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Weekend Update

Sale PSA: A Canada Goose military green “Solaris” parka, now price matched at 15% off for a limited time, Topshop “Leigh” distressed black skinny jeans, now just $45, a jumbo cashmere hoodie from Vince, now 40% off, and this great fringed sleeveless dress from Madewell, now under $50 with code “DOUBLEUP”. 

There are also some amazing (final sale though) deals at Saks right now, which just went up to 80% off. Sizes are limited but some great selections include this boho Alice & Olivia dress (I have this and it runs quite large), now under $100, a delicate fringed silk cami from Phillip Lim, now $140, a DVF floaty floral white lace dress, now under $150 (all sizes available!), and a structured panel crepe dress from Tibi, now under $100. 

1. I have still been loving and using my Fendi Strap You (review here) quite a bit, and have to admit that I’m always tempted to get another – they’re so fun! Unfortunately, also quite expensive. So I was very pleased to find a much more affordable series of interchangeable straps for under $100 (that’s basically 10% of Fendi’s price), from Rebecca Minkoff.

I’m not usually drawn to Minkoff’s designs, but I think these straps are quite clever and certainly much more affordable. I did get the opportunity to try one on at my local Nordstrom, and they hit me at a nice length for crossbody (but keep in mind I’m 5’1). Taller ladies might want to use these for shoulder bag use, only.

There’s a variety of nice designs including the studded version above, but my personal favorite is probably the metallic floral embroidered version – the metallics mean that you could easily use it with a bag with gold or silver hardware, and also easily mix it with tans, grays, and whites. A very nice option! If only I had a black box retourne Kelly now…hmm….

2. I shared the male version of this article a little while ago, and was pleased to find that Esquire also did a version focused on women – Four Women, Four Incomes (I love articles like this one!).

tony-moly-sheet-mask_2015_1.0

3. Do you use sheet masks? For a while I got quite lazy, but I’ve recently started using them again, especially as the weather gets cooler. I’m actually wearing one right now as I type this – my favorite Tatcha lifting mask! I was quite disturbed by this Racked article about various hygiene related (eww) controversies with some brands in Asia. I think I’m going to be sticking with the more well known brands for now. What are some of your recommendations for sheet masks, by the way? 

4. I read this article a few weeks ago, and it really stuck with me. I’d never thought I would consider waking up at 4 AM to do anything (except for maybe catch a seriously good sale), but this WSJ piece was quite inspirational. What do you think of starting your day at 4?

5. An interesting little article, via The Washington Post, for travelers, about what requests hotels are typically willing to accommodate, and not.

6. This week I have no book to share, but instead have a plea – I’m in dire need of some more items on my reading list, please! I’ve dangerously close to running out of options and nothing looks too good that’s new right now, at least to me. I’ve tried a few “summer blockbuster” types, but for some reason didn’t really love any of them. So please share with me your all time favorite books, your recent favorites, your recommendations…anything!! I’d really appreciate it (and I’m sure other readers might as well).

Thanks so much and I wish you a wonderful long weekend (for those in the USA)!

53 Comments

  • Reply
    Yuet
    September 2, 2016 at 7:13 am

    Good morning Katherine, I just finished reading Follow You Home, by Mark Edwards. I was really drawn into this book because it was unexpected, kept me on the edge and always wanting to know what happens next. Let me know if this book is up your alley.

    • Reply
      Katherine
      September 2, 2016 at 1:48 pm

      I love a good thriller – adding to my Amazon list, thank you!

  • Reply
    Ammu
    September 2, 2016 at 7:57 am

    I really finished a fascinating novel set in 1970s India — The Way Things Were. A good novel of ideas populated with rich characters and landscape.
    My favourite mask is Sephora’s Rose mask — not too expensive but does the job. Kiehl’s corrective skincare sheet mask is pretty good too.

    • Reply
      Katherine
      September 2, 2016 at 1:50 pm

      I love reading about India – this is a country that is SO high on my list to visit next. I’d been once for work but years ago and I didn’t get to ese or experience anything. Thank you for the recommendation and the rose mask – I’m going to try both out!

      • Reply
        Ammu
        September 2, 2016 at 8:21 pm

        Let me know if you are planning another visit! I just moved to Hong Kong but happy to send over recommendations x

        • Reply
          Katherine
          September 3, 2016 at 9:25 pm

          I will definitely hit you up when we are planning!

      • Reply
        Bee
        September 8, 2016 at 2:50 pm

        Hope you make it to India soon – what an incredible country! The best book I have ever read is also set in India: A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry. I read it a few years ago before our trip there, and find myself thinking about it frequently. Definitely a story that stays with you!

