Cheryl Shops

It finally (finally) feels like summer here in the Bay Area: the weather is warming up, my workweek ends at 1pm on Fridays, and we have a bunch of fun trips planned. I also really look forward to wearing some of my favorite key pieces every summer—they're simple yet there's something about them that just makes me feel happy and carefree. Here are my 5 summer go-tos for 2022 (and every year).

There is a Thing happening on the internet at the moment, and it's the Coastal Grandmother aesthetic. Think of a heroine in a Nancy Myers movie: book clubs, farmers markets, Carole King, a glass of white wine (or three), and airy linen clothing. As someone who enjoys all of the above, it's a lifestyle I can definitely get behind, especially when it comes to the clothing part. When the weather gets hot, I love a loose-fitting linen dress that the air can just breeze right through, and of course it gets chilly along the coast at night, so you'll want to have an organic cotton sweater on hand. I'll take loose and relaxed over short and tight any day—the better to eat my heirloom tomato and burrata salad in, right? Thankfully I live in a city where the Coastal Grandmother game is strong, and there's no better place to shop for it than Margaret O'Leary, which opened its first store on Claude Lane in San Francisco over 25 years ago and can now be found across the country (including in my hometown, Chicago). They invited me to pick out a few of my favorite pieces, and as soon as I put them on, it was like a glass of sauvignon blanc showed up in my well-moisturized hand and "This Will Be an Everlasting Love" started playing. Here's my interpretation of the Coastal Grandmother aesthetic.

It can safely be said that y'all love Spanx. I certainly do too—my jeans, faux leather joggers, and pants are among the most worn pieces in my wardrobe. But I recently acquired a pair of their new ankle straight leg jeans, and let me tell you, I think I have a new favorite. And while I just did an honest review last week, I figured it's never too soon for another one (especially since you, dear readers, seem to particularly love them). Spanx sent these jeans to me for free, but as always, the opinions in this review are 100% my own. Here are my honest and unfiltered thoughts on Spanx straight leg jeans. 

One of the perks of being a blogger is that I get sent a lot of skincare products—often more than even an entire family can use. Conventional wisdom says that you should try a product at least 28 days before you judge its results, but ain't nobody got time for that here. I generally give a new product a week (or less if it irritates my skin), and if it's not doing anything for me, it goes into my friends and family pile. For the record, I don't write about 75% of the things I receive—generally I believe that if I don't have something nice to say. I shouldn't put it in writing—but when something comes along that's noteworthy, that's when I decide to tell you about it. And you definitely need to know about Eighth Day skincare. Full disclosure: they sent me a full-size Regenerative Serum  and Reparative Moisturizer to try, and I was under no obligation to write about either product, but the results were so instantly, visibly amazing, I knew I had to give them a proper review. So without further ado, here's my honest, unfiltered opinion of Eighth Day Regenerative Serum and Reparative Moisturizer. 

One of my favorite parts of living in San Francisco is that it's so close to wine country. If you time it right, you can be in Sonoma County in under an hour, or a little longer for Napa County, but not by much. While wine tasting is obviously a big part of the experience, for me, the best parts is getting outside, breathing in some fresh country air, and enjoying the weather, which is usually 10–20 degrees warmer than in the city. If you follow me on Instagram, you know that I go to wine country quite a bit (I call my outings #SundayWineChurch), so I feel like I've perfected dressing for the nuances in weather. Here's what I recommend wearing in wine country in late spring. 

Chicwish provided me with all of the clothing in this post for free, however all of the opinions in the following post are 100% my own. 

If you've been scrolling on Instagram recently, chances are you've seen ads for Chicwish—and if you're me, chances are those ads have followed you all around the Internet. I actually bought a Chicwish skirt on Amazon and featured it in my birthday outfit post last month; Chicwish saw that and graciously reached out with an offer to review some products of my choice. Of course I was curious to try more from this brand, so I jumped at the chance. Here's a little background on Chicwish, plus an honest review of everything I bought.

Mothers: we've all got one—possibly two, and maybe a mother-in-law, a stepmom, a couple grandmas, or even a mother figure. And while I may not be a mom, I certainly know how to shop for them, as I have a lot of them in my life. Since May 8th will be here before you know it, here are 10 Mother's Day gifts that your Mom will love. 

