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The Link Up: Mallory’s Comfy Clogs, Jess’ Favorite New Pants, And What’s Hopefully The Future Of The Restaurant Industry
Like a dear friend you can always depend on, we are here with The Link Up. We hope you had as good of a week as possible and did something just for you. If you didn’t… then let’s get on that this next week, ya? Even just a walk with some music playing can do wonders. Ok, now let’s link!
This week’s home tour has our names written all of it. We clearly didn’t design it, Meghan Eisenberg and Jeff Troyer were the creative geniuses, but boy does it have everything we love – floral sofas, vintage chairs, cool art, the perfect dose of eclectic English granny, the green bathroom of our dreams, etc, etc. Just go take a look. We promise it’s stunning.
From Emily: Portland’s new best restaurant (Cafe Ollie) is also co-founded by one of my closest friends (talking about you Dirks) and is employee-owned. But most importantly it’s INCREDIBLY DELICIOUS. Ryan co-founded a restaurant with a few other highly respected Portland restaurant folks during the Pandemic with the super optimistic goal of having it be the first employee owned restaurant in Portland (and maybe even in America). Having worked myself in restaurants/bars from 15 – 25 years old, I was so curious and impressed by this business model. Basically, ALL employees will receive 50% of the profits, allocated by how much they work and how long they’ve been there. And yes this of course extends to the back of the house – line cooks, dishwashers, bussers – EVERYONE. Obviously, the goal is to democratize the restaurant industry more and pay all restaurant workers a living wage (they have a generous hourly, not tips – just a 20% service fee to all tables). So yes, I feel very good supporting it. In fact, last week I supported it TWICE because it was so good. My recommendations are the beef tartare (crazy, crazy good), the Rotini pasta (rolled up like a cinnamon roll), the spring greens/fennel salad (Sara said it was the best salad she’s ever had), and oh my lord the chocolate cake was INSANE. I’ve never really freaked out over a cake before, but we all couldn’t believe how good it was. Also, the meatballs were divine. We have yet to try the pizza, but it’s what they are known for. Basically, it was so good that I brought Brian back 3 nights later and we tried everything else. It was all delicious, great wine and cocktails and of course wonderful service. Y’all, head to Cafe Ollie if you are in Portland. Good people making straight-up DELICIOUS food. xx
Former EHD alum, Ariel Fulmer designed The Try Guy’s studio and we love it!! It’s full of color, pattern, but very cool and professional. Congrats, Ariel!
From Mallory: I strained my calf this week (booo) and basically can’t straighten my leg if my foot is flat on the ground so that means I literally have to wear heels when I go anywhere because it’s the only type of shoe that doesn’t make it hurt when I walk (it’s cool to get injured and have to wear heels lol). I’ve been resorting to my comfy clogs and I realized I missed wearing them SO much. They have a rubber sole so they don’t slip around when you walk (like a lot of clogs do) and they have a foamy lining so walking is actually comfortable. PLUS they have an ankle strap, so if you’re klutzy (or just injured) like me, this is an AWESOME shoe…I’ve had them for years and have worn them every day this week without being uncomfortable!!
From Ryann: When I work out, I want to sweat A LOT. I want to feel like I am getting all the toxins out of my body, but I don’t sweat that easily (I just turn bright red :)). For weeks, I was seeing waist trimmers all over my Tik Tok feed and since I started going to the gym for the first time ever a month ago, I decided to try one out. I love this one so much and wear it every time I work out and sometimes just around the house while I am doing chores. As soon as you put it on you can feel it heating up and when you take it off, you are soaking wet. It also acts as a back support and helps with my posture while running.
From Jess: I did a little bit of shopping last weekend and wanted to share with you what I got because I am PUMPED about them. This mesh patterned turtleneck top is exactly what I’ve been looking for. I’m a real simple, neutral top kinda gal, and while that’s great, I want to mix in some more fun. I will warn you that it’s a little more see-through than it looks on the model (which makes it a fun secret sexy top) and I have the “RED” one. It doesn’t have any red in it so not sure why that’s the name. Actually, if you read my design inspo post this week, the fact that I bought this top is real on the nose. Then I got these wide-leg cognac-colored pants and I don’t want to take them off. They are chic, super lightweight, and soft. I did need to get them hemmed but I couldn’t love them more. Oh, and when you go to the site they are less shiny in person.
From Caitlin: Airbnb waived all their fees in Ukraine, so people have been booking AirBnbs in Kyiv (and around the country) with a little note that they’re not coming and just wanted to support and those funds have been going straight into the pockets of Ukrainian folks! Pretty easy way to help.
That’s it for today. Have a great rest of your day and see you tomorrow with a fun farmhouse update!
Opening Image Credits: Design by Meghan Eisenberg and Jeff Troyer | Photo by Haris Kenjar | via Architectural Digest
The note on Ukraine makes zero sense.
JB – What makes zero sense? I did this. I booked a few small AirBnBs (I did rooms in homes to find owner-run AirBnBs) in an effort to get some money in the hands of normal Ukraines and to show support to some individuals. (In addition, to other charities that I gave to) It was quite empowering.
Not to be too cute about it, but your comment makes zero sense. Perhaps if you explained what it is you don’t understand, someone could help you?
