Lifestyle
The Link Up: Em’s Favorite Screen Time Hack, Gretch’s Awesome Meauring Tool, And Two Pairs Of Beloved Jeans
Happy Sunday and happy March, everyone. We hope everyone on the East Coast is ok with the blizzard that hit. Caitlin was giving us all the updates from Delaware! Over here on the West Coast, things are chugging along, and lots of fun behind-the-scenes plans are brewing. Sorry for the tease, and here are this week’s links…
This week’s house tour is the new kitchen and laundry nook of THE Dabito. His whimsical creativity and use of color are always out of this world, and this compact kitchen is a perfect example. That wavy stone backsplash is incredible!
From Emily: Well, in an attempt to reduce my social media addiction (that I thought I didn’t have), I recently decided to Brick my phone. Over the last six months, I’ve found myself reaching for my phone so much more than before, and mostly at night (so not for work, just to scroll). Our kids don’t have phones, and we are waiting as long as possible, but we know that if we don’t start to model better behavior RIGHT NOW, we’ll have no leverage to ask them to put theirs away in a few years. So this device is GENIUS and so easy. It’s a small square gadget that I hide in my bedroom (somewhere kind of annoying to go find). I set mine up so that I can’t go on Instagram from 6 pm til 7 am, so essentially only during work hours. If you try to go on social during those hours, it will tell you that you are bricked, and you simply can not use it. If you need to override it, you have to walk into the room where you’ve hidden your brick and tap and hold it. It’s such an obstacle, a barrier that has totally worked for me. Of course I had a 7:20 am blood drawing appointment at a lab the other day with a long wait and I was not home so I couldn’t unbrick my phone and that was annoying, but otherwise it’s such a relief to not reach for it while I’m with my family every night (and no more right before bed or first thing in the morning scrolling). You can set different schedules for different reasons. I tend to post more stories on the weekends, so I’ll need to have it then, but during the week we are more scheduled, so for the most part Its ok that I’m offline. Zero affiliation or sponsorship, just a fantastic product.
From Caitlin: I ran to submit my link this week because I have tried a hot sauce so good, I consumed 10 full ounces within 48 hours. (That’s like a full Coke can worth of hot sauce, as a reference. IT’S A LOT.) Without further ado, may I introduce you to Yellowbird’s Blue Agave Sriracha? It’s just like the classic stuff, but made with agave nectar and tangerine (!!!), both of which give it a fabulous, light, and bright flavor on top of a really nice heat. It made my day-old fried rice taste like a million bucks (I didn’t even notice the soggy peas and carrots!), it was fantastic with my morning eggs, divine on pizza, and even great on a hot dog. I grabbed it on a whim at my local Wegmans, and I cannot believe I’ve gone my whole life without it – IT’S THAT GOOD. If you love all the classic hot sauces – Huy Fong’s Sriracha, Valentina, Cholula, Tabasco, Tapatio, Chili Crunch, Gochujang, et. al. – this will be a welcome addition to your pantry. It’s selling for a song now on Thrive Market, so I will be stocking up appropriately. But now, a question for the audience: have any other spice lovers out there tried out any of Yellowbird’s other sauces? (Specifically eyeing the Serrano sauce – the reviews praising the “vinegary base” are speaking my love language!!)
This week’s Instagram highlights in case you missed them:
From Mallory: These are my new favorite jeans!! I love a comfy, mid-rise jean and was looking for a pair that I could be comfortable enough to wear while working from home, but would also be cute enough for going out. THESE ARE IT! I want to get them in every color.
