Happy Friday!
Let the record show: I am thirty years old, a married woman, and a licensed member of the Georgia Bar — and I still called my dad to fly in and hold my hand at the dealership!
Cars have never been my obsession. Honestly? I will take a beautiful lamp or a really good shoe over horsepower every single time. But after thirteen years of loving my cloth-interiored, CD-ROM-playing Honda, the writing was on the wall. We started looking — and found our way to Jim Ellis Volkswagen Chamblee, where the experience was so genuinely lovely that I can’t recommend them enough!
The result: a 2026 Volkswagen Atlas, and me, absolutely vibrating with new-car energy and nerves on the drive home! I am wildly spoiled and I know it. I also know I will be accustomed to a life featuring these bells & whistles in about a week and a half.
Curbs, you have been warned!
Until our next correspondence,
xx Lauren
P.S. I promise to always keep The Lauren Letter free as my little exercise of trying to make the world a bit more beautiful. If, in return, you could considering giving this post a “like” or share with a friend, it would just mean the world to me.
Wearing | Donni The Silk Taffeta Cargo Pant
Yes, they are criminally expensive. And yes, I bought them anyway, because they’re that freaking good. I will wear these on repeat all summer, and I am already eyeing the brown gingham for that tricky late-summer-into-fall transitional window. Some purchases are an investment in joy. This is one of them!
P.S. A lot of sizes are out of stock, but add your name to the waitlist — my size became available within 48 hours!
Eating | Whole Foods Family Meal
Did you know in Whole Foods’ prepared foods section, you can snag a family dinner featuring a protein, vegetable, and starch for under $30? Roughly four servings are included, and all you do is pop in the oven at around 375 for 25-35 minutes. So easy, so delicious, and cheaper than Uber Eats!
Reading | What Can Pope Leo Teach Us About Being Good Managers of People?
I’ll admit this one veers inside baseball for my day job — but Jeff Nowak is one of the preeminent voices on FMLA and ADA, and this piece surprised me. Whether you manage a team, work within one, or simply interact with humans on a regular basis (so: everyone), there are genuinely lovely takeaways here.
Watching | Chloe Rose Litras’s Bicester Village Vlog
For my English readers: you are so deeply lucky. Bicester Village — a designer outlet in Oxfordshire carrying Barbour, Aquazzura, Céline, Mulberry, Self-Portrait, Ralph Lauren, Max Mara, Zimmermann, Manolo Blahnik, and so many more, all at a discount — is the kind of thing that I did not know existed outside of a dream. Until I can get myself across the pond, I will be living vicariously through Chloe Rose’s shopping vlogs from there!
Listening | Danny Pellegrino — The Valley Recaps
If you have been watching the last few weeks of The Valley absolutely incensed at the way Danny treats his literal beauty pageant queen of a wife, you need Danny Pellegrino’s recaps in your life immediately. A rallying cry for sanity. A comfort. Danny P’s summary of Mia’s situation last week — “five under 5’5” ” — had me in tears.
Trying | Mister Car Wash Membership
Classic new car behavior. Sixteen dollars for the first month, thirty-two after that, for unlimited washes — and there is a location right on my way home from work! My goal is once a week, minimum. The Atlas will be pristine. I will become a car person yet!!!
Champagne | Ballard Designs Beauclaire Planter
No one does outdoor design like Ballard Designs — and I was genuinely, pleasantly surprised by the sticker price on this one.
Frites | Target × Studio McGee Outdoor Trellis Planter Box
Sixty dollars. An injection of francophile taste into any outdoor space without a single apology to your budget.
TIBL*
*Things I’ve Bought Lately
Autumn Arissa Designs
For the home project that wants to feel lived-in and elevated all at once — Autumn is your person. She gets vendors in quickly, brings real vision to the work, and is, frankly, sunshine to collaborate with. If you are sitting on a project you keep putting off, this is your sign! We are working on a runner install this summer once she returns from maternity leave, and I am so excited!
I loooove my atlas!!