Come Sunday, I will have completed another turn around the sun. Anyone else feel like they aged 10 years over the one actual year that was 2020? I’ve been hinting in my posts for random fun and beautiful things as gifts over the past few weeks, when really, I probably should just be asking for better eye cream — by the case.
Just eye cream and maybe take out dinner from our local favorite Trattoria Carina would be amazing. Yum. Oh, and one more little thing…some negative Covid tests. Apparently the kids and I were exposed this week. So here’s to negative tests and 14 days of strict in-house quarantine, regardless. Fingers crossed. Man this has been a week, right?
A Few Of Our Favorite Things At Home
Rather than lose my mind, I’m counting my blessings for the friends all around us who are dropping things at the back door, and sending encouraging texts and calls. They are my sanity, and the real gift in life, every day.
It’s easy for me to say I don’t want/need any(thing) other than food, negative tests and funny texts, when all around me, I count my blessings and see the beautiful things that already surround me — in addition to the people I love, and my kiddos, in the house and from a physical distance alike. For the next two weeks, we get to hyper-appreciate those things in our own home. So while surveying my surroundings anyway, Weekly Favorite Finds this week are my some of my favorites among the ones I already have, and love and appreciate more and more as time goes by — year after year. Especially right about now.
A Black-owned business to love, because we do and if you are local, you will too! And fun things on sale to cozy-up our homes and get ready for the holidays below too!
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12
1 | PowerBeats Pro Wireless Ear Pods | Syd needed me to have Airpods, so I did that. I don’t love the way they pop out of my ears every time I adjust my bun, ponytail and necessary glasses. So I handed those down to a now thrilled school-from-home kid and got myself these Beats instead, and I’m so much happier in them! They stay put and are comfy, the end.
2 | Tom Dixon Pendants | I have a mini Etch Pendant in my powder room, in brass, and it casts the most amazingly beautiful shadows! And I have a large Etch in my vestibule, and even when it rests, without even being turned on, it reflects the sun during the day into the most beautiful sun shadows on the wall!
3 | Yoga Mat For Tall People | I am tall. Taller than a typical yoga mat. While we once giggled at that, as I age and my parts all become more sensitive, staying “on mat” becomes increasingly more important. This one is both long enough and sturdy enough to keep me perfectly centered…and that matters more than ever to me, right now.
4 | Baies Diptyque Candles Noir | I try other candles ALL THE TIME. And I always come back to these. Yes, they cost a fortune. Yes, they are worth it. I’ll keep searching for a next best at a reasonable price point. Until I find one, this is my OG candle, and I couldn’t love it more.
5 | Bath Board | This might be my very favorite thing in my own bathroom. It sits above my soaking tub and holds the salts and oils and all the pretty things that also make me so calmer and more relaxed. So yeah, positive associations.
6 | Vitamix Pro | I love a smoothie. And a soup. And homemade dairy free frozen desserts. I was cleaning the Vitamix the other night (which takes 2 minutes by the way) and thinking to myself, “damn girl…for 12-years-old, you are seriously holding up really well.”
7 | Aeron Chair | This is another oldie but goodie in this house. It’s been around in my life, though many houses, for approximately 15 years. My spine, back and neck, thank me every day. Yours will too, promise.
8 | Humanscale Freedom Stool | This is my very, very, very favorite ergonomically correct stool, where I like to sit and work from everywhere other than my proper desk, which is…well…super-frequently these days.
9 | Snake Coat Line Jeans | Among my favorite, I-am-dressed-up-in-SUPER-fancy-clothes, without-working-hard-at-all, are snake jeans. Even when date night is nowhere other than your own kitchen, just do it.
10 | Asymmetrical Sweatshirt | I take fashion advice from basically no one. I didn’t even know what a fashion blog was until I wrote approximately my 5th post for Shana and was like, “what is it you do exactly?” That said, I have a friend, one friend, that I trust…in this regard. She chose what I wore for my 40th, I asked no questions, I ordered it. In times gone by, she’d pack me for Miami trips; I’d ask no questions—it always worked out well. And recently, like last week, she texted me this, on sale, and said, You Need This. I think she has a crush on my shoulders-given that she chooses one shoulder pieces for me over and over. And I love her more for it — it’s a goddess-ish type thing. One day later, it was here. I’m tiny up top, I ordered a size 6 which surprised me, but was also what the tinier-than-me model was wearing, and it’s perfect. (I would normally order an extra small, or a 4, and if I had to go a direction, I’d go down not up…but here, up one size worked.) I’m not sure where my next date will be, but I know I’m wearing this and my snake jeans. And no, I don’t care that I’m in love with a sweatshirt that only has one sleeve and seems so contrarian. Times are crazy, this is sexy, go with it.
11 | Parachute Linen Sheets | I love linen sheets. End of story. My sheets are all white, all of them. However, I’ve recently decided that maybe I’d try grey…and even an edge. I do not love when the edging is darker than the main…but these are grey, with white edging, that’s a different story. One I love. I ordered them and can’t wait for them to get here. Pin this thought for now, they’ll go on sale Black Friday.
12 | Eames Lounge and Ottoman | There are a few things, I’ve dreamed of since I was a kid, that I bought for myself as “rewards” when I had a “real” job, no kids and could afford to. My Eames Lounge and Ottoman are a full 20+ years’ old at this point, it remains everyone — including my kids’— favorite chair, and it just gets better with age. No regrets. Was totally worth it. It’s where I sit and “hide” for things like, oh, I dunno…the election night that goes on for days/weeks/months.
Black-Owned Business Spotlight | Movemakers Philly & Urban Movement Arts
Vince, the founder of Movemakers Philly (the dance school for the kids) and Urban Movement Arts (the dance school for those of us who still think we’re kids,) has been teaching my kids, since basically they were born. And I appreciate him, more than there are words for. I’m not sure there is a better way to bring your kids up, as confident, participants, in community engagement, than through dance — and teachers who live that truth. I’ll take the challenge if you have a better idea. For us here, this is it. The kids work. Hard. And they also have so much fun. They support one another, and think outside of their own boxes. They take from their teachers, and one another, but they also give back to the community, to their families, and to themselves.
Right now, we’re dancing masked, outdoors. There’s also a studio, with clear lines drawn on the floor and strict physical distance safe guidelines in place. There are virtual, online options as well. Things have changed this year, but Movemakers has kept our kids dancing, one way or another, through it all. Check them out! They are one of the blessings I count among my own, and if you are local, they’ll be yours too. If you aren’t local…do a quick Google search in your area for “hip hop, latin, breaking, dance classes for kids.” I bet you have a local “Vince” too — ours is ours, but you might find new inspiration in your own neighborhood too. Look for it, it’ll be worth it.
Shop More Home Goods & Decor On Sale
West Elm | Buy More Save More Sale | Limited Time
CB2 | Early Bird Sale
Happy birthday to you too, if you happen to also be a Scorpio. Happy quarantine to you, if you are doing that too. And…what the heck, here’s to all the good things to come in this next turn we take around the sun — we’re going to move forward from all of this, we don’t have a choice. Keep on friends, keep on.
xoxo,
A
PS: Follow along with me on Pinterest for more Home Inspiration and other random distractions via pretty visuals. xo A
Those jeans, that sweatshirt!! What combo! Love, love,love! Hope you wear both in the house or out ( when you are able).
Wishing you the Happiest of Birthdays surrounded by the people and things you love most 😊