The Weekly Edit: Blazing the Trail

Jun 13, 2019

Working on campaigns has never been my favorite thing.  The hours are long, the tasks never-ending, and when it’s over there’s either heartbreak or more work to do.  But decisions are made by winners, so we press on.

Last week, I was in D.C. for the Bad on Paper podcast’s live show with Grace and Becca.  It was so much fun.  I got to meet Alisha Ramos of Girls’ Night In Club, and chat with some lovely readers who stopped by to say hello.  I also got to see old friends, stay in a great hotel, and feel as much like myself as possible (which is how I always feel in D.C.).

I also went shopping for THE wedding dress to go with the reception dress that my parents were kind enough to buy me.  My Dad thinks having two dresses is “confusing,” but when your reception is seven hours after your wedding, I think it makes sense.  I have a formal ceremony dress and a fun party dress, and it’s going to be perfect.

I’ll post more about my dress buying experience next week.  I found a fun place in Georgetown to go shopping.  I also want to talk more about my futile attempts to buy a pre-owned dress online.  (A woman in Australia actually told me that she didn’t know how to mail something to the United States, and that the post office doesn’t handle international postage.  It was the longest message chain of my life explaining that they did, before she ghosted me.  Cool.)

Anyway, here’s what I’ve been up to this week.

This piece discusses the double-life many mothers lead.  If they have a career, then they go to work and pretend they aren’t moms so that they can seem fully engaged.   If they choose to be a stay-at-home, then they have to constantly justify why they’re not working, as if raising kids isn’t work.

We have such a long way to go to achieve parental parity across the genders, but maybe we could start by not forcing mothers to defend their every choice and decision to everyone they know?

FabFitFun is one of those products that is so heavily promoted on blogs and by C-list celebrities on IG that you don’t know if it’s actually good or just has good PR.  I bought a subscription for Saw it on Social in 2017, and at first, my boxes were ‘meh’ verging on acceptable.   Then, my boxes kept getting better and better, until they were so good, I paid the extra money to personalize my boxes.

So I am now a serious, unsponsored FabFitFun evangelist.

If you’ve been putting off trying the boxes, you can subscribe via my link.  You can also use promo code HEATWAVE for $10 off your first box.  I promise, it’s worth it, especially if you customize, which costs a little more but eliminates disappointment.

Not into subscribing?  The best things in my box this month were these incredibly cute West Elm nesting bowls and this Eyeko liquid liner, which has impeccably smooth application.

Have you visited my Pinterest page?  It’s pretty heavy with new recipes, especially on my Meals and Main Dishes board.

On the menu for tomorrow night is this Grilled Chicken Shawarma.  Kyle will likely add his to a sandwich, while I will eat mine on top of a salad with hummus and tzatziki from Trader Joe’s.  It’s an easy item to grill up and use in rice bowls, on pita, or on salad.  So everyone gets the meal they want from the same base ingredient.

I’m trying to move off of petroleum based lip products, after many years of using the same lip balm.  So I picked up this Weleda Skin Food Lip Butter, and I love it.  It hydrates, while giving your lips just a hint of shine.  Bonus points for not feeling sticky or tacky once applied.

{image here; this post contains affiliate links that may generate commission for the author}

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  1. linG says:

    Can’t wait to hear about your dress buying experience. Every woman has her story!

    On FFF or subscription boxes in general, I think it’s different experience for everybody. I’m not a big fan of this box, but I do appreciate the variety of items they managed to put inside every quarter. And you’re right, it’s promoted by everyone, it’s crazy!

  2. Lisa says:

    I absolutely agree about FFF! I am on my 5th box…this summer’s one was enjoyable, but the previous 4 – I use items from them EVERY SINGLE day (the robe and sunglasses from the spring box, the tarte eye palette from the winter box) and have purchased duplicates of some items (like one of the towels they sent last summer (BEST BEACH TOWEL EVER) and the Coola sunscreen #addicted). It has upped my skincare and makeup game, plus its just super fun to get, even though I know most of what’s going to be in it, without costing too much. HIGHLY RECOMMEND.

  3. NEUROSCIENCY says:

    i am sorry you had an awful experience shopping for wedding dresses online. online shopping can be sooo frustrating. it’s probably a much better idea to just go to georgetown which saves you time and postage and you also get to try on the dresses. also, i approve of your two-dress wedding strategy! wedding dresses are so long and confusing and should only be worn for ceremonial purposes. i could not imagine dancing in one of those things! LOL

  4. Casey says:

    Abra, I know you’re busy with other things, but your spelling and grammar has been truly awful over the past few months, and it was never great in the first place. Do you proofread anything anymore? Your posts are getting sloppier and sloppier. It seems disrespectful to your readers when you can’t even be bothered to read over your posts with sponsored links before publishing them so you can earn commission.

    • JL says:

      Casey,
      Thank you for demonstrating how to be unnecessarily cruel, unkind and rude while trying to make a point. I appreciate the way that your poor manners detract from any shred of truth that might otherwise be present in your message. I don’t spend much time on the internet, but now I know what a “troll” is. Thanks for the lessons!

      JL

      • jules says:

        How on earth do people have time and effort to write these kinds of comments? Does it fill their heart with righteous joy? Does it fill their vacant heart with pride? It’s so curiously interesting. Was she expecting congratulations for noticing a few errors? Well, congrats Casey – do you want a sticker?
        I, for one, read everyday and enjoy the content and appreciate all the effort that goes into it.

    • Belle says:

      If you were trying to be helpful, perhaps sending this via email might have been kinder to a woman “busy with other things” — like managing a political campaign and helping another lawyer with a complicated case pro bono. But I expect your goal was just to be publicly critical and put out because you felt you were entitled to some righteous anger about a half-dozen typos.

      As for proofreading, I will make an effort to do a better job in the future, though I suspect that won’t matter to you because this wasn’t really about the grammar in the first place.

      • Anna says:

        I’m a total grammar Nazi (wrong pronoun? ending sentences with prepositions? Nails. On. A. Chalk. Board), and I’ve only ever noticed the occasional, very human error and definitely not more or less than before. Homegirl just wants to complain about something.

    • Sally says:

      LOL, speaking of grammar, I think you mean “your spelling and grammar HAVE been” and “THEY were never great”. I notice errors but on this blog they’ve been pretty mild, and as the content continues to be great the occasional typos don’t bother me. (Also, lady, be a human being, Abra’s obviously had a lot going on in her life and you can bring up concerns without being a total jerk about it.)

  5. TH says:

    On a whim I picked up the Kush Lip Balm in Sephora and I am IN LOVE. I like it so much I went back for the Catatonic which gives just enough color for running errands to look like there was effort made. Plus the packaging is incredible – magnetized closure, heft construction.

  6. Alexa says:

    How much does customizing the FabFitFun boxes cost? They look so tempting but I’m trying not to bring stuff I don’t *really* want into my house because then it’s hard to get rid of it, so I would definitely want to customize.

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