        • Reply
          Katherine
          September 8, 2016 at 7:03 pm

          That’s a wonderful book 🙂

  • Reply
    lissy
    September 2, 2016 at 8:14 am

    My all time favorite books are: The Alienist by Caleb Carr and Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford.
    I love spy novels and Daniel Sliva’s Gabriel Allon series is my favorite.
    I’ve also started reading the Jeffrey Archer series called the Clifton Chronicles.

    By the way, I love your weekend updates. I look forward to them all week!

    • Reply
      Katherine
      September 2, 2016 at 1:50 pm

      Hi Lissy, thanks for your kind words! I realized I actually had bought the Alienist a long time ago but it ended up getting lost in all my Kindle books – thanks for recommending, I found it again and will start reading soon!

  • Reply
    Hui
    September 2, 2016 at 8:36 am

    Katherine, have you read Diana Chronicles by Tina Brown. It was published in 2007. I read it at that time and took it out again 2 days ago as I was reminded by the news that 31st August 2016 was 19th annivery of her death. Time flies.

    • Reply
      Katherine
      September 2, 2016 at 1:51 pm

      Nope but I am a fan of Tina Brown so this is right up my alley! Thank you!

  • Reply
    Ella Pretty Blog
    September 2, 2016 at 8:54 am

    I love reading all the articles you pick out! Thanks for sharing.

  • Reply
    S
    September 2, 2016 at 9:19 am

    For reads – Jill Kargman is coming out with a new book of essays next week, I think. She is hysterical

    • Reply
      Katherine
      September 2, 2016 at 1:51 pm

      I saw on her IG!! Can’t wait 🙂

  • Reply
    Justine
    September 2, 2016 at 9:50 am

    Long time reader but had to comment and let you know about my favorite masks! Whamisa’s Sea Kelp mask (Glowrecipe.com and SpaceNK.com) and any Hydrogel or Biocellulose mask by Cremorlab (Peachandlily.com; this one is my holy grail: https://www.peachandlily.com/products/perfection-hydrating-mask)! They’re all 50 types of sheet masks but those two are my absolute favorites! 🙂
    Have a great Labor day weekend!
    Justine (IG: @yourskinwithin)

    • Reply
      Justine
      September 2, 2016 at 9:52 am

      Whoops. The comment got cut off. (They’re all <$20 so cheaper than the Tatcha. I'm a bit sheet mask obsessed but those two are my absolute favorites!)

      • Reply
        Katherine
        September 2, 2016 at 1:52 pm

        Wow thanks so much!! I am putting together my Peach & Lily order and will definitely get the Cremorlab ones.

  • Reply
    Eva @ All Books Considered
    September 2, 2016 at 1:24 pm

    Currently reading Dear Mr. M and I’m not sure yet. Recent favorites are You Will Know Me (if you like thrillers), Fill the Sky (it will immediately take you to Ecuador), Dancing with the Tiger (a mystery set in Mexico about folklorico masks) and Monterey Bay (an interesting revision of the area during Cannery Row era)

    • Reply
      Katherine
      September 2, 2016 at 1:55 pm

      You must get advanced copy access, I’m jealous! I’ve added these all to my list, and I realize that Dancing With The Tiger isn’t even out yet 🙂 THanks so much for sharing! Love your blog title too 🙂

  • Reply
    Tracy
    September 2, 2016 at 4:07 pm

    Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons and Nancy Mitford’s Love in a Cold Climate and In Pursuit of Love are probably my all-time light reading favorites. Clueless English aristocrats and that famous sense of humor make for a good book in my books. My cynical side rejoices with schadenfreude over the mask sanitation issue. A lot of (white) people harp on how advanced and cutting-edge Korean cosmetics are…no, not really, just different. Hopefully the mindless preaching will stop.

    • Reply
      Jane
      September 2, 2016 at 5:02 pm

      Those are two of my favorites too!!

      • Reply
        Katherine
        September 3, 2016 at 9:13 pm

        OK, I’m adding all of these to my list – thank you!

  • Reply
    Jane
    September 2, 2016 at 5:06 pm

    Katherine, do you like mysteries? I love the Maisie Dobbs series and also two series by the author Charles Todd. All are set in England in the WWI era. I have a great interest in this time period and many books have come out since the centennial of the war’s start.

    My mom just finished Eligible by Curtis sittenfeld and can’t stop raving about it. It’s a re imagining of pride and prejudice and she loved it.

    • Reply
      Tracy
      September 2, 2016 at 5:22 pm

      I don’t know about Kat but *I* love mysteries as well as the early 20th C & interwar lit. 🙂 (Do you follow book blogs? Maybe Simon Thomas’ Stuck in a Book?) I’m a big Curtis Sittenfeld fan and was looking forward to Eligible all last year, but shamefully still haven’t read it! I think it’s because I’m already sure it’s good without having the need to actually read it.

