The Summer Five

The other night Kyle, aka Mr. Waistcoat, randomly asked me "So I see here on the blog you did a Fall Five... what are your Five Picks for Summer?" I don't know what made him go on my blog or why he's curious about what I'd buy if funds were endless... but he inspired me to have a crack at it. He's up in Boston right now training for his new job at Made in USA superstar brand Ball and Buck, so this is also an exercise in helping me pass the time.

Interestingly, this is one of the first times that I've made a pick list from which I've already purchased some items. I guess window shopping stopped being empowering enough and I needed to start biting the bullet?

 1. Blue Chambray Popover by Gitman Brothers Vintage, $156 from Need Supply Co. This shirt is so basic it could have its own late 90's Gap commercial with an assortment of racially diverse and eclectic artists bouncing around an all-white stage to a carefully choreographed yet whimsical song. No but really, you'll throw it on the floor at night and then put it back on the next day... and the next day... and 2. Angler sunglasses in Medium Yellow HD PC by Ball and Buck x Randolph Engineering, $188. Not a bad price for Randolphs, ever. Lifetime guarantee too. At the rate that guys break sunglasses your ROI with these suckers is pretty high. They won't do you too much good on super bright days but at least you'll look dope and slightly 80s-ish. 3. Camp Shorts by Topo Designs, $89. Kyle and I have been oogling these shorts since we first got the email blast about them. Practical looking without the bro cargo shorts thing happening. Necessary. 4. Corsica loafer by Dubarry of Ireland, $199. I'm a little biased, but I've seen similar driving style loafers by a few other brands, even made in Europe and similar price points, but Dubarry have been in the business of making shoes for almost 80 years now and these mocs are a home run. 5. Coral Print suit by Saturdays NYC, $75. I just love this print. Coral camo? Maybe. Get these. Girls will flock to you.

1.  Palm Tree Scoopback Suit by JCrew, $110. Let me preface this by saying that I've spent 2 years looking for a one piece that I was willing to drop coin on and I ended up with this! A throwback that looks like something I actually had when I was 6 years old. Made in USA (wow, go JCrew!) from a photo taken by a JCrew designer of a similar suit they made in the 90s. 2. Sigmund sunglasses by Acne Studios, $360. Acetate frames, made in France. They're beautiful, and you can't gripe about the price because you're paying for exquisite design. Or you could go to Urban and get $15 knockoffs that will make you go blind and promptly fall apart. 3. Teal fade collar by Found My Animal, $56. Made in Brooklyn by people who are passionate about animal rescue. Otto has been batting his dog eyelashes at me in hopes of getting one of these for a long time. Blue's the thing this summer and we like to match. 4. Sailboat trucker hat by Wampum NY, $25. Designed in NY, so, and I had to get it because my Strong Brand camo trucker has gone missing and I'm on the verge of suicide. 5. All Black tote by Filson, $140. If this bag were a person, and you looked at it the wrong way, you don't want to know what would happen to you. For now I'd like it to chill out and hold my sunblock, books, and beach throw awhile. 

Norwex Changes the Game/Ain't Nobody Got Time for Chemicals

I come from an illustrious line of neat freaks. My maternal grandmother and my father (both Virgos, curiously) instilled in me meticulous techniques for cleaning, a neurotic appreciation for routine, and an unbridled passion for cleaning products. Having allergies and sensitive skin make this kind of cleaning compulsion very beneficial for my quality of life, so it's just as well that I embarked on this journey through the filthy, disgusting world with some proper training.

There's always a monkey wrench though, isn't there. When my dermatologist advised me years ago to avoid ANY kind of fragranced product touching my skin, I promptly switched to Dove Sensitive Skin soap, started spraying my perfume on my hair/clothes, and started using fragrance-free laundry detergent. With excellent results. However, it's easy to forget that pretty much any kind of product that isn't a solid object generally has some kind of added fragrance or unnecessary chemicals. I'm talking everything from Pledge to 409 to Lysol to Comet... everything smells like SOMETHING and half the time burns your eyes pretty bad when you use it. There are a lot of new products coming out that are "green" or "enviro-friendly"... which is great, but they tend to be pricier, and aren't solving the problem of not wanting to coat surfaces with any potential cleaner-remnants.

