10 Things We're Doing Besides Putting 2016 Behind Us

It’s here, it’s here! Our 2017 wall calendar is chock-full of days, weeks, months, and original prints by some of our very favorite designers. Feels like one of the few sure bets for next year, right? 

erica’s things

• ossing a couple of these face wipes in my bag to beat the cruel post-workout, forehead breakouts.

• Checking into Zero George in Charleston with a pal...and doing our best to leave the property because there are plenty of reasons not to, what with the 70-degree nights and cushy outdoor couches and all.

• Getting my TV recs from the jazzy new NYT Watching site that puts asking you what you’re in the mood for front and center. (“Strong Female Lead” earned my click, duh.)

• Sashaying over to Noglu next time I’m feeling 1) fancy and 2) in the mood for a GF treat in NYC...or Paris.

• Dedicating a good amount of brain space to The Seed Collectors, a sorta mystical, hunt-for-enlightenment, soap opera of a novel.

claire’s things

• Congratulating Brooklyn, New York, on finally getting the proper knitting shop it deserves in Woolyn.

• Reconsidering my stance as “not really a baked goods person” after devouring this downright remarkable cobbler.

• Gaining some much-needed perspective in my seemingly endless search for the perfect apartment, care of this captivating personal essay by Kim France.

• Pledging allegiance to Gloss Moderne, holy grail of hair masks, mother of soft and shiny hair. Come at me, brittle winter ends.

• Adding Still Processing to my weekly podcast rotation and feeling all-the-more in-the-know because of it.

turn it up to 11 - from erica

• Telling my husband to shut up already about how comfy American Trench’s socks are.

10 Things We're Doing Besides Podcasting

Here’s what you’ve been missing if you haven’t been keeping up with the good old p’cast:

• Our thoughts on how to really nail vacation vibes—with special tips for the workaholic in all of us.

• An absurdly fun conversation with Tayari Jones, the author of #ReadingThings selection Silver Sparrow, who lays down the law when it comes to our fantasy casting of her novel.

• Lotsa pasta ideas and beauty tips from Shailene Woodley’s go-to MUA.

• Us gushing to author Courtney Martin about the life-changing magic of her book The New Better Off.

• A confab on curly hair, straight hair, and what will unseat dry shampoo as the top product you’d never heard of until one day you owned six versions of it—all direct from Chris Lospalutto, who cuts Claire’s hair.

erica’s things

• Piling on the moisturizer. Ingredient I’m hoping will be my flakey, fall-skin savior: hyaluronic acid (which comes in the form of a serum, like this one).

• Praying that Minnesota-made Prohibition Kombucha gets New York distribution real soon—it isn’t sweet and comes in flavors like The Sicilian, with rosemary, lemon, and orange blossom.

• Relating a little too much to this article about aggressively scheduling plans.

• Hoping that anyone who puts on events on the reg is aware of Splash—sure, it has good, easy-to-execute design templates, but it’s the RSVP management and messaging stuffs FTW for me.

• Finding a way to combine potato chips and kale for dinner.

claire’s things

• Ushering in pumpkin season with a pepita dip/dressing that single-handedly validates the cost of owning a food processor.

• Keeping a set of five pounders by the couch because my Vanderpump Rules habit is hard to justify as anything other than background noise for some lazy bicep curls. (Also coming in handy for the **Advanced** 7 Minute Workout!)

• Applauding BĒT for doing its part to give vodka a better rep. It’s made from sugar beets (of all things!), and the gorgeous bottle is gift-worthy all on its own.

• Adding a colorful print from Stephanie Specht’s Totem Faces series to my collection. It manages to look good next to anything.

• Reaching for the earbuds anytime a new video from Liz Plank pops up in my feed—Nasty Woman Perfume and Sexist Olympics should be all the convincing you need to do the same. Psyched to hear she’s got a much-deserved TV project in the works.

turn it up to 11 - from claire

• Deciding it might be time to replace my grimy grocery list whiteboard with something considerably more pleasing to the eye.

10 Things We're Doing Besides Professionally Enthusing

erica’s things

• Tearing through Commonwealth. This book, everybody—and if you don’t already sweat Ann Patchett hard, clearly you’ve never heard an interview with her.

• Jazzing up some tuna salad. Miso and scallions FTW!

