The Strategist Haul: What the Editors and Writers Bought in July

If you’re a regular reader of this column, you likely won’t be surprised to hear that I went a little wild at REI’s Fourth of July sale. I picked up three pairs of Smartwool socks, a quick-drying Mountain Hardware tank top, and a half-off ski helmet from the rarely on-sale brand POC. But I was most excited about the Aeropress travel kit I bought (even though it wasn’t on sale). It’s a little smaller than the original Aeropress, able to make eight ounces of coffee instead of ten, but the whole thing packs away into a neat travel mug and makes coffee that tastes far better than the instant coffee I usually bring on overnight camping trips.

I bought a pair of sandals from Madewell not that long ago when they were on major sale, but I tried on my boyfriend’s pair of these cushy foam Birkenstocks and decided I needed my own, especially since I threw out my very beat-up leather ones earlier in quarantine. So far, they’re very comfortable — and there’s been no break-in time, unlike traditional Birkenstocks, which I think is the biggest selling point.

I kept telling my boyfriend we would make popsicles this summer, but I had yet to get around to buying molds. I finally picked up this fun, plastic-free set. This one stood out to me because it came with a rack and a little cleaning tool for easy use, not just the molds. I also hate the feeling of wood popsicle sticks when eating a popsicle, so I liked that this one came with metal ones instead.

In an effort to free space on subways for those who really need to ride them, my husband and I, like many New Yorkers, began cycling from point A to point B in earnest over the past couple of months. Our first few weeks of bike commuting were done without helmets, but when we started to take longer trips between boroughs, we realized we really needed to invest in some. In between doctor’s appointments, my (mask-wearing) husband popped into REI’s Soho location where a sales associate recommended this helmet as ideal for casual riders like us. He convinced us by assuring it is on the cheaper side for a quality helmet, and that it has the MIPS technology to better protect our heads — which is a crucial safety feature that experts have told the Strategist is worth paying for.

I’m always looking to add more decorative pieces to our home without spending too much money, and this vase, which I love for its organic and off-kilter shape (it’s fashioned after a handmade version by the artist), can stand on its own, with or without flowers. Right now, it’s sitting on our dining table with a bouquet of dried lavender, but before that, it was sitting pretty on our dresser, empty. Grab it while it’s still on sale.

For those who are interested in getting through this current disaster by reading about other disasters, my good friend Andy Horowitz’s book, Katrina: A History, came out earlier this month, at which point I ordered it! The whole idea is that Katrina was not just a tragic singular event that happened in 2005, but the result of centuries of terrible — often intentional — political and business decisions that had been made over the course of the hundred years prior. It should be noted that while it’s an academic book (Andy’s a professor at Tulane), Andy is a super lively and engaging writer, so a snoozefest this is not!

In other news, I ordered my 22-month-old this hilarious hunk of plastic that he is completely delighted by. He can spend upward of ten minutes at a time (which in toddler years is the equivalent of a decade) dropping coins into his “piggy,” each one making a very satisfying clunk.

As of this month, I am the proud (plant) parent to an anthurium, and like any parent, I want her to be full of macronutrients, which is why I bought some fertilizer. After perusing anthurium help forums, and cross-referencing my findings with our article about the best fertilizer, I chose this blossom-boosting option, which has high phosphorus to promote healthy flowering.

I’ve been living in my black Birkenstocks throughout all of quarantine. They’re comfortable enough to wear around the house, but smart and stylish enough to throw on when I leave. Because of how often I wore mine, I recently decided to invest in a second white pair. I haven’t taken them off since they arrived. They pair perfectly with just about everything in my closet — dresses, overalls, sweats, you name it! If you happen to bump into me at the grocery store or on my daily walk around my neighborhood, you can pretty much count on me wearing these.

Need Supply has always been one of my favorite places to shop online. I spent a long time on their site this month trying to get in one last shopping hurrah before they close for good. I bought a lot of great stuff including a sexy jumpsuit and a prairie dress with tons of buttons. But the best of my purchases there by far has been this pair of pearl drop earrings from Farrow. They’re both casual enough for quarantine and dressy enough for pretending like I’m going out when I’m actually just ordering out.

