How are you guys doing? This week was rattling to the say the least. I’m truly just at a loss of words. I feel so tired. So drained. Disturbed. Angry. Frustrated. Sad. Terrified. Mike and I were both working in the living room so we could have the news on to watch the electoral count. Watching things unfold and escalate was absolutely horrifying. I couldn’t believe I was watching real life it looked much more like a scene out of a Hollywood movie. I called my mom on the way to my volunteer shift and had her dictating what was happening while I drove. At the food bank, we had the news on the whole time and we could not believe what we were seeing. Just when you think it can’t get worse, it does.
Anyway I just don’t even know. It feels so bizarre to have to just keeping putting one foot in front of the other. But here we are.
ON MY RADAR 1.8.20
ON MY RADAR 1.8.20
Here’s what has been on my radar this week. Kind of a mixed bag. Honestly including what I normally would. Not to say that it’s not a normal week. Personally I’ve been glued to the news and can’t seem to turn away, just sharing some lighter things today.
ONE // Morgan Harper Nichols on Unity
It’s no secret that I love Morgan Harper Nichols. She has a way with words that I find so comforting and reassuring. I read her entries every morning in her app Storyteller. Yesterday she shared this article she wrote for Medium. I read it four times in one sitting (and have gone back to re-read it again). It really spoke to me. “Unity” feels impossible because, as MHN puts it, “we can’t just say ‘I love your ingredients no matter what they are.’” It’s needed but I feel hopeless. I liked what she had to say and how she said it.
TWO // Homemade Grocery Store Cookies
One of my guilty pleasures are those soft sugar cookies you get from grocery store bakeries. You know the kind, right? They’re fluffy with lots of icing (that somehow weirdly tastes better if it’s just a little stale… just me?) and always, always colorful sprinkles to match whatever holiday is around the corner. This NY Times cooking video walks you through how to make them at home.
THREE // Ann Mashburn Buckle Shoe
Ann Mashburn is my ultimate style icon. I just have a huge girl crush on her, honestly, and love everything she does. Somehow she strikes the perfect balance of chic and effortless. I have one pair of her buckle shoes and they’re classics– definitely a shoe I’ll have for years and years. The entire collection is gorgeous– all the prints and colors. Hard to pick a favorite. I have nowhere to wear them and yellow isn’t a color I can easily pull off, but the satin yellow pair is stunning.
FOUR // Pick Up Knitting Needles for a Mood Booster
This article is about knitting, but I think it could apply to so many hobbies. I think we’re already seeing a resurgence of crafting and needlework and I think it’s only going to continue to grow. I have experienced the mood boosts and mental wellbeing from needlepoint and sewing. HIGHLY RECOMMEND.
FIVE // Kids Surprise Parents with Viral Tik Tok Account
Need to cry some happy tears? Watch these parents get surprised on live television by their children. I was bawling and they keep raising the bar throughout the entire segment. One word of caution: don’t watch this unless you have a tissue (or a box of tissues!!!) handy. It is so freaking sweet.
Thank you for being so open and real with us Carly! I love following your and how you aren’t afraid to speak your mind and share your thoughts! You are a bright spot every day!
http://www.elspethsdaybyday.com
Carly, thanks so much for talking about what happened on Wednesday. A lot of influencers I’ve been following haven’t and it’s been incredibly disappointing to see that.
While Wednesday’s riot was horrifying, I think that makes it all the more important to remember what happened in Georgia on Tuesday. Flipping both Senate seats was the culmination of years of long work led by Black women on the ground. It was incredible to see.
Did anyone notice that the two women carrying the electoral box was wearing the same style dress? And where is it from. Great style. Would love to see you style those yellow Ann Mashburn shoes. They are so …. Who doesn’t love a great cookie that you don’t have to cook. As far as what happen. I just wonder if any of Congress thought that is this what a mass shooting at a school or church feels like. There needs to be change and it starts with each and every one of us. It would help if everyone knew the truth about how things work so that we all can work together and make change. It starts locally, then state, then federal.
The dress on the right is from J Crew Factory!
And I believe the one on the left is from Banana Republic!
The one on the left is from Ann Taylor! And it’s only $40
That GMA video was the perfect way to start off a Friday morning on such a happy note. Thank you for sharing!
It has been a hard week. The good and reasonable people of this country need to take a deep breath and get back to work. I hope everyone involved in the terrifying chaos of Jan 6th is arrested and prosecuted to the full extent of the law. We have much to look forward to in 2021, the spring thaw, a vaccine and a new administration. Stay safe and be hopeful.
This is random, but I believe the type of sugar cookie you’re referring to is called a “Lofthouse cookie.” I love them too, but apparently they’re very polarizing.
I’ll have to try that cookie recipe because I always wanted to like those fluffy grocery store cookies… but I hate them!! Oh god do I despise them haha! I was always so deeply disappointed when they were somebody’s birthday treat in school.
It’s been an incredibly tough week. I’ve been scared (for my own safety as someone who lives two miles from the Capitol), unsurprised but furious (to see how white supremacists are treated by the Capitol Police and National Guard in comparison to the Black Lives Matters protestors this summer), and just hopeless (I don’t know if there’s any way to get through to people that are consumed by these conspiracy theories and who don’t believe in facts anymore). And I don’t think our country will go back to “normal” after January 20th. The damage of the last four years may be irreversible – not just policies, but in people’s minds and in what they feel comfortable thinking/saying/doing after Trump riled them up.
But thank you so much for speaking up about your feelings as well – I’m so happy that you’ve been speaking up about injustice in 2020/2021 and it makes me happy to have followed you for all these years!
Oh that TikTok! WOW!!! Just cried lots of happy tears while at my desk this morning! Thanks for sharing <3
Great list! The Tik Tok story made me tear up!
Just FYI, that pic of the aides & electoral college ballots is from earlier in the day – walking in, not removing.
That picture of the Senate aides carrying the ballot boxes was taken BEFORE the riot started. They are carrying the boxes into the Senate to be counted earlier in the day. One of the aides in the picture clarified this in an article on today.com. Please stop spreading misinformation.
When I wrote this post, yesterday, that was the information being reported. Sorry
I volunteer with an organization for high schoolers with disability and have been following the TikTok account you included for a while now! It makes me so happy to see their story getting attention and support. The pandemic has been especially isolating for disabled individuals and I think their camp will be even more meaningful for kids once things clear up and are safe again. 🙂
Small world… the GMA segment are friends of mine. Such a fun family. It was so cool to see it happen on GMA and what they didn’t show are some of the kids that will be able to go to camp.
We fled my birth country in 1998 because of civil unrest like this. It is horrifyingly surreal to watch it all unfold here.