• Trying on so many jeans and landing on a (high-rise crop!) pair by Re/Done that comes with free repairs for life, turns out.

• Thinking it might be time to revisit Barcelona, where I studied-abroad a dozen years ago, because how cute is this hotel Casa Bonay?! Less cheap cava and bread-and-Nutella dinners this stay, though.

• YAS-ing that New York mag’s The Strategist section now has an online home. The posts on cult condiments and Japanese nail clippers both have my heart racing.

claire’s things

• Surprising myself by getting way into HBO’s Westworld. Never been much for sci-fi, yet here I am, devouring any and all bananas theories about it.

• Anticipating some leaf-peeping in my future after poking around Red Cottage’s impressive array of design-y and daydream-y Upstate New York rentals.

• Rejecting the tyranny of ugly contact lens cases littering my bathroom counter with this little guy.

• Finding a use for the bottom-shelf vodka gathering dust in the cabinet: DIY fabric refresher.

• Spending an entire afternoon eating, drinking, browsing books, and playing games at the charming and picturesque Montague Bookmill in Western Massachusetts.

turn it up to 11—from erica!

• Transferring my lifelong affection for charm bracelets to charm rings.

10 Things We're Doing Besides Sockin' It to Ya

erica’s things

• Planning out my awards season movie-going: 20th Century Women, The Edge of Seventeen, and Loving are all at the tippy-top of my to-see list.

• Tossing a spaghetti squash in the oven whole. Did everyone already know to do this? ‘Cause it sure makes things easier.

• Drifting off to a little island near Sicily with the help of The House at the Edge of the Night—it’s one of those novels best described as “transporting.”

• Oohing at this almost-cork-like furniture made from recycled newspaper. And here I was, commending myself for using old installments of Thursday Styles to line a bunny’s litterbox.

• Putting a lot of thought into what to make first from Molly Yeh’s dynamite cookbook—will it be the quinoa carbonara, the cauliflower shawarma tacos, or the black sesame milk, do ya think?

claire’s things

• Reigniting my creative spark via the excellent Pattern Studio workbook. It’s like a more advanced take on the concept of adult coloring books.

• Finding a new use for nutritional yeast besides dumping it on popcorn, thanks to the dressing in this easy-peasy shaved cauliflower salad.

• Consuming my breakfast in half the time. How did it take me this long to realize smoothie straws are a (really, really useful) thing?

• Challenging you to find a more hip and attractive movie theatre than NYC’s Metrograph, which also boasts an enticing restaurant, a tiny bookstore, and a killer refreshments counter.

• Replacing some of my mason jars with a much sleeker option that’s also blessedly simpler to open and close.

turn it up to 11—from claire!

• Getting me a wallet that can do both: make my Metrocard easily accessible and hang on to loose change.

10 Things We're Doing Besides Looking Good on Paper

erica’s things

• Presenting a birthday ice cream cake from Ample Hills that earned about the best review fathomable: “Even better than Dairy Queen.”

• Poring over Grace Bonney’s epically motivating book In the Company of Women while sipping my morning coffee. Claire and I are the least impressive people featured in it—that’s a promise.

• Questioning how an Instagram called @dailyriggins doesn’t have tens of millions of followers.

• Tearing up at the office reading the end of this. There was something in my eye?

• Eating all of the Honeycrisp apples. At dinnertime, even, with some lime and walnuts and cheddar!

claire’s things

• Falling down a rabbit hole of Gordon Von Steiner’s fashion videos after discovering his work in the deeply satisfying Freedom 90’ x Vogue.

• Feeling very pleased to know there’ll soon be a non-boring, healthy alternative to seltzer-‘n-bitters for the nights when I don’t feel like boozing.

• LOLing my way through all 30 minutes of the premiere of Insecure. It’s exactly the type of bite-size, smart, hilarious, and cathartic show I crave a hit of once a week.

• Finding all sorts of new and delicious ways to consume this stuff (besides by the spoonful)—smeared on toast, stirred in coffee and tea, spread on roasted vegetables, etc. Tips for DIYing your own jar of it here!

• Saying “heyyyyy” to Oh, Hello on Broadway, a mildly offensive, extremely funny love letter to a certain breed of Upper West Side New Yorker (...some of whom I suspect are related to me).

turn it up to 11—from erica!

• Storing away this extremely helpful guide to writing condolence cards...and being grateful to have these to help things along.