March Faves
my favorite things from March, and the month in review
Welcome!! Every month, I share my favorite things from the previous month, and a little personal reflection on the month. You can read all previous editions of my monthly digest of favorite things here.
March felt like it flew by, and then this week as I was sifting through my photos from the month, looking at some of my outfits to include on a round-up of simple things that I wear for normal, everyday occasions, I thought to myself - “Man, that was this month?” Long and short, short and long. I guess the cliches are right for a reason!
Despite it still not really being spring in New England, we had our first few fake spring days, and it felt gooood. Those days where all you want to do is toss every responsibility out the door and hang outside with a glass of wine, your favorite music playing, and the sun shining on your face. Speaking of sunshine - there has been a lot more of it, as the days slowly get longer, and also, not enough of it as the lion of March has reminded us that although the calendar says spring, we’re not quite there yet. But the signs of spring are here, and we’re looking forward to way more time spent outside sans jackets.
A new restaurant opened a few weeks ago, and I believe we ate there no fewer than 4 times this month. One weekend, we went on Saturday night with friends and also Sunday with my Dad and sister. Suburban living baby! A new restaurant (with great margs) that we can WALK TO, no less - big stuff. My feral animals children mostly even behaved themselves (or were bribed by chips, guac, and churros).
It was also my birthday in March, and I was able to celebrate in some really fun ways (more below), including dinner with my husband at one of our favorite restaurants in the area (Sarma if you are a local!), a massage at the Mandarin in Boston with a friend of mine that was DIVINE, and pizza and cupcakes at home where my kids explained to me that they actually get to make wishes on my birthday and then they announced (well, the two that can talk), at the same time, that they were wishing for a dog. Wish us luck with that, ha!
On the shopping front, I treated myself to a big purchase for my birthday, this JW Anderson corner bag, in the khaki colorway. I love it! You can wear it cross-body, over your shoulder, on your arm or in your hand. This is one of my biggest purchases ever, and it was made possible by my no-buy January, waiting for the bag to be included in a promotion so I could get a small discount, and having the bag on my wishlist for over a year. I stumbled on a few cool things from Uniqlo (highlighted below) and I was also gifted a pair of jeans from Pistola that I’m obsessed with (also more on them below!)
And, of course, a huge highlight of the month is that friends of ours closed on their new house and they are now OUR NEIGHBORS (hi, Katy!!!!!). We are so happy, and, truly, I cannot recommend this enough. Make your friends move to your neighborhood (all my friends - this is your open invite). Proximity to friends as an adult is something that I think is overlooked when people think about where they want to settle down/live!
I have a few things to highlight that have made my life better and easier this month — including two that are not products, but wonderful joys, plus some beauty, some books, and some listening.
Let’s dive in.
The happy anticipation of having something really fun to look forward to on the calendar - This weekend, my college friends and I have our annual girls weekend. The work that goes into making this weekend happen is unreal (schedules, multiple new babies, multiple states, just a lot of life happening across our group!), and I’m so so so so excited to be away for a few days with all my friends (and looked forward to this every week in March as we inched closer and closer)!!!!!!
A mid-week overnight with my bestie - I am not that big of a birthday person really, in that, I don’t like to make a big deal out of my birthday, but, this year, given some other challenging things happening around the same time, I went out of my way to schedule a few special things to make sure I would be able to celebrate another year around the sun exactly the way I wanted to. One highlight - my oldest friend and I, who also has a March birthday (which we have been celebrating together for 22 YEARS!!!) made a plan to both work from our offices in Boston, and have a little middle-of-the-week stay in a hotel. We checked in immediately after work, went out to dinner at Contessa (amazing!), had two martinis, and then got into bed and talked all night long. It was easy to coordinate with our family schedules, didn’t require any time off, and it was GLORIOUS. One of the things I miss the most about being younger is hanging out with my friends late into the night. Now, when we see each other it’s mostly at restaurants, and we all have to make our way home safely, so it was so nice to just have a long hang. Can’t wait to do it again!