When booking an AirBnB in the Ukraine, you may want to click around the listing and get info on the host to make sure it isn’t a corporate entity/conglomerate with properties all over the world – this may help get money to those who need it most.
I wah-really haven’t been feelin’ the house tours lately, since they seem sooo either 70s or 90s flashbacks. Not fresh or new, just new to people who weren’t ‘there’ at the time, maybe?
THIS home tour speaks to me – classic, so many unique pieces, old meets new, texture, woooooooood, and so many little touches and details, not clinical at all.
And that little lamp in the kitchen? Well! I wanna live there!!!???
The restaurant model is fabulous!!! Yaaay!
In Australia, we don’t generally tip. The wages are much higher here as a minimum wage and workers get penalty rates for working over x hours or on holidays/Sundays, etc. which means they earn even more per hour.
Personally, I think the extremely low wages are disgusting and to expect people to rely on tips as part of their wage is awful.
Love this budiness model! ?
Re: AirBnB in Ukraine… I’ve also read that you should only book in big cities bc boots-on-the-ground charities need the units in less urban areas to put actual Ukrainians in and when well-meaning Westerners book up all the rooms it makes it harder to find lodging.
That’s awesome that your friend opened an employee owned restaurant! But it’s not the first in the country, or in Portland. :) I worked in one in Oakland, CA over 15 years ago. My favorite in Portland currently is Mirisata, vegan Sri Lankan food! Sooo good.
Yes to Mirisata! So delicious, and I love their business model as well. Excited to try Cafe Olli in the future!
Definitely not the first in the country. I can think of a number of them in Minneapolis alone, some of which have been employee-owned for decades. It sounds like a great place, though!
Yep! I believe Cheeseboard, Arizmendi, Reem’s, Ritual, Bette’s Oceanview Diner, Dimond Slice — are all employee-owned restaurants in East Bay, among others! Plus grocery stores like Rainbow in SF. Something of a tradition here :). Glad to see the model continuing to gain momentum!
Similar to the Airbnb idea, I have been buying digital items on Etsy from Ukrainian sellers. In doing so, I have discovered multiple gifted artists and cool little shops that probably wouldn’t have been in my search results otherwise.
I was already looking for some art prints, Frame TV art, and planner pages, so I just opted to buy those items from artists in Ukraine. It’s simple to do – you filter by location and enter “Ukraine” in the custom field.
There are a LOT of newly created stores selling digital items, so there are a few ways you can check to be sure you are supporting an established, legitimate business. Easy spots to look are the dates of previous reviews, the established date of the store, and the listing date of the oldest items for sale.
I have been writing brief notes to the seller in the comments field at checkout, sometimes just a “??”, sometimes more. Since then, I have received inbox messages from many of them describing how proceeds from the sales have helped their family and how much the support from around the world has encouraged them.
I love this idea – thanks so much for sharing. I’m off to Etsy now!
Amy, this is terrific! Thank you ?
Time and time again this blog talks about wanting to be inclusive and not promote diet culture and then drops links to products like sauna blankets and waist trainers. Ryann, if you want to sweat more doing the same exercises, why not just throw on a tank top or extra insulating layer underneath? Waist trimmers/trainers don’t help your posture – they ENFORCE good posture through compression when you are wearing them, therefore weakening the muscles that actually help you maintain proper posture at all other times. You’re much better off doing core and stability exercises, and if you need back support for something like weightlifting there are products designed specifically for that purpose.
Agree. And “sweating out toxins”? Really?
The link seems pretty calculated to generate engagement. It’s too out of step with the professed values of this blog. What a drag. :-(
Sincere question – this is not an attack. What/where is the science and evidence behind a waist trainer? How are these different than girdles, wrapping yourself in saran or wearing plastic suits to sweat off body weight like in olden times?
There isn’t any. I’m a regular on several discussion forums and blogs for middle aged people interested in getting into fitness. This topic comes up all. the. time. And the eventual answer is the same every time: there is NO SCIENCE to back any of it up, there is a lot of science (new and old) about how systems and feedback pathways in the human body work that directly contradicts the health claims of waist training, the only studies supporting waist training are those that are not peer reviewed & not published in journals with good reps (usually published in self published rags that accept anything or in obvious shill “journals”) & the studies were funded by the alleged doctor making the claim or some business entity that profits off selling waist trainers (that the alleged doctor may or may not partially own). It’s a fantasy that many of us really victim to bc we want health and weight loss to be easier than it is and sometimes we feel overwhelmed and discouraged. Then along comes someone who says they have a new thing or a rediscovered thing that will help us and we don’t need to feel discouraged, they… Read more »
I’m very disheartened to see a recommendation for a waist trainer here. As other commenters noted, there is no evidence behind these, they can actually weaken your core muscles, and frankly it just seems gross and out of place to have this kind of recommendation. Please reconsider.
That was the best home tour I’ve seen in a LONG time. I just loved the whole feel of the space.
Thanks for the note on Ukraine. I also really loved another commenter’s suggestion to support Ukrainian makers on Etsy.
Thank you Caitlin for your support
Cheeseboard coop in Berkeley is employee owned ??