A Girl Named PJ

Weekend reading: link roundup

April 17, 2015

I have some exciting news! We found a house in DC! Actually, it’s a townhouse in Bethesda, Maryland, and it’s ours for the next two years. Jordan just got the keys, and I’m hoping to pop by this weekend when the boys and I are visiting. It’s time to start thinking about decorating!

Hope you have a great weekend, whatever you’re planning to do. (Care to share?) Here are some fun links to explore:

The prettiest peachy coral nail polish. (I’m wearing it above!)

I’d love to get my hands on these 10 magazines. Long live print!

This recipe combines two of my favorite foods: pesto and bread.

Thinking of starting a blog? Here’s the first step. Plus, 5 things every blog needs.

Before you judge the behavior (or the parents) of your child’s friends, read this beautiful post.

J.Crew style at every age.

I’m adding this book, recommended by Joy, to my reading list.

And I’m overly excited that my copy of this book just arrived in the mail!

The sneakers I wore in high school are making a comeback. Long live the ’90s!

For the record, I’d be happy to live in a donut shop.

If you’re a fan of gold, glitter, and motivational mantras, go enter this giveaway.

Such a cool idea: A fully customizable infant car seat.

Could you wear the same thing to work every day?

More things I’ve written:

Over on Cool Mom Picks, I rounded up the most stylish women’s rain boots for spring.

I had five (!) slideshows published on BHG.com this week: DIYs with gold paint, Craigslist furniture makeovers, DIY coasters, Dip-dyed projects, and DIY painted pillows.

(Image via Instagram. Follow me here!)

5 things your blog must have

April 15, 2015

For a recent freelance writing assignment, I researched approximately 75 DIY projects on nearly as many blogs. Once I found the posts I wanted to include, I needed to contact each blogger for permission to use their photos.

Sounds easy, right?

You’d be surprised to hear how challenging it was to find the specific types of DIY projects I needed simply because of the way many of the blogs were designed… READ MORE!

New music picks

April 14, 2015

One completely random thing I remember about my last job in New York — so, around 2007 — was that a girl in my department liked a band called The Wombats. Although I’m sure she played me some songs from their MySpace page, all I really knew about The Wombats was that they were an indie band (my co-worker was a Brooklyn hipster) with a name I always confused with The Wiggles.

In fairness, wombats and The Wiggles are both native to Australia.

So I have to laugh that today I’m recommending The Wombats as a new music pick. Does that mean they’ve become more mainstream in the last eight years or that my taste in music has become less commercial?

The couple of reviews I’ve read about Glitterbug suggest the former is true. On their third album, the Wombats sound less indie and more poppy, according to critics, but I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing.

Glitterbug is harmless fun, the type of music you can have playing in the background without it being too distracting. I can’t speak to what the Wombats sounded like on their first two albums, but this one reminds me of Bastille or Passion Pit with a little bit of The Cure mixed in for that ’80s vibe.

Another new music pick: Chaos And The Calm from James Bay. A singer-songwriter from England, Bay’s been labeled an artist to watch in 2015 by music critics worldwide and it’s easy to see — well, hear — why.

His sound has been described as a mash-up of Sam Smith and Marcus Mumford (of Mumford and Sons), and I’d say he looks like the lovechild of Jack White and John Mayer. He’s kind of soulful, kind of rock, and kind of folksy all at the same time — and I kind of like it. A lot.

Tell me, what are you listening to these days?

(photo of Aether Cone via Instagram)

Some thoughts on spring fashion

April 13, 2015

Early spring is such a tease.

Stores tempt us with short-sleeve shirts, breezy dresses, and opened-toed shoes, but temperatures in the high-50s to low-60s call for pants and jackets. It’s too soon to swap our winter wardrobes for the latest spring fashion.

Instead, the transition from winter to spring calls for some creative dressing. Mixing and matching heavy clothing with lightweight fabrics. Warm pieces with pieces made for warmer weather.

