July Founder’s Journal: In The Thick Of Summer
Hi All! Jackie here with another Founder’s Journal for July. It is hot-hot-hot as I’m sure most of you are feeling. My trick of this month is to NEVER leave the house without a hat and sunnies. After losing 2 of my very expensive Celine glasses, I’ve opted for these Warby Parkers and thankfully haven’t lost them since!
Good Habit Progress // Besides a light running aka walking, I’ve been doing pilates 2x or 3x a week and feel a huge difference in my body. I feel like after I had the baby, my core was a hot mess and working through the exercise on the reformer has given me some sort of core strength again. It is an expensive habit, but there’s no accountability like a class fee to make sure I get my butt out the door at 6:30. I totally understand why the girlies are hooked on it. My studio is about 10 reformers, all of which are pretty much filled up every class. It’s amazing because the girls will come to class in full color coordinated lewks and jewelry stacks which I just adore.
Recent Launches // Greenwich Hath Arrived! Super excited to have launched this collection recently. There are so many great pieces from the 10-piece collection, most notably our updated Martha and Ferry sets, the new super popular Brooke and Michelle black golf set and of course my personal favorite the extremely versatile Hutton short. We had too much fun making this mini fashion film, which was inspired by Thomas Crowne affair and To Catch a Thief, both incredibly fashionable movies. Ever since I was a kid I have been obsessed with art heists, and so it felt fun putting together the story line for this. It’s only 2 or 3 minutes you’ll have to take a peek to solve the mystery! We shot at the Villa Amodei in Somis and rented a fabbbbbulous vintage Rolls Royce Corniche, which my assistant Juliann fell asleep in (it’s a convertible, mind you) which is just one of those hilarious things that happen on set - I’ll share some images below. Overall I’m super happy with how the collection came out. In other news, we’ve recently launched on ShopMy! If you’re a creator and would like to To join our affiliate program, please sign up here using the invitation code RECREATIONALHABITS-2024 and you can bypass the waitlist. It’s great for small businesses because the platform aggregates a lot of data which is useful when we decide who we can gift/collaborate with.
Recent Indulgences // As mentioned earlier, Greenwich is out and my favorite piece from the collection is the Hutton short, which is just so comfortable and totally goes with everything that you already have in your closet. I did a styling TOK for it to show how to wear it in 3 ways, but also here is a very filtered picture of me wearing the short. Speaking of bottoms, and maybe this is too much, but I am really loving the Smoothez collection from American Eagle. I’ve never been an Aerie girly, I think I missed that whole trend by a few years, but my step daughter loves going in. I picked up a few undies and bralettess when I popped in one day with her because who has time to shop for these things in person and actually am really loving them. I don’t know how to or if I want to describe it, but they are really great and you should definitely try them for yourself. Everything else in my recent purchases tend to lean toward Remingon’s (now 16 months) development - a practice potty, bikes, wagons, books, and busy boards.
On another note, who is now obsessed with women’s rugby? My team and I have been loving Ilona Maher’s Tiktok content but watching her absolutely crush the matches has been so fun. This year’s Olympic content in general has been really unparalleled.
Living Good // For our anniversary, we spent a few nights in Laguna Beach. It was beautiful but the highlight of the entire time was an incredible dinner at a restaurant called The Drake, which feels like a tiny supper club where it is inevitable you’ll speak to the tables next to you. I wore a dress from Commense (yes, I was a victim of multiple ads) and was pretty disappointed in the dress because it was so big and I had to wait 2 months for it. I don’t want to bad mouth others but I really would never shop there again. Anyways it was one of those genuinely beautiful nights that I didn’t get any photos except for these blurry ones! Back in LA, I stumbled upon Lou’s Bakery which has hands down the best almond croissant’s I’ve ever tasted in my entire life, including the year I spent abroad in Paris. It was a total chance encounter popping into this shop, but I’m so glad we did. Also, the entire neighborhood of Toluca Lake feels like a small village. For New York City readers who are thinking about moving to the West coast, I think this area feels like the right amount of little walkable shops and balanced living vibes.
Before I hop, I wanted to highlight a recent charity that I learned about. Oyebog Tennis Academy (OTA), a non-profit organization founded in 1999 by Joseph Oyebog, a former ATP pro, and Cameroon National Champion, to bring the benefits of tennis to children in his native Cameroon, Africa. Since it’s founding, OTA has introduced over 20,000 children to tennis, giving them not only tennis skills, but life skills as well. These include values such as teamwork, determination, perseverance, kindness and generosity. OTA has also given them self-confidence, and the chance at a better life, and 22 of these players have obtained college scholarships or coaching positions in the U.S. and Europe. Bringing club sports to new communities is something that is a pillar of the Recreational Habit’s brand, so I’m super excited to highlight charities like these that have a similar mission.
