Lifestyle
The Link Up: Em’s Book Rec By A Friend, Gretch’s Art Supply Must-Haves, And A 1-Hour Long YouTube Home Tour Worth Watching
Happy Sunday, everyone. After a pretty magical week in Palm Springs, we were grateful to also get a three-day holiday weekend right after. But we are back to work, getting together a lot of fun things for all of you, and once again, we just hope you know how much you all mean to us. Ok, let’s get to these links!
This week’s house tour is of a project by Victoria Sass of Prospect Refuge Studio! You might recognize that name from Em’s last book, The New Design Rules. She used color and texture in such a fun yet sophisticated way. You just have to see it.
From Emily: My friend Justina Blakeney has the most incredible career and is someone I admire so much. From books, to product lines, to art gallery exhibits, to content creation, not to mention design – she is prolific and so talented. She recently wrote and launched a book, called Grow, with her mom, who is a psychologist who is focused on personal growth, with daily exercises that I just ordered. Now, I haven’t read it yet, but I think there is a strong chance that Justina is into a lot of the same spiritual growth stuff that I am. And once you get into “it,” it’s pretty universal – there aren’t like different warring sects – it’s mostly just all about alignment and love and acceptance:) I watch her personal stories and social media, and I’m like, “Oh girl, me, too”. So I’m excited to get it. But I’m also just so proud and think it’s so cool that she collaborated with her mom, whom she has always talked about with such admiration. Just a way to continue to do cool stuff, Justina. It’s clear you expand and bend and move through the world toward your passion. It’s very inspiring to watch.
Also From Emily: In case you aren’t reading Brian and my personal substack, I’m going to plug it a bit here (we are having so much fun). Today’s post is about how we get out of the “roommate rut” (every married person knows this), where we both weigh in on what has worked for us. Last week Brian wrote all about his feelings about driving a minivan (which he picked out BTW) and how it might affect his masculinity (or not!). And the week before was my tell-all on the 6 very specific reasons why Mormons are so good at social media and content creation and have been since the beginning (and why there is such a massive public media moment right now). Next week we plan on a week in our life – who does what, when, how, and why (and how it’s going). It’s personal, fun, and easy to read (and Brian is such a friendly male voice that I personally think gives a lot of insight into men of his generation – young Gen X).
This week’s Instagram standouts!
From Arlyn: My daughter’s birthday is this week, and as I get pinged by all the parents of the children attending her party about what to bring as a gift, I’m reminded to share one of my favorite resources for finding the best educational toys for any baby to late-elementary school-aged kid: Lakeshore Learning! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve given a gift from say, Target or Amazon (back when I was shopping there), and the parent asked me for a gift receipt because they already had that item. I’ve never had this happen with Lakeshore because all of their products are proprietary to them, and it’s kind of a secret weapon. They have the BEST paint brushes and no-spill paint cups, my daughter is obsessed with the marble run we got for her this Christmas from there, and this bingo has been a big hit recently. If you have young kids in your life, bookmark it ASAP for the next time you need a gift!
From Jess: Somehow, I got on some kind of “chateau/palace” restoration algorithm, and I couldn’t be happier. Last weekend, I watched this hour-long, 6-month update of British designer Jordan Kamellri and his partner’s Italian palace restoration. His voice is calm and soothing, and the property is unreal. Where they get the funds, I don’t know, but I am in for the ride and am excited to follow along.
Also From Jess: I know I’ve talked about her and her products multiple times, but my love of Shani Darden has yet to wane after discovering her during lockdown. She’s an esthetician who trained with a dermatologist, started her spa with the help of friend, Jessica Alba, and now has a truly amazing skincare line that I never plan on not using. She’s big on simple (yet effective) routines, and her award-winning Retinol Reform is incredible. She’s a great follow and gives a ton of really awesome advice.
From Marlee: I’ve been in a hoodie drought for a couple of years – just rocking a black one and a heather grey one. So I just got one of these hoodies in navy, and they’re sooo good. Incredibly soft and the most perfect fit/weight – not to mention they come in a ton of colors. I’m 5’8” and got a men’s small. I also snagged this crew neck in a really nice pink color. Anyone who knows me knows I’m obsessed with color season analysis, and I think this is the perfect shade for a soft summer…:)
From Gretchen: On our recent team retreat, I was able to participate in what I would describe as my ultimate dream day: an anything-goes arts n’ crafts extravaganza with some of my favorite people on Earth, bottomless Aperol Spritzes with a heavy dose of glorious desert sun. We were let loose with a “kindergarten art cart” full of every creative supply you could imagine, and came to an experimental artistic experience I won’t soon forget. For many, many years, my favorite artistic medium to use has been chalk pastel pencils, and I was lucky to find a pile of them on this day. Occasionally, I work with the chunky stick versions (on sale here), but I prefer the comfort-in-hand and sharpenable abilities of a pencil. Soft/chalk pastels like this are just so fun to blend and build, and I seriously prefer them to oil pastels because of their smooth interaction with water. But on this day, I was pleasantly surprised to see just how well they also interact with acrylic ink! I hadn’t done much with acrylic ink in the past, but now I’m looking to expand my arts and crafts cabinet to include these badboys (even better that they’re BOGO 50% off at Michaels right now). Playing around with the inks, dropping their vibrant colors into paint strokes of plain water on paper, then going back through the color puddles with a variety of colored pastel pencils, created some seriously interesting marks. I was enamored. I left this retreat (and particularly this day) feeling SO inspired to get back into mark making and was beyond excited to expand my list of favorite mediums.
From Mallory: I received a few of these scrunchies as a gift a few months ago, and I LOVE THEM. They’re so silky and smooth on your hair while still having enough support to keep your hair up and tight all day. They definitely help to not break your hair – especially when you’re taking your hair down from an updo. If you’re in need of some good hair ties or need to find a gift for someone in your life, snag a pack of these!
From Caitlin: This is the best piece I’ve read in recent memory on AI, the new faces of Silicon Valley, the rise of “agency” as the lone profitable skill, and the tech industry’s conviction that we’re about to see a splintering into something they’re calling the “permanent underclass.” I haven’t read many things that capture the bleak, soulless, reality-detached, megalomaniacal nature of recent startup founders – their distance from the rest of humanity genuinely frightens me (and after you read some of their takes, they might scare you too!). It’s additionally terrifying that we’ve predicated the entire American economy on the success of these smarmy weirdos whose sole goal is not to have a thriving business, but is to have the biggest bag of money when the bubble bursts. This quote on a founder in the piece (from a man who masquerades as Donald Boat, no less) sums it up: “‘Dude, he’s just a scared little boy,’ he said. ‘He’s scared he’s not doing the right thing, and because of the f*****-up world we live in, people who should be in The Hague are giving him twenty million dollars. Something bad is gonna happen here, something really f***ing bad is gonna happen.'” AHH! But it’s still a good read, I swear.
Thank you for spending time with us, and see y’all tomorrow. xx
Opening Image Credits: Photo by Kaitlin Green | From: Trying My New Favorite Piece Of Original Art In 4 Different Places
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