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Weekend Update

1. This week I wanted to see what you all knew and thought of the jewelry brand Temple St Clair. This gorgeous amulet necklace caught my eye the other day, and now I’m a little obsessed.

I had always admired Temple St. Clair jewelry, but always got distracted by other trinkets. My favorite pieces have always been the amulets – I just think they’re gorgeous and I’ve never really seen this design anywhere else. The only thing holding me back is obviously the price – and the cost of the chains, ouch! Does anyone have any pieces?

2. A fascinating (to me) article in the NY Times about how San Francisco has become too expensive to raise children in. I’d love to hear your thoughts on this. Almost everyone I know who does have kids in SF pays for private school (and stresses out about the process continually).

3. Another article via The NY Times, behind the scenes with Maria Grazia Chiuri before her first Dior Couture show. I always love reading about haute couture – that little detail about how you barely hear any sewing machines because everything is done by hand – wow!

4. A longer piece via The Hollywood Reporter, interviewing Kellyanne Conway (ever wanted to know what she thought about black stretch pants)? You know what I want to know? Did Gucci give her that coat? Somehow I really don’t think so (but please tell me if you nkow!).

5. An interesting piece in the WSJ, about how luxury brands are struggling to steer Iranians away from knockoffs. What do we think, $5 for a Louis Vuitton belt complete with box, is that a deal?

6. Given the events of this week, I thought I’d recommend a book I had shared years back on this site – Half the Sky, by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn.

Half the Sky tells the story of how women are oppressed around the world, and how crucially important continued investment in women’s health and equality worldwide are. The book not only covers an important topic, but is also a fascinating (and sometimes difficult read). Is it perfect? No, and I suspect that there are aspects now of the book the authors would have done differently. But I highly recommend it, and if you enjoy it, I’d also recommend Infidel, by Ayaan Hirsi Ali (I like Infidel as a counterpoint as it’s told directly first hand).

6 Comments

  • Reply
    K
    January 27, 2017 at 9:59 am

    SF indeed very expansive to raise children and we are one of them that paying these 2 monsters to go private. High school will cost almost as much as going to university very soon… we did tempted to have a 3rd but that’s only a 2 mins though and now from that 2 mins down to 0 mins thought. Maybe we need to move to LA or something! 🙂

  • Reply
    Christine
    January 27, 2017 at 10:33 am

    I like Temple St. Clair jewelry. It is expensive, but very well made. I have a large plain amulet, and a smaller one with emeralds. The smaller amulet I wear with her 32″ gold link chain, and the larger one with her leather 36″ necklace. I wear the necklaces one at a time, or together. The only caveat is to make sure the amulets don’t knock into hard surfaces.

  • Reply
    HM
    January 27, 2017 at 10:45 am

    As a child growing up in Shanghai, I always thought the city is the only place to be raised; then my parents moved to Boulder (of all places) and life slowed down to a crawl. My two siblings were raised in this Americanized and slower life and we have turned out very differently. I definitely had rose colored glasses on when it comes to raising children in the city; but when my own came along, off to the city-adjacent burbs we went.

    That’s a long winded way of saying, there is no good answers and a childhood in the city versus the burbs yields a different perspective and a different child. I think the current favored mode of parenting, which veers more toward protective, safety-driven and child-centered favors the burbs. When I was little, the “villages” were boring and stifling in opportunities for the mind and life; the city is much more attractive to raise a little one and exposing him/her to all the new sights, sounds and thoughts.

    I guess for a lot of people in my generation; we’ve made the compromise of living city adjacent to get the best of both worlds and that’s totally fine. The millions spent in the city parks will get used on school holidays and weekends when parents/families return to the city. Kids will be exposed to city youth symphony and rubbing shoulders with bright minds and talents that always congregate in a city. But I also appreciate my space and ease of wandering into supermarket in my jammies for a late run without fear.

    Hope that wasn’t too rambling, by the by, I’ve never been a Temple St. Clair fan (too cool girl for me) but I’ve noticed significantly less foot traffic at VCA and Hermes recently; possibly a sign of global cooling? I do see a robust turn out at the local high quality Asian clothing stores (i.e. Korean brands especially). Always interesting to observe the shopping habits of my ppl.

  • Reply
    StyleByHaiku
    January 27, 2017 at 3:41 pm

    Her coat on its own was ok (that red collar was a dress underneath, I think) but the hat and the gloves and the bag. She looked like the Queen of Hearts from Alice in the Wonderland. Oy. I cannot deal that hair, either. Someone tell her to get it taken care of. It’s so over-bleached and frizzy. What’s the point of having a thousand dollar bag and $2-3000 coat when your hair is $20?

    • Reply
      Tracy
      January 29, 2017 at 11:14 pm

      Then again $3k hair still looks cheap. Just check out her boss’s pate. (Not sure how much it actually costs, assuming of course that it’s not as natural as it supposedly is.)

  • Reply
    Wendy
    January 27, 2017 at 11:19 pm

    Hi Katherine! The amulet necklace is gorgeous! Have you tried http://www.oakgem.com and http://www.therealreal.com? Both carry Temple St Clair
    At better prices! Let us know if you decide on one please! Portero Luxury might have some too. I have purchased from the real real and Portero and have been thrilled with my purchases. Oak gem is awesome.

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