Three Little Things

Ugh, IS IT STILL SUMMER?

Friends! How are you? Are you still enjoying summer or are you, like me, still shocked that there are somehow 11 days left of this endless infernal season? In my world, the strike stretches on, the wild weather stretches on (this time in my hometown of Fitchburg, Massachusetts and neighboring Leominster), the minor bathroom renovation stretches on and on. We discuss the latest literally horrifying half bath development in tomorrow’s podcast with a guest I think you’re gonna be excited to hear from! Plus lots of other interesting stuff. I hope you will download it and enjoy it and recommend it to lots and lots of friends.

Some of the damage in my hometown

The highway all my relatives and friends back home take to and from work. Shoutout to my cousin, Scottie, for spending all of last night assisting first responders with rescues in one of his gigantic trucks!

I don’t know how healthy it is, but I spend a lot of time these days trying to improve my own life, while also, if I’m being honest, actively avoiding trying to improve my own life. I’m not sure I can exactly explain it, but IYKYK! Like, because I have been a little bit busy doing things that pay me some money so I can pay my bills, which is really good, I haven’t been able to go swimming for a couple of days. And today when Matt asked what I had on my agenda for the day on his way out the door for an incredibly physically vigorous-in-a-way-I-will-never-be-able-to-comprehend ten hour night shift, I almost said, “No matter what, I need to get in the pool and swim, because my body is annoyed that I’ve gotten out of my routine.” LOL, what routine? Yes, I have been making it a point to swim as regularly as possible, and yes it feels quite good, but I realized that to complain about a break in my routine that was roughly as long as the routine itself has existed, would be silly. I mean, I can absolutely think it and feel it, I just realized I didn’t necessarily need to saaaaaay it to a person who would love to have a possible pool hour on his very demanding dance card.

Not saying something can sometimes be one great and completely free way to improve your life! The thing is, there is no immediate, obvious reward for it. The person you didn’t say something to doesn’t know what you didn’t say! So, there’s no recognition for your wisdom, your heroism. You have to have the inner confidence to know that you made the right decision not to say what you almost said, and you have to be okay with being the only one who will ever know it. It takes a certain amount of seasoning and maturity to get there, but when you do, bliss. You will never feel smarter or more put together than when you think something, think again, then say nothing. Honestly, it rivals the electric, jaunty feeling you get from having a fresh blowout.

Sometimes, though, it is slightly more fun to improve your life in some small way that might cost a little bit of money, but you can rip open the package and dance around singing, “I got it! I got it!” They call them cheap thrills for a reason. Anyway, here are three little things I have been using every single day. They have each made my life better in at least some small way and I hope some of you will like them too.

The first thing is something I have mentioned before to some of you in various shoutouts, but to be honest, it bears repeating. Bamboo nightgowns. Between the pandemic, the strike, and enjoying being cute while also being incredibly lazy, I have easily spent 88% of the last four years in a bamboo nightgown. I like bamboo because it is a sustainable, natural material, but it is also SO SOFT AND BUTTERY ON YOUR SKIN! You deserve butteriness, baby! Bamboo, also known as rayon or viscose or modal or some combination of any of these names, is also very easy to care for and you can find some great deals on it. I’m gonna recommend a few nightgowns I actually own, and don’t just wear to bed. I will also throw on a denim jacket or a blazer over them, put on sneakers and wear them right out the door like they’re a cute, comfy dress because…well, they are? (Also, I’m only recommending nightgowns that come in straight and plus sizes, because if a garment isn’t size inclusive enough to be enjoyed by most people, it is dead to me.)

This nighty comes in 7 sizes and 15 colors and is my summertime staple!

Spaghetti Strap Nighty in 7 Sizes and 15 colors!

This one also comes in 7 sizes/15 colors, when you want a little sleeve. Some colors have lettuce edges, like this, which I love. Some colors have straight edges, with a satiny collar binding. Choices baby! Details, baby!

Short sleeve nighty in 7 sizes and 15 colors!

Do your arms get chilly? But also hot? But then chilly again? Yeah, me too. Then this is the cute little nightgown that also looks like you mean a little business for you!

3/4 sleeve Bamboo nightgown with contrast piping in 7 sizes and 15 colors!

