LE CATCH

Typically during the week between Christmas and New Year's Eve I turn into a couch potato (miraculously, calories and carbs don't count). I take comfort in not being alone in this pursuit, and believe that our collective inertia this year could actually help save the human race! So far, in my laying low, I've binge-watched The Flight Attendant and Bridgerton, started reading Talking Animals (up next: Leave the World Behind), daydreamed about skiing corduroy slopes (and sporting Perfect Moment's perfect gear while I'm at, below), ping-ponged between insane (not-yet-picked-over) sales (run here and here), vintage hunting (scores from Retro Rhapsody, above, include this), and new merch possibilities (this, this and this). I anticipate that my couch potato-ing will turn up lots more. Stay tuned!

$395, shopbop

My kind of Christmas sweater comes with flowers, elephants and hearts--and keeps on giving all winter long!

1. Victoria Beckham fair isle sweater, $395, shopbop.com

2. Re/Done high-rise straight-leg jeans, $260, netaporter.com

3. Charlotte Tilbury Magic Lip Oil Crystal Elixir, $43, netaporter.com

4. Jules Smith ring, $45, shopbop.com

5. The Vanishing Half, $16, amazon.com

6. H&M faux shearling slippers, $29, hm.com

This is no mundane Monday, thanks to winter's official arrival today--and the rare cosmic alignment of Jupiter and Saturn (read: they are closer together than they have been since the Middle Ages!). I'm inspired by a high school friend of mine celebrating this momentous event with Susannah Conway's "Unravel Your Year" download, a free workbook to set intentions and reflect on the past year. It will be an especially cathartic self-care exercise, which I know will help me let go of the past, be grateful for the present and anticipate the future. In a word: healing! On a more superficial level, I'm also inspired by all the winter-ready get-ups I'm seeing on my Insta feed this morning, including Sweden-based writer Fanny Ekstrand's awesome fair isle sweater, above, a past season Loewe, but found similar here and here; Linn Eklund's Kule head gear, below; Veronika Heilbrunner's on-sale Stand Studio shearling trim coat (in another color on sale here and here), below; and Erika Boldrin's houndstooth Max Mara puffer, last pic!

For the last week or so, my kids have been watching Pipeline Masters competition live stream from Hawaii, featuring the world's best surfers riding enormous (and treacherous) 25+foot waves. Last night, I turned the channel to tune into Times Square's live feed, showing the season's biggest winter snow storm blanket New York City. What a sight! It made me want to throw on a cozy sweater and call it a night! Instead I scored the above $59 Khaite-inspired knit! I also flirted with these standouts by Cinq a Sept, Kule, and Farm Rio.

I am currently sharing a work desk--A.K.A., the dining table--with my Zoom-schooling son, who is drawing anime with guidance from his art teacher and thinking about how much inventiveness, productivity and connection takes place in this very spot. Inspired by our cumulative creativity, I am on a hunt to embellish our work/dining space further, with artsy pieces (read: good last minute gifts!), like these Cabana-inspired hand-painted Etsy glasses, below, (also these and these), these hand hewn-looking plates or these vibrant ones from La Double J, these whimsical denim napkins and kooky candle stick holders.

A frenzied last-minute Target run for more wrapping paper, gift tags, and tape, along with non-essential, never-knew-I-needed miscellanea that always ends up in my shopping cart, is as much a holiday tradition for me as is opening presents on Christmas morning. But this year has me tweaking the tradition (along with everything else!) and shopping Target's website (slightly) ahead of time--yet still netting the necessities and so much more. For starters, I scored stocking stuffers--this, this and this--but also stuff to spruce things up: the hand-woven basket, below, and this! I also made it over to Cost Plus, an unexpected bastion for original gifts (this, this and this), as well as small kitchen improvements, such as the organic stoneware mugs, above, this ceramic French Press and these bud vases.

 Among the treasured holiday traditions I'll be missing this year is my annual Yankee Swap. This customary mid-December present-swapping event has always outperformed Christmas Day by a long shot, because my besties know how to gift and specifically gift me! And, naturally, vice versa. Although we can't celebrate this year like always, I have thought a lot about what I would have brought to the Yankee Swap--and how I would have mined The Outnet for bang-for-the-buck presents! Among them: the luxe-looking Kenneth Jay Lane coin necklace I'm wearing, above and below, along with the elegantly tailored and versatile Iris & Ink double-breasted blazer and embellished Paco Rabanne skirt. More slam-dunk possibilities: this silk Equipment pajama set, this Smythson textured leather notebook, this Rag & Bone zebra-print sweatshirt, this paisley print Zimmermann bikini, and this cozy chic Ganni sweater. So many more scores here!

To close out yet another crazy week here on Earth, I thought I'd share some bright spots I came across but didn't get around to sharing with you, including my nighttime laughs watching Ted Lasso, reading Eve Rodsky's Fair Play, Nordstrom's Designer Clearance Sale (hello, 60% off Zimmermann, Valentino and Saint Laurent). Plus: gift-or-get finds like the cute and comfy $64 fluffy teddy jacket, above, this pretty print Never Fully Dressed shirt dress, this poised-to-party Asos dress, justifiable right now for $87, and this insanely chic raffia and chainmail Paco Rabanne bag. Stay safe, all!

It's what's inside that counts, right? Hence, today's focus on underpinnings--the extra special kind that moonlight in the outside world, too, peeking out of a button-down blouse, or underneath a double-breasted blazer, or on its own, doubling as a workout top or bikini top. You with me? I recently picked up the strappy Free People, above, and would love to add these by Leset, Splits59, Years of Ours, Beyond Yoga, and And Other Stories.