The Link Up
The Link Up: The Affordable Sunglasses Emily Buys On Repeat, Caitlin’s Fascinating Article, And Some BEAUTIFUL Ceramics
Happy Sunday, everyone. In case anyone is curious, our wonderful Arlyn has safely made it to North Carolina! In case you missed her post about the whys and hows, head here. It’s also been a BIG move, so that’s why she needed a week off:) So with that said, let’s end this week with our links.
This week’s house tour is one that has lived many lives! It was a grocery store, a café, and a soft drink shop. You have to see how it was restored into an incredibly cool home.
From Emily: Last weekend, we had a bunch of people come over for Easter, in the bright sun, in 77 degrees in Portland, so people were unprepared. I had to bust out all my backup affordable sunglasses for my friends, followed by the usual “Whoa, I love these sunglasses” comments. I recently stocked up on my Goodr shades (Amelia Earhart style for me) because they are so lightweight, have this slight soft texture that stays on your face really easily (even while really active), and they do a great job at what they are meant to do – block the sun. I obviously think they look good, too, or I wouldn’t buy them on repeat. They are $30 – $40, so buying 5 for me, Elliot, Charlie, and guests felt like a solid pre-summer stock-up purchase. Brian gets this version. It’s honestly so hard to go back from these, y’all. They are just so good.
From Mallory: When I moved into my boyfriend’s place a few months ago, our closet only had a rod for hanging clothes, and there was A TON of wasted space above and below the rod, so neither of our clothes didn’t fit. Soooo, smash cut to our first project in the place: our closet renovation! We’re working with CA closets to put in some gorgeous cabinetry so we can fit everything in there, and I’m SO EXCITED! We’re getting pretty close to finishing it up (can’t wait to share more), and we just finished installing the cabinetry (yay!) Since we’re now finally utilizing our vertical space, I’ve been on the hunt for a pretty step stool that can live on the closet floor. Turns out the pretty step stool market is VERY bleak – until I found this one by Pierce & Ward. It is HANDS DOWN the best on the market right now!! I love the little details, and the walnut is so pretty! I’m so obsessed with their whole line at West Elm, it’s just SO GOOD.
From Caitlin: I’ve been following Sam Altman, the founder of OpenAI, for about 13 years now – he was the startup guru back when I was launching my own little business, and I devoured his advice. More than a decade later, I have shifted into devouring the insane, behind-the-scenes reporting that details the chaos inside his company. Enter: Ronan Farrow’s newest New Yorker piece, in which Sam’s former friends and colleagues call him a sociopath who will stop at nothing until his ends are achieved. I’ve read a few books about him – this one was good – but nothing compares to the deeply-reported drama and name-calling in this piece. I remember being struck by the way one of his mentors had described him years and years ago – “you could parachute [Sam] into an island full of cannibals and come back in 5 years and he’d be the king” – and it’s fascinating to see how those personality traits have evolved over time as Sam leads one of the biggest businesses in the world. I mean…is this who you’d trust with the future of technology and America’s GDP growth? It’s a fascinating read that’ll leave your head spinning.
From Marlee: My boyfriend and I are heading to Tokyo this week, and I’m beyond excited (open to recs if anyone has any:) also going to Osaka + Kyoto!). I sleep pretty horribly when I travel, so ahead of our trip, I’ve been making sure I’m stocked on all my sleep essentials. These melatonin gummies are awesome, don’t taste weird, and I find that I don’t feel too groggy in the morning – I like that it’s a pretty low does so you can take more if you need, but you don’t have to. I also can’t live without this sleep mask – the way that the band is super wide, instead of a thin, elastic strap, is incredibly comfortable, doesn’t mess up my hair as much, and stays on better in the night. Also, I cannot live without my hatch for white noise, but I’m trying to pack light, so I’ll be set with this 12-hour brown noise podcast on Spotify that’s my go-to when I travel.
From Gretchen: It’s the year of the fire horse–if you weren’t already aware–meaning this year is due to bring us new, intense energy, swift change, and independence. I’ve been enjoying adding little horse motifs in my home to remind me to lean into the energy. One of my favorite local artists (and friend of EHD), Nicole, designed these beautiful fire horse mugs. As soon as they dropped, I just had to have one! It’s so sweet, unique, and beautifully handmade. I love sipping my coffee out of it or just staring at it on the shelf. Check out her other ceramic art, too! Some really stunning pieces.