I also went blueberry picking this month, which may have actually just been an excuse to buy this beautiful ceramic berry strainer. I love that it has an attached lower lip to catch water as it strains out so you can rinse your fruit and plop it down on the counter without creating a puddle.

These are the lightest, most breathable, moisture-wicking tees I’ve ever owned. Which, for that price, makes them extra special. I found them browsing idly in Target, and they’ve been a godsend in the Brooklyn heat — so much that I now look upon all the other tees in my home as “thick” tees, when they are … very normal, in reality. I also love that despite their lightness, they’re still structured enough not to be unflattering. (So many thinner tees just expose your belly and chest if you aren’t ripped.) One warning: You really need to look out for “X Temp” and “Cool Comfort” on the label. Other Hanes shirts I’ve bought are far scratchier and sweatier.

After buying a bookshelf and shelves to house my (always growing) collection of books, I noticed one of the shelves had started sagging in the middle thanks to me stacking book after book (after book) vertically on top. In an attempt to lighten the load (and replace the random stool currently sitting in my bedroom), I purchased this side table from Stockholm-based, Swedish brand Hem, which comes in lots of great colors and fulfills my main need: storage. I like that it has wheels and can be twisted and turned at will, so I can choose whether I want to display my collection or just have a cool-looking side table. I opted for the rust-red color from the brand’s Winter Edit, but orange and blue were a (very) close second choice.

I also leaned heavy into loungewear, scooping up pretty much every new arrival that Aerie had to offer. My most notable purchase was definitely this bodysuit, which might just be the softest piece of loungewear I own. Aside from the feel, I was most impressed with the length. At five-foot-six-and-a-half-inches, things either bunch at the knee or do a weird thing around the ankle, and thankfully, this did neither. I also liked the strappy open back, which feels like an unexpected touch.

After using just my laptop and an old Dell keyboard and mouse I found in my parents’ garage for the last few months, I’ve been looking for a good budget monitor to make my WFH setup a little less slapdash and painful. Best Buy had this 24-inch HP on sale for the Fourth of July, and it’s changed the way I feel about working from home. It’s only 1080p, not 4K, and there are no speakers, so it’s not for gamers, but it’s been great for me. (The few sounds I actually need, like the incessant ding of Slack notifications, play from my closed laptop speakers.) There’s barely any bezel — just big, beautiful screen.

My younger sister works at Wegmans, and she’s been struggling to find a mask that’s both comfortable enough to wear all day and sealed well enough at the top that her glasses don’t fog up. That search continues, but in the meantime, I stumbled across this Nashville small business in a friend’s Instagram stories that offers a perfect solution: a microfiber cloth with a special coating that you rub on your glasses to keep them from fogging up. It’s simple, and, based on her experience, supereffective. They’re currently sold out, but orders placed now should be filled August 15.

Every morning I wake up and think, I hope Bryan Washington has a good day today. I just love him, and I just finished Lot, his debut collection of short stories, after reading some of his work in The New Yorker. Lot is like a novel split up into bite-size pieces: the characters recur and certain themes — queerness, masculinity, and race, to name a few — repeat throughout. But it’s the writing that makes Lot so special; Washington’s quick-witted, tell-it-like-it-is prose so carefully and quietly devastates. It’ll make you want to lie down, put your feet up on the wall, stare at the ceiling fan for a while — that kind of thing. I’m excited to read his forthcoming novel, Memorial, next.

I first discovered these L.L. Bean jeans at my local consignment store. As someone who swore off jeans after owning many, many different pairs, all of which have torn within several months of purchasing, I was pleasantly surprised to find these thrifted jeans have held up. They’re incredibly soft, comfortable, and have this lovely broken-in feeling. After they made it well beyond the one-year mark, I bought another (new) pair from L.L. Bean.