The first presidential debate was a train wreck. Watching it conjured up all kinds of emotions – anger, disgust, disappointment, exhaustion. I can’t imagine two more debates or 4 more years with Trump as president. I know that we can do better and we should expect more from our leaders.

Banksy Does New York is a fun documentary that followed Banksy’s 30 day residency in New York City in 2013. Every day he introduced a new piece of art and New Yorkers would go on a hunt to locate it.

Dolly Parton is a mastermind. At 74 years old, she is still in the zeitgeist and better than ever. Netflix announced that Dolly will star in the movie musical, “Dolly Parton’s Christmas on the Square,” which will be released on November 22nd. As a huge Dolly fan, I will be watching. (I briefly talked about my love of Dolly here and every time I encounter her I am uplifted by her spirit. She is something special and I hope this Netflix special can capture her magic.)

Stella Jean Collection: There are people who instantly inspire me and Stella Jean is one of them. I recently became acquainted with her fashion and every single piece intrigues and inspires me. I love that she mixes bold colors and patterns. I’ve linked her Spring 2014 collection because it’s my favorite but everything she does is so good.

Why we should worry about our bananas? This article gives you a little banana history (I found it really interesting) and talks about how bananas are currently fighting their own pathogen (TR4). The end of the article has a fun video and links to other articles to learn more.

A 3D-Printed Two Story House: I’m fascinated by the idea of 3D-printing houses. Is it the way of the future? Check out this test house and the video that documented how it was made.

Red Table Talk : I can’t get enough of this Facebook show. Jada Pinkett-Smith, her mom Gammy and daughter Willow have real, sometimes difficult, conversations about all kinds of thing – relationships, race, friendship. All the episodes are good, but two that I’ve really enjoyed recently is Season III, episode 11 (“Jada and Will: Their First One-on-One Conversation”) and Season III, episode 5 (“A Girls Trip Coronavirus Quarantine Reunion”). I’ve laughed and I’ve cried.

High Fidelity: This show is soooooooo good. Just watch it. I binged the entire season in one day. Just be warned it has “mature” content.

An Artist Studio in Maine: Sometime during my youth I got the idea in my head that I wanted to move to Maine. My husband and I honeymooned in Maine and it was lovely, confirming that I would totally live there. Anyway, I recently came across this article about an artist couple who found a house and some property on a remote island in Maine. They built a couple of studios and spend their summers there creating art. Their spaces are lovely but, for me, the scenery is the best.

Ron Finley Teaches Gardening: I just started this MasterClass and was touched by Ron Finley’s story and commitment to gardening, especially in urban settings where food deserts are typical. Ron is direct and has a casual communication style. Check it out if you’re interested in gardening or just want to hear his story. I learned a ton and definitely plan on implementing his suggestions!

Foot Peel Mask: My husband and I did these foot peel masks a few weeks ago and they are awesome! To use the mask just soak your feet in water and then wear the foot peel booties that are filled with chemicals (exfoliants?) for an hour or so (check the directions). Within a week, your feet will start to peel and reveal amazingly soft and smooth skin. I typically have monster feet with cracked and scaly looking skin, so I was surprised when this actually worked! (Note: you really need to soak your feet everyday after the peel to get the best results).

Never Have I Ever: Mindy Kaling’s new netflix show is the best. I blew through season one in about three days and can’t believe it’s going to be a year before I get to watch season 2. The coming of age teen show is perfect with humor, romance and humanity.

Spring has been playing peek-a-boo for the last couple of weeks with a nice, warm day followed by rain and cold temperatures. I’m ready for the sun to shine. Here are a few things that have brighten up my days.

Open Book: Jessica Simpson’s memoir is a juicy little number. I watched all three seasons of Newlyweds, so this was a fun and interesting read that took me back to my college days. She didn’t hold back acknowledging her own flaws and flaws of others in her life. I couldn’t put the book down and completed it in one day!

Anne Hathaway in Becoming Jane and One Day has kept me company during the quarantine.

Little Big Snake: I’m not a huge gamer. Okay, I’m not a gamer at all but when my husband introduced me to this game, I was all in. It’s a simple internet game where you start out as this little snake and by eating bugs and other snakes you get larger. You are also competing to get the most crowns, which you accumulate either by killing the big snakes with crowns or becoming a very big snake. It’s a great distraction.

