Weekend Reads #308

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Joan Mitchell, Untitled, 1979
Joan Mitchell, Untitled, 1979

I'll be honest, I did VERY little reading this week. I didn't want to read what went wrong, who is at fault, and what will happen next. I believe the best thing is to rest, to recover, and be ready for the upcoming year as we cannot give up, it is our responsibility to keep speaking up and fighting for those who will be most affected by the change in administration.

So Weekend Reads is far less reading and much more everything else as I don't want to wear you out, overwhelm you, or make you feel defeated. Those emotions do not help anyone. Watch some fluff TV, read some smut on your Kindle, put in your earbuds and close your eyes and let the late fall sun shine on your face while you listen to bilateral music (really helps me stop the racing thoughts). But don't forget, with a new year needs to be new energy and drive. Love and strength to all of you.

Weekend Reads

I'm gonna love the hell out of you. (The White Pages)

Why I left the network. (ProPublica)

Why are people still buying ripped jeans? (New York Times – gift link)

I'm intrigued by the new Glossier lash curler.

Keri Henderson, a talented woman I met through the D.C. blogging scene, launched a newsletter called The Kickback with Keri. Her newsletter this week after the election was poignant; I encourage you to subscribe for free.

Suggestions for more honest Album of the Year list titles. (New Bands for Old Heads)

Let's talk about the white woman problem. (Emily In Your Phone)

Universal Standard is returning to the D.C. area for another trunk show/pop-up shop. From November 14 – 17, US will be taking over a mansion in Upper Northwest off 16th. I don't have a code, but I know other influencers like my friend Emily do, and any active code can be used on your purchase. Sign up to attend for free at this link. If you have never attended an event like this before, ready my review of attending a Universal Standard trunk show.

James Van Der Beek diagnosed with colorectal cancer: โ€œThereโ€™s reason for optimism.โ€ (The Hollywood Reporter)

One of the countryโ€™s few gender-affirming thrift stores is in Baltimore. (Baltimore Banner)

Sale Alert

Brandon Blackwood, one of my favorite bag designers, is having an early Black Friday sale with 40% off most handbags and up to 60% off select outerwear and shoes. The sale is at this link; use code BLKWDFRIDAY24 at checkout.

  • My personal faves are the Daphne and the Jacqueline and I may have gotten one as a holiday gift to myself?

I know you don't all wear glasses, but GlassesUSA.com is having an early Bird Black Friday sale with an additional 40% off frames at this link. Use code EARLY40. Gucci, Michael Kors, Burberry, Versace, and more. I was shopping the sale last night and am considering these from Gucci, these from Michael Kors, and these from Michael Kors.

I have a Hydrow rower and I LOVE it. I have the Wave, the smaller one, which is so cool looking I have it in my living room (I picked the orange one). I love that I don't need to adjust anything but the foot things after my 6'4″ husband rides, that there is a great variety of rides with instructors or just pretty views, phenomenal stretches, and it gives me a full body workout without hurting any of my joints or my back.

Anyway, Hydrow has provided me with some exclusive savings codes where if you use code OXYGENWAVE you get $250 off the Wave rower, and OXYGENPRO will get you $450 off the original Pro rower. The Wave is smaller and holds up to 360 lbs; the Pro holds up to 375 lbs and both can accommodate up to a 36″ inseam (and clearly, with me, a 28″ inseam!).

J. Crew Factory has 50% off and then an extra 25% off orders $125+ with code BESTEVER and this sale ends tonight/Saturday so shop soon! My picks:

Lane Bryant has Buy One, Get One 50% off. I shared before how I am impressed with Lane Bryant's current collection. Starting at size 10 and going up to 40, Lane Bryant is becoming one of the most size-inclusive brands out there. My picks:

  • For the holidays or a special event, this jumpsuit is badass and comes in three lengths. If you prefer a sleeve, this one is also gorgeous.
  • This blouse would look chic with black velvet pants, ivory trousers, or even your favorite jeans
  • This dress is timeless, can be glammed up with a sparkly belt and heels, dressed down with tights and booties, and can even be styled with a denim or leather jacket.
  • Well, hello there, fabulous red plaid pantsuit! Link for blazer, link for pants. Style with a black shell or turtleneck, white button-front shirt, or glam it up with a sequined tank! The pants come in lengths.
  • I now have two of these bras; they're comfy, cute, and give great shape.

