The Catch-Up | Vol 27

The Christmas tool I never knew I needed, matching sets for the holidays, and a lighthearted video Edwin sent me.

Hello friends!

Hello friends! Happy Thursday and welcome to The Catch-Up, my weekly column that arrives in your inboxes every week. The Catch-Up consists of everything that has caught my eye, heart, imagination, interest, and family throughout the week. This is a meaty post and I assume all my Catch-Ups through the rest of the year will be the same - there is just so much going on, so much to discover and enjoy, so much to share. While last week felt like a hill I could never quite see the top of, this week has flown by in bursts of work, fun, and excitement. Edwin and I had the honor of hosting a really fantastic party for one of Edwin’s favorite brands, Holderness & Bourne at Leon’s. Cocktails via Blade & Bow were flowing, oysters were being shucked, conversation was loud + fun + robust, and all the men got to pick out something new and have it personalized. It was a really, really great night and one that made me feel so grateful to do what I do and to be trusted by really wonderful, high quality, genuine, beloved brands like Holderness & Bourne. I highly recommend both Holderness & Bourne and Blade & Bow whiskey when gifting your husband, dad, and brother this holiday season! We’ve also had fun playdates this week (I am trying to do individual playdates with my boys instead of dragging all of them to see only one of their friends. I’ve found they feel really special just having their own playdate with their own friend.), great home cooked meals (this was a hit on freezing Monday night), and lots in-between. I hope you, too, have had a wonderful week! Let’s get into it, shall we!

If there is anything in particular that you like seeing from me, please don’t hesitate to drop me a comment and let me know! Thank you for being here and for reading my thoughts, inspirations, and obsessions. P.S. If this post is ever too long for email, simply click through to read it in Substack.

What you may have missed on the blog this week:

What to wear for family photos: for you, for your husband, for little boys, and little girls (including what we wore in ours!)

What to wear for Thanksgiving: for a Turkey Trot, for cooking, for a holiday lunch, a dressed up dinner, and Thanksgiving outfits for men!

What to do with 72 Hours in London: two different complete itineraries + my full London travel guide

A fall moodboard you’ll love

what caught my eye

a few quick things

A really special thing my mother and I both collect are the annual Christmas boxes. My grandmother started my mother’s collection and it dates back to the 70s so my mom’s collection is quite large now. Mine is smaller but growing! The 2025 Halcyon Day box is here and so lovely. Snag it for yourself or as the perfect gift for your mother, mother-in-law, or the aunt you pulled in the family Secret Santa that needs nothing.

This weekend in New York!!!

Ask me the best thing I bought this week! It was easily this oxford shirt in white. YOU. WILL. LOVE. IT. Crisp for the holidays. The brand is doing so many good things right now. Case in point, these two coats: this wool coat (looks like Max Mara but at a fraction of the price) and this leopard beauty.

Speaking of leopard, I have a really great leopard edit here. Leopard is definitely THE print of the season.

We have woken up to temps in the 30s this week in Charleston! My boys have made it known they don’t love walking into their bathrooms and feeling the freezing cold tile so I ordered them this chic little bathroom rug (in the 2’ x 3’ size) to keep their toes cozy during morning teeth brushing sessions.

This is my #1 holiday wish list dress! My mom has a brooch in her collection that I envision myself wearing with the dress. Will I make it happen!?

Stop everything you’re doing (yes, even reading this!) because Shoppe Found launched holiday and it is jaw droppingly good.

Pamela Munson released the prettiest collaboration with French heritage brand, D. Porthault and I think the items would make beautiful gifts. I particularly love the picture frames.

New Yorkers! Holiday on Madison is opening so soon. Mark your calendars for Dec. 1st.

PSA: Two x Two, an absolutely charming children’s brand from Spain, is popping up here in Charleston at the Julia Amory store Saturday 11/15. Their new tartan collection is ohhhhhh so cute!

This belt is chic and under $100.

Help! I’m so obsessed with this jacket. My jacket game is weak, at best, and this one is speaking to me!

Charleston Lit Fest is still going on through Sunday with some AMAZING talks left! If you are local, you can see the lineup and get tickets here.

This is the easiest, yummiest holiday hostess gift when you don’t have time for homemade. You can thank me later.

what caught my heart

Mealtime lately has become a time of day I feel anxiety around. Meals that are tougher leave me distracted and reflective for some time afterwards. Three kids, three different personalities to juggle. We’ve gone through difficult eating times before and they are always phases that get worked through. I know this and feel contentment around this truth. Perhaps it is Edwin’s persistence of work travel lately that has left me navigating many meals solo. The work of meal planning, grocery shopping, cooking, cleaning, plating, serving, eating, cleaning again, loading and unloading the dishwasher can build up. I love showing my family love through food but I find that the parts of it I love can be diminished when the experience of mealtime with my kids takes so much out of me. The difficult phase is not the norm; rather, it’s a bit of an outlier experience and maybe that’s why it feels challenging. As with so much in parenting, mealtime can take energy, patience, and love. The love, of course, doesn’t need to be drummed up, it’s the strongest thing in the room but sometimes the patience needs to be willed into existence with a few deep breaths.