I've noticed a certain thing happening to my face recently, and that's if I've had anything alcoholic to drink the night before, I wake up in the morning with an alarmingly puffy face. If I've had, say, three glasses of red wine, my face looks like a pillow that someone sat on. This never used to happen to me, so I think we have dehydration, both the kind that happens naturally from aging and the kind that happens from drinking too much, to blame. While there's not a lot that you can do to prevent your skin becoming dehydrated as you age, you could, in theory, not drink—and I know plenty of women who have done that, or have at least seriously cut back. But I enjoy a glass of wine with dinner or with friends, and, as the saying goes, I'm not a quitter. Plus, your face can become puffy from eating too much salt, from allergies, and from a bunch of other things. Thankfully for all of us, I have devised a formula to combat puffiness, no sobriety required. Here's how to to depuff your face in 8 easy steps. 

The fashion industry is slowly acknowledging that it's terrible for the environment. Of course, the best solution to that problem would be for everyone to buy less clothing, but we all know that's probably not going to happen (at least not anytime soon). The silver lining is that many fashion companies are shifting to more sustainable processes, and while there is a certain level of greenwashing going on in terms of marketing these "eco-conscious" products, at least it's a step in the right direction. Perhaps to draw attention away from its gazillion environmentally harmful practices, Amazon recently launched its Amazon Aware collection of fashion, beauty, and home products that are carbon neutral (offset through carbon credits) and feature various Climate Pledge Friendly certifications, one of which is Amazon's own certification (insert eye roll here). Full disclosure: Amazon sent me four items from the collection to try for free. My take: they're of much higher quality of any other clothing I've ordered from Amazon, and if that bodes well for the future of fashion on Amazon, I'm all for making every line adhere to these standards. (After all, if we can make some fast fashion more sustainable, can't we do that for all of it?) I already featured the sweater and button-down shirt in my Amazon tops post, and the other two pieces I got were so good, I had to give them a separate post. Here are my favorite items from the Amazon Aware collection. 

Yep, it's that time: Sephora's Beauty Insider event starts Friday, April 1st. Rouge members get 20% off starting on the 1st. VIBs get 15% off starting on the 5th, and Insiders get 10% off starting on the 7th, all with code SAVESPRING through April 11th. It's a great time to stock up on your favorites or to try something new, and since it's been awhile since I've shared my full routine, now seemed like a good time to give you mini-reviews all of my favorite Sephora products. Here are my recommendations for everything to buy during the Sephora Beauty Insider sale. 

We've had several false starts over the last few years, but it seems like a lot of us are returning to the office, at least a few days per week. As much as I love how productive (and calmer) I feel at home, I miss gossiping with my coworkers and seeing what they're wearing. And when it comes to what I'll be wearing, I have a feeling it won't be a complete return to my pre-pandemic wardrobe—for one, I don't think I can manage a heel higher than two inches—however there are certain pieces that I can't wait to wear regularly again, especially blazers. As I've said many times before, I love a good blazer. Nothing makes me feel more like I have my act together. I haven't been wearing mine nearly as frequently as I'd like to, with the exception of my trusty J.Crew camel sweater blazer. Because this blazer is knit, it feels softer and more relaxed like a cardigan; but because it has a notched lapel and more of a tailored structure, it feels a little more polished than a sweater. One thing to note: this style used to be called the Sophie; it's now the Eloise, and while he collar has been slightly updated and the fabric is a little more lightweight, it's basically the same piece—and a wise investment. Here are 7 ways to wear it. 

I buy a lot of stuff on Amazon—vitamins, home gadgets, French beauty products—but I am late to the fashion game. Which is probably because like everything else on Amazon, it helps to know exactly what you're searching for, and in the case of clothing, I don't always know. I'm more of browser than a searcher, and while I am not one to get easily overwhelmed by choice while shopping, I almost always do while looking for clothes on Amazon. So when Amazon recently asked me to join their influencer program, I seized the opportunity to sharpen my search skills, wade through the thousands and thousands of products out there, and find the best ones. Here are my 5 favorite tops that I've found (so far) on Amazon. Bonus: they're all under $40. 

I first started coloring my hair in high school with Nice 'N Easy or one of those semi-permanent at-home kits; I believe it was some sort of deep red color that no one is actually born with but that appealed to me in my (thankfully short-lived) grunge-goth phase. In college, I graduated to highlights, and that's where my troubles began. I've now been bleaching my hair for close to 25 years, and all that hydrogen peroxide has taken its toll. My hair was not thick to begin with, but over the years, it has become so thin and brittle that it started to break. I really noticed this back in 2020 after six months of not coloring my hair due to the pandemic, when a much healthier root started to grow in. Of course, as soon as I was back on the bleach, my breakage returned too. So when my new stylist recommended Olaplex, I was willing to try anything. After six months of using the system religiously, I can assure you that the hype is real. Here's my honest review of the four Olaplex products I've been using: No. 3 Hair Perfector, No. 4 Bond Maintentance Shampoo, No. 5 Bond Maintenance Conditioner, and No. 6 Bond Smoother. 