Take this shirt, for example. It’s a drapey short-sleeve top in the prettiest shade of persimmon. Everything about it, from the color to the fabric, makes it the perfect warm weather shirt. I almost didn’t buy it when I saw it hanging on a rack at J.Crew last month, as I was wearing my winter jacket while shopping and a linen-like shirt seemed an unnecessary purchase.

I probably wouldn’t have purchased the top if it hadn’t randomly been 25% off. I try not to pay full price for clothing unless it’s something I desperately need for a particular event, which means I usually don’t buy clothing for a particular season until we’re several weeks into that season.

I also might not have bought it if I didn’t have a photo shoot scheduled with Megan Tsang for my Secrets of Stylish Moms feature. Since several of my blogging friends have been encouraging me to share more outfits (ahem, Sarah, Jeran, Rachel, and MJ), I thought it’d be fun to work with Meg on a spring fashion post.

Specifically, how to wear one top two ways: First, in an early spring look and then in a late spring one.

We shot the photos in my sister’s New York City neighborhood. I was worried I’d feel terribly self-conscious posing for the camera in public, but Meg quickly put me at ease. Plus, my photography session didn’t seem to phase the busy New Yorkers around me. Nobody acted particularly curious or interested in what we were doing.

That’s NYC for you.

Still, I’m not sure I could be a full-fledge fashion blogger. Having my picture taken while hailing a cab among a crowd or standing in the middle of a busy intersection for the typical street style shot seems like it might be a little bit out of my comfort zone. Luckily (or not), there aren’t very many cabs or busy intersections in the suburbs where my parents live!

And now on to the fashion…

This month, while it’s still a bit chilly outside, I’ll be pairing the brightly colored tee with a blazer. I love the way black and white makes the coral pop! My favorite wedge ankle boots finish the look.

I pretty much always wear booties until the weather stays in the mid-60s; I have a condition that causes my toes to get red and itchy if my feet get too cold. Sorry, was that TMI?

Hopefully you can’t tell from these photos, but I was freezing when we shot this late spring look!

I wore the same cap-sleeve top and cuffed jeans but with loafers instead of boots and a patterned scarf instead of a blazer. (Psst…the scarf is on a big sale right now!) Black and white became navy blue and white, making the outfit feel less edgy and more preppy.

So what do you think? Would you wear either of these two looks? Should I start posting fashion content more regularly? I’d love your feedback!

SHOP THE POST

[show_shopthepost_widget id=”664985″]

PS: Here are the instructions for my color block manicure!

(photos by Megan Tsang Studio)

Weekend reading: link roundup

April 10, 2015

What an exciting week it’s been! If you found your way here via Say Yes, welcome! I’m so happy to have you and hope you’ll stick around for a while.

If you commented on my posts about where to live in DC or how to talk to kids about hard stuff, thank you! I’ll be responding to each and every message this weekend when I have a some spare time. With Jordan down in Washington, DC for work, this week was slightly more challenging than normal.

I hope you have a great weekend! Here are some fun links to explore:

If your baby wakes a lot, you’re probably exhausted but take comfort in this: There’s a link between “very high levels of developmental and intellectual achievement and not sleeping throughout the night,” via Buzzfeed.

An Instagram chef plates junk food like fancy cuisine. You’ve never seen a PopTart look this good, via Twisted Sifter.

I saw my fair share of pink bathrooms last week as I searched Trulia and Zillow for a place to live outside DC, but none were as bright and fresh as this pretty pastel makeover, via Design Sponge.

“You don’t learn something new and end up somewhere old.” Looking forward to listening to this interview with Do Over author Jon Acuff, via Smart Creative Women.

If you’re as obsessed with Instagram as I am (follow me here!), you want to bookmark these this post about taking better photos with your iPhone, via House of Brinson.

Brighten up for spring: The prettiest papaya-hued purse I ever did see, via MZ Wallace.

No matter your profession, here’s how to make rejection work in your favor, via The Crafted Life.

Anna wrote an honest post on dealing with negative thoughts, something that I struggle with as well. I’ve been thinking about a quote she pulled from the book Sacred Housekeeping: “Thoughts are living things, and I can bring into my life that which I think the most about. Negative or positive,” via The Yellow Table.

(image via Instagram)

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