07.27.2025 // New & Noteworthy
A NYC recap, books and podcasts I am loving and the regular round-up of new arrivals and sale finds.
Happy Sunday!
I am popping up in your inbox to share this week’s New & Noteworthy post.
Below, you will find a quick recap of my trip to New York City last week, along with the books and podcast episodes I have enjoyed lately. As always, I have included my favorite product launches and sales to browse.
Thanks for being here! xo Nan
A WEEK IN NEW YORK
I spent last week back in New York City, which was a fun change of pace after a few months in Maine. It was great to check in on my apartment renovation and just generally have different appointments (hair color + dermatologist) and also do some fun shopping or really, I just did a lot of ‘window shopping’/browsing. There really is nothing like shopping in New York, I just love it.
In terms of what I wore, I unknowingly packed a limited color palette of white, black, blue, and grey. The muted colors made mixing and matching everything pretty effortless. I kept my accessories simple by wearing the same jewelry, sunglasses, and bag every day (which is what I often do on a trip to keep things simple and streamlined.) Shop all my outfits from the week here.
The MVP items of the week were: a breezy black dress (promo: NANP15), white jeans, a classic white button-down, cream sneakers, my favorite lightweight cardigan, and these black sunglasses.
READING, WATCHING & LISTENING
I feel like I started the summer in a bit of a reading slump, but I am finally getting back in my groove and recently finished two books.
First, I finished The Tell: A Memoir by Amy Griffin.
I follow Amy on Instagram, so I was excited to read her memoir. The story was different from what I expected, but it was an excellent and quick read.
I think my biggest take away is that you truly never know what someone else is going through in their life — they might look like they have the perfect life (which is sort of what I fleeting though of Amy via following her on Instagram) but in reality (like so many of us) she has a lot going on behind the scenes.
*trigger warning - the book covers some heavy topics
I also read Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry.
It took me a second to get into this, but I ended up enjoying it; it was a thoughtful love story with some twists you did not see coming that kept me engaged and interested right until the end.
On the topic of books, the interior designer and entrepreneur Ariel Okin first book, The Happy Home: Layered Interiors for Joyful Living just launched for sale.
Pre-orders can make a huge difference for the success of the book — I just ordered myself a copy!
I know personally and can report that she is oh so kind and just as lovely as you would expect. <3
On the podcast front:
We have a new episode out on our podcast, Gems & Friends, that I host with my friend .
This week, for episode 11, we interviewed everyone’s favorite Florida influencer, Ali Sisto Daniel.
As a Real Housewives gal, I was excited to see that Kathy Hilton was a guest on Call Your Daddy. It was a fun listen, but I must say, I wish they had delved a little deeper in the conversation; it felt pretty surface-level.
It was fun to listen to my friend interview Anna Fletcher on her podcast.
Anna is Ellie’s co-founder in her new venture, Pepper Books, a romance book subscription business.
TV: I am in the middle of watching We Were Liars on Amazon Prime. It has been good so far, worth watching if you are looking for something.
I was laughing to myself because as I looked up the show on Amazon, I realized I had previously read the book the show is based on…but candidly, I can’t for the life of me remember what happened in the book.
I seem to have this issue with books - I love them but as soon as the book is over, the whole storyline sort of evaporates from my memory..!
NEW LAUNCHES
Alice Walk launched some new clothing designs that look very classic and chic.
Biscuit launched a new assortment of travel items in a fun blue and red floral pattern. You all already know I love their monogrammed medium vanity bags, but I am thinking maybe I need to try out the large size next!
Did you see that Dieux (one of my favorite skincare brands) launched smaller, travel sizes (25 ml) of their popular moisturizers.
Instant Angel is a great nourishing moisturizer for most skin types while Air Angel is their gel moisturizer that is better for oily or acne prone skin.
I would say I have pretty ‘normal’ skin and I typically use Air Angel in the warmer/summer months and then switch to Instant Angel when my skin gets more dry in the colder winter months.
I was browsing the Dorsey website the other day and this beautiful blue beaded necklace stopped me in my tracks.
If you're looking for more beaded necklaces, I've shared a few other favorite resources here.
I am not sure I am 100% ready to shop for the fall season just yet..but a range of items are certainly starting to catch my eye…! I am saving everything to this Autumn Shopping List.
SALES TO SHOP
RMS Beauty is celebrating its 16th anniversary with a Buy More, Save More promotion, today only! Save 15-25% off your order, depending on your order value.
This could be a great time to stock up on a range of their products — a few of my favorites are:
The Lip Oil (I love the shade Karolina)
Powder Blush (I own shade Pomegranate Fizz)
Their cream eyeshadow (I own shade Crystal Slipper)
Alex Mill’s summer sale is going strong and the promo EXTRA15 will save you 15% on the sale styles.
I am tempted to order this Linen Wrap Dress.
Gap is having a sale where most items site-wide are 50% off!
This could be a great time to grab my favorite crewneck sweatshirt, the $24 sale price is hard to beat. (See me wearing it here.)
While you are at it, you might want to order this chic-looking Brown Barn Jacket to wear this fall. (I ordered it yesterday in size XL, Tall.)
Jojo Mommy (a kids and baby retailer) is having a summer sale. I often buy things from them for baby gifts or items for my niece and nephew.
Pamela Munson is having a sale on select products - get 25% off those products by using code:SUMMER25 at checkout.
ON INSTAGRAM
Find all the items I mentioned and linked to in Instagram Stories over the past week here.
The Alex Mill sale is so good! I got the blue linen jumpsuit.