Happy Sunday everyone! What a year this week has been. Hope everyone has been settling into 2024 nicely and is ready to cozy up to some links. Let’s just jump right in…
This week’s house tour is the highly anticipated reveal of Sarah Sherman Samuel’s showhouse! It’s always so cool to see what a designer will do when there are zero creative constraints as well as get to show off their own products. Go check out the amazing job Sarah and her team did.
From Emily: The game we played all holiday break (and often after dinner) is Blank Slate and it’s SO FUN (for us and the kids). Blank Slate is a word association game that is perfect for our kids’ level (we played with some slightly younger kids too). They are 8 and 10 BTW. You are given a word with a blank after it (think “School”) and then everyone has to fill in the blank with a word they think others will think of, but can’t be so obvious that literally everyone thinks of it (it’s a point system). So it might be “school BUS” or “school TEACHER”. It’s easy, and fun, and I like that the kids and grownups are honestly on the same level (it’s not about being extra clever, and no trivia is involved). Speaking of, I have “trivia performance game anxiety” and I’m SURE there is a term for it. It’s an actual pathology for me – I have now had two full-blown panic attacks (like had to leave parties crying, couldn’t breathe, and making such a massive scene) after playing Celebrity – TWICE (10 years apart, I thought I had gotten over it and I really didn’t). I have a really slow recall memory when I’m put on the spot but I almost know a lot and it’s made these games trigger massive anxiety. I clearly just opt out now, but if you have ever felt this way know that you are not alone (it’s especially bad around people I barely know who might follow the blog and think I know a lot or can perform really well or something). If you know the word for this type of performance anxiety (specific to games) please let me know. But Blank Slate does NOT give me anxiety – it’s easy and fun.
From Mallory: Woah baby this facewash is THE BEST. It smells SO GOOD and is so gentle on my skin…plus it doesn’t make my eyes burn when I’m taking off eye makeup!! If you’re in the market for a new facewash I actually could not recommend it enough
Lulu and Georgia x Élan Byrd? just came out with another collection and it’s fantastic! Check out some of our favorites below:
Tempo Flatweave Jute Rug | Saguaro Table Lamp | Mosaic Pillow
The different broken stripe patterns are so good and we love the shape of that lamp.
From Arlyn: New year, new…dental hygiene routine? It took me years to hop aboard the electric toothbrush train, and I finally did in 2020 with the Oral-B Smart 3000 Toothbrush. The reason I’m only just now recommending it, nearly four years later is that I recently returned from a three-week trip over the holidays and didn’t have to bring the charging platform for my toothbrush. It stayed charged that whole time with brushing 2-3 (sometimes 4) times a day! That was my biggest thing before I switched over: not wanting to lug yet another charging cable with me everywhere I went, but nope…not necessary. Besides the month-long-plus battery life (iPhone could NEVER!), I like how effective it is but also simple. It has Bluetooth connectivity but like…what on earth for? Never used it, don’t think I’m missing anything. It just brushes really well (no cavities in years), has a red light that flashes if you’re brushing too hard, and pulses after the first and second minute to signal to you it’s time to switch mouth areas (I normally start on the bottom, wait for the buzz, move to the top, wait for the buzz, then finish up). Oh, and it’s great that all you have to replace is the small brush rather than the whole thing so yay for less waste.
From Caitlin: I grabbed this $64 classic striped half-zip pullover two weeks ago and I LOVE IT. I was in need of some nicer sweaters for an upcoming cold-weather trip (y’all will never believe where Brenda and I are headed on our annual mother-daughter trek!) and I love that this one is simultaneously cozy enough to keep me warm, light enough to layer, and special enough to dress up a plain pair of jeans. (The sleeves have a little extra volume towards the cuff and it’s a really nice detail!) I grabbed my normal size and had no qualms with the fit. Highly recommend if you’re also a fan of an affordable basic!
Also from Caitlin: Does anyone have any antique, vintage, or thrift store recommendations in Buenos Aires? Have two layovers in the city over the next few weeks and I’d love to check out a few spots around Palermo or Ezeiza!
From Gretchen: I’m slowly getting myself out of boxes and settled into my new space, but figuring out the best storage solutions for everything has been tricky. First of all, I am shocked at the amount of crap I managed to squeeze into my last place. I had that apartment’s organization pretty dialed, so it was easy to squirrel things away. In this place, I have plenty of storage, but it’s funky. My hall closet has built-in shelving on one side, but the shelves are so enormous that they end up creating tons of wasted space the minute I set anything down. At first, I was making it work with shelf risers I stole from my kitchen org pile, but they were clunky and didn’t span the width of the shelf how I wanted. I considered building a divider shelf across it, but I DO NOT need a project right now. So instead, I found these awesome temporary shelves that do exactly what I need them to and (bonus!) require no holes in the wall! They were ridiculously easy to install (>5 min), hold a decent amount of weight (2 pairs of shoes, in my case) and have totally doubled my shelving capacity! I can’t yet speak to the adhesive situation and whether or not it will come off easily—but that’s a problem for Future Gretch.
From Jess: The time finally came that I needed prescription sunglasses because apparently, I have some sun damage on my eyeballs (likely from my morning walks with zero sun protection because I don’t want to put on contacts with my normal sunglasses so I just wear my regular glasses to be able to see as I’m pretty nearsighted). Anyway, I got these from Warby Parker and really love them! Normally I’m a classic aviator gal but when I put these on I felt cool. I love that they are wider too which I think looks better with my face shape. They are on the trendy side but not so trendy that I won’t love them in a couple of years. 10/10 for Warby Parker once again.
Thanks for spending time with and see y’all Tuesday for an exciting update! xx
Opening Image Credits: Design by Emily Henderson and ARCIFORM | Photo by Kaitlin Green | From: Our Primary Bedroom Reveal! She’s Blue (Shocking), Calm, And Ready For A Full Show And Tell