As I mentioned in my newsletter last week, I've been hearing a lot about dopamine dressing, which is basically wearing clothes that bring you joy because the last two years have been all about sad sweatpants and scuzzy slippers, and we're all OVER IT. So as I enter my 44th year on this planet—yes, today is my actual birthday—I am fully embracing that concept. This week's outfit feels very "me" on several levels. For one, it includes some of my favorite pieces. On another, it pays homage to one of my favorite Peter Lindbergh editorials from Vogue, featuring all of the supermodels draped over motorcycles in Dumbo, dressed in a mix of Chanel and Schott. But on the deepest level, this is how my inner child would like to dress, ballerina skirt and all. And I'm totally embracing it. 

Just about a year ago, I pledged to cut down on the Canva-collage posts and feature more original content here, and while I think I've been doing a pretty good job of that, there have been some extenuating circumstances in my life recently. I am making this sound way more dramatic than it actually is—long story short, Sean had surgery a few weeks ago and is on crutches and thus we can't do a proper photo shoot at the moment, but hopefully we'll have a new one very, very soon (e.g. next week). In the meantime, my birthday is next week and to be honest, I really enjoy writing these birthday wishlist posts. They're a little self-indulgent, yes, but hey, it's my birthday.  So for old time's sake, here's what I really, really, really want for my birthday this year. 

On a Friday afternoon in March 2020, I grabbed my laptop and a few files from my desk, thinking I'd be working from home for a week or two until the whole Coronavirus thing calmed down. And here I am, two years later, still working from home. I miss seeing my coworkers' outfits and gossiping with them after meetings, but I really don't miss commuting downtown in a packed bus every day, nor do I miss my tiny cubicle with zero privacy. At first, I worked from our living room—it's nice and sunny there, plus our couch is super comfy—but when it became clear that I'd be working from home for much longer than a week or two, I decided a more permanent setup was necessary. I am lucky enough to have a two-bedroom apartment, and in the nearly eight years I've lived here, our second bedroom has functioned as a kind of multipurpose space—part guest room, part game room, part office. But as I noted in my bedroom makeover post last year, spending so much time inside has caused me to re-look at all the rooms in my home with razor-sharp focus. Since I'll be working from home indefinitely—and at least half the time once my office reopens—I decided that the second bedroom needed to be a dedicated office space (sorry, visitors, you can stay at the hotel down the street!). Here's how I gave my office a complete makeover. 

Yep, I'm back with yet another review of Spanx pants because you know you love them. Up next is the Leather-Like Jogger, otherwise known as the faux leather jogger, which is one of Spanx's bestselling styles. I was a little apprehensive about trying this pair because I was a little disappointed with the Faux Leather Leggings—TLDR: while they suck you in like a vacuum, they don't look anything like actual leather. But after seeing these all over social media, I decided to cave and take a chance on them. Here's my honest and unfiltered review of the Spanx Leather-Like Jogger. 

February means many different things to different people; it's Black History month, my best friend's birthday, Super Bowl Sunday, Presidents' Day weekend, Groundhog Day, and, of course, Valentine's Day, which, even though I'm in a relationship, is kind of the worst made-up holiday of them all. I've decided not to do any formal Valentine's Day content this year; you dear readers tend not to be very interested in it, and since every other content creator is doing V-Day gift guides and outfits and such, you have many other places to find ideas, should you need them. That said, this could pass for a date-night look, although I feel like it's an outfit my girlfriends would appreciate more than my partner. I always dress for myself first, but when I go out with friends, I do find myself reaching for something that I think they'd like, whether it's a fun dress, a power blazer, killer shoes, or all of the above, as in this look. Since Galentine's Day is coming up on February 13th, here's what I'd wear. 