Okay, I have multiples of each of these above, but this next one is the one I have the most of. They are my winter go-to and honestly, even though it is very basic and plain, there is something about the way the neckline is cut that is also really flattering and sexy, IMHO! This is not your Nana’s Vermont Country Store sleepwear. Although I love that too. This, though, is the new caftan for our times and I will swan around in it anywhere like I’m Elizabeth Taylor on a budget! White Diamonds taste with a Cubic Zirconia checking account!

Where are my cozy girlies at? (Just kidding, I don’t think I’m the type of person to call my friends girlies, I just got caught up in the moment of pretending to be an influencer.) She is the moment, though, no? I have this same gown in this same beautiful sea blue color TIMES TWO because I love it so much and never want to live without it. Full disclosure, I am 5’6” tall and it hits a little lower on the calf for me. Where are all my short-legged girlies at? Okay, I’ll stop.

Long nighty with long sleeves that somehow still looks sexy, also in 7 sizes and 15 colors

And, I bet a lot of you are saying, “I thought Caissie was inclusive, but here I am, a pajama wearer and I don’t see anything for me!” Full discloshe, I am not a pajama wearer myself. Well, that’s not true. I don’t sleep in pajamas, but I have been known to put pajamas ON when I wake up to lounge around the house in, especially if they are fetching and it’s a holiday and everyone is wearing pajamas that either match or complement each other. Yes, we are that kind of family sometimes. In any case, if you are looking for some whole damn jammies, here you go!

Some jammies!

Bamboo jammies that come is 7 sizes and SIXTEEN colors!!!

Now if you know me at all, you know how much I hate feet, so I hope you understand how much I love all of the above to subject myself to trying to download all these pics without glancing at these strangers’ dogs in them. And I’m sure some of you are saying to yourselves, “Multiples of each of these? How many nightgowns does one person need? Why would Caissie need so many?” The answer is sweat. I sweat so much at night now, I’m always surprised there isn’t a puddle under my bed where sweat soaked through every morning. So, I treat my nightgowns like I would treat workout wear and toss them in the wash after every long wet night where those bamboo threads woven and working together wicked all that perspiration away from my grateful skin. Bamboo, you are my favorite fiber. Bamboo, you are my boo. (Truthfully, I didn’t even show you all the ones I actually have. Like this one! And this one! This one is also good! Sporty chick vibes! You get the idea!)

Ok, I will admit that even if a nightgown is reasonably priced individually, that amassing a hoard of a dozen or more to accommodate your individual hyperhydrosis needs might be obsessive/excessive. Guilty! However, this next one is a hot tip that I have delulu’d myself into believing is an economic masterstroke. Sometimes, when I am sad, I want to buy myself a bag. What is it about a bag that makes me think it can eliminate my sads? I don’t have a massive handbag collection, but of the bags I have, a couple of them were gifts from Busy and all the rest are sadness bags. I guess a brand new bag signals a kind of hopefulness for a brighter, more organized and chic future, which is why, perhaps, James Brown sang about Papa getting one? I don’t know. I do know there’s a lot to be sad about these days and sadly, I can’t just go buy a whole bag every time I’m feeling down in the dumps and imagining that I could pull myself out of it by some brand new purse straps.

HOWEVER! I was recently looking at this little red sad bag that I bought once upon a time and thinking, “Hmmm. I want to use this sad little bag more! But I don’t wear red often. I wish I had gotten it in pink instead.” I don’t even remember if the bag came in pink, but the point is, I was sad and really wanting a pink bag. I fell down a deep online pink bag hole. Then, I happened upon this bag that was the bag of my dreams that I never even knew I wanted. The Kate Spade Racing Stripe Addy Medium Dome Cross Body in “Bungalow Multi.” It wasn’t just straight up pink, it was a very sophisticated British tan, mostly. But the aforementioned racing stripe down the middle? Red and pink, side by side, which is to me, one of the most joyful color combos on the color combo market. There were only a couple of problems. It was sold out everywhere, because I was too slow. If only my bag sadnesses were predictable and could be scheduled at the same time as brands’ bag drops, but alas! The other problem was, even if it had been in stock, the price is freaking steep! $298!!! In my day, a young New York career girl could get one of those massively popular boxy Kate Spade jobs for $98 or, she could walk her little Reebok-inspired high tops to Canal Street and get a boxy Kat Spad knockoff that everyone absolutely knew was a knockoff because it was basically a cardboard Captain Crunch package covered with flammable fabric and skinny handles hot glued on, two for $20. I’m proud and ashamed to say, at the time, I owned both. And I didn’t buy the real one for myself, it was a gift from my rich boss. I haven’t changed a bit!