      • Reply
        Katherine
        September 3, 2016 at 9:25 pm

        I think I need to check out book blogs…great idea 🙂 I haven’t read anything by Curtis, but think I should probably start!

    • Reply
      sherry @ save. spend. splurge.
      September 3, 2016 at 2:14 pm

      Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries! Set in the 20s in Australia. EXCELLENT books.

    • Reply
      Katherine
      September 3, 2016 at 9:13 pm

      Maisie Dobbs looks so good! Thank you, I can’t wait to try that and to check out the Two series 🙂

  • Reply
    LN
    September 2, 2016 at 5:09 pm

    Not sure if it’s your style but a light fun read, My husband’s secret by Lane Moriarty. Look forward to your book recommendations.

    • Reply
      Katherine
      September 3, 2016 at 9:15 pm

      I read this one 🙂 It was great!

  • Reply
    Hadilly
    September 2, 2016 at 8:46 pm

    Hmm, I like Guy Gavriel Kay for fantasy, William Gibson’s latest The Periphereal, anything by Barbara Pym for the best English novels, Alan Furst for WWII adventures, Neal Stephenson’s Seveneves ( and if you haven’t read his Diamond Age and Snowcrash, you must!), Georgette Heyer’s A Civil Contract which is a marvelous regency comedy, and Vernor Vinge’s Rainbows End for some excellent science fiction and fascinating extrapolation of current trends.

    Those are a few off the top of my head!

    • Reply
      Katherine
      September 3, 2016 at 9:26 pm

      Thank you thank you!! Tigana is on my list and I definitely need to try the rest of your recommendations as well!

    • Reply
      Jane
      September 8, 2016 at 11:02 am

      Georgette Heyer is my dearest and most favorite author! I have grown to love A Civil Contract as I’ve gotten older and have read it several times. It’s nice to encounter a fellow Heyer fan!

  • Reply
    Michelle
    September 3, 2016 at 9:39 am

    My fave books in recent years are:
    The Ghost Bride by Yangsze Choo
    Girl in Translation by Jean Kwok

    Both were compelling to me, so much so that I have re-read them a couple of times.

    I recently read an interesting albeit slightly disturbing book: Behind Closed Doors by B.A. Paris
    I finished it in one sitting, whoops!

    I sheet mask almost daily and here are my top reccs:
    Whamisa organic aloe and flower seeds hydrogel mask
    http://www.glowrecipe.com/products/whamisa-organic-flowers-aloe-fermented-hydrogel-sheet-mask
    L’herboflore masks (Party Sweetheart, Brightening Fruits and Herbs range)
    https://www.beautibi.com/collections/lherboflore
    MasKingdom Chinese medi range
    https://www.beautibi.com/collections/maskingdom
    SK-II 3-D redefining mask
    http://www.sk-ii.com/mask/texture-refinement/sk-ii-skin-signature-mask-3-d-redefining-mask/PG_00737052329703.html?cgid=product-forms-masks

    I save the Whamisa and SK-II for special occasions but use the others on an almost daily basis. I like how the Taiwanese masks are very moisturizing (lots of serum in each pack) and has no sticky after feel.

    • Reply
      Katherine
      September 3, 2016 at 9:26 pm

      All three of your books look amazing and thank you as well for the mask recommendations. I’m going to place my first L’herboflore order, so many of them seem sold out though!

  • Reply
    Phil
    September 3, 2016 at 11:49 am

    Hi Kat. Have you read “Young Money” by Kevin Roose? I’m currently finishing it and it’s actually quite good 🙂

    • Reply
      Katherine
      September 3, 2016 at 9:27 pm

      No but I’m glad to hear you enjoyed it…adding to my reading wishlist now 🙂 Thanks Phil!

  • Reply
    sherry @ save. spend. splurge.
    September 3, 2016 at 2:12 pm

    Hi Katherine, long-time reader, first time-commenter probably.

    I do all of my What I read roundups here and like the same books you do, and I also have the list of all my books here of the ones I’d recommend by category.

    I read about 5 books a month, sometimes more… like 20. It’s the only safe mental escape from my toddler.

