Hello friends! I’m back with my fifth edition of The Catch-Up, my weekly column that hits your inboxes every Thursday. For my first four editions of the series, head here and you’ll get a great idea of what has caught my heart, imagination, interest, and family over the course of the past month. There is a great mix of thought provoking reflections and fun additions to your life. As always, I’m so grateful to have you here reading my Substack. It means the world to me.
During the past week we’ve had some great meals at home. I’ve cooked two delicious meals from Caro Chambers’ brilliant cookbook (I wrote more about why I love it here under “what caught my interest”): garlicky grains with asparagus and sausage (pg. 28 if you have the book) and grilled lemon harissa chicken and zucchini (pg. 34). I also did three days of Sakara for the first time and I have major thoughts. I think I should give it a proper debriefing because I am absolutely obsessed. I’m going to reach out to them in hopes I can ask for a code to share with y’all and then weigh in on everything I love about it and how I tweaked the meals etc. Wow, have I been living under a rock? More soon! In other food news, we’re heading to one of our favorite Charleston restaurants tomorrow, Marble and Fin, with another couple and I’ve been looking forward to it all week.
Y’alls most favorite and most shopped for items from me the last week: The Extreme Cream from INNBeauty (I first bought it after reading it was like The Rich Cream from Augustinus Bader but a way more affordable version and I couldn’t agree more - I’m on my 4th bottle!), this squiggly stripe nightgown I shared myself wearing last week, this easy straw purse (very loved by y’all!), my boys’ favorite terry cover-ups for the pool and beach, these Chanel-inspired denim ballet flats (I bought these!), this beautiful floral dress you need for every spring and summer event coming up (I bought this last week!), these cool yet laid back denim shorts paired with the cult-obsessed Henri top, and these jelly sandals (THE cultest utilitarian shoes for moms playing with kids outside this spring).
PSA I had to share: Julia Amory just did a drop of the Husband Shirt so we are all all set for spring break. Julia was so kind to give me a code awhile back so use code JILLIAN-15 for 15% off. I also have my eye on this pomegranate chintz set from Julia because it’s so bright and happy: top, skirt.
P.S. If this post is ever too long for email, simply click through to read it in Substack. Also, if you enjoy this post, would you consider giving it a heart? It helps so much with the Substack algorithm and getting going on this platform. I am so grateful for you!
what caught my eye
what caught my heart
A quick ode to tennis… do you play tennis? Do you play another sport or parlour game that gets you together with friends regularly? I have had a standing pilates session twice a week for years now, but, after Peter, I dropped it down to one because I just couldn’t consistently workout at the exact same time every week with three kids (one of which was/is a baby). I love pilates but it isn’t social so it fills my exercise cup but not my friendship cup. I use the “I don’t have time” reason for not doing things a lot. The truth is, it is real! I have to be picky with how I spend my “free” time at this stage in my life with three young kids, work, and a household to keep up with.
Back in the fall, a girlfriend of mine organized a group of five of us to take a tennis lesson once a week. I thought to myself, “this sounds like so much fun! I need to make time for this.” It was the best decision! I get to be active, be outside, and see girlfriends. I’m no tennis pro but am having a ball playing. The past few weeks, we have extended our once a week mid-week lesson to the weekends and played on Sundays with our husbands too. It is an actual blast! We’ve been playing the game 105 and just having a time. I’ve found myself looking forward to it all weekend long! So, here is my plug to make a point to carve out an hour a week to do something with friends - a tennis lesson, a weekly walk, a standing mahjong game, something fun and social. It will become a highlight of your week and a little thing that adds up over time to be really quite meaningful. Yes, tennis has caught my heart!
In that vein, my sister is heading to Indian Wells this month to watch the iconic Palm Springs tennis tournament and I want to be there sitting right beside her! She asked me to help her find something to wear. Her only stipulation was that she wanted a set but no shorts or mini skirts as the desert gets cold at night. I thought I’d share my favorite sets I found for her. She has ordered three and I can’t wait to see what she settles on.
Florals:
Stripes:
Other:
Tie-dyed dipped top and ombré midi skirt (obsessed!)
The Colby Pant, aka the most elevated pull on pants out there
The Babe Pant, aka the chic kick-around pants out there
Honorable mentions:
Maybe too beachy: floral linen shirt and floral linen taper pants
Maybe too garden party: scalloped floral blouse and scalloped floral midi skirt
what caught my interest
A new-ish and new-to-me podcast! Back in August, Frederic Magazine launched a podcast called Deep Dive in Design and I completely missed it. August was when I started to emerge from living in my bubble with baby Peter and my older two boys and started to re-enter the world. It was not a soft re-entry… things were a fast paced blur with back to school blending into the fall and the holidays. I didn’t take (have?) time to do much of anything along the lines of enjoying a podcast. It was meant to be though because I devour interior design podcasts so I was thrilled this past week to discover that I have an entirely untapped podcast to sink my teeth into. I listen to so many podcasts on interiors that I have, in fact, heard a number of the guests on other podcasts but the guests are fantastic so I’m in. I’m always, always looking for podcasts so drop me a comment if you’ve listened to a podcast or episode you’ve loved recently!
