The Strategist Haul: What the Editors Bought in February

I like to write out my tasks for each day the night before; it helps me set the tone and relieves some of the anxiety I have rolling into the next day. With this notebook, I can add a little fun to the tedium of my to-do list by rolling a D6 (the hexagonal pen is numbered) and letting fate decide what I tackle next.

It’s long been a Strategist pick, and I finally get the hype. I took this on a recent cross-country trip, and I was catching Z’s before the pilot turned off the seatbelt sign.

I had to ditch my well-loved Arizona EVAs last summer after completely wearing away the treads. They were excellent pool and beach shoes, but I could never walk super long distances in them. So for this year’s pair I wanted to find a style with a backstrap. The Milano’s fit the bill and I like the extra-large hardware buckles, which make them feel a bit dressier. I scored them during Madwell’s sale on sale for one hundred bucks. They are sold out on Madewell now, but still available in a ton of colors at plenty of other retailers.

My boyfriend and I have been on a quest to assert scent dominance in our apartment, which seems to trap every smell emanating from the other units in my building. After doing a scent tour of the little strip of fragrance stores in SoHo, we took the train to Williamsburg to smell P.F. Candle Company’s much more affordable candles. Though a part of me could still see one of Diptyque’s very elegant candles on my kitchen counter, the candles from P.F. Candle Company truly smell just as good. So far, we’ve tried three things from the brand: this lavender-scented candle, the myrtle mint diffuser, and the wild herb tonic candle. While the wild herb tonic candle smelled too much like cooking dinner to me, I think it’s safe to say I’ll be buying the diffuser and lavender candle again.

This month, my fiancé and I moved into a new apartment and were on the hunt for some nightstands. I had my heart set on these “Josephine” nightstands, which are actually from West Elm’s kids’ line, but have regular-sized dimensions. Sadly, they wouldn’t arrive until the summer — a little too long to be nightstand-less. So we went with these, which feel spiritually similar to the Josephine. They arrived about a week ago and are very nice-looking! A lovely shade of dark wood, and the drawers have a velvet lining that I wasn’t expecting.

I rarely buy the same fake tanner twice — there’s so many to test — but this one is very good. Few “express” fake tans truly work expressly, but this one works in as little as three hours (not the one hour advertised, admittedly, but none of them do that). It also survived an hour of sweating and exfoliating in a Turkish Hammam. It fades evenly. It doesn’t stink. It’s not too expensive. I’m impressed! (You can choose from four undertones: I’m pale so I use sapphire.)

We’re going on a beach vacation next month and I realized I had zero coverups. I bought this linen-cotton tunic on sale that would work outside the context of a beach, too. I was also looking for a simple sarong and came across this one. I loved all the different colors and lengths on offer from the brand, and settled on a pretty blue one that’s quite gauzy. It’s essentially a giant piece of very lightweight linen. I’ll have to look up videos on how to tie a sarong before I go.

I’ve been in desperate need of new boots and knew now would be a good time to buy them. Similar to coats, boots tend to be deeply discounted right now, which is how I was able to score a pair of Dries Van Noten boots for less than 500 bucks. I love that these have a chunky heel and an otherwise slim profile. I think they’ll look great with pants and dresses and skirts and transition nicely into spring.

I rely on a spiral grid notebook to take notes and sketch out DIYs, and I just filled my last page. I really tried to stick it out with my Staples Ampad while my coworkers got glossier and glossier Japanese planners, but I’ve given up. Japanese stationery is better. I went to Yoseka in Greenpoint to get this notebook, and it is in every way superior to the office supply stuff I was using before. The paper is smooth, the cover is crisp, and the spiral binding is snagless.

My 9-year-old finally realized how great Tintin is, and I am totally here for it.

I’m still working on ridding the kitchen of as much plastic as possible, and discovered this very handy little turner when I was buying a regular-sized one as well.

This month, the Logitech keyboard I had through my tenure as a Strategist writer (over three years now) broke down on me. I remembered setting it up was easy, so I went for another Logitech keyboard as a replacement. The mechanical keys on this one remind me of a typewriter. I couldn’t bring it to the office because the constant clack clack clack would bother every co-worker within an earshot. But the sound is oddly comforting in the silence that comes from working from home.

As I’ve mentioned in a handful of past Strategist Hauls, I am on a perpetual search to find a hair product that isn’t sticky to tame my thick, straight hair. Out of the dozens of pomades, creams, and gels I’ve tried, this Aesop hair balm comes closest to solving my problem. It lightly conditions and softens my hair while providing a slight texture, and it doesn’t feel gunky when I use more than a finger scoop. It doesn’t have the firmest hold, but that gives my hair a more natural (less gelled-down) look.

I’ve been sorting through a few packing cube options lately, including a couple cheapie Amazon brands and these Nomatic cubes. The Nomatic cubes compress my clothing better than the others and without too much elbow grease on my part. I think one of the key pieces to why they function so well is the mesh inset. At any rate, they’ve made squeezing everything into my carry-on breezy.