My first trip to Miami Beach, a.k.a. South Beach, was 15 years ago for my friend's bachelorette party. Four of us crammed into a tiny room with two queen-size beds, but we barely spent any time there, because we were too busy having the time of our lives. I've been back many times since, for long-weekend getaways, girls' trips, and even a wedding, and I will rarely turn down the chance to go. To those who have never been to Miami, I like to describe it as Vegas on the beach. Like Las Vegas, people go there to party— they dress to the nines and the people-watching is off the charts—and there are a bunch of amazing restaurants from top chefs like José Andrés and Francis Mallmann. Unlike Vegas, there is no gambling nor ridiculous manmade spectacles (unless you count all of the exotic cars driving up and down Collins Avenue); instead, there's a glorious beach and some amazing Art Deco architecture. It had been four years since my last visit, so when Sean found out he had a business trip, I decided to tag along and get there a few days early to take advantage of the holiday weekend. Here's what we did on our weekend trip to Miami Beach.

It can be a little chilly at night—bring a jacket!

I have a semi-firm belief that you’re either good at doing hair or makeup but generally not both. I fall into the latter category, which I attribute to years of doing stage makeup when I used to dance; over the years, I’ve learned to style my hair in an adequate manner, but it never looks remotely as good as when a professional does it. I feel like this is generally a positioning thing: in doing one’s own hair, you can’t get quite into the ideal angle as when someone else styles your hair, plus your arms are generally raised above your head and thus requite more muscle stamina, particularly if you have a lot of hair (which I don’t, but we’re still talking a significant amount of time). So even while I’ve honed my blowout skills with my Dyson over the years, I’ve been intrigued by the Revlon One-Step Hair Dryer, which has over 262,100 reviews (and counting) on Amazon. Is it idiot-proof enough to deliver a just-from-the-salon blowout, or is it all hype? Here’s my honest review.

Just before the new year, there was a meme going around the Internet alluding to how 2022 sounds like "2020 two," e.g. "the sequel," e.g. dear god, not again. But Sean interpreted it as "2020 take two," e.g. a do-over, and that optimism is one of the many reasons why I love him. Yes, things may be less than ideal right now, with closures and quarantines and yet another rampant strain of Covid, but maybe, just maybe this is the year we move on from this @#$% virus. I didn't realize how much I was craving my old routines until our back-to-office date got pushed back for the gazillionth time—and this time I was actually disappointed about it. I had been thinking about easing back into office wear (and really looking forward to wearing my blazers again), but since that won't be happening just yet, I've come up with a happy medium: pieces that are comfortable and casual enough to wear around the house, but polished enough to wear out to after-work drinks (outside, of course). So here's what I'm wearing in 2022...for now.

Happy new year, and welcome to 2022! But first, one more post about 2021. This blog is called Cheryl Shops for good reason, but obviously you do a lot of shopping too. Once again, thank you for doing so—when you make a purchase using my links, I get a small finder's fee (at no cost to you), and that income helps me continue to create more free content for you. Everyone wins! Speaking of wins, I always like to look back and see what the most popular items of the year were, both out of curiosity and in the interest of featuring more of what you like. Based on this year's bestsellers, that would be cashmere sweaters, Spanx pants, and skincare. Here are the top products that Cheryl Shops readers bought in 2021. 

 As I noted last week, I'm changing things up a bit with my year-end recaps for 2021. I've shared my favorite outfits of 2021, so now it's time for your favorite posts of 2021. I was not super surprised to see that 6 of the 10 posts were from my honest review series—they tend to attract a lot of search traffic, but hopefully they're helpful for my regular readers as well. I have a whole new bunch of reviews planned for 2022, so stay tuned for those! I am going to take next week off to spend some quality time with my family and friends, but I'll be back in January with one last 2021 recap, featuring everything you guys bought this year. In the meantime, here's a look at the top 10 most popular posts of 2021, according to you!

Spotify's year-in-review posts came out last week, so you know what that means: time for the year-end wrap ups! I'm changing things up a bit this time; it's always hard to pick a favorite outfit of the year, so I thought I'd do something different and pick 10. This was actually harder to do than I expected; turns out I liked a lot of what I featured here (although I did have some duds, TBH). Still, it's funny to see some trends emerge: I still love neutrals, but I did try a little (soft) color here and there, and clearly I have some favorite accessories! In no particular order, here are my 10 favorite outfits of 2021—tell me your favorites in the comments below!

One of my favorite places on earth is Paris, and one of my favorite things to do there is to raid the pharmacy, particularly Citypharma in the 6th arrondissement. If you are a beauty junkie like me, it's like being a kid in a candy shop—French pharmacy beauty brands tend to be natural (or "clean" as we call them here), effective, and affordable, and while mainstays like Caudalie are easy to find at places like Sephora, some of my favorite brands like Nuxe and Panier des Sens are much harder to track down, particularly in U.S. stores. So in between trips to Europe, I've found that Amazon is actually a great place to score French pharmacy beauty products, since they work with smaller-scale importers and distributors. It's not quite the same experience as a wine-fueled haul in a foreign country, but it's a convenient way to replenish your favorite products. As a bonus, all of the products I'm featuring in this post make great gifts—obviously I'm writing this post during the holidays, but file it away in case you need birthday, anniversary, Mother's day, or even thank-you gift ideas. Here are my favorite French pharmacy beauty finds on Amazon—oh, and did I mention they're all under $30? (They are!)

