Hello friends! It’s a great day for the sixth edition of The Catch-Up, my weekly column that arrives in your inboxes every Thursday. For my first five 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 past couple of weeks. 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. I hope you enjoyed my February Recap post from Monday as well - lots there about romanticizing your life and noticing the beauty in it all. P.S. If this post is ever too long for email, simply click through to read it in Substack.
We’ve had a relaxing week, which is great because we have a few fun things on the horizon this weekend! Tomorrow, I am going to see Amy Griffin speak on her book tour for The Tell and I am so looking forward to it and to reading the book. I know it is going to be powerful and moving. Later on, our friends are hosting a ping pong + dinner party at their house tomorrow night that I’m sure will be a riot. Ping Pong is something I am terrible at but I’m always up for games and good old fashioned fun. On Saturday, I’m going to lunch with a few girlfriends and then to a lecture put on by Historic Charleston Foundation with Dara Caponigro, the creative director of Schumacher and editor-in-chief of FREDERIC Magazine. I love a weekend full of culture! The rest of the weekend will be spent with the boys. We went to a beach bonfire last weekend so they will probably be begging for more beach time but I’m not complaining.
Your most favorite and most shopped for items this past week were: the yummiest cashmere sweater that is currently 20% off with code SWEATERSALE20 (the blue shade is to die for and great for over your shoulders this spring), this on-trend yellow flowy dress for only $118, the floral poplin dress I wore last weekend for under $250, the bright skirt (with pockets!) I wore last Friday inspired by Italian tiles, these comfy + chic kickaround pants, this gorgeous ombré midi skirt (last week’s top seller!), the coolest sneakers I’ve seen in ages, the cutest green gingham mini dress, and the famous husband shirt (just in time for spring break by the water!).
PSA: a handful of the items in this week’s collage are from Shopbop and 20% off with code SELECT20…!
what caught my eye
what caught my heart
Antiques tell a story that is a far cry from the modern mass produced furniture we are served on a daily basis today. The craftsmanship, the patina, the durability, the longevity, the beauty of antiques - it’s all important and all right there, up for grabs. Antiques caught my heart long ago thanks to my mother who had us living with antiques our whole lives and who never shied away from taking us with her into antique stores or house museums. The world of antiques is never ending with so much one can learn that one could never learn it all. Someone could be an expert in Georgian architecture but the person sitting next to them could have a wealth of knowledge on William and Mary furniture and the person on the other side of them could be passionate about art nouveau jewelry. In my humble opinion, none of it should be intimidating because antiques and their time periods give us new reasons to expand our minds. No one knows everything so we are all learners. Antiques help us learn, appreciate, notice, and romanticize. We’ve got a great opportunity to do just this in Charleston by unpacking how anyone (even a novice) can live with antiques during the upcoming panel next week, Living with Antiques: A Meaningful Practice for Young Collectors.
Here’s the scoop, the panel will be moderated by Michael-Diaz Griffith, author of The New Antiquarians: At Home with Young Collectors, who is coming to town for the event. The wonderful panelists are some of Charleston’s best tastemakers in our decorative arts community: Aldous Bertram, Chelsea Handegan, and John Pope. The panel is a brand new event this year complementing The Charleston Show. It’s happening Friday, March 21st at 1:00pm and your ticket includes a boxed lunch (available starting at noon) and Friday access to The Charleston Show (which would cost you $20 anyways so why not go to learn something new from the sharp, witty, preservation-minded panelists with a yummy lunch and a friend or colleague and then wander around the show?). Grab a ticket here and let antiques weasel their way into your heart.
what caught my interest
Spring break is right around the corner and then, before we know it, it will be summertime when traveling is in full swing. We have a good bit of travel coming up so I went ahead and got a set of Cadence containers for all the things I can’t live without. What’s Cadence? It is customizable containers designed to adapt to any routine so you always have what you need with you. At the root of it, they are magnetic and leakproof capsules that can be built into different set arrangements. You customize the sets by:
picking your colors (I selected mine to all be cohesive in the “pacific” blue but you can mix and match colors as well)
picking your capsule sizes from 3 different choices
picking your magnetic labels - choose anything from shampoo to serum to pills/vitamins to your own custom label
There are a handful of different container configurations or you can fully build your own configuration (this is what I did). I didn’t get their “parcels” aka their TSA approved bags but I am intrigued and thinking maybe I should go back and order one. In addition to travel, I think the Cadence containers would be amazing to keep in a gym bag/work bag or for certain things in your everyday purse. The magnetic functionality caught my interest because it gives me less opportunities to lose a container in transit and the leakproof functionality really caught my interest because I have arrived on a trip TOO MANY times to find my face or hair product leaked all over my cosmetic bag. So, I’m nerding out a bit over how great this simple yet brilliant product is!
what caught my imagination
How do you travel with your formal wear, wedding-ready styles, carefully curated outfits, and best looks? Do you cram them into a suitcase, squeeze in a steamer, and hope for the best? Do you stuff them in your husband’s garment bag? Not anymore! A girlfriend of mine for more than a decade, Olivia, just launched a brilliant company, Olivet, to help all of us booked and busy women look our best for every weekend getaway. Accept that invitation to skip town and dress up because your best looks won’t be getting crumpled any longer. Olivet is a beautiful garment bag designed for women who travel as stylishly as they dress. As Olivia says, your wardrobe is stunning so your garment bag should be too.
I really really adore the idea of Olivet becoming one of my go-to glamorous gifts. How perfect would it be to gift to a bride-to-be or, as a bride, to your bridesmaids? Olivet caught my imagination right away, not just because I adore the founder but because I love that the brand and product celebrates romanticizing your life and noticing the small things (something I’m putting an emphasis on - my thoughts here). Take notice: your look is beautiful so the bag carrying it should be beautiful too and should keep your clothing in shipshape. Olivet celebrates dressing for the moment. Take a routine thing like travel but romanticize it by checking into your destination with the chicest garment bag in the lobby. Yes, yes please!
what caught my kids
Rowan and Henry are hooked on the new show, The Americas, narrated by Tom Hanks on Peacock/NBC. My boys love nature shows and documentaries so this is right up their alley. The show showcases the wonders, secrets, and fragilities of the Americas in such a beautiful way. For starters, Tom Hanks couldn’t be a better narrator if he tried. Each episode is dedicated to a different region and her landscape, topography, wildlife, and more. So far, NBC has released episodes on the Atlantic coast, Mexico, the wild west, the Amazon, and the frozen north. The show is episodic with 5 of the 10 episodes out so far. It is made even more spectacular thanks to Hans Zimmer who scored the show. There is no one better! My boys are truly watching in awe and wonder. If you want to gather around a television, this is a great reason to do so. P.S. Rowan and Henry are 4 and almost 3 and they love it so it really is for all ages.
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 7!
I’m traveling for a black tie wedding in a few weeks. Sounds like I need an Olivet garment bag!