful topic (getting more so by the day) but yet in a way it was really calming to read the responses. Not just to hear an echo chamber of my own thoughts. There are some dissenting opinions on there and I’m happy and kind of proud that our little community is able to have these talks civilly. You’d never imagine it was possible given the comments section of basically every online article. And as always, I am so impressed by the backgrounds of the women who read and choose to comment on this site. Not to be a cheeseball but I truly feel that it is an honor that you visit here. THANK YOU.

Now: onward to the weekend and some reading. Some distraction.

1. This week, I am sharing this very cute turtleneck poncho from J.Crew.

Was this sweater featured somewhere? An “autumn finds” feature of some super popular blogger I am not aware of? I love it and it is almost sold out! AT FULL PRICE. Normally I would not even consider buying, or recommending a J.Crew item not on discount/available on code but the retail season has been so harsh that I’m considering just buying this one (if my size comes back). Why can’t J.Crew have more items like this? Fewer items too, scrolling their site and all the crazy patterns is making me DIZZY. If they had more nice cozy ponchos like this, I’d be on all the time!

2. A really great piece, via The Cut, from Emily Ratajkowski on reclaiming her image. Read this essay. It isn’t what I thought. It was so well done.

3. I liked this article, via The NY Times, about the content creator who can make or break a skincare brand. Such articles always make me feel so old but I need to at least know a little, right? To me this guy seems like the new version of Paula Begoun, did any of you read her back in the day? Of course Paula now has Paula’s Choice, which I do buy from and like. Wonder where this guy goes. It’s hard to beat the prices and selection of The Ordinary.

4. Did I already share this already? I kind of feel like I did but couldn’t find it on my site. It is good enough that I am risking sharing it again: an excerpt, via T&C, from Barbara Amiel’s coming book about her life in high society, before her husband (Conrad Black) was arrested. She pulls no punches and it’s the perfect distracting read. The couple is so wonderfully villainous.

5. This week I read Born A Crime, by Trevor Noah.

I had seen this book many times but I never stopped for it. I’m not a regular viewer of Trevor Noah’s show – mainly because I don’t watch any nightly shows at this stage in my life (Bravo aside). BUT a friend whose opinion I really trust swore this was the best book he read last year and he finally wore me down to the point where I read it. And naturally, I loved it. If you’re looking for a smart, well written, and often funny biography that illuminates a little on life in South Africa – I highly recommend Born A Crime.

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11 Comments

  • Reply
    Gina
    September 25, 2020 at 9:17 am

    you should listen to the audiobook of the trevor noah book. he uses all his accents and language skills and makes the book come to life even more

  • Reply
    Olivia
    September 25, 2020 at 10:31 am

    Ditto to Gina’s suggestion – it’s great to listen to!!

    • Reply
      Kat
      September 25, 2020 at 1:46 pm

      I am NOT an audiobook person but this might put me over the edge! Thanks to you both!

  • Reply
    MC Bontemps
    September 25, 2020 at 11:18 pm

    I was inspired by the T&C excerpt to hunt out a 2002 US Vogue profile of Barbara Amiel in her glory days. Now THAT’S a juicy read. The stories include one in which the young and poor Barbara is detected and embarrassed by a boyfriend’s mother when she wears a secondhand outfit from a charity shop which turns out to have been discarded by the mother. The punchline to this story was “… and now I have an extravagance that knows no bounds”, a very unfortunate line which was quoted endlessly after her husband’s fraud became public.

    The other detail I find I recall years later was her rolling rack of clothes, sorted for maintenance, tagged with their own plush little labels embroidered with the relevant instructions : “to be washed” “to be repaired” and so on. Hard to imagine anyone volunteering so much let-them-eat-cake detail today.

    • Reply
      Kat
      September 26, 2020 at 3:10 pm

      AHHH!! I read about the existence of that article too! Do you have it? Is it online somewhere? Please share if so, I would love to read this one!

      • Reply
        MC Bontemps
        September 27, 2020 at 1:00 am

        I found the article among my stash of old Vogues and can email pics of the relevant pages if you like. Online I only found the immortal line about the “extravagance that knows no bounds” along with a reference to 2002 when the profile was published. Otherwise I wouldn’t even have been able to locate it within my stash !

        • Reply
          Kat
          September 28, 2020 at 8:59 am

          YES please if it isn’t too much trouble!

          • Anonymous
            September 29, 2020 at 5:19 am

            Done ! And thank you for keeping up with your posts in these strange and difficult times. They are much appreciated.

  • Reply
    Lesley
    September 26, 2020 at 4:54 am

    Unrelated, but did you find masks for your kids that fit well? I’m looking for some for my kids (3 and 5). Thanks! I look forward to your posts each week (my Saturday early AM read!).

    • Reply
      Kat
      September 28, 2020 at 8:59 am

      My favorite are still these (But they don’t have the elastic ear loops!)

      https://bit.ly/3mWx8Zb

  • Reply
    Rachel
    November 29, 2020 at 4:59 pm

    Wow! The story by Emily Ratajkowski was so powerful, and so disturbing. Sadly, the most concerning thought is that she is probably just one of countless women who have been taken advantage of in similar ways.

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