Weekend 7.9

“I was so impressed by your team,” Linz said on the phone. “Everyone was so positive, and helpful, and so focused on working together…Shana, IT WAS 2 A.M. And NO ONE was sniping at each other!”

Fair point. It was 2 a.m…and we actually didn’t finish up for another hour or so. Oof.   

Working on our Nordstrom Anniversary Sale coverage is a pretty good stress test for our team. There’s an overwhelming amount of sale pieces to sift through, and then an overwhelming amount of photos, articles, details…and a very short window in which to pull all of this data together.

Our goal, every year, is to put together the most genuine, authentic, exciting content — in the shortest time possible.  

This year, I kiiiinda think we aced it.

If you guys indulge me a sec, like a proud mama, I need to brag about our team a little. 

Many of you may not realize, but in addition to our TME editors (those folks whose articles you read), we actually have a whole behind-the-scenes team, mostly based in Philadelphia. This team is responsible for the daily operations of this site and our social channels, as well as producing content: articles, videos, graphics, newsletters, etc. (Fun fact: Kat actually does both. She’s a TME editor and our Video Production Director, so you have her — and Syd and Ivy — to thank for all YouTube videos, IG Reels, TikToks, etc.) 

Anyway, it was the Philly-based crew who were up with me & Linz until 4 a.m. that first day. And then back at it the next morning. And then again on Friday until…11 p.m.? When we — finally!!! — finished the last article of our major NSale push.

And then went out for margaritas.

There’s no doubt there’s a ton of talent on this team. But what impresses me the most — over and over — is the total willingness of everyone involved to just…jump in and work. Calls of “I’m done! Who needs help?” were so frequent (and so appreciated), and the quick brainstorming sessions were both funny and fearless.

Maybe more so as the night(s) wore on.

It’s this Philly Team who’s responsible for the kind of detailed work I find especially grueling late night: post-processing photos, making collages, linking up outfit details. But it’s also this same Philly Team who is responsible for pulling together the overall format and theme of everyone’s NSale posts, as well as thoughtful, effective SEO, and/or engaging social media posts — tasks that require unending creativity, cleverness and organization.

Picture us clustered around a whiteboard, photos spread all around us, muttering nonsense like, “The prettiest topper you ever did see,” while others groan and roll their eyes. And Lex, focused on SEO, yells, “Stop using meaningless words like ‘topper’! Call a coat a coat!” 

Frankly, I think we reached our pinnacle with Kat’s article, “6 Certified Hot Girl Looks From The NSale.” Or, at least, that one was the most fun. I blame exhaustion-genius for the section, “Hot Girl Goes To The Hardware Store,” which was thiiiiis close to being called “Hot Girl Runs To Hardware Store For More Caulk” [cue us falling over in laughter]…sooooo. Yeah. Good times.

Gwen (our COO and the real boss around here) and I hope to update our About Us pages soon. I’d love to shine a brighter light on our behind-the-scenes team because they really are something special. 

And to our TME Editors…truly, the Philly Team and I were completely blown away this year. Your coverage was so inspired and so varied. It was a joy to produce your articles. Every time we’d get a new drop of photos, we’d all cluster around, oohing and ahhing and cheering you on. 

It’s been a long week, but the camaraderie is high.

And that’s likely the only part we’ll remember.

While we have a few more NSale articles coming out, we’re now mostly getting back to our regularly scheduled programming. That said, I’m brainstorming ways to re-create some of this energy — and I’m wondering if there are any special topics, projects or even other sales that we could attack in this sort of short-burn, whole-team situation. Our readers often have the best ideas, so I’d love to hear your thoughts.

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Bing-bang. Oooo…one of my favorite Anine Bing tees is on sale at Saks! There’s more Anine Bing in this sale, so let’s also add her tan houndstooth blazer and these loose, low-rise jeans (I have the shorts version, even styled them up here).

Blue suede shoes. Anyone else shocked that our big winner in the NSale this year was those rag & bone sneakers in…blue? Both Laura & Amy got me drooling over them. Specifically to wear with blue jeans, in some sort of cool-girl monochromatic pairing. That said, I miiiight try a lower-cost pair, just to see how often I’ll wear the blue-on-blue. I’m eyeing up these New Balance sneakers (look for the blue and yellow), these On sneakers (everybody loves them) or these Reeboks, which get cuter every time I look at them.

Is blue my thing now? I was just about to order another one of my favorite Zella long-sleeve tees in blue…and a pair of these leggings, also in blue…with this matching jacquard sweatshirt in, yup, that same shade of blue. But now I’m reading my own words about the blue sneaks too, and have I lost my mind? You guys would tell me, right? Maybe I’ll try Purple Nebula instead. It’s really more of a Chanel Vamp, anyway.

The best white button-down I’ve ever worn. Long-ish but not too long, super-soft, washes beautifully, and can be tucked in or not. Photos don’t do it justice: Frank & Eileen, the “Eileen”.

Those magic jeans. If you missed out on the Veronica Beard wide-leg jeans that so many of us love…we found them on sale at Veronica Beard (in a slightly darker wash). Fit is TTS.

The sexiest cover-up? Negative Underwear just released a slip dress as part of their Whipped collection (aka the softest fabric I’ve ever felt), and it’s beautiful.

Adventures in strapless bras. I’m still on the hunt, but I have learned that Natori’s Minimal Contour strapless bra is easily the most comfortable (sooo soft & smooth)…but I don’t like how high the cups come up. ThirdLove’s 24/7 strapless is still my top pick.

Alternatives to water balloons? It turns out that even “biodegradable” water balloons aren’t really all that biodegradable, and can pose some really serious choking hazards, according to Lifehacker. My boys are pretty good at picking up the balloon pieces when finished…but they never get them all. I’m loving some of these reusable ideas, from squishy sponge bombs (with “high bounce,” haha) to actual reusable silicon water balloons to these seriously cute crochet “balloons.”

Cue the good vibes. It’s a wireless lantern…speaker. Bringing it to alllll the outdoor fun.

Happy weekend!

xo,

S