The Sephora Fall Savings Event is continuing through November 11; check out my sister's picks from the sale at this link.

As I was finishing this Weekend's Reads, I got an email from Universal Standard. If you go to this link and use the password VIPHOF, you can buy 3+ items for just $80 each. It's a good list of items like the Kanda Puffer, the Plaza Linen Shirtdress, the Better Than Wool Cardigan, the Kate Jumpsuit, the Odeon Shirtdress, the Next to Naked Bodysuit, and a bunch of other great things I don't have reviews of on Wardrobe Oxygen or Instagram.

See/Hear/Read

the golden bachelorette 2024

I'm back at itโ€”watching The Golden Bachelor franchise, that is. My DVR automatically began recording this season's The Golden Bachelorette. I was going through the DVR, saw it, and it felt like the perfect thing to start Election Night when I got home from being an election judge, exhausted but too wired to sleep and too stressed to watch the early results. I ended up binging it with K this week and we've fully caught up.

the golden bachelorette kickball game
These dudes playing kickball slid into bases, one got a separated shoulder, they were covered in scrapes and bruises and pulled muscles.

The most lovely part of this series is the friendship created between the male contestants. As we get older, we can live more solitary lives. It's heartwarming to see these widows and divorced guys enjoying staying in a house together, opening up to one another, and truly bonding. I think that is more powerful than the supposed search for a new spouse, which I wouldn't be surprised if Joan, the Bachelorette, decides not to pick.

shrinking season 2

I also caught up on season 2 of Shrinking (Apple TV), another show that isn't heavy and is nice to look at and has really entertaining characters. I don't know how these folks have jobs and families yet all this time to hang out together in their backyards and living rooms and break rooms drinking wine and talking about sex and egos and vibrators, but I don't care.

the majority of the cast of season 2 of shrinking on apple tv standing around a kitchen island chatting with one another

Shrinking is a pleasant distraction, and I like Jason Segal and Harrison Ford and Wendie Malick and Christa Miller reminds me of when Cougartown was on and good. And I've come to love Jessica Williams and Ted McGinley and Lukita Maxwell reminds me of my teen. It's not as good as Season 1 but also it's more intriguing and I am wondering often how things will pan out.

elin hilderbrand troubles in paradise

I am back on my Elin Hilderbrand kick and am reading the second of her “Paradise” trilogy, which takes place in St. John instead of Nantucket. It's entertaining, though I don't feel as emotionally connected to any of the characters… except maybe Huck. The sons are dumbasses; the mom is a primary character, but not until the second book did I grasp that she was a brunette, and I can't envision anything else about her, and Ayers is a character I am still learning about and not quite understanding as well as I usually do with Hilderbrand's books.

Elin Hilderbrand's The Paradise Trilogy series of books

But it's in sunny St. John, and when I am listening while rowing on the Hydrow or driving home from taking E to school or doing chores, it prevents my mind from wandering to less pleasant things. And I am all about that, especially this week. When The Perfect Couple came out on Netflix, it was hard to find Hilderbrand's audiobooks on Libby. But now, if they're not available, the wait is only a week or two, and I already have Troubles in Paradise ready to go when I finish What Happens in Paradise (I only have about an hour left).

For Your Entertainment

lenny kravitz from his video for the song honey

This is a week for some chill music, a nice to watch video… and some Lenny Kravitz. It's always a good time in my opinion, for Lenny Kravitz. He's dancing in a castle, he's dancing near a pool, he's lying in a fireplace, he's shaking his hips, playing the guitar and playing the drums and is shirtless most of the time… enjoy.

Oh, the song is also a good song. Add it to a playlist for preparing dinner, driving down a road on a sunny day, or taking your sweetie for a spin around the kitchen.


A woman with curly hair wearing a plaid blazer holds a green fur coat over her shoulder on a city street.