Several months ago, my lovely sister-in-law and fellow sensitive skin victim Rebecca Roeper got turned on to this Norwegian company called Norwex, that makes antibacterial microfiber cloths fabled to completely replace every single cleaning product one could have in their arsenal. She quickly became a consultant for them because she was amazed at how Norwex simplified her cleaning experience and got her kids involved too (a welcome but unexpected side affect). They explain themselves better than I could...

Unlike cotton cloths that will simply spread the dirt, grease and other particles around, Norwex BacLockTM * Microfiber lifts these particles up into the cloth and away from the surface. Once inside the cloth, the Norwex MicroSilver in the cloth goes to work with self-purification properties against mold, fungi and bacterial odor within 24 hours, so that it is ready to use again.

Basically what happens is you dampen the cloth, scrub to clean, wrinse it out, let it dry, repeat. I've used it to get butter off my countertop, grease off the stovetop, toothpaste scuzz off the bathroom sink, etc. She hooked me up with a bunch of different cloths to start out with, eager to see if using these products would quell some of my skin issues. The purple one is for glass/windows (streak free! no Windex!), the pink one is the do-everything Envirocloth, the brown one is for your body - yes, showering and cleaning yourself without soap, and the blue mitt is for dusting.

I've tried them all, and the Envirocloth is the one I get the heaviest use out of. It definitely cleans without leaving residue of any kind. I can't totally convert to phasing out soap, but the body cloth is a nice alternative maybe a couple times a week if I want to have a more lo-fi shower experience. I feel more secure using these cloths around the house not just for myself but for my dog, who of course also has some sort of skin allergy. 

It's also pretty refreshing that Norwex doesn't just make these products to reduce the use of chemicals in people's homes; the company is also truly dedicated to protecting the environment and reducing the amount of chemicals that are produced just for the sake of going into a bottle to be sprayed on someone's counter. 

Listen... my mom was the queen of all Tupperware ladies back in the day, (legitimately the Empress of Tupperware), so I'm overly familiar and with the consultant-selling structure that companies like Avon, Norwex, those weird bags that come in different colors, diet stuff, etc. all employ. The soap box (excuse the pun) "This product will change your life!!!!" gets old, and I generally stay away from it. In this case though, it seems like Norwex has applied this type of selling structure in the US to nurture organic growth and enthusiasm for the brand. The results wouldn't be the same if they came to the US and stuck their products in Bed Bath and Beyond as much as developing a following based on user experience and word of mouth testimony. So for this, I respect them, and I'm willing to put my stamp of approval on these funky Norwegian cloths.

You can reach Rebecca, Empress of Clean, at simplygreencleaning@yahoo.com, or on her website.

Don't call it a comeback!

For the first time in MONTHS, I'm back home for an extended enough period of time that I can catch my breath and return to doing the little things that make me happy and calm. Writing is a part of my job, but getting back into the habit of writing for myself as an exercise is important to me. The practice of writing as an extension of myself brings me in touch with my own voice, without it being filtered through a template or chugging out corporate missives. I have plenty to share, always new gear to gush over, delicious food from around the country, new cleaning products that quell my compulsive neuroses, and people and ideas that have inspired me. I will try to compartmentalize and space things out over the coming weeks, so just hang on with me here.