The Floor Pro Community: We’re planning on putting hardwood on the first floor of the house and keeping carpet on the second floor. While I was researching carpet, I stumbled upon the Floor Pro Community, a website with a bunch of forums to discuss various topics regarding floors that is ran by individuals who are in the flooring business. I felt the discussions were informative and and a great resource. I particularly liked the discussion on carpet pads.

Dollhouse Beautiful: I had a big beautiful dollhouse that lived in my grandmother’s closet when I was a child. I would spend countless hours playing with it and dreaming about how I would decorate it. As a young adult, I asked my grandmother if I could have it, but she had given it away a few years back. I was heart broken and ever since have considered buying one to relive my childhood fantasy. So when I discovered that House Beautiful had a series of videos on YouTube where they had professional interior designers decorate dollhouses, I was totally hooked. I believe the series just wrapped, so you can go view all 11 dollhouse now. My favorite is by Caitlin Wilson and I love how she promoted a young girl’s dollhouse furniture business. I can’t recommend the series enough.

Kelsi Dagger Brooklyn: I recently ordered booties by Kelsi Dagger Brooklyn and now I’m obsessed. Everything about them is right – the heel height, the cut of the shoe and the comfort. I’m planning on adding a lot more of her stuff to my collection.

Inside the Design Process — How Much It Really Costs to Work with a Designer: This is one of the most informative posts that I’ve read in a long time. If you are interested in interior design, I would suggest you read it. Even more interesting are the comments where others share their salaries in fields not related to design and some of the underlying assumptions of the value of designers versus other fields. In addition, there seems to be some confusion regarding the billable rate versus actual salary of an interior designer. As a lover of design, I believe they should earn as much as possible but I am simultaneously sad that working with an interior designer is out of reach for most Americans. I’m not surprised that interior design shows, blogs and magazines are so popular because if you want a stylish house, most people are going to have to do it themselves. Although there seems to be some ways to get affordable help like the use of in-store designers or online tools like Modsy. This article definitely left me thinking about the huge hole in the market, the mark up on furniture and how creative work is viewed.

This Fight is Our Fight: No matter what your political view, there is valuable information in Elizabeth Warren’s book. I’m loving it because it gave me so much food for thought. It motivates me to want to go and learn more about the implications of unions and some of these laws/provisions that were put into place to protect consumers but have slowly been taken away. Elizabeth does a good job talking about the overwhelming power large companies have on government. She carefully pieces together parts of history to show how the county once had policies that increased the wealth of most Americans and how that started changing in favor of the wealthiest. I don’t always agree with Elizabeth and I’m skeptical. I know that facts and studies can be twisted and turned to not represent the complete, whole truth and their is usually another side to the story. But she makes compelling arguments, many of which feel intuitively true to my perspective and experience, and it makes me want to learn more about these things. Perhaps it will do the same for others.

The Bold Type: This television show is a total guilty pleasure. It follows the lives of three young women who work at a women’s magazine. It’s a coming of age show where these girls are learning to navigate their careers and their relationships. It’s a fun and easy to watch. Admittedly, I’m only on episode 4 of season 1, but it’s one of those shows that I can put on when I’m just not up to watching a heavy, emotional show. I watch it on Hulu but you can watch the first 3 seasons on FreeForm.

Well 2020 is here and I couldn’t be more excited. I love the mental clean slate of a new year and, in this case, a new decade! So much potential! So much to look forward to! So much to think about! That is a lot of exclamation marks. 🙂 Anyways, I wanted to share a few things that caught my attention.

1. Bobbi Brown Master Class. I devoured this entire class in a day or two. I love how Bobbi Brown explained how to match make up to your skin, how to determine your undertone and her general career advice. She was so down to earth. Now I also feel that I have a better understanding of how to put on my own make up.
2. Little Free Library: In our old neighborhood, someone had a cute little bird house looking box filled with books outside their house. On one of our many walks, we read the sign and it explained the concept behind the Free Little Library. Basically, anyone can put up this free little library and anyone can come and use it. I loved the concept and I’ve been thinking about it lately. I’m considering asking the city where we live if we can build one and put it at a park that is close to our house. What a great way to encourage community and spread the love of reading.
3. Blurb Photo Books: Over the last couple of years, I’ve made yearly photo books to capture our memories and preserve them. Each year the book gets a little longer and I spend more time putting everything together. I just ordered our 2019 book and it immediately brought me joy writing down all the things we did that year. I hope that my son, B, will see that love whenever he looks at it.