P.S. If you live in Charleston, Frederic’s Editor-in-Chief, Dara Caponigro, is speaking as part of Charleston by Design on March, 15th. I’m very much looking forward to attending her talk with a few girlfriends! The lecture line-up for Charleston by Design is pretty great with Peter Pentreath and more. Take a peak!
what caught my imagination
Spring! My imagination is running wild with all things spring. We keep getting glimmers of it in Charleston with warm, sun soaked days only to be followed by a string of cold, blustery, or rainy days. Each time we are met with one of the ladder, Rowan exclaims “I wish that groundmole hadn’t seen his shadow!” I personally adore that he calls the groundhog a groundmole and am constantly tickled that this little bit of fun and folly in our culture has stuck with him. He believes winter is persisting because of the “groundmole”. Childhood is wonderful. Anywho, to the point…! I have spring on my brain so I was immediately drawn to Aerin Lauder’s brand new book, Living with Flowers. I was flattered to be invited to a dinner with Aerin here in Charleston last fall so, I have to admit, I’m even more looking forward to reading her new book. What excites me the most about this particular book is that, in its pages, Aerin takes us through her multiple homes and gardens to illustrate how she brings the outside in through everything from gorgeous floral wallpapers to lush centerpieces for a dinner party to beautiful tabletop pieces for the everyday to a simple vase of daffodils. I know I am just going to pour over the interiors and the grounds of her houses when my copy of the book arrives on my doorstep this week (maybe today, I must check my Amazon account!).
what caught my kids
We have a new-to-us brand that all five of us are obsessed with. The products are for our boys but they have greatly improved the eating out experience for Edwin and me too. So, we are now super fans also (p.s. this is in no way, shape, or form sponsored - we just love it so I’m about to wax poetic about the brand a bit)! The brand is called Chuffed Play. If there is one thing that Edwin and I both feel passionately about with parenting, it is screen time. Every family is different so take this with a grain of salt if our philosophies aren’t realistic for you and your family but this is what we do and what works for us. Our kids have never touched an ipad except for on an airplane. If we land and have a long drive, no ipads. I want them chatting with me/each other, singing along to songs, or looking out the window and daydreaming. Does this make long drives more work for me? Absolutely! I’m no saint but I am fine with this. At home, we almost always do movies instead of shows because we have found that shows just keep my boys wanting more. When we are out to eat or out and about in the world, our kids don’t get our phones. Our boys have no idea that they can actually watch a movie or a show on a phone. As a result, I’m always packing and unpacking bags for outings, which, I admit, does get old pretty quickly. Enter Chuffed Play.
Chuffed Play curates and creates skill-building, screen-free portable play for young, on the go children with a modular bag system that curates developmentally appropriate activities that are just the right size and quantity for mess free play when traveling or on the go. The founder has two young children of her own and struggled to always find new, easy, mess free, reusable activities for them when traveling, eating out, etc. So she created her own solution! Yet another example of how, if you want something done, ask a mother! I do admit that when I first heard about Chuffed Play, I thought, “I can do that myself so, great idea but I don’t personally need this.” Guess what… I was wrong! I feel spread too thin on a daily basis so why in the world would I not take this simple thing off my plate!? I did and our bags have been a massive hit.
Rowan and Henry have the Play Bags and then we have some of the mini bags as well. I pulled them out a few weeks ago at a restaurant and the boys locked in on them. They proceeded to play with them for the entire meal when they weren’t eating. Do you know what happened the next week at an early dinner out? The exact same thing! We’ve now used them countless times and Rowan and Henry love them just as much as the first time they saw them. We have some upcoming travel around the corner for spring break and I know these will be my first line of defense against the travel woes of flying with young children!
This is a long way of saying we loved Chuffed Play! The play options are darling, the bags are so fun + lightweight + can be personalized (obsessed with these keychains - I want them on everything for my boys!), and they fully discourage screentime. These would also be a steller gift or great additions to upcoming Easter baskets! They also have a sold out subscription system, which I am very ingruided by and want to do for my boys when it comes back.
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 and we can chat if any of this strikes a chord with you. See you next Thursday with Vol 6!
