Hello friends and welcome back. We are feeling extra chatty today so we’re going to get right to this week’s lengthy link up:)
This week’s home tour does colorful and textural in the best possible way. Head over to give your eyeballs a real treat (and let’s definitely talk about how great that cobalt blue accent wall is).
From Emily: “We finally found now THREE shows that all four of us look forward to watching together (we tried many others). Magic For Humans, LegoMasters, and now Nailed it. It’s a cooking competition for amateur bakers trying to do advanced cakes/cookies etc. and it’s meant to be hilarious and it really is. Brian and the kids laugh out loud a lot (and he’s been a fan of the host Nicole Byer for years – she’s hilarious). There are so many seasons to go through and it’s keeping us entertained most nights. Our kids had an idea to do a family team competition against each other which sounded like so much fun. So we are going to divide up into teams this Saturday and try to bake and decorate something far outside of our skillset. I mean, it’s something to make the weekend feel different.”
Also From Emily: “We’ve had this one step ladder that we bring from bathroom to kitchen back to bathroom and kitchen for both handwashing and to help cook and it was driving me NUTS. We also didn’t have one in their bathroom and it’s time for them to start brushing their teeth at the sink, not us chasing them around and pinning them down in bed (lovingly). In LA I have one from Serena & Lily that I love, but I found one 1/3rd the price on Etsy that is equally as cute and comes in all black, white/wood, and all-natural wood. The stool schlep is over.”
Lastly, From Emily: “My go-to bag that is the perfect size for everything I need to carry (including my laptop) and I have talked about many times on this blog is 30% off through today only and it could be a great mother’s day gift. Parker Clay is a truly incredible company giving so much back. If you are interested here is a bit more about them and what they are trying to do.
From Sara: We all know about my love for Bloomist (and the wood chain I featured in my living room reveal), but I’m currently looking eyeing this simple, beautiful vase as a potential Mother’s Day gift. It’s coming up quick! They also offer a line of eco-faux florals (made from recycled single-use bottles, for all you black thumbs out there) and I think this one would also be a great gift.
From Mallory: “I had big plans last month to go to this fancy gala, but life happened and I quickly realized I needed my fancy dress money back. So I returned it (although now it’s on sale for 70% off) & got my Nordstroms gift card back in my pocket. I’ve been pondering what the heck I should spend this gift card on (like do I really need anything right now??) but I found something good. I was going to keep this link a secret because I felt so scummy and guilty at first, but then I read a Manrepeller article that Caitlin sent me about what people are spending money on, and this comment felt very relatable: “I’m honestly not ashamed to say I’ve been spending a considerable amount of money on clothes. I’ve been supporting local brands, enjoying the reduced prices (some brands I wouldn’t be able to afford otherwise), and most of all, it makes me happy amidst all the chaos. My therapist also said that buying stuff is an attempt at controlling the situation around you, which I agree is true. AM I JUST LONGING TO FIND CONTROL? Or did I just buy these shoes because they’re literally $100 off?? I’m genuinely not sure the motive behind it…do you guys feel like you want to buy stuff or not? What are you spending money on right now??”
From Caitlin: “Confession: before I decided to do laundry in the tub, I did the lazy thing first and actually just ordered some more comfy home clothes. I ended up grabbing this t-shirt dress in a few colors because it was only 12 dollars, there’s nothing comfier than wearing a giant shirt with no pants, and it can be repurposed for actual clothing later. BIG FAN.”