September brought me to Denver, from there drove to Texas, from there drove to Woodside, California, from there flew me to Columbus, OH for the month of October. November found me in Massachusetts, December put me in Virginia and then NYC. The meatier part of January was spent in Denver, from where I drove back to Pennsylvania, and days later flew to Las Vegas. From there I flew back to Long Island and then drove to Charleston, SC for a week, with a one-day reprieve at Mr. Waistcoat's mother's farm in Aiken, SC on the way back to good old Lancaster PA. Last Tuesday I returned home, not for good, but for better, and I'm still reeling. Time zone swaps, adjusting the severity of my accent to be more approachable to the varying levels of cowboy accent, educated old-money Southern, not educated backwoods Southern, South African, midwestern, you name it and I've struggled to interpret and respond to it. 

Funny enough, my favorite encounter with another person happened while waiting for my red eye flight from Vegas to NYC. A woman sat down next to me at the gate and, unprovoked, started chatting me up and trash talking other people walking through the terminal. She was a woman probably in her early 60s, a Westchester, NY transplant with a home in Vegas who made a point of telling me that she was Italian (in an anecdote about how she didn't enjoy visiting France and that they can shove the Louvre up their a***** because they stole all the art from "our people" [Italians]). A certifiable fact about Italian women from New York is that they will never let it go unspoken that they are indeed Italian and from New York. I don't know how she knew I was too, I guess it's a WOP version of "gaydar," but regardless, she was beyond amusing. In my starved, sleep deprived haze I imagined her to be a sassy version of myself in 40 years, and this thought carried me through my surprisingly short flight back to the East Coast. 

As for new cool things... I have plenty to share, but I think I should start with these bad boys that landed on my doorstop in December - custom silver spurs from the brilliant Eddie Harris of Harris Leather and Silverworks.

Harris Leather & Silverworks is 100% a family business, where each member contributes their own artistry and expertise. I've had the pleasure of getting to know the Harris family through the trade show circuit, and aside from the absolutely beautiful work they do, they're truly top notch people. I don't know whether to use these spurs or to put them up on a pedestal! 

Most of my adventures have been catalogued on the 'gram as well >> @aezeum

Eating Burritos a Mile High: Denver Adventures

I did two pretty important things in Denver today:

1) I ate an outstanding burrito.

2) I finally bought a Topo Designs bag. At the flagship store. 

The burrito came from a place my coworker had heard of and really wanted to try. I consider myself something of a burrito connoisseur, so I was game to have Denver give me its best shot. The burrito in question was the Big Fish from Illegal Pete's and yes, it passed the test. We all had to spend the larger part of the day walking around the city just to work off the urge to go en masse into a giant burrito coma. To be honest I'm usually very wary of getting anything with fish in a place that's far from the water, and you really can't get much more landlocked than Denver, but for whatever reason the well-intentioned eagerness to make my burrito dreams come true of the guy behind the counter really swayed my judgment. I don't regret it.

On to the bag. I've been a Topo Designs fan for quite a while now... and when my boyfriend picked up a Mountain Briefcase in Duck Camo on his trip to Colorado last winter, I was super jealous but encouraged him to write a guest post about the experience. So after our burrito break and a leisurely stroll through some small shops in the city, I forced my accomplices to take the 20 minute walk in 95 degree heat up to the Topo flagship store. Come hell or high water... I'm in Denver, I'm getting one of these bags.

I have a monstrosity of a messenger bag that I'd bought from Incase in the beginning of graduate school. It certainly served it's purpose, and it has tons of little pockets, but it's big and structureless, and the size/weight make it extremely difficult for me to haul around as a single strap messenger bag. What I needed was a bag that can carry what I need daily for work: 15" Macbook Pro, binder, legal pads, notebook, planner, pens, measuring tape, knife, etc., be acceptable to maybe walk into a conference or something with, but also be dope, neither too feminine nor too masculine, and not boring. I recognize that this is quite a tall order, but the genuinely helpful salesman at Topo was unflagged by my request. I said that my boyfriend had the Mountain Briefcase and that I essentially wanted something to serve the same function without just copying my boyfriend. In a "I've got just the thing for you" move, he whipped out the Backpack Tote, a clever little hybrid with the right shape and shoulder straps to be a woman's tote bag, but with hidden backpack straps that can be taken out to transform the bag into a very manageable backpack. I was sold on the functionality of the bag, but neither of the two color options really leapt out at me. I asked if there were any alternatives and the Topo gods smiled down upon me when he ran to the back and brought out a one-off of the same bag, done in coyote brown and purple. The color combo was pretty solid, but the fact that it was a "one of a kind" of sorts made it extra appealing.

