THE GUIDE

FEEL THIS

You’ve read all of these before but its such a good reminder. Is it me or has the influx of diet, exercise, and wellness resolutions been louder this year than ever? I’ve been working on lowering my sugar and caffeine intake significantly but lets be honest, I can’t quit them. Instead I’ve set achievable goals: one piece of chocolate a day - I’m Belgian, I can’t give that up - and one caffeinated beverage a day (trying to just do green tea or matcha). I sound like a baby but the last few days have been rough without coffee! Lots of headaches but my stomach has felt SO much better. Priorities:)

PIN THIS

A shameless plug for myself but let me tell you, Pinterest saved me a few months ago! I’m a wife, a mom of two, and have a full-time job…there is no time to flip through magazines and travel the world for inspiration. Maybe one day! A girl can dream:) At the end of the summer I was feeling like I was in a little bit of a rut. For some reason I had convinced myself that I should have this endless string of creativity oozing from my brain at all times. And why wasn’t it happening?? Then I re-discovered Pinterest. I don’t use it as frequently as Instagram but to be honest I look at my mood boards and sometimes it is more fufilling than an Insta post.

MAKE THIS

I LOVE the Goop detox plans. This will be my third year using recipes from the annual menu and I love the one they’ve created for the working girl in 2019. Last year I was addicted to this oatmeal (I sub the pecans for walnuts) and if you have the time this warming morning latte is out of this world!

SELL/BUY THIS

There are two new trends in shopping that are picking up speed this year: the first is that our generation is starting to care less and less about where they’re purchasing their luxury goods from. This means more business for companies that resell like The Real Real and Tradesy. I’ve recently subscribed to the same line of thinking when shopping for a new handbag. Why pay 5k for this when you can get for less than 2k? I would easily trade a few scratches to have the money back in my pocket for other things. I get it! Also just a note about spending this much on a handbag…when it comes to accessories I’m a serial monogamous and that will never change. I fall in love with a style, think about it for months to a year and once I buy it I use it FOREVER! I talked a little bit about how I’ve had to change my shopping trends because of the blog. Click here for the post.

THE SECOND TREND: Cuyana puts it best, “fewer, better”. The idea that you purchase less frequently and less in general and when you do purchase the consumer is focusing on quality of the item, where it is made, and how long its going to last them. Blogger Meg Hall has taken it as far as a no shop commitment for 2019. She has pledged and started a Facebook support group around not adding anything to her closet for an entire year. I can’t wait to follow along! I’m not sure what this is going to mean for fast fashion brands like Zara and H&M and it will be interesting to see what this means for retail in general. For me the overarching theme is that the consumer is in charge. We are dictating the shopping trends and telling brands how we want to spend our money.

see this

Do you live on one of these streets? Architectural digest recently did an article on the 30 Most Beautiful Streets in America. We recently visited Beacon, NY and it did not disappoint. My favorite on this list? Nantucket! It is hands down the most charming and magical place I have ever been in the United States.