From Ryann: “I’ve been coveting this dress that Emily has had for a while and I don’t know why, now that I have absolutely nowhere to go, I felt compelled to buy it. Nevertheless, I am SO excited for it to come in the mail, and will probably wear it to work from home everyday. “
From Jess: “I want to give a second shoutout to Supergoop! and their sunscreen that Whitney recommended yesterday. She uses the “Matte” formula while I use the “Unseen” version. Both are likely wonderful but since I have only used Unseen I am going to just speak to that one:) Ok so here is the deal. I am not an avid everyday sunscreen wearer. I know it’s so dumb but unless I’m going out into the sunshine, I’m like, why?! Fast forward to 2 weeks into quarantine (with no sun exposure the whole time) and my face was kinda red and my texture not normal. I chalked it up to stress. BUT THEN, literally last week I had a revelation after seeing an instastory from @itsreallynana. I am spending a minimum of 3 more hours a week looking at a screen due to workload and Netflix consumption. Meaning I am exposing my skin to way more blue light than it’s used to AND not protecting it! So while she was promoting a different sunscreen (that I almost bought because I NEEDED it right at that moment) I decided to take a breath and look at my SuperGoop! face sunscreen that I already owned but rarely used. Guess what? It had blue-light protection too! So now I am using it every day and it’s honestly my most favorite face sunscreen I’ve ever tried. I love the gel formula because it’s so silky and there isn’t that white residue you have to wait for it to absorb. Really, it just feels awesome on my skin. So now (finally) my skin is being properly protected from my screens and I am creating a new and easy habit. Which is more necessary than ever since I’m about to start using a retinoid serum…wish me luck and I will report back once I give it a go!”
From Julie: “Lately, I have been living in these pants. No really, I am on day 4 and have no plans of switching up my wardrobe, I even slept in them the other night cause really who cares right now. They feel like sweats but are technically a pant with a whole button AND zipper, so I am still a working professional in them.”
And one small business note: Taryn Schumacher is the incredibly talented photographer behind Dusted Boulevard. She’s currently offering digital downloads of her photos in an attempt to raise $3,000 to cover the cost of a shaping helmet for her newborn son, Bray Conrad. If you’re in the market for some new art, this is a great way to score a beautiful piece ASAP while helping a lovely family 🙂
Last week Brian shared his favorite NY Times gluten-free cookie recipe, which uses almond flour in place of traditional all purpose flour. This week our baking obsessed photographer, Sara, decided to make them herself. But since flour hasn’t been the only thing she’s been finding a little more scarce at grocery stores lately, she wanted to see if she could find subs for the butter and egg the original recipe called for too. So she swapped out the butter for plant butter and the egg for mashed banana. And while she was at it, she added almond extract and chopped walnuts. The result was a toasty, nutty, vegan, and gluten free riff on a chocolate chip cookie. If you don’t have a banana on hand (as an egg replacement) you could try one of these other methods. And if you don’t have access to a plant-based butter you could try using shortening (like Crisco) or 7 1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil.
Oh and here’s a hot tip – Freeze individual cookie dough balls, then you can bake them one at a time in your oven or toaster oven for a single serving, warm cookie snack.
Finally, this week’s happy hour chit chat topic: Are you finding yourself dressing up, like REALLY dressing up to go to the grocery store just to spice up your day?? Or are sweatpants and comfy clothes winning right now? We happen to be split between both camps so there are no wrong answers. Let’s discuss. xx
Opener Image Credit: Photo by Victoria Hely-Hutchinson | Design by Emily Adams Bode | via Architectural Digest
Is there a link for the step stool? I don’t see one in the post – thanks!
I just added it 🙂
Also looking for the step stool link
it should be there now!
Thanks for including the cookie recipe. I tried clicking last week, but I couldn’t access it without an account. Making these this week with my kids!
The link to the dress from Target just took me to their home page…
I’m having the same trouble.
I texted Ryann! She’ll add the right link in a sec 🙂
I don’t “dress up” but I do try to look stylish as a courtesy to myself. I do wear jeans (a lot!) with a nice casual sweater. I live in a condo so I run into (6 ft apart) people I know all the time. If we still lived in our former house, I might be trying to sneak into the grocery store in pjs…
haha that makes total sense!