Front!

Back with straps out!

Back with straps hidden!

Proof that it fits lots of stuff!

Thank you, Denver, for being awesome! I'm here until Sept. 6th... and this was only Day 1. I can't wait to see what the rest of the week has in store for me. 

Summer Travels: Glamping in Hunt Country, Virginia

Thanks to my lovely job, I spent the first week of June at the Upperville Colt and Horse Show in Virginia. It's one of the few shows where we are able to camp on site. You can't beat the commute... and frankly there's something quite nice about coming home to your own "space" at the end of the day, rather than the barren austerity of a hotel room. The Upperville show is usually brutally hot, but we were graced with pleasant enough temperatures to make evening cookouts and occasional journeys into town very enjoyable.

Some of the best barbecue I've ever had in my life was at this spot here... and the aroma from those giant smokers was not to be believed.

collar and leash by Houndworthy, beer by Guinness, Galway boot in black/brown by Dubarry

Otto held things down in the camper most of the time, but he felt obligated to walk down and make sure things were running smoothly at the booth too. Boy did he benefit...

The folks at Nutro were at the show promoting their canine goods, and Otto was more than happy to try something new. (Thanks Nutro!) 

P.S. Those crunchy treats have actual berries in them. 

P.P.S. I ate one.

P.P.P.S. It seriously wasn't bad.

Don't worry, I did eat some half decent human food on this trip too. 

I don't know if it was because I'd been subsisting off of bacon and mac + cheese in the camper, but the meal I had at the Hunter's Head Tavern was one of the best I've ever had in my life. All of their food comes from local farms, so their menu changes with the seasons. Otto also enjoyed a delicious dog dinner to-go for only 3 bucks! For Hunter/Jumper people reading... Joe Fargis was eating there too. That's an endorsement, if nothing else!

photo by Lauren Giannini for Sidelines Magazine
Our good friend and fellow photojournalist/blogger Lauren stopped by to get an obligatory glass of champagne and a photo for her Sidelines Magazine blog post about the show, which you can read here.

I've been to plenty of feed stores in my time, so I had a difficult time imaging what Dubarry product would look like being sold on one. Everyone kept telling me that Tri-County Feeds in Marshall, VA was a totally different story, but I didn't really believe them until I saw for myself. The place is mindblowing. From the outside, the building is huge, nice, but still unassuming. Step foot in the door, however, and it's like stepping into Disneyworld for tasteful country dwellers.




If Tri-County did wedding registries... I'd register for these dishes! and I'm not even engaged!

Feed, stable and pet supplies, home goods, elegant country clothing, and a top of the line collection of riding apparel for every discipline from polo to showjumping. Owners Bill and Jeri definitely know what they're doing: my wallet barely escaped in one piece. If you're too far away to make the trip, they are online... but the trip is definitely worth it.

Virginia... you were an impeccable host. Same time next year?

Spring Picks and Mother's Day Tips!

It's been a busy Spring so far, the height of which was the Rolex Kentucky 3-Day Event April 24-27. Aside from enjoying the sights and sounds of Lexington, KY, I met a ton of well dressed men and ladies who have inspired my S/S wardrobe mindset and my choice spring selections this year. The overarching lesson of Spring 2014: just because it's bright, doesn't mean it matches. Everyone needs to RELAX with the day-glo rainbows of self-consciously preppy garb. Your entire ensemble doesn't need to consist of accent pieces. I call for a return to minimalism and subtlety!