Historically speaking, I've featured party outfits in December, and omicron variant be damned, I do plan to do my fair share of partying this month. But I also thought I'd end the year with a more true picture of where my wardrobe is at the moment. I had a bit of an identity crisis earlier this year; after months of wearing little more than sweats, I was like I NEED FUN CLOTHES and ended up buying a bunch of stuff that just wasn't me. Not that I'm not fun, but I can be fun without looking like I'm in a funhouse. Anyway, I like neutrals—always have, probably always will—and while I might not have the most interesting wardrobe in the world, it's the right one for me. So with that in mind, here's to ending 2021 on an authentic note. 

Black Friday seems to be coming earlier and earlier every year, and I'm definitely not mad at it—this year, with all of the supply-chain uncertainty, I'm doing my holiday shopping (a.k.a. me shopping) early. In fact, I've already made quite a dent, but I'm just getting started. And BTW, you should too (you've earned it!). Without further ado, here are the best Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales this year. 

If you've been reading this blog for awhile, you know that I used to live in NYC for a long time (13 years, to be exact) and it will always have a big part of my heart. I normally go back for a visit at least once a year, but thanks to the pandemic, I hadn't been there since January 2020. When I've been gone for too long, I can almost feel it in my bones; spending even a couple of days in New York is like a defibrillator for my soul, in the best possible way. Even though he's never lived there, Sean loves NYC as much as I do, so convincing him to go there for a long weekend in celebration of his birthday required only minimal arm-twisting. Of course, after having been away for so long, I had no idea how New Yorkers were dressing, and if you've been reading my newsletter, you know that I've been panicking about what to pack. I may not have totally blended in—I've been a West Coaster for 8 years now, after all—but I could at least hang in this outfit.

Grab some hot chocolate and crank up "All I Want for Christmas Is You," because the Cheryl Shops Holiday Gift Guide 2021 is here! You may notice that this is the earliest I've ever posted a holiday gift guide; I had actually been planning to do that since so many of the items I had wanted to feature last year had already sold out by December. But now perhaps you've heard of the global supply chain crisis, which has been impacting retail inventory since the summer, and has every news outlet urging people to do their holiday shopping early, lest our economy (and the retail industry) suffer! If you are a last-minute shopper, fret not, I'm sure there will still be presents out there. But if you're a get-'er-done-early shopper like I am, it may be wise to take advantage of all the Singles' Day, early Black Friday, and various other sales hitting your inbox. Because once you're done shopping for other people, you get to shop for yourself! So without further ado, here are my favorite gifts for 2021. 

Now that Halloween is over, can we talk about the holidays? I am really looking forward to celebrating them this year, because last year ended up being a big bummer. I'm not going to rehash the events of late 2020 because I'm sure most of us would rather forget them and whoops, I'm already being overdramatic about what was, in the end, a fairly minor inconvenience. That said, I'm planning on accepting every social invitation that comes my way over the next two months, so that means I'll need a lot of outfits to wear. I decided to take one for a trial run last weekend, and I feel like it was a hit. Here's how it came together.

The number-one question I get from friends, family, and readers is "What skincare products should I be using?" I'm flattered that people come to me for advice (I do work in the beauty industry and like to think that I've learned something), but the bigger issue is that there are so many products out there and people are overwhelmed by the options, plus finding the right mixture of ingredients to target your skin's needs can be a challenge. I have favorites that I tend to recommend, but not all products work for every skin type—something that's good for my dry, redness-prone skin might not be effective on your sensitive, acne-prone skin. Enter The Inkey List. It's a company that's all about personalizing your skincare routine down to the ingredients that work specifically for you and your skin's needs, in a very accessible way—nearly all of their products are under $15. To get started, you answer 5 questions (it takes only a couple minutes), and Inkey List will create a personalized regimen. Here's my honest review of what they sent me.

