Currently on my mind: Black Friday Sales, live, with early starts (my favorite among them so far are Land’s End-code: rake and West Elm,) Good and Bad luck (check out this money tree named Dinero!!!), Covid-19 Positive Diaries Week 1, Quarantine, the number 46, and Happy Friday the 13th!

Forget 13, that unlucky number. I’m on 46. I turned 46 last weekend, our 46th President was elected, and my high school bestie banged out 46, 4-minute teacher conferences in one evening — yay, Becca!!! See how that number is everywhere right now? I don’t play the numbers, but if you do, my bets are on 46 right about now.

Weekly Favorite Finds: Luck, COVID, Black Friday Sales & The Iconic Home

Weekly Favorite Finds are all cute home decor trinkets to bring a little good luck and/or to ward off evil in our homes. Why not, right? We can all use a little more good luck right about now, or know a friend or two who could — hint, hint…they all make great gifts too!

What I have been playing for the past week is the Covid-19 negative mom, trying to remain so, to three Covid-19 positive kids in the house — one of whom has underlying conditions. It’s been real. Luckily for us, we’ve had what I would call a gentle pass. The kids all have all the symptoms, in various combinations, every day, but it’s all been manageable; so we’ll take it. I’d hesitate to write a whole post on Covid, I’m one of those people who believes we should let the scientists speak to those rules and facts, but from a mom perspective, I can share a few things that have helped. You’ll find those in a note below, as well as a quick-shop list (or go straight to COVID prep).

Speaking of quarantine, and with so many of us heading back into it, Our Black-owned business spotlight this week is a cool feature from Architectural Digest: a fun virtual show house event absolutely worth checking-out! Doors Open November 18-24. Cheers to fun virtual events from quarantine, and thank you Lex for the hot tip!

Let’s do this! Weekly Favorite Finds, Black-owned business spotlight, all the early Black Friday sales…and we’ll pop a little House of Covid Boutique in here too, in case that helps anyone with preparedness for this wave. Be well, stay well, friends. Wear those cute cloth masks out of the house, wear them like your life depends on it. They make a meaningful difference. These are the current TME team favorite. On to it all-

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1 | Horsehoe-Shaped Wall Hanging | Sometimes it’s just the spirit of something that sends the right message. Loving this horseshoe-shaped natural wall hanging and happy to take a little extra luck via symbolism any day of the week.

2 | BumbleBee Door Knocker | We may as well pop some cute luck right on the front door!

3 | Brass Incense Stick Holder | Love this on my own desk, it brings me peace, luckily.

4 | Crystal + Palo Santo Set | Great little gift set for the friend who might need a little extra love and luck right now.

5 | Key Ring | Something about luck in love, and tossing keys…or just symbolically gifting your love a new ring.

6 | Carved Hamsa Wall Art | THESE ARE MY FAVORITE among the favorites. The colors are all amazing, and click through to see them hung in multiples. They are gorgeous!!!

7 | Incense Sticks | I’m sure these each mean something different when you burn them, I’m sure I don’t know what, and I’m also sure I’m just going to order all the flavors to cover all my bases.

8 | Fortune Cookie Ornament | Hey there, Cutie, you better have some good luck tucked right in there.

9 | Lady Bug Note Cards | A sweet way to send some luck to a friend!

10 | Evil Eye Mirror | Gorgeous, and so are his companion pieces!

11 | Lucky Carved Elephant Keepsake | How cute are these little guys? What a great gift! Yes, they are in my cart and will be Hanukkah night 3 gifts for my 3 kids.

12 | Acrylic Elephants | I love lucite and I can not lie-true story. These are perfect modern decor for a wall shelf or console table!

13 | The Dinero | It’s a Money Tree friends!!! | Named Dinero….OMG-I am dying smiling and laughing over her and want to send one to every single person I know, right now. Like right now. As a Happy Friday The 13th gift! If only money did grow on trees, I would do that so fast.

Black-Owned Business Spotlight | Architectural Digest: The Iconic Home

Welcome to The Iconic Home, a unique digital experience celebrating the unparalleled talent of the Black design community. Presented by Architectural Digest and the Black Interior Designers Network, the first-of-its-kind designer showhouse gives Black creatives carte blanche to craft the perfect room. Sixteen Black-led firms from across the country are collaborating for the first time ever to create an immersive showcase that highlights the breadth of Black design creativity. Click to learn more!

Shop Early Black Friday Sales

Land’s End | Code: rake

 

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The House Of Covid – Home Preparedness Shopping List

Please remember, none of this is scientific, nor medical advice-this is just my own mom experience, this week. The first things that went right out our door, are all our cute fabric masks. We aren’t leaving the house, obviously, and while there are various views on this, given my kids’ ages and low level symptoms, we’ve opted for me to be masked, double masked actually, N95 on my face, covered by a disposable (really, many disposables throughout the day), all day long, in the house. The N95s were gifts dropped off by physician friends. Had I known how this would roll out, I would have ordered a few packs of these KN95s earlier — not the same thing, but good enough for this mom at home to layer. And I layer them with what’s become my favorite disposable for work everyday, these black ones. I change the top layer, carefully, frequently.

I’m thankful that we had this Infrared Forehead Thermometer, multiples of these regular oral thermometers, a finger pulse oximeter, Children’s Tylenol, disposable gloves, face shields, lots of hand soap, hand sanitizer and disinfecting wipes in the house. And for the friends who dropped off a restock when supplies started getting low — super thankful for them too.

I’ve learned to be grateful that I need to wear my glasses all the time, because apparently that barrier also helps. With that in mind, a friend recently gifted me this eyeglass spray and a cloth, and cleaning my glasses has helped with the fogging. So those things — I’m thankful for those things too.

Also, please don’t judge me for this right now, because I’m about at my limit, and I am well aware that this is the opposite of the right message regarding the environment, but we have piles of rolled white towels (they are on huge sale right now, code: rake) in all our bathrooms. And right now, we single use them and then wash them with bleach. So I’m thankful we have piles of them, and that they are white and that I can bleach them. I know, I know…but for now, this is what’s working here. This one is more mom mental health than anything — but that counts for a lot. That’s it though, that’s all I’ve got in terms of things that are helpful in the house and can be bought online.

The thing we have that you can’t buy, are the most supportive people ever. Our friends, near and far, have SHOWN-UP. They drop things off, they check-in with frequent calls and texts, they keep us distracted and laughing — and that’s pretty much everything to us. So thankful for them too.

Stay safe and well, bring all the good luck, and send the evil packing. Physically distant hugs and love to you and all of yours.
xoxo, A

PS: Follow along with me on Pinterest for more Home Inspiration and other random distractions via pretty visuals.