Okay, so, I wasn’t getting the Kate Spade. And even if I was gonna get it, I couldn’t anymore, y’know? And I don’t really need it! I just wanted to inject a little pink into my bag game. Then I found this and it, without exaggeration, turned my day around.

JUST LOOK AT HER!!!

Hello, lover! Ugh, it sounded cooler when Carrie Bradshaw said it to those shoes. But, would you look at this thing? I spotted it and we became soulmates. It has the idea of the pink/red stripe on the very expensive sad bag I was coveting, but it was 1) NOT SOLD OUT and 2) cost a whopping 96% less than I was trying to justify spending on that other bag I do not need. So, I can use it on my red bag and it brings in that pop of pink. I can use it with my black bag. I can use it with my natural/off-white/rope colored bag! And if ever I should get a pink bag or a classy British tan bag, probably as a gift from someone who isn’t frugal AF and is probably my boss or business partner, I can use it with those too. For under fifteen bucks. You know what they say, “You gotta spend money to make money, and also sometimes you gotta spend money to not spend more money.” They say that, right?

I love it so much and there are tons of other colorways and patterns, so I foresee procuring at least a couple more in the future. (Leopard, of course. Floral, mais oui! Camo? Am I a camo person? I don’t think so, but I don’t know. I just became a decorative bag strap person. This is all new to me!)

If you’re interested in updating some of your sad bags, get it, get it, get it, get it!

Okay, the last little thing, I would argue, is a straight up necessity. I’m not a super vain person, but it does make me a little happy when people are kind enough to compliment my eyebrows because I WORK VERY HARD ON THEM! You know how they say a sculptor looks at a block of marble, sees what is inside, then starts removing everything until a work of art emerges? Same thing with my eyebrows. Except instead of being admired for centuries once they’re done, I have to do the whole thing over again every other week! And sometimes I don’t have time to to heat up the wax and torture my forehead before going somewhere. And sometimes I just don’t wanna!

Yes, I wax them. Why not tweeze them? Um, because you know how a really hairy man shaves and then he still gets a 5 o’clock shadow by the end of the day? That’s me, except with my eyebrows. I’m a confident, competent tweezer, but there’s just too much to pull. You wouldn’t ask a landscaper why she uses a riding lawnmower instead of a weed whacker on a football field, y’know? I do keep one thousand tweezers stashed around my house for any emergency brow or other stray facial hair maintenance issues that could crop up at any time! And to my family’s credit, they have mostly stopped swiping those tweezers to use as tools to do other things like pick paintbrush hairs out of wet paint. But, I have learned never to travel with an expensive pair of Tweezermans because the TSA will confiscate them, lest you try to hijack your flight with their sharp precision angled tips. (Note to self: Next time you fly, check the eyebrows of TSA agents, because they must be swimming in the free Tweezermans they confiscate.)

Enter this gadget. Is it plastic? Yes. Is it cheaply made. Also yes. Will it probably eventually stop working. Yes, and so will I, but hopefully not for a long time? And in the meantime, I can travel with it, throw it in my sad bag in case I notice an appalling neck hair in the car’s rearview and, quickly and accurately, sculpt my five-head o’clock shadow and get my brows in acceptable shape without dragging out my entire wax works and doing a whole thing. It has two heads, it’s rechargeable and I love it already.

Holy shit. Substack just warned me I was near the email limit length! What does that even mean? It’s never happened before. I wonder why the podcast is over three hours long sometimes! If you stuck with it through the end with me, thank you! I’m imagining we kept each other company on our afternoon coffee break or our evening cocktail break. Hmmmm. Nice.

The product links I provided to the products in the comment section are affiliate links. If anyone should order any of the above items, which I really do own and truly do love, I will donate whatever commission is generated to a striking WGA writer in need! So, thanks!

I also would love to hear from you what little things are making your life better right now. Please, please, please tell me!