Cheryl Shops

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.