At Savvy Sleepers, we love a cozy night in, a good binge-watch, and of course, a little beauty sleep. So when Meghan Markle’s new reality show 'With Love, Meghan' dropped, we decided to grab our satin pillowcases, popcorn, Slumber Party Sour Lips and dive in. While the internet has been buzzing with mixed (and many very negative) reviews, our founder, Dale Janée, watched it with her four daughters and had some unexpected little critics of our own.
Despite some of the show's eye-roll-inducing moments, there were parts that we genuinely liked. The visuals? Stunning. The aesthetics? Impeccable. And while some of the long talking scenes made our daughters reach for the remote, we were all intrigued when Meghan demonstrated how to make Sun Tea and a dreamy lemon cake. Of course, it’s convenient to have a sprawling garden and a perfectly staged cottage kitchen to whip up such creations, but hey, it was fun to watch. Here's our review of Season 1...
Heads up before you watch! Meghan also loves to sprinkle in dad jokes—and speaking of sprinkles, she is obsessed with edible flower sprinkles on anything from parfaits to cookies to homemade donuts.
There’s also many overly 'perfect' scenes. Like one with a friend where they make focaccia bread—it looks so good! But while they wait for the dough to rise, they decide to go for a hike, then come back, change, and continue baking. This episode in particular felt forced and overly staged.
And while her raspberry preserves looked amazing (we love a homemade raspberry pie), even her berries were perfect. It’s just so tough to relate because so many don’t have a huge garden in the backyard or a massive Montecito flower market down the street. Of course there are farmer's markets and Central Market's in North Texas, and we loved our annual visit to Texas Tulips in Pilot Point, TX, as seen above. It is very popular!
That said, the show is so curated, it almost feels like a spoof with phrases like 'surprise and delight' and a scene repackaging Trader Joe's peanut butter pretzels but not even giving TJ's credit—but it’s not. The perfectly manicured moments, the casual-yet-staged storytelling, and the flawless handwritten labels make it all feel a little too polished. Yet, we're fans of making house guests feel extra special with bottled water, Savvy Sleepers satin pillowcases on the pillows, tea or coffee in the guest room, and of course scribbling down the wifi code, ha!
The real entertainment of the night, however, came from the commentary of Dale’s daughters, who had their own takes on Meghan’s seemingly effortless lifestyle.
-
“Why can’t you create a rainbow fruit board like that?” (Cue unexpected mommy shaming.)
- 'Wow, look at her parfaits!' another said. (Dale always thought her fresh berries, Oui yogurt and Bird Bakery granola was fancy enough.) Apparently not anymore.“I’ll start making one like this!” Dale said.
-
“No! That’s just copying her.” said one daughter.
-
“Well, she’s just copying Nana,” said the 5-year-old. In many ways, Meghan does invoke memories of afternoons with a grandma who has the luxury of time to create fresh baked goods and special treats for her grandchildren.
In the Mindy Kaling episode, Meghan shows how to create a kids' party—but doesn’t actually have any kids come. As Dale's daughter pointed out in the “Gift Bag How-To” segment, “Four gift bags? That’s four people. That’s not a party.”
But she does show how to make a balloon arch. 'I just learned how to do these myself. After living in Dallas, Texas, I can confirm that balloon arches are a party staple!' says Dale. They’re really intimidating when you see them in photos, but actually not that hard, just a little time-consuming. But with a podcast or Meghan’s new show on in the background, the time will fly by. Dale created the one above in less than 20 minutes for the Blo Blow Dry Bar Conference in New Orleans.
Overall, the show is beautiful, but it left us wondering—how real is it? While Meghan undoubtedly has an eye for aesthetics, sometimes we crave a little more authenticity, a little less perfection, and maybe just a smidge of relatability.
Although 'surprise and delight' at parties is always nice. Like a baby shower we attended last year with adorable vases of flowers and mini rosé champagne bottles as party favors. Speaking of baby showers, our satin pillowcases have been a hit as gifts and party favors, if you're interested in a custom order, please email contact@savvysleepers.com.
As we closed out episode 8 with Harry popping by her brunch, she made delicious-looking crepes with fresh raspberry preserves inside. She offers this insight: sometimes crepes taste amazing with some butter and a little powdered sugar.
“Everyone knows that,” said the oldest daughter. True—maybe everyone knows a lot of what Meghan is showing in this new show, but we found it relaxing and nice to watch. Most importantly, we were inspired to create some pretty dishes and crudité boards. As Dale's 5-year-old, who isn’t a huge veggie lover, went and created her own platter (above) with her kid knife set and sat down to eat it with her sisters. For that alone, we give the show an A+.
But hey, it still made for a fun Slumber Party night. And in case you’re wondering, yes, we’ll be trying that lemon cake recipe—because, curated or not, cake is cake. And we actually love making berry pies every summer! More on that later.
Have you watched Meghan Markle’s new show? Let us know what you think! Cheers!