Of all the pieces of clothing worth investing in, outerwear is definitely at the top. They're what you tend to wear the most, yet they can last the longest. If properly cared for, jackets and coats can be worn upwards of 20 years, and of course even longer—I have several vintage coats from the 1960s that have aged like fine wine. I tend to feature my outerwear over and over again here on this blog because it's what I actually wear in real life, but also to point out how versatile the pieces I love are. Case in point: I've worn my J.Crew quilted downtown field jacket with everything from denim to dresses. It's funny to think I hesitated to buy it because I was worried it was too close to my other favorite J.Crew outerwear, the downtown field jacket; instead, I like to think of it as the downtown's cooler-weather counterpart. It's the perfect jacket for fall (or spring), when you need something warmer than a denim or army jacket, but you're not quite ready for wool or a puffer. It's so good, J.Crew keeps bringing it back year after year. Here are seven of my favorite ways to wear it. 

As soon as I typed the title of this post, I thought, "how is it already October?!" Then I realized, "whoa, it's already October 13th," which made me wonder where the first half of this month has gone. The funny thing is, I feel like I haven't done that much this year, other than work my tush off, but that is quickly starting to change. Now that delta variant is on the decline (knock on wood), my social calendar is finally picking up, plus Sean has a bunch of conferences this fall that I'm going to tag along on. Then before we know it, it will be Thanksgiving, then Christmas and New Year's, and I don't know about you, but I can't wait for 2022 (according to Susan Miller, it's supposed to be my best year ever). That said, I am very happy it's autumn—I am one of those Fall People who loves turning leaves, pumpkin-flavored everything, and most importantly, fall clothes. October is really the sweet spot in fall dressing, because it's still warm enough to get away with a sweater and a light jacket. So in celebration of that, here's what I'm wearing in October.

If you follow a lot of influencers on Instagram, chances are you've heard of Sarah Flint shoes. Their brand ambassadors include some of my favorite content creators—Brooklyn Blonde, Grace Atwood, and my friend Kim—so when Sarah herself reached out to me on IG, I was incredibly flattered to join their ranks. And since everyone raves about how comfortable and luxurious Sarah Flint shoes are, I couldn't wait to try a pair for myself. They sent me a pair of Rosie loafers; here's my honest and unfiltered opinion.

 

Updated February 2025. 

It's funny to think that I started wearing Spanx pants only a year ago, because my collection has grown exponentially in that time—it started with perfect black ankle pants, then the faux leather leggings, every pant in navy, and even activewear. I wear Spanx pants several days a week on average; I love that they're comfy but polished-looking, e.g. it's not totally obvious that I'm wearing leggings. But now I'm starting to go out more and want to look like I'm not wearing leggings, however I'm also carrying around 5 extra pounds of pandemic weight and wearing hard pants is, well, hard. Enter Spanx jeans. They look like traditional denim but definitely don't fit like it. If anything, they're even better than jeans—they're a gift from the gods. Here's my honest and unfiltered review of Spanx flare jeans and Spanx skinny jeans.

In case you missed last week’s post, we recently spent a week on the Big Island of Hawaii and it was pretty much amazing. We had booked the trip months ago, soon after I started a new job that was a bit more stressful than I'd anticipated, and to be honest, the thought of a relaxing week at the beach got me through some pretty rough weeks. Of course, a week before we were due to leave, the governor of Hawaii issued a plea for tourists to stay home until later in the fall due to rising Covid rates and full hospitals; after some thorough investigation and a pledge to spend as much time outdoors as possible, we decided to go anyway. (We were far from alone, by the way.) Here’s what we did on our blissful trip to the Big Island.

If you've subscribed to my newsletter, you know that I'd been looking forward to our Hawaii trip for a long time. You also probably know that I've been on a pre-vacay spending spree. For one, it had been a year and a half since we'd taken a proper vacation, and over three years since we'd gone somewhere tropical. I also think, deep down, I miss not spending money on dress-up clothes for specific things and I had a lot of pent-up money to burn. I tried to shop (somewhat) responsibly, but may have gone a weee bit overboard. At least—fingers crossed—I'll be able to wear everything on our long-postponed trip to Europe next summer. But in the meantime, here's what I wore on our Big Island vacation. 

There are two kinds of people: those who get excited for fall in August and those who don't. When I lived in NYC, I was in the former group—by August, the city would get unbearably muggy and smell like hot garbage—but now that I'm on the West Coast, I'm the the latter, mostly because September and October are usually the warmest months here. That said, I do love fall clothes and shoes, and my point in all this is that Labor Day sales are generally a good time to get an early deal on fall-forward clothes and accessories. The silver lining is that it might be a month or two before you can wear them, but aren't some things are worth waiting for? I'd say yes. Here are some Labor Day sales worth checking out. 