We’re in a phase of the kids going through it all with not wanting to sit at the table during mealtime, begging to be excused from the table to go play, looking at food and declaring “I don’t like this,” and going on food strike after come off of being sick and not wanting to eat much.

When a meal feels like a challenge, my heart feels tired. It is caught in a confused state of wondering what I can do differently. I remind myself that the tireless reminders about manners are worth it and important work. I remind myself that my children are grateful for the home cooked meals even if they don’t express it. They will grow up and associate me with food and that food with love. Right? Have you, too, been here before? What has worked for you?

what caught my interest

This is brilliant! How do you track your Christmas gifts? I honestly usually keep an email in my drafts that I just update but the process is flawed, doesn’t leave me as hyper organized as I’d like to be with such a task, and is very basic (aka I usually just write the person’s name and then the link to the gift). Kate Strickler shared her Christmas gift tracker and it’s the tool I didn’t know I was missing but now can’t imagine living without.

All things gifting falls under the category of “the invisible workload of motherhood.” Luckily it is fun and sparks joy but, don’t be fooled, it is work. The thought that goes into each person and each gift, the shopping or the ordering, the wrapping (and the shopping for the wrapping!), the shipping, the card writing, the keeping track of it all - it’s all the moms! I love this Christmas gift tracker because it allows you to keep track of all the Christmas gifts and stocking stuffers by recipient, how much you spent, if they have been wrapped yet, where you hid the gifts, etc. I added in a column for if I had shipped the gifts yet. I like to bleed money at the holidays by writing cards and wrapping everything myself before shipping gifts across the country (this is where the hemorrhaging comes in) because I know it makes the lives of the mom’s I’m shipping to easier and every little bit counts in December. This gift tracker couldn’t have caught my interest faster if it tried!

what caught my imagination

Holiday dressing: sets! I’m a huge dress gal but I’m feeling a big yearning to step out of my comfort zone and push myself to get a little more creative with holiday dressing this year. I love a dress because it’s one piece and, boom, you’re dressed and ready to head out the door. The appeal is there! Sets can be a gorgeous way to accomplish the same feel a head to toe “look” but with a little more intrigue. I’ve been scouring the web and found a few sets I think you might love too to nail the look:

ONE: Satin Embroidered Burgundy Pants or Embroidered Burgundy Midi Skirt with Satin Embroidered Burgundy Jacket

TWO: Black Taffeta Top with Black Taffeta Skirt

THREE: Floral Jacquard Embellished Neckline Top with Floral Jacquard Midi Pencil Skirt

FOUR: Embellished Sweater or Feather Top or Satin Crepe Top with Sequin Skirt

FIVE: Jacquard Belted Tunic Top with Jacquard Cuff Pants

SIX: Cranberry Dupioni Silk Top with Cranberry Dupioni Silk Skirt

SEVEN: Black Dupioni Pants with Black Dupioni Peplum Pintuck Top

what caught my kids

‘Tis the season for Christmas pajamas! My boys have a compulsion to find every pair of holiday pajamas in the world and get them on their bodies. Nothing makes them happier than falling asleep with reindeers dancing across their chests in the form of cozy pjs. Here are our favorites this year:

Timo & Violet Santa’s Cookies - the kids think the prints from Timo & Violet are out of this world fun, including this holiday print!

Petite Plume Holiday Town Pajamas - I love that they look like grandpas walking around the house in these and they seriously get softer with every wash.

LAKE Pajamas Night Before Christmas - It’s not even Thanksgiving yet and these are already on repeat in our house!

Rylee + Cru Skiers - we’re surprising the boys with a ski trip after Christmas and gifting them these pajamas on Christmas morning to tell them the news!

Pink Chicken Gingerbread Men - Henry is so obsessed with these. He loves how stretchy they are!

Hanna Anderson Holiday Plaid Flannel Boys and Girls (I’m sorry but this collar is to die for cute!) - flannel pajamas make me so reminiscent of my childhood!

Smock London Black Watch Tartan for Boys and Girls - as classic as it gets. My boys wearing Smock London pajamas last Christmas while baking our cookies for Santa was a favorite memory of the season.

Pehr Partridge in a Pehr Tree - I so appreciate what they did with the name of these pajamas, ha!

what caught my husband

Edwin sent me this video and said, “I think you’ll think this is funny in light of what we talk about all the time.” I laughed out loud and told Edwin, all you had to say were the two magic words: Miles Teller.

Thank you so very much for reading this week’s edition of The Catch-Up. I’m so grateful you are here. Feel free to drop a comment below - I love to chat! Also, if you made it this far and like what you read, would you consider heart-ing this post, just below here? It helps Substack know people like my writing, which means the world to me! See you next week with vol 28! x