    • Reply
      Katherine
      September 3, 2016 at 9:23 pm

      Sherry, thanks for commenting and sharing your list! We do have a lot of the same taste in books 🙂 I look forward to checking out all of your favorites, and you read a ton – I know what you mean about the escape 🙂

  • Reply
    Irina
    September 4, 2016 at 9:22 pm

    The obvious suggestion to read from me would be Elena Ferrante but I’m sure you read it already. What about ” Drum tower” by Farnoosh Moshiri? I’ve been in the mode of great american re reads lately- Edna Ferber, Carson McCullers , Willa Cather. Nothing contemporary but such good books:) if you like kids books, I recommend Cassie Beasley ” Circus Mirandus”..before I go on forever, happy reading!

    • Reply
      Katherine
      September 6, 2016 at 9:09 am

      You have such good taste in books! Did you ever read the Last Man in Rome? I’ve been recommended it so much but for some reason can’t get through it. Thank you!

      • Reply
        irina
        September 7, 2016 at 1:43 pm

        I’ve read First Man in Rome about Sulla by McCullough but never heard about Last Man in Rome! I loved First Man in Rome but i love pretty much anything i read by her on Roman Republic. What makes it hard to get through? Speaking about Mccullough, i also really liked Greater Journey: Americans in Paris by David Mccullough ( i think the spelling of both last names is the same but not sure). I recommend it too! Oh Kat, when do you have time to read these days, i’m so tired all the time with the baby:)

        • Reply
          Katherine
          September 8, 2016 at 7:04 pm

          Hi Irina, my mind totally blitzed, of course I meant First Man…..I’m so tired with baby too, it gets better I promise. REading is my wind down time 🙂

          • irina
            September 9, 2016 at 3:27 pm

            All i’m capable of is watching Gilmore Girls on repeat. I’m so sad you can’t get through First Man in Rome, though! It’s such a wonderful book i thought. It’s probably the volume that discourages you:)

          • Katherine
            September 11, 2016 at 8:06 pm

            Gilmore Girls….love!!! I’ll give Rome another try later 🙂

  • Reply
    Irina
    September 4, 2016 at 9:45 pm

    Just read the article on four women, my heart breaks.

    • Reply
      irina
      September 9, 2016 at 3:26 pm

      All i’m capable of is watching Gilmore Girls on repeat. I’m so sad you can’t get through First Man in Rome, though! It’s such a wonderful book i thought. It’s probably the volume that discourages you:)

  • Reply
    D
    September 5, 2016 at 8:59 am

    If you are looking for something lighthearted, I recommend the Royal We, by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan. It is utterly charming and one of the funnier romantic novels I’ve ever read.
    -D
    http://www.styledtour.blogspot.com

    • Reply
      Katherine
      September 6, 2016 at 9:09 am

      Thank you D! Adding to my list!

  • Reply
    elizabeth
    September 10, 2016 at 12:21 pm

    Hi Katherine!
    I am late on this thread but I’m grateful for the book ideas it has given me as with all my plane travel, even with wifi, I am going through several books a month. I am just about to start “Mask of the Tiger” once I finish a John Gilstrap thriller (these are fairly mindless, slightly violent fun – but I’d recommend his nonfiction in a heartbeat – “The Demon in the Freezer” is an incredible book about the fascinating and scary topic of smallpox – a fun read believe it or not!).
    My favorite books of the last year or two would include “I Saw a Man” by Owen Speers – beautifully written, a touch melancholy, but many compelling stories in one and a mystery to solve. His “Resistance” is also very good. I loved “The Secret Life of Violet Grant” for an adventuresome peek into both the 1930s and the 1960s lives of women.
    I know you enjoy fantasy and have probably read Patrick Rothfuss as both “Name of the Wind” and “Wise Man’s Fear” are fantastic and have been out for a while – did you read “The Fifth Season” by N.K. Jernisin or the Magisterium series by Holly Black? The latter is young adult but very entertaining.
    Have you read “Queen of the South” which was recently made a TV show? It’s excellent – if you liked “The Cartel” (I loved it) this is the female side, in a more lyrical style. Both books delve deeply into the realities of the drug cartels. I also very much enjoyed the much-lauded “Homegoing” by Yaa Gyasi. For a detective series, I started the Inspector Van Veeteren series by Hakan Nesser with “Borkmann’s Point”, which I loved – has that Scandinavian sardonicism combined with optimism. I will read more of this series.
    I concur with everyone on almost all of Neil Gaiman’s books being great and with the recommendation for Daniel Silva’s books as great spy/assassin reads. Finally, I also just re-read “Tale of Two Cities” for the first time in a long time. Revisiting Dickens is such a treat – the writing is so, so glorious – next I will re-read one of the cheerier ones :). Enjoy!

    all the best
    Elizabeth

    • Reply
      Katherine
      September 11, 2016 at 8:04 pm

      Thank you so much Elizabeth! I think we have similar taste in books. I can’t wait to read a lot of what you recommend but especially Queen of the South!

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