Weekend 4.17

As I type this, I am currently sitting on an airplane. The boys have some sort of ski/snowboard thing out in Colorado, the flight was bananas cheap so we were like…okaaaay?

It’s weird, though. Being back on a plane.

I had assumed that airlines would be booking planes half-full to comply with COVID regulations. I also assumed there would be something called “COVID regulations.”  

Silly me.

Other than mandatory mask wearing, it feels very pre-March 2020 up in here.

Our kids obviously aren’t vaccinated, so we stuck them in protective eyewear (Raines), and a face shield (Pax) in addition to their masks. Pax was oddly into the face shield — I think he views it as amour, which…isn’t wrong, I suppose. I had the foresight to pack an extra pair of protective glasses, too, for when he finally got fed up with the face shield. Pax doesn’t do things by halves so when the kid is done, he is Dramatically DONE. 

But we have a bunch of snacks and video games and the flight attendant has Sprite and we did a quick PPE swap an—

Oh good. Someone behind me is coughing. And Pax now insists on switching back to the full face mask.  

It’s fine. I’m fine.Everything’s fine. 

I now have an almost uncontrollable urge to cough, but it’s not a real cough it’s like the laughing-in-church cough. STOP IT SHANA. THINK OF SOMETHING ELSE.

I always book our family two window seats and two aisle seats in the hope that no one books themselves into our middle seat. This has proven to be effective .03% of the time and today’s flight is no different. I had realized — walking down the packed aisle — that I was much more comfortable swapping out my own aisle seat to share a row with my kids. I don’t know if it is actually any safer for us to be in the same row (it’s a four-hour flight to Denver), but it makes me feel better, so that’s something. Mike went into the row ahead of us, and the three of us took up the entire next row. When the dude in the middle seat showed up, I smiled (with my eyes) and told him he had a choice. 

“You may…” I started, gesturing to Raines and Pax in the seats next to me, “sit between these two unvaccinated children on this four hour flight to Denver…” 

I could see his eyes widen behind his glasses (god, I live for this shit).

“OR…” I paused. Waited. The poor man was literally holding his breath. He cannot see my face, but rest assured, I am delighted. “Or you could sit in my aisle seat right here.” I patted the top of the seat in front of me. 

He froze, unbelieving, and then tripped in his attempt to sit down in the Gift I Have Unexpectedly Bestowed Upon Him.

Oooo…I do like these little games. I DO.

(It also occurs to me that I mayyyyy not have had enough socialization this past year.)

But for those of you who are thinking that I am a horrible person playing with his emotions during this time of terrible travel…you will be happy to hear that he had the last lau— 

Hold on — Pax needs to swap back into glasses.

Ok. So. Three minutes (THREE!!) into the flight, he reclined his seat allllll the way back and promptly fell asleep. So I am now trying to type with my laptop at my belly button and — yay — holding a face shield.  

I’m happy to report that flying now is basically just as annoying as it was before.

And yet I feel as lucky as ever to do it.

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My spring inspiration atm. I’m really into head-to-toe denim, but instead of the ‘ol chambray shirt, I’ve been eyeing up structured denim tank tops. As inspiration, ALC has a perfect example paired with paperbag jeans…and AG has one (paired with a cool denim midi). Alice + Olivia makes my favorite iteration, but my problem with ALL of them is that I’m not a crop-top kind of girl. My reality is much more likely to be a denim tank dress or jumpsuit. They’ll give the vibe I want without showing stomach. My favorite is Reformation’s bustier mini dress, but I’m also digging this cute denim jumpsuit (comes in petite or plus, too). WAIT ONE MORE: Alice + Olivia denim jumpsuit on major sale.

Shrunken sweater blazer???? Sign me up. At J.Crew.

There’s a lot of Vince on sale right now. And this sweater, a blend of cotton & cashmere, looks like my beloved Jenni Kayne fisherman sweater but is now 40% off.

A cool update. Have you seen Fjallraven’s newest backpack style? It’s SO GOOD. My fav is the navy blue.

Three favs, 20% off. This weekend only, Backcountry is offering 20% off one full-price item (you may have to sign up for their rewards program, but it’s free). Exclusions apply to the promo, but I just tested it successfully on my three favorite, most-used pieces: Danner hiking boots, the Rumpl travel blanket (we’ve been using it outside constantly), and The North Face’s Cragmont fleece jacket.

Anti-Racist > Kindness? I came across a kids’ t-shirt with ‘Anti-Racist > Kindness’ on it and it gave me pause. My polite midwest upbringing runs strong and I had to really think through it for a second: Is anything better than kindness? I showed Raines the shirt and he immediately, no hesitation, asked me to order him one. I asked if he understood what the shirt was saying and he snorted. “Please, Mom. What good is all the kindness in the world if you are afraid to stand up against racism?” Ordered. He’s clearly more Philly than I am.

Wooder, anyone? Speaking of Philly…we were all cracking up reading Slate’s article about the one accent Hollywood tends to ignore. But I dispute that the Philly accent is dying out completely. My kids, annoyingly, love to drawl (draw), and drop prepositions like they were born here. If I hear, “Mom! I’m done homework” ONE MORE TIME I’m gonna lose it. (Thanks for the link, Lex.)

Vaccinated? I appreciated the clear guidance in this NYTimes article about what vaccinated parents can/can’t do with their unvaccinated kids.

The vegan recipes I’m trying next: April can be such a blah month for cooking — the exciting spring produce isn’t really available yet in Philly and I’m sick of my winter crockpot recipes — but I found a couple of good ideas at Cookie and Kate. I’m planning to add mint (and vegan cheese) to her Lemony Green Pasta with Peas & Ricotta, but will probably make her Lemony Lentil & Chickpea Salad With Radishes & Herbs as-is. Lemon is the way to my heart right now.

A mother’s perspective. Tracy Moore’s words in the wake of Daunte Wright’s death keeps ringing in my ears. “He called his mom. She couldn’t save him,” Tracy wrote. “If my kids are stopped and call me…I won’t be able to save them either.” If you haven’t yet donated, BlackLivesMatter.com has a support page with community resources, as well as the direct Venmo account of Daunte Wright’s girlfriend and a fund for his family (including additional support for his infant son).

xo,

S