InnBeauty Project Extreme Creme - InnBeauty generously gifted me this cream, and it is GREAT. Thick, moisturizing, plumping. I love it. My skin tends to be dry, especially during times of the year when the temperature fluctuates a lot, and it is the tall glass of water that my skin needs. I’ve been using it at night on top of tret, and sometimes by itself, and on morning when I feel extra dry, before sunscreen. I’ve seen several others compare it to Augustinus Bader at a much more palatable price point, and I agree. I also think it’s very cool that you can buy a refill bottle for the creme!
Dyson Airwrap Filter Cleaning Brush - Yes, I have an airwrap, yes it is RIDICULOUSLY expensive, yes, I LOVE IT. But, recently, the little light on the bottom of the airwrap that indicates that the filter needs to be cleaned has been going off constantly, so I finally googled to see what I was missing when I rinsed the filter cage. Well, turns out I was missing something significant - did you know there is a filter-cleaning brush??? And that it was in the package that my airwrap came in? Like, what?? If you have the airwrap complete, look in your box - this little brush was underneath some of the packaging in a little box. It’s a game-changer. If you can’t find it, they are available on Amazon for very cheap.
Kate Kennedy’s Podcast ft. Money with Katie (Women be Shoppin’)- I go in and out of being into podcasts, mostly because I listen to a lot of audiobooks and rarely want to give up the time that I have to listen to them, but I saw both
and Katie promote this episode and since I love them both, I knew I’d have to listen. It did not disappoint. I will never not be in awe of how smart both of these women are. I could listen to Kate talk for hours (literally, have - her Mormon deep dives on her podcast…yes), and I loved this episode - they talk about money, money psychology, conflicting feelings about capitalism (kind of felt like they were reading my mind at this part!). Highly recommend!Uniqlo Sweater & Crew Neck Tee - I found this very cute Uniqlo sweater/jacket and I LOVE IT. I took a medium (which is true to size for me) and it is fitted. If you want less fitted/more room, size up. I also got one of their white tee-shirts (for $20!) and I love it (also in a Medium) - nice cut, length, weight, can’t beat the price!
Pistola Lexi Jeans - Pistola reached out to me this month and gave me the opportunity to try some pieces from their spring collection, and I am OBSESSED with these jeans. A true relaxed jean that fits my body (small waist, wider hips/thighs) is hard to find, but these are it. They feel relaxed without being baggy or sloppy. They look great with the feminine tops that I favor (especially the Uniqlo Sweater!) I’m wearing my normal size!
I read a lot of great books this month, some favorites included:
The Wishing Game by Meg Shaffer - about a woman and the little boy that she wants to adopt, and the children’s book series that they both adore - this was different, and beautiful.
Maame by Jessica George - about a Ghanaian woman, Maddie, living in England and trying to find her own way in life while wrestling with her familial responsibilities.
Reign (American Royals IV) by Katharine McGee - the fourth and final installment in the American Rivals series - it was such a wonderful wrap up to a series I have enjoyed every step of the way!
I love when my husband and I get going on a good TV show that we both love, because we will both race to do our “closing shift” at the house as soon as our kids are down, put our phones in another room and glue ourselves to a show together. This month, we loved watching The Gentlemen on Netflix. PS - can we discuss the sexual tension between Theo James & Kaya Scodelario (also, her costumes were incredible…all the costumes, really!) I would recommend!
Bluetooth Eye Mask - I’ve written about this mask before, but I recently lost my beloved one while I was traveling for work, and I ordered a replacement. I didn’t realize it, but I ordered a different style. The new model is a little different, and way more comfortable on my face. My one piece of feedback is that I wish the volume went lower - but I am able to solve for that by shifting the speaker a little bit away from my ear. This is the best for when I can’t fall asleep, am traveling, naps, or just want to lie in bed and listen to something!
ICYMI:
Some recent pieces that you might enjoy…
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I also LOVED reign and the whole American Royals series. Sad it ended, but it wrapped beautifully.
I know this sounds dramatic, but I stand by the opinion: bluetooth eye masks are life altering. They're wonderful at night, but I live for them during a daytime nap. <3