May 9: Week in Review

Weekend Reads is up on Wardrobe Oxygen. Sharing a swim capsule wardrobe, the best sales this weekend (which includes $55 off at Ruti and 30% off at Mango for purchases $260+), my thoughts on Widow’s Bay on Apple TV and the latest Wuthering Heights, music, art, and of course interesting reads from this week.

But that’s not all that happened over on, what my daughter’s boyfriend calls, Closet Helium (hahaha teens so funny). A lot of other good stuff on the blog and Insta:

• A few readers were curious about the MEIA bag, an elevated backpack made for work commuting. MEIA was kind enough to send one to community member Jennifer and she shared her honest thoughts.

• Honestly? Give the grad money or a gift card. But if you want a tangible gift, this gift guide for high school grads is a good one (and not a single item from Amazon or Target).

• What do you think of the paracord sandal trend?

• I reached out to Universal Standard for gifting of new linen pieces to update my original 2021 review of the collection. I’ve been working with US since they first gifted me a Geneva dress in 2017. M sister and I got some new pieces to showcase in my updated Universal Standard stretch linen review.

• My sister and I also made this Reel together in collab with Universal Standard. We set up a tripod in the courtyard outside my office on a early Saturday morning. We’d film content, then take the phone into my office lobby and take stills for the post. Yes, it was that fun to work together. What you don’t see are the old men on a nearby bench providing commentary on our outfits!

• Speaking of Reels, I don’t do a lot of paid partnerships. But when Issue One reached out, I was on board in working with them. Check out my Reel, and I would appreciate if you give it some engagement as it’s a topic near and dear to my heart and something that is incredibly important right now.

As I mentioned last weekend, I got a box from Tommy Bahama. It had a navy linen shirt and matching linen shorts, white linen pants, and white chino shorts. I have. Tommy Bahama crinkle cotton beach shirt that is like a decade old and fabulous, but TBH that’s the only Tommy Bahama I’ve owned.

And this linen? I am a convert. It is so soft, so tightly woven, opaque, and the attention to detail really blows other linen out of the water. I write this wearing the shirt for the third time. I’ve tucked it in, I’ve cuffed the sleeves, I wore it helping a friend move and it still looks really lovely and not a crumpled paper bag. The shorts kept their shape even through a mile-long dog walk on a humid evening. My crotch didn’t gobble them, and again, they aren’t a crumpled paper bag.

I wore the Lands’ End poplin dress from last week out to have breakfast with my friend. I thought she was just photographing the bag (which is Mansur Gavriel and I got at Rent the Runway and I really don’t want to send it back but I also don’t want to pay $500 for this bag and this is why I subscribe to RTR, RTRXAGARY for 50% off your 1st month) but she got the whole outfit. The dress is Large Petite, the sweater is J. Crew, a cashmere crew I got last fall, the flats are Camper, and the glasses are Caddis.

This week, there was a meeting for parents of rising seniors at my kid’s high school; this is what I wore. The sweater is Banana Republic and at least a year old; it’s a silk/cotton blend and seen often before. The pants are the same pink ones from my Universal Standard stretch linen review; I had them hemmed to my length. The sneakers are Adidas SL72 (the ones from this Reel where I’m wearing the same sweater), and the glasses are from Prada for LensCrafters (meaning this style isn’t available elsewhere; a few brands have this with LensCrafters/Luxottica).

Yesterday I wore the same pants (normalize rewearing items over and over and over even within the same week) with the matching Universal Standard Daisy Tank (XS) and the Dune shirtdress (S) as a duster. The belt is old; I was looking on Wardrobe Oxygen for an outfit post with it and I can’t find one, but in my media I did find this look from March 2012. Earrings are old, got on Etsy I believe. Sneakers are old, they’re the Veja Volley and surprisingly wide foot friendly; this color is no longer available but this avocado color is a good alternative.

Wore the outfit to get my second Shingles shot. My fellow grown folk, have you gotten yours? Do not let the side effects scare you off; getting Shingles is 100X worse. I had a reaction similar to the flu for less than 24 hours; get it on a Friday so you have time to recover. I had a rough night’s sleep with sweats and chills, took a four-hour nap today and now feel myself again.

The Shingles vaccine not only protects you from getting Shingles, but also reduces your chance of dementia, reduces body inflammation, and can even reduce your chance of cardiovascular disease. Take care of yourself, this is important.

I think the only thing I bought this week was deodorant. I tried so many natural and aluminum-free deodorants but perimenopausal funk is too strong and honestly all the worries about aluminum are unfounded. I am a devotee of Men’s Mitchum Unscented. The gel is very very good, but the roll-on is IMO even better. It’s hard to find the roll-on; the only place near me with it is my local Giant grocery store though I have also seen it at Walmart and know it’s likely on Amazon. But this stuff… no scent. No weird deodorant scent, no B.O., nothing and no rash like CertainDri and deodorants with baking soda.