Nothing I'm wearing here is on sale, but my bag is a pretty good deal ;)

Like many of you, I'm sure, I've spent more time inside my apartment in the last year and a half than I had in the previous six years I lived there combined. I realize this is a luxury and a privilege, as not everyone has a job that allows them to work from home, and I'm thankful that I'm in such a position. (I'm also not even remotely eager to go back to working in an office, but that's another topic for another day.) Spending so much time at home, however, allowed me to pinpoint what was and wasn't working in my space. For example, after doing little more than binging Netflix night after night, I realized that having our TV mounted above the fireplace was too high and straining our necks; we ended up completely rearranging the living room, and now it feels way more open and welcoming. Also, I finally got around to changing my kitchen hardware, swapping out the cheap-looking builder-grade knobs for a nice matte bronze. There are many areas of the apartment that are still a work in progress—I want to paint the office a lighter color, and I really want to renovate the bathroom—but so far, I'm the most pleased with our bedroom. Here's how we upgraded our bedroom during the pandemic.

The title of this post is a bit of a misnomer; while I had intended to show everything I wore at Car Week, we were having so much fun, we kind of forgot to shoot it all. Alas, I'm only featuring one outfit in this post, and it's what I wore on our last morning in Carmel-by-the-Sea. We decided not to go to the Concours d'Elegance, which is kind of the main event that ends Car Week, because we were worried about crowds, and I'm glad we didn't go, because our friends who did said they felt a little overwhelmed and unsafe, and they left pretty quickly. That said, we were happy to be back at Car Week (it was canceled last year). We saw a bunch of friends and cars, of course, and I will never turn down a getaway to Carmel. So here's what I wore on the last day of our trip.

I have shopped at Everlane for years—the oldest receipt I found in my Gmail is from 2014, but l'm pretty sure we go back even further. I've stuck around all these years because they make pretty decent luxury basics at incredibly appealing prices, in a (mostly) ethical way. As someone who works in retail marketing, I appreciate their boundary-pushing ways of doing business (product waitlists and drops to build anticipation; sharing cost breakdowns and factory information; their choose-what-you-pay sales), however I think they sometimes come across as a little high on their own supply, and turns out they weren't so "radically transparent" about certain things. But, hey, people make mistakes, and I appreciate when companies take responsibility for their missteps and do try to make things better. So I'll keep shopping and advocating for Everlane, which is, after all, a local (albeit rapidly expanding) business based in San Francisco. While I'm not a superfan, I have bought quite a lot at Everlane over the years. Here are my favorite pieces. 

August, otherwise known as Fogust, is a weird time of year in San Francisco. Elsewhere in the world, people are beginning to grow tired of their summer clothes, but we're just getting ready to break them out. Even if it isn't always warm here in the actual summer (hence why I'm wearing a jacket in some of these photos), I do like to wear lighter colors. So I've been gravitating toward lots of white, ivory, and beige lately, often mixing them all together in one outfit. It's hard to match light neutrals, so the key is to embrace multiple shades and wear them all together. Really, there's no wrong way to do it. Here's my go-to outfit of the moment, featuring some of my favorite new (and old) pieces. 

Earlier this month, I took my first flight since the beginning of the pandemic and went home to Chicago to see my mom for the first time in a year and a half—the longest I've gone without seeing her in my entire life. For those of you who haven't flown anywhere yet, the plane trip felt completely safe and drama-free, and seeing my family and friends after so long felt amazingly good. It felt strangely normal to be home, possibly because Chicago felt very "What Covid?!" to me, which was equally refreshing and alarming. So after a few days of quality family time in the 'burbs, we headed downtown for a couple nights in the city. We were happy to see that Michigan Avenue was packed, restaurants and bars were crowded (but not overwhelmingly so), and all weekend long, people were dressed up—maybe that roaring '20s thing is indeed happening. Here's what we did on our weekend in Chicago.

Lots of people have been pooping on the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale this year, and I can kind of see why. As blogger/influencers, we often feel a lot of pressure to cover it, although I do so because there are actually some amazing deals to be had, as I mentioned in my post last week. I do agree, however, that the sale selection has gotten "safer" over the last few years, with an emphasis on more classic, tried-and-true basics versus more adventurous, fashion-y pieces. But I'd argue that those are exactly what you should be buying during the sale—I've found it's a great time to stock up on wardrobe workhorses, specifically in three major categories: jeans, leggings, and sweaters. Here are 10 must-haves that are currently part of the Nordstrom sale (and still available). 

