Happy Friday! We made it through the first full workweek of 2019!

What are y’all up to this weekend? While I hate the cold, I have grown to love the start of the year since things are a bit slower on my end socially and I really feel like I have the chance to breathe when I get home from work and on the weekends. Though I love traveling, it is really nice to be in town for an extended period of time.

Tonight, I’m getting drinks with one of my former coworkers—we were work wives for our first two years in the real world and forged a close friendship. She now lives in Boston, but is in DC this weekend, so it will be a treat to see her! Then, tomorrow morning, Monica and I are taking our first Zengo class. It’s supposed to snow in DC this weekend, so other than those two plans, I am keeping things low key. I’ve got a few blog posts to write, some social media to schedule, and want to do some chores around my apartment to prep for next week.

I’ve been in kind of a TV rut lately—most of my favorite shows are on hiatus and I blew through the Marie Condo Netflix series in less than 24 hours. I would highly recommend the latter, my favorite episode was Margie’s—she’s recently widowed and just had the warmest, strongest outlook on life despite her grief. Instead of starting a new TV show, I’ve been rewatching Friends episodes, which I’ve been loving. I’ve obviously seen them all many times over, but I haven’t sat down to watch them back-to-back-to-back in a while and it’s been so fun. I first watched Friends from start to finish when I was in the 10th grade and really stressed about school/teenage problems and thought the cast was so old. The other day in an earlier episode, Ross mentioned in an episode his age, 28, which is the same as mine now! It’s crazy that I’m now the same age as the Friends. Though it’s not groundbreaking TV, it’s been comforting to have such a familiar TV show to return home to every night as I figure out a new daily routine and navigate a lot of newness in life.

I hope you all have a great weekend—stay warm out there! x

This Week’s Links

• Five Below is full of things no one needs, yet it’s one of the most successful retailer.
• The spare button represents all the ways we fail to be good consumers.
• Katie Sturino gained 60 pounds during her divorce and turned it into a thriving business.
• As always, I loved Grace’s 2018 in Review about her blog, The Stripe.
• Here are some of the most ridiculous things on Goop’s DC travel guide.
• I loved reading my friend Diana’s 2018 highlights!
• This Lin Manuel Miranda tweet gave me all the feels.

PS—links are a bit lighter than usual this week because I haven’t had as much chance to scour the web, but I plan on bringing more links back next edition!

A Few Random Things

I wanted to share a few random things that have been on my radar lately:

+ When I was in North Carolina for Christmas, I was able to pop into Belk, which is one of my all-time favorite department stores. I wish they had a larger presence here in the Mid-Atlantic! While I was there, I found two great pairs of shoes I love for work—these The Limited strappy heeled pumps (I have the nude color), which are currently on sale for $50 and would also be perfect for weddings, and these Marc Fisher Claire Block Heel Pumps. I found the latter on Amazon for $20 cheaper here and loved them so much I bought them in nude and black. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve found my sweet spot for heels I’ll actually wear is 2.5-3″ and these fit the bill. They’re comfortable enough I can wear them to work all day without regretting it!

+ An update on the search for the perfect black skinny pants: after trying nearly every black work pant on the market, I think the two winners are the LOFT Marisa Skinny Ankle Pant (there are lots of Marissa Skinny pants, so make sure you’re opting for the ankle version!) and the Express Skinny Columnist Pant. The latter aren’t as slim as they appear online (at least on me!) so they make for a good alternative to the skinnier Marisa pants on the days I need to be a little more business formal. Both pairs are super comfortable and hold their shape all day. I still have a soft spot in my heart for the Old Navy Pixie Ankle Pants, but they haven’t had my size in stock in months and also don’t hold up well for multiple seasons, so it’s great to have some other favorites. I’m always down to try new work pants though, so drop me your favorites!

+ I bought these tortoise shell drop hoop earrings for $10 on Amazon in late December and have gotten so much wear out of them since then! They are super light weight so you can wear them all day no problem. Plus, for the price, you can’t beat them.

What’s New on A Touch of Teal

• 2018: the blog in review.
• My 2019 goals.
• My San Antonio, Texas travel guide—which is where this feature image is from!
• What’s on my nightstand—and my top five books fo 2018.
• A recap of my visit to NYC at Christmastime.