Hey guys. Well, nobody asked, but today I want to dedicate a post to my favorite t-shirt, the ATM Schoolboy slub crew neck tee.

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I was weeding out my wardrobe the other day, and while looking at my pile of clothes in the “wear a lot” category, I realized that I had acquired 6 of these t-shirts in various colors. I wear them on a near daily basis and often sleep in them as well. Long time readers will recall that I bought my first ATM slub tee about 4 years ago back when I was living in New York, in the color flax (an off white color). I wore that flax t-shirt every week since then and it’s still going strong. It looks flawless despite being machine washed and dried over 100 times!

outfits: ATM Schoolboy slub (flax, navy, cheetah print) | Uniqlo relaxed jeans (similar) | Sandals: Dr. Martens, Suzanne Rae, and COS

I used to think that all t-shirts were the same, but they really aren’t. The cut, weight and drape of the fabric are highly variable among t-shirt brands. What may seem like subtle differences between brands can make a huge difference in terms of how much I’ll want to wear one brand versus the others. For example, I can have 5 nearly identical white t-shirts in my closet from different brands, but will end up wearing the same one over and over again. I own t-shirts from James Perse, Organic by John Patrick, Everlane, Uniqlo, Madewell, and I like them, but not nearly as much as the ones from ATM.

I like wearing my t-shirts loosely tucked into my jeans, so how it drapes is important to me. The uneven cotton fibers on the ATM slubs create a loose drape that hang nicely away from the body without looking too sloppy or overwhelming. I like the irregular surface and breathability of the fabric too; it’s almost like soft linen, but you’ll never have to iron these. I’ve tried other slub type shirts, but none quite compare to ATM’s quality.

They aren’t cheap, but you definitely don’t have to pay full price. I recently found a navy colored one that was new w/ tags, on Poshmark for around $30. And occasionally you can find certain colors heavily discounted during one of their seasonal sales.

I’ve included close-up photos of my 4 year old shirt in flax and the new shirt in navy for comparison to show how well they hold up over time. There’s no pilling or noticeable wear and tear despite how delicate the fabric feels. But anyway, I highly recommend if you’re in need of a good t-shirt.

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During these pandemic days, I’ve been dressing more juvenile than usual, as you can see (lol). Besides rocking the high-water pant, socks w/ sandals look, I’ve also been wearing a touch of tie dye, bike shorts, and teddy bear scrunchies. In my neighborhood, I’ve noticed a lot of other people my age at the grocery store pretty much dressed the same. Like they got dressed while stuck in a time warp, dressed like an adult on top, but like a 90’s child on summer vacation below the waist. Covered by our masks, sunglasses, and overgrown hair, we are all anonymous now, so who cares right?

In the previous post, I mentioned that I might share a DIY project. Well, here’s a simple one that I did this week. I took a peach colored vase that I had at home and spray painted it a matte tan color. We were gifted a couple other peach colored items and things were starting to look a little too peachy/pretty/girly in the room, so I decided to tone it down with some paint.

There’s a lot of interesting new textured spray paints you can use to create faux ceramic-like surfaces (like this and this). As you may know, I like to keep a neutral color palette with my home decor but occasionally I’ll get enamored with something colorful and want to add a pop of it here and there. But restraint is needed because it’s a slippery slope into a whimsical style that I’m not going for. However, I’m more willing to let myself purchase pops of color if I know the object is something I can easily mute down with spray paint later on. I’ve always got some spray paint on hand in matte black, white, and tan for this very purpose. After painting this vase, I felt it needed something more, so I speckled it with a sharpie to give it some character, put some dried autumn plants in it and positioned it on the top of the cabinet in our dining area. I think the vase was nice before but now I think it works better with the rest of the space.

In other news, Thanksgiving is just around the corner guys. I hope you get a chance to eat something good even if it’s just you or a limited number of people this year. The HB and I are staying home; we’ll be having a dinner for two, and plan to make the most out of it. If you need recipe ideas, I’ve been enjoying this lentil mushroom stew recipe. I’ve made it a few times now. It’s really good, and happens to be vegan and gluten free. I’ve also been enjoying roasted acorn squash and Japanese yams lately, simply drizzled with olive oil and seasoned with salt and pepper. For Thanksgiving, I might make an old classic, this Jamie Oliver chicken in milk recipe. It never disappoints. Or I might try his new 5-ingredient harissa chicken recipe. I want to start cooking with harissa paste at home. I’ve only ever had it at restaurants and it always tastes so good. What will you be cooking this year? Let me know if you have any good recipes to share.