I've often referred to the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale as Christmas in July; for years, it's been an ingenious way to stock up on fall clothes & shoes early, at a rare pre-season discount. In the last few years, influencers and bloggers have really hyped up the event, and yes, I am totally guilty of that, but in my case at least, it's coming from a genuine place. So while I'm being honest, last year's Nordstrom Anniversary Sale kind of sucked. Due to the pandemic, it happened a month later than normal; due to conservative planning on Nordstrom's part, they sold out of a lot of the best items on the first day, before most of its customers were able to shop. For my part, I bought one pair of slippers—I had to do curbside pickup because my local Nordstrom was still closed to customers—that I ended up returning because the sole was so flimsy. Major fail. But I am feeling much more optimistic about this year's sale. The highest tier of Nordy Club members began shopping on Monday and, as of the time I'm writing this post, all of the items I wanted to feature are still in stock, which is a good sign. No, there aren't as many designer pieces as in years past (this seems to be a year-over-year trend). But there are some great finds, plus Nordstrom has pumped up its home offerings so much that I had to create a new category this year—I guess I'm not the only one investing in my home lately! So without further ado, here are my Anniversary Sale clothing, shoes & accessories, beauty, and home picks for this year. 

I have never been a big shorts person, although I did wear them a bit more when I was younger. It has always seemed just as easy to wear a dress, which has the added benefit of making it look like you tried  a bit harder. But the main reason I tend to stay away from shorts is that they tend to fit me oddly and get all bunched up in front. I blame this on my body's perplexing combination of narrow hips and meaty thighs, which feel more or less equalized in a full or A-line skirt. But in the last few years, I've noticed more and more of my summertime Instagram feed filling up with all manner of shorts but primarily those of the cutoff denim variety. Add in one very long, very casual-izing pandemic plus a summer that's already been ridiculously hot and now it seems like literally everyone is in shorts. But there's more to it than an "everyone else is doing it, so I will too" mindset—I think that in this unprecedented (and welcome) age of body positivity, people are caring less about having "perfect" legs and instead focusing on wearing whatever they want, for whatever reason they want. So that's what convinced me to buy my first pair of shorts in 20 years. Here's how I wore them in Chicago last weekend.

The first pricey jar of skin cream I ever bought was Crème de la Mer. It did not deliver the Rich Girl Skin I was hoping for, but that hasn't stopped me from trying every fancy potion that has come along since. So far, the closest thing I've found to a magical elixir is Vintner's Daughter, but it's not quite mind-blowing enough to convince me to keep paying $185 every month or two. I've been reading the most rapturous reviews in years, however, for Augustinus Bader The Rich Cream, so when a bottle showed up on my doorstep, I couldn't wait to try it. Here's my honest, unfiltered review.

I read a recent theory that we're conditioned as children to "love" summer because of the three-month break we get from school; in actuality, it's hot and miserable, so what is there really to love? For one, I enjoy that it's still light after 8pm. But more importantly, summer is dress season. I tend to wear one nearly every day—nothing is easier, more comfortable (and breathable), or cuter in warm weather—and I always scoop up several new ones at the start of the season, because, hey, my name is Cheryl Shops. So on that note, here are my favorite dresses for summer 2021.

It had only been a few months since we last took a weekend trip to Santa Barbara, but after the stress of the last month (we're ok, really!), not to mention the ridiculously cold and windy spring weather we've been having, Sean & I decided that we were in need of a long weekend of rest and relaxation. Our goal: to lounge by a pool, bask in the sunshine, and maybe roll out to a winery or nice dinner (or a few). With that in mind, we were lucky enough to snag a last-minute hotel reservation in Calistoga, which is one of our favorite little towns in Napa County. Here's where we went and what we did over Memorial Day weekend.

Whoa, how is it June already?! This year is flying by, which I guess is a good thing—I feel like every day, week, and month, we get closer to normal life again. Case in point: We stayed in a hotel for the first time in over a year last weekend. We spent the long weekend in Calistoga, which is a town in northern Napa County—I'll share more details about that trip in next week's post—and aside from a few moments of mask-wearing, hand-sanitizing, and wavier-signing, it felt pretty much like a normal getaway. It also finally feels like summer, at least in Napa, so finally the weather is cooperating with my strong desire to wear a sundress. I've been on a dress binge lately, and while I love everything I've bought so far this year (don't worry, they'll all be making an appearance here soon enough), this Ganni dress is my favorite. Here's how I wore it in wine country.