From Jess: My favorite, favorite white tank top is from the brand Dissh. They don’t sell that exact one anymore, but since the weather has been heating up, I took a little stroll through their site and found this halter tank (in white) and this wide strap tank (in black). No surprise, I also love them. They are just those kinds of tops that you can truly dress up or down because the quality is great, the cuts are perfect, and yet they are so simple. I will say that they do scoop a little low (not crazy, but enough), so for ease, I will likely be wearing my Cakes as my “bra”.
Thank you for spending some time with us. See you all tomorrow. xx
Opening Image Credits: Design by Jess Bunge | Styled by Emily Bowser | Photo by Sara Ligorria-Tramp | From: Makeover Takeover: Jess’ Colorful Yet Calm Bedroom Reveal
Have fun in Japan, Marlee! As a fellow traveler with sleep struggles, I clicked the sleep mask link but it sent me to the gummies. Can you add the link to the sleep mask?
Marlee, I wonder if you would like these headphones that I’m devoted to. they’re called cozy phones, I just get them on amazon, but they’re a wired eye mask with flat head phones so you can sleep with them and they don’t hurt your ears (well….much). I listen to history podcasts on YouTube! there’s a whole YouTube ecosystem of “boring history for sleep.”
Yeah, came here to say same — link not correct. I think if we start at the Goodr website, we can find them.
Always love Caitlin’s thoughtful contributions
Agree!
Yikes, pushing the likes of someone as depraved as Sam Altman and Open AI. NO THANK YOU. “Suchir Balaji, an Indian-origin American AI researcher, was found dead in his San Francisco apartment in November 2024, just weeks after he accused OpenAI of unlawfully using copyrighted material from the internet—including books, articles, and other online content—to train its large language models such as ChatGPT.”
Definitely a murder: Tucker Carlson grills Sam Altman over whistleblower’s deathStory by India Today News Desk
Did you even read the article!!? It’s hardly a glowing endorsement!
From Caitlin: “I mean…is this who you’d trust with the future of technology and America’s GDP growth? It’s a fascinating read that’ll leave your head spinning.”
She is not “pushing” anything. It is possible to read and learn about one of the most powerful men in the world without endorsing his behavior.
I am not sure if I am doing something wrong, but love the Goodr sunnies and it seems only the frames are $30 but with the sunglass lenses, they are over $200? Bummed because i was hoping to get them!
The link is wrong – that is for Rx lenses. Go to the Goodr site and you can find plenty of $30 sunglasses.
The link to a sleep mask leads to gummies.
The Goodr link isn’t to Goodr; the sunglasses you link to for Brian’s and Emily’s favorite are over $200 on Lensabl, not Goodr.
It’s actually the link to the same goodr glasses but the prescription lens version (still not right for most people but they are the right glasses!
It may be the prescription one. The non-prescription one on Lensabl (see attached) is $207. The Goodr one is $40.
In Tokyo, I LOVED the teamLab museums. Really immersive and fun experiences.
Also if you’re not too far from the Asakusa area and have jet lag anyway, it was worth getting up early to place reservations to later get breakfast of the souffle pancakes from Benitsuru pancakes. I thought it might just be social media hype but they really tasted so good. The eggs Benedict one!
If you want to buy Japanese sunscreens and don’t need to use a mineral sunscreen, my favorite of the ones I brought back is the Skin Aqua Serum UV Sunscreen (might also be called the Skin Aqua Hyaluronic Serum UV Sunscreen) which is in a blue ombre bottle. No fragrance, no alcohol, no white cast, truly just feels like putting on lotion.
Re: Gretchen’s recommendation, I’m totally supportive of folks finding meaning and connection in other’s cultural practices. But when it comes to dominant culture making money off of marginalized folks’ cultural practices, it tips from appreciation into appropriation for me. I was hoping (maybe expecting?) that the linked artist would be of Asian descent.
I recognize that diversity isn’t always represented in a name or an image, so maybe there’s a connection there that isn’t represented on her site. But if not, if Gretchen is finding inspiration in the symbolism of this year’s Lunar New Year, I would encourage her to support artists of Asian descent by linking here instead.
Long time blog reader, and there were incredible discussions and shifts that happened on the site in 2020/2021, including open conversations about appropriation in art and design. Hope this is still true for the team!
Em- Loved the sunglass rec, but they show up over $200 in my cart as sunglasses, so what am I not doing right? I’d love the $30-40 price you posted!
Please, please hire a copy editor. Love the blog, but all the wrong links, typos, and grammatical errors make it hard to read sometimes. I can’t be the only one.
I would love that job!
A non melatonin sleep aid that also helps with those anxious moments and can based on quantity be taken in daytime: Calm gummies! They have powder too but we like the gummies.