Anyway, I realized after returning from Kentucky that Mother's Day is right around the corner. Yet again we must scour the earth, searching for a perfect gift for our angelic, martyr mothers: "don't get me anything, you're my real gift" -- YEAH OKAY MOM. On a side note, I've reached the ripe age of twenty-somethingness where plenty of my peers are mothers. I'm therefore opting to make this not exclusively a "MOM" gift guide, but a little taste of lovely things for all ladies this Spring. Don't worry guys, I didn't forget about you either.

1. Dubarry of Ireland "Menorca" in Sky, $149. The newest color update to Dubarry's timeless ladies deck shoe, in super soft sky blue leather with non-slip, non-marking soles. They're so pretty (yes, pretty) that I'm not even opposed to mother-daughter matching pairs.
2. Shinola "The Runwell" 41mm watch, $625. A hint of retro styling with a classic, minimalist profile. All handcrafted in Detroit. Stainless steel body powered by Detroit-made Argonite 1069 high-quality quartz movement. Understated, subtle, but luxurious. These are the keywords for my SS14 philosophy.

3. Bottega Veneta perfume, $90 and up. A lush blend of fresh floral notes and subtle leather undertones. In short, it's what I wouldn't mind smelling like every day this season. Not too feminine, not musky, just light and balanced. I strongly suggest you go to a store and smell it yourself. 

1. Altru Apparel "Tropical Lunch Woven," $40. After reading multiple editorials about the grand return of the Hawaiian shirt, I'm happy to see an American-made version from Los Angeles' Altru at a happy price. The quasi Warhol graphics give a user-friendly edge for those a bit wary of looking too "Aloha." 

2. General Knot "Apricot Oxford and Micro Gingham Necktie," $88. I'm a sucker for shades of peach, apricot, and tangerine (re: my PINO tangelo bowtie of yore). It's as close to pink as I'm ever willing to get. The texture in the apricot fabric adds just the right about of roughness to an otherwise cheeky color. Consider yourself fully armed for whatever weddings, dates, awkward family occasions, etc. that the season may throw your way.

3. Moscot "Randall" in Chameleon, $295. You want to know why I love Moscot? They've been based in New York for about a hundred years, and though they've certainly grown, they never sacrificed style or quality in the process. Sure you can get cheapos that look pretty similar, but you can literally feel the history and Moscot legacy oozing out of these frames. So worth it.

Confession: even the items I choose for guys are things I want for myself.

Dubarry Launches a New Boot in the US... and a Contest too!

For months I've been looking forward to attending the Rolex Kentucky 3-Day Event in Lexington, KY... especially because Dubarry is launching a new boot AND sponsoring the $20,000 Dubarry Nations Team Challenge. Dubarry unveiled the Longford boot at last year's RK3DE, and this year the lovely Roscommon boot makes its American debut at the event. Like all of Dubarry's country boots, the Roscommon is completely Gore-tex lined and thus breathable yet totally waterproof. Made with Dubarry's trademark DryFast-DrySoft leathers, the Roscommon is a short (24cm tall) boot that will make an indispensable addition to any Spring wardrobe. They're so easy to throw on that I see myself leaving them by the front door for early morning dog walks or hikes along the beach. They are available in USW sizes 5 to 11.5, and are priced at $349.

If you think you absolutely need a pair, Dubarry has partnered with Eventing Nation on a "Pin it to Win It" Pinterest contest. Entries are accepted until April 18th, so put together your ultimate Dubarry outfit for RK3DE and get pinning! Each day of the event, judges will select an outfit from the entry pool to be featured. The one final winning entry will receive either a pair of the new Roscommon boots, or a pair of the Kerry boot (for men). CLICK HERE FOR MORE DETAILS, or go on Dubarry of Ireland's Facebook page. 

Going to RK3DE every year is one of my favorite parts of working for this awesome brand, and trust me, this year is going to be the best one yet. Follow us on Instagram @dubarryofireland and Twitter @dubarry_com to keep up with our contests and various shenanigans in Lexington.