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11 Comments

  1. Oh that New Republic article hurts to read.

    I don’t know how we get to a future of equal rights (goodness know we were never truly there, but we were getting closer) from where we are now. The impact is already rippling at our son’s very small school, where a fifth-grade girl with two moms wondered in class if one or both of them will be taken away. We’re considering moving from MD, where we just relocated to in June, back west to California. Further removed from east coast proximity, but also most likely one of the safer states to be in once the economic repercussions begin to roll in. We had just moved back from two years in Denmark–the U.S. is their biggest trade partner, and Trump taking power has already had an effect. 24% decline in Vestas stock (wind turbine production), 14% decline in Orsted stock (same industry). A prediction that the country (only about 6 M population) could lose 30,000 jobs because of Trump decisions. That doesn’t even touch on the Ukraine issues, and how for the first time ever, DK has alerted the country’s population they need emergency food and supplies for 3 days.

    I’ve taken a break from most social media, but I want to be engaged and participate in making whatever future comes to us better. Thank you for your election judge work, Ali, and of course to all who have done such. Here’s hoping we will be able to see light, and help others who have been voluntarily blinded.

  2. Kate B: Thank you so much for the link to The New Republic article. It was eye opening for me. I am 70 years old and do not much engage with social media. I guess that’s my age showing. I have heard that many people get their news from Facebook. I have no idea how they do that. (I admit that I mostly avoid reading anything on Facebook because I consider it to be full of drivel or conceitedness.) I have never seen a single piece of news on the platform. I am, unfortunately, very familiar with Fox News. My husband, a dyed in the wool Republican, was a regular viewer of the channel until I was finally able to get him to see the light in regard to Trump after the insurrection (I call it like it is!)
    I do agree with the premise that Democrats need to do better with using social media, podcasts, and the like.

    Unfortunately, IMHO, the core reason that Trump won the election is the electorate’s willful ignorance. They choose to place themselves in a right wing bubble if they choose to read or listen to any information at all. I can’t tell you how many individuals I have encountered in recent months who told me with a straight face that the economy was so much better under Trump. Why, after all, groceries cost so much under Biden! Therefore, it must be Biden’s mismanagement. I have tried to gently educate these people, but I am sure it did no good whatsoever. My husband has a lifelong friend who says he refuses to read anything about politics at all. But, he “knows” that Trump will be good for the country. His politics are firmly entwined with his extremely conservative religious beliefs (think – there is no such thing as evolution). I truly have no idea how to get through to these people!! I hope that our country survives the next four (or more!) years.

    1. I struggle with the idea of getting your information from one source so much! Granted, I did go to school (initially) for journalism, but I was taught in English and science to corroborate and cite my sources, to verify my information, and of course, to validate from multiple places. How do you move an immovable object, which so very many people seem to be?

  3. Alison, thank you for this & for acknowledging the hurt & despair so many of us are feeling. This week has been devastating. I just canโ€™t believe we are going to do this again with the orange monster & heโ€™s got no guard rails this time. How can people be ok with a sexual assaulter, traitor, & criminal as our President? It will never make sense and it will never be ok.

    Iโ€™m trying my best to limit how much news media I take in right now and instead use my free time on blogs, podcasts, & TV I enjoy. Tonight Iโ€™ve decided to start watching Killing Eveโ€”yes, Iโ€™m years behind but it seems like a good time to watch it. Thank you for the reminder about Season 2 of Shrinking! My husband & I will have to start that soon. I love to read but am not doing very well with attention this week. Itโ€™s hard to keep a sustained thought. I plan to take care of myself as best I can & will hopefully be ready to push back when itโ€™s time to do so. I saw a Threads post yesterday that said โ€œDo not obey in advance.โ€ Keeping that thought in my mind!

  4. Thank you for your suggestions, Alison! I still feel so overwhelmed.

    I hope your election judge work went well on Tuesday. Did you get any extra helpers from the Board of Elections? I think my precinct had seven in all, including the two chief judges and me.

  5. Thank you. Iโ€™m also an election judge and it took me two days to recover.

    Do you wear the liner without eyeshadow? Great suggestions!

  6. Thank you Allison, I knew you would get the mood oh how I have been feeling. Thank you for everything you are doing.

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