FYI re: Magic For Humans — I started to watch this with 8 year old niece & there’s parts where they reference whether Santa is real or not & I quickly had to fast forward because I didn’t want to be THAT person. I’d say it’s family friendly for older kids or if you are closely co-watching with remote in hand 🙂
Ha, yeah I’m with you. I was watching with my seven-year-old, and there was a bit where a guy had to make a choice from a bunch of hidden words. If I remember right, he chose one that said “hug.” When the magician flipped the words around, all the others said “anal”. My daughter was like “what’s anal”?!!
Yeah, it’s TV-14. I started it with my family and had to turn it off. I imagine if your kids are little, the references go right over their heads, but for my tween/teens it was a little iffy.
I’ve had a bit of a day (yup, one of THOSE) today and I couldn’t wait until I’d finished all my “duties” to come sit here in my comfy mid-season PJs and curl up in a quiet room on my own, to check out EHD!
Bliss! Such respite from the agonizing day I’ve had.
Thank you! xx
Jess … turn the blue light filter on. Your phone, laptop/PC and TV (if it’s not old like ours is) have filters built in that block the blue light, but everything still looks the same. When I did it (just by going into settings..display….and selecting to turn the filters on) It. Changed. My. Life!
So great for preparing to sleep because blue light = morning light = time to wake up! Whereas yellow light = sunset = time to wind down = light some candles at the end of the day. 😉
Thanks for the recipe! Do you all have any recs for plan t shirts that fit well? Thanks!
Mallory – First, that dress would have been amazing on you. I agree the boots are a great deal, and you’ll get a lot more use out of them than the dress. I loved the article on what we’re buying.
I’ve been trying to support a lot of small businesses, from restaurants to bookstores to small clothing makers. Because my family has more financial security than others right now, I’ve also made donations to the local food bank and museums (they are really missing out on daily and tourist revenue). So many nonprofits run on a shoestring, and I really want them to be around at the end of this. They add so much culture to our cities.
Emily – I love that step stool! I saved it in Etsy, but I don’t have a need for it, because my little one isn’t little anymore.
Sara – That vase is an awesome Mother’s Day gift. I hope my daughter has such good taste someday.
As always, a great and distracting link-up!
Nicole Byer’s podcast Why Won’t You Date Me is hilarrrrrious. This is going to sound crazy, but my favorite parts might be the absurd voices she uses for her ads. It make me laugh every time.
I would think twice about ordering from Nordstrom.com right now. Last week I called ask about an order placed in early March, and the wait time to talk to someone was 2 HOURS. I gave up, unearthed an old customer service email address from a previous order, and I am hoping that works instead (no answer yet). I’d supported them in the past because they had such good customer service, but they seem unprepared to the move to online only shopping.
Hi – the link to Ryann’s dress of Emilys doesn’t work. 🙁
What shoes were $100 off?
Believe it or not I owned several t shirt dresses over 40 years ago. I loved each and every one of them. Some were solid and some were striped and some had a little sash tie you could wear if you chose and some had collars like a polo shirt. But the most amazing thing is I don’t believe they were priced any less than the ones featured today. Back then you were required to wear panty hose to work. So slipping a t shirt dress on with bra and pantyhose and you were off to work. This was before pant suits became the norm for the female office worker. Thanks for the memories.
My kids and I also laugh out loud at “Nailed It”. I’m serious, if you need a laugh until you cry show, watch it. Hearing Nicole Byer say “Wes? Wes?” If you watch “Nailed It” you’ll get it.
I have been wearing jeans until about 4 pm, its a habit I don’t want to break. It started with walking the dog, chilly in the am so jeans keep my legs warms while we walk. It is also a great way to “check” yourself from eating too many snacks during the day.
I am also shopping more than ever but….sometimes I just load a few things into the cart and then move on. This makes me feel better even if I don’t actually buy anything! 😳. Hope I’m not alone!!!
Shaun the sheep!! We found it when our kids were near the ages of yours and it became an instant family favorite. 7 years later, we’ll still watch from time to time, just cause they’re so good and fun.