Happiness and a Top 10 Memorial Day Sale edit

Reflections on happiness and gratitude | A curated list of Memorial Day sales

In this newsletter:

The city schools are out for the summer. The sun is shining. Pollen coats every outside surface. Only one more week of worrying about packed lunches and school pick-up and drop-off. I always thought parents hated the summer time, but I could not have been more wrong. Summer time is a break for us, too. No homework fights. No last-minute trips to the store to pick up something for a school project.¹ No more packing lunches or worrying about forgetting to pick up your kid.²

I cannot believe Rebecca is turning ten next week. I am sad, butI also LOVE middle childhood. I never hear anyone talk about how great it is. Parenting feels lighter. I know it is fleeting, but I was meant for this stage. Real talks and a sense of humor. Independence. The mom guilt has halved. I love being around her.

I do not have any Memorial Day plans this year. I have been gradually sifting through things I buy and never use or that I inherited when we cleaned out my dad’s house three years ago and posting on Facebook Marketplace. I get such a high when things get claimed and picked up, thinking “ I AM THE BEST SALESWOMAN THERE EVER WAS!” My brother is always there to burst my bubble - “Sarah, people will always pick up things that are free.” At least I have the fact that sparkling water was one of my best sellers last month. Water. I sold water. I AM THE BEST SALESWOMAN THERE EVER WAS.

Thank You

As I sift through Memorial Day sales and post my favorite things, I wanted to take the time to thank you for your support. I was a guest on a podcast this week and I kept talking about how happy I am. While every job has it’s pitfalls ³ , I still cannot believe I get to do this. I am so happy that I don’t talk about how happy I am because I don’t want to brag or make people feel envious. I am so happy that I am nervous saying it aloud will make it so something will happen to steal it away. My entire life I have walked the fine line of double s’s - happiness, gratefulness and sadness - just to ward off the jinxes lurking in the shadow, waiting to rob me of all the happiness I feel. When will the other shoe drop? I almost asked if anyone else thinks like this and realized that I just described the definition of anxiety.

I continuously have to work on embracing the happiness and basking in the joy. When the inevitable sad moments come, you’ll need them to pull you out. So thank you. Thank you for subscribing. Commenting. Buying through our links. DMs. Likes. Sharing. My joy that helps bring me out of the dark. I appreciate you!

Memorial Day Sales

There.are.so.many.sales. I know it can get overwhelming. I am overwhelmed. I thought I would do a top ten of favorites, including a Target Top Ten.

Top Ten Sales

1. Everlane. 25% off site-wide. In full transparency, we have a sponsored post coming out with them next week. However, it is not the reason they deserve the number 1 spot. It is because they rarely have site-wide sales. And it is one of Missy’s favorite destinations for work clothes.

   1. These linen pants have been a top seller for us since last year. They are great because Missy can wear to work and conferences without overheating in the summertime, but still look polished and professional. And then she wore to Italy for a chic vacation look that was easy to travel with.

   2. She also loves the shortie shorts - high waisted and the PERFECT white shorts.

2. I love the Fenty hand mask. It is 25% off and free shipping when you sign in. There are a lot of things on sale right now, but this excites me because it brings me happiness every.day. Apply at night. Wake up with the softest hands.

3. Naturium - 20% off with code MEMDAY2024.. I love to moisturize my skin now. It makes me feel more confident and it has helped decreased my keratosis pilaris and made my knees look less saggy. My holy grail is this retinol lotion (value size). It is a game changer for my skin and has helped my knees look more firm. I also love the Bio Lipid Moisturizer. Neither leave your skin feeling greasy. Lastly, I love their peptide serum. A great deal for a peptide packed serum that hydrates and is easy to use.

4. Prequel - 15% off sitewide. I do not know if I have ever seen Prequel do a site-wide sale. It is already such an affordable skincare brand to begin with. I posted my favorites here, but the Vitamin C serum has been a top seller this week. It is 1/8th the cost of Skinceuticals and comes with a pump!