From Marlee: Where are my music lovers at!!!?? Over the holidays, I played this game with my family that I haven’t been able to stop thinking about – you know, when the box says something like “for ages 13 to 101” ??? THIS is exactly that – myself, my 16-year-old sister, my parents, AND my grandparents all played and had a blast. It’s called “Hitster,” and it’s a music trivia game… but not in a “you need to have jeopardy-level knowledge of music facts” to play. OK, I KNOW – listening to game rules is annoying, but I promise it’s worth it, so stick with me: Essentially, you split into teams (we tried boys VS girls and then Gen-Z vs. Gen-X/Boomers), and take turns pulling a card and scanning the QR code on it, which starts playing the beginning of a song, the other side says the year the song came out. Let’s play: Say you have Careless Whisper (1985) and Livin’ on a Prayer (1987) on the board… would you place Sweet Child o’ Mine before, between, or after those 2 songs??? Answer: after! (1988). You basically start creating this big music timeline, and the goal is to get X amount of correct guesses down on your timeline before the other team. Get it? The songs span from the 1950s all the way to the 2020s, across literally every genre. It’s SO fun and such a good way to bring generations together – it’s also just such a fun way to be reminded of songs you haven’t heard in years. Younger kids would not enjoy it – I would say it’s probably best for high school age and up, although middle schoolers might be able to come in handy for the current pop music. And if you’re thinking “ugh, I don’t want to play a game where I have to use my phone…” it’s so fun, you won’t care. Highly highly recommend!
From Gretchen: This week, I picked up a new tool that has really blown my mind with how fast, simple, and helpful it is. This being a design blog, I’m going to assume most of you can relate to the pain in the butt that is measuring a room. Pulling out the metal tape measure usually requires a friend to help stretch it, mark, and record the length, always hoping it’s “close enough”. And then there’s trying to avoid a snapping injury on the recoil. Ouch! But with this new laser measuring tool, I don’t have to worry about any of that! With just two clicks of a button, it can record the distance from point A to point B without the need for any moving at all. You just hold it against a wall, click, and it shines a laser to the opposite wall, measuring the distance between. Then that measurement stays on screen (up to three at a time) so you can actually remember it for your notes AND move on or compare it to the next measurement without losing the previous. SO easy! It seems to be pretty darn accurate from my tests and has made drawing up floorplans so much easier. There are a bunch on the market, some that do more for less, but I like how simple and straightforward the buttons are on this one. Plus, it measures up to 65ft! What metal tape measure do you know that can do that?!
From Arlyn: I am not someone who waits in line for the new water bottle release. I’ve had the same aqua-colored 32 oz Hydroflask for the last 8 years and had no intention of getting anything new because…why? But the straw mouthpiece attachment I had recently broke; not to mention it has become too dinged up from falling out of the tiny side pocket of my kids’ diaper bag (she doesn’t wear diapers, but parents everywhere know you still have to carry SO MUCH). So when my husband came home from a work event with a brand new Owala, I claimed it as my own immediately. I really enjoy the dual-purpose mouthpiece that lets you suck up water from the internal straw or pour out a larger amount into your mouth. Look, I know I’m about a million years late on my recommendation here, but I love it. HOWEVER, it’s not perfect. I miss the sturdy and easily accessible handle of my Hydroflask, and it still doesn’t fit great in my car’s cup holder. So I went on a virtual hunt to see if there was a solution I could bring to anyone reading this, and I FOUND IT! Enter: The Owala FreeSip Sway, which solves every problem I just mentioned. It has a much better handle, and the bottom is more tapered, but it still has the ingenious mouthpiece of the original. If you’re on the market for a new water bottle, definitely check this one out!
From Jess: As I was trying to think of a link for this week, I really just want to recommend my Moussy Jeans. I first heard of them from Em years ago, but they were and really still are, out of my “jean price range.” However, over Thanksgiving week, I went to a shop that had used Moussy Jeans, and I found one for $100 that I want to wear every day of my life because I feel so cool in them, ha. They are similar to these. Actually, The RealReal has A LOT of their jeans for a fraction of their retail price (like under $100 when they are originally around $400). So there’s another jean I’m rethrowing into the ring in case you are on the hunt:) But for more, did you see Em’s spring jean try-on? I want those Mother jeans too!
Thanks for hanging with us today, and see y’all tomorrow. xx
Opening Image Credits: Photo by Tessa Neustadt | From: The Finished Patio
Subscribe
0 Comments
Oldest