5. Our favorite long-barreled curling iron is on sale. I bought this because it is what my hair stylist used and I loved how it actually made it easier to curl my hair because of the longer barrel. I think my curls last longer with it, too. I have the 1” for beach waves and 1.5” for volume and texture, Missy has the 1.25"

6. Anthropologie - Extra 40% off sale. It says final sale, but I have returned final sale things to Anthropologie several times without issue. I went through the sale and curated some of my favorite finds, and then those all sold out. I recommend going through and filtering by your size and item type. Even home stuff is an extra 40% off!

7. Athleta Summer Sale - A lot of Athleta’s summer staples are on sale.

   1. I love these shorts. They are so soft and polished looking, but still feel like gym shorts. Perfect for travel.

   2. These linen pants Missy has posted like four years ago. They are soft, heavy enough so they do not bunch in weird places, and breathable!

   3. I love the Elation line and the V Neck dress has been on my list - I bought it in green since it is on sale!

      Ailsa Emmel
      influenced me on this one!

   4. After posting how much I loved this Spanx dress, especially as a travel dress, a follower said I had to try this dress. She said she wore it on a flight to Thailand and it felt like wearing a nightgown. It is the perfect dress to pack because it can be dressed up or down, and does not take up a lot of room in luggage.

   5. I love this white shirt I posted this week. It is really on sale and it does not look like they make it anymore. I love the wider hem at the bottom, though.

8. J. Crew - I feel like J. Crew always has a sale lately, but who cares - my favorite gauze shirt is on sale! I love this shirt so much because it is so versatile. It is soft, airy, and even though it is gauze, it never looks sloppy. Throw it on over an exercise dress, pair with jeans, or shorts. You are good to go! I also love:

   1. This pointelle top. Sold out but back and 40% off. | This bathing suit is half off. So is this one, another favorite. | I had to buy this shirt. | I bought this dress for 4th of July. |

9. Madewell - 25% off summer sale. I love these Madewell sandals. They have a big toe holder, which really helps your toes feel more comfortable and not slide around as much. I wish this dress was available in plus. If you have an outdoor event, these shoes would be perfect.

Target Top Ten

Target has some of their best sales on their own brands during the holidays - Memorial Day is no exception. Like 30% off some of my favorite clothes, and sheets. Here are the top ten recommendations:

1. I bought these workout shorts last year and love them. They are thin, but also have a liner and just so comfortable. I use them for more than working out, too. Especially great in the summer as I do not get as sweaty in them. I need to buy green this year after

   Becca Freeman
   posted them.

2. The best sheets for the price and not being microfiber. I have had a pair of these sheets since 2009. They only get softer with each wash.

3. This sun dress Britt is wearing. She also influenced me to buy this striped button up shirt after wearing it in NYC.

4. I love these workout tees. I wear them when working out, walking outside or doing yard work. James likes them too, and they come in big. They absorb sweat and feel more cooling than a cotton tee. I also like the tanks.

5. Shorts are 30% off. And I love Target denim shorts. These look like Agolde Parker shorts (size down). I also love these for more of a dress short, especially in white - size down.

6. A follower sent these sandals in this week and said they reminded her of her more expensive Tory Burch sandals. She sent in feet pics and I sent her a Target gift card, so technically she got paid for feet pics. ⁴

7. This American Flag sweater is so cute for summer. I saw in the store and it is not itchy and lightweight! Very Ralph Lauren-esque.

8. I bought this bag for a concert recently and it was perfect - and under $20.

9. The OG favorite white tee is $5.

10. Not on sale, but I bought these longer striped post it notes this week, along with these cute to-do list post-its for my planner. And they make me very happy.

Time to log off and let my weekend begin!

XX Sarah

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1. In Rebecca’s defense, she NEVER procrastinates. And gets so anxious because I do. She will tell me something she needs and I am like “ let’s worry about it later - we have a week.” And then all of the sudden it has been a week and we have to hurry to Target before it closes. All while Rebecca is saying “ I told you we should have gotten it last week.” We kind of have a Lorelei/Rory dynamic.

2. I only forgot to pick her up twice this year! Luckily, I was at my office both times when it happened so I was only 5 minutes away. BUT, I will never be forgiven nor trusted again.

3. Sometimes my boss isn’t strict enough, sometimes she is too strict, she overanalyzes everything I do, and she is always afraid our ideas will run out.

4. I try to reimburse my followers who send in recommendations and pictures - or if something is a great deal! It really helps me and I want to ensure that they get to share in some of the profits for it!