Happy Sunday and happy March everyone. We hope everyone is okay from the blizzard that hit the East Coast. Caitlin was giving us all the updates from Delaware! Here on the West Coast, things are moving fast, and there are lots of fun planning happening behind the scenes. Sorry for the rambling, and here are this week’s links…
This week’s home tour THE new kitchen and laundry nook is dabito. Their whimsical creativity and use of color is always out of this world, and this compact kitchen is a perfect example. That wavy stone backsplash is incredible!
From Emily: Well, in an effort to curb my social media addiction (which I thought I didn’t have), I recently decided to Brick My phone. Over the past six months, I’ve found myself reaching for my phone a lot more than before, and more often at night (so not for work, just scrolling). Our kids don’t have phones, and we’re waiting as long as possible, but we know that if we don’t start behaving better now, we’ll have no use telling them to turn off their phones in a few years. So this device is very amazing and easy to use. It’s a little square gadget that I hide in my bedroom (just in case it’s annoying to find). I set mine up so that I can’t go on Instagram from 6pm to 7am, so essentially only during work hours. If you try to go on social media during those hours, it will tell you that it is disturbed and you can’t use it. If you need to override this, you’ll need to go to the room where you’ve hidden your brick and tap and hold it. This is such a barrier, a barrier that has worked perfectly for me. Admittedly I had an appointment to have blood drawn at a lab at 7:20am the other day after a long wait and I wasn’t home so I couldn’t unbrick my phone and that was annoying, but otherwise when I’m with my family every night (and not just before going to bed or first thing in the morning) it’s a relief not to have access to it. You may set different schedules for different reasons. I post more stories on the weekends so I’ll need it then, but during the week we’re more scheduled, so for the most part it’s okay that I’m offline. Zero affiliations or sponsorships, just a great product.
From Caitlin: I rushed to submit my link this week because I tasted such good hot sauce that I ate 10 full ounces within 48 hours. (For context, that’s like a full Coke can worth of hot sauce. That’s a lot.) Without further ado, may I introduce you Yellowbird’s Blue Agave Sriracha? It’s just like the classic ingredients, but made with agave nectar and tangerine (!!!), both of which give it a fantastic, light and bright flavor on top of a really nice heat. It made my day-old fried rice taste like a million bucks (I didn’t even notice the soggy peas and carrots!), it was fantastic with my morning eggs, amazing on pizza, and even great on hot dogs. I picked this up at my local Wegmans on a whim, and I can’t believe I’ve lived my entire life without it – it’s that good. If you like all the classic hot sauces – Hue Fong’s Sriracha, Valentina, Cholula, Tabasco, Tapateo, Chili Crunch, Gochujang, etc. Al. – This will be a welcome addition to your pantry. It’s selling for a song now market developmentSo I would stock up appropriately. But now, a question for the audience: Have any other spice lovers tried any of Yellowbird’s other sauces? (especially look serrano sauce -The reviews praising “Vinegar Base” speak my love language!!)
In case you missed this week’s Instagram highlights:
From Mallory: These are my new favorite jeans!! I love a comfortable, mid-rise jeans and was looking for a pair that I would be comfortable enough to wear while working from home, but also cute enough for going out. These are these! I want to have them in every color.
From Marley: Where are my music lovers!!!?? Over the holidays, I played this game with my family that I couldn’t stop thinking about – you know, when it says something like “for ages 13 to 101” on the box??? It’s exactly the same – I, my 16-year-old sister, my parents, and my grandparents all played and had fun. It is called “hitster” and it’s a music trivia game… but you “don’t have to have dangerous levels of knowledge of music facts” to play it. Okay, I know – hearing the rules of the game is annoying, but I promise it’s worth it, so stick with me: Essentially, you split into teams (we tried boys vs. girls and then Gen-Z vs. Gen-X/Boomers), and take turns drawing a card and Let’s scan the QR code on it, which says the year the song came out: Let’s say you have Careless Whisper (1987) and Livin’ on a Prayer (1987) on the board… would you put Sweet Child o’ Mine before, in the middle of, or after those 2 songs??? From 1950 to 2020, in virtually every genre. It’s a great way to bring the generations together – it’s also a fun way to reminisce about songs you haven’t heard in years – I’d say it’s probably best for high school age and up, though middle school students might find it handy for a game where I have to use my phone…” Will not do. Highly recommended!
From Gretchen: This week, I picked up a new tool that really blew my mind with how fast, simple, and useful it is. This being a design blog, I believe most of you can relate to the pain in the butt measuring rooms. Getting out a metal tape measure usually requires a friend to help you stretch it, mark it, and record the length, always hoping to get it “close enough.” And then trying to avoid a sharp blow while retreating. Ouch! but with this new laser measuring deviceI don’t have to worry about it! With just two clicks of a button, it can record the distance from point A to point B without any movement. You simply hold it up to a wall, click and it shines a laser at the opposite wall, measuring the distance between. That measurement then stays on the screen (up to three at a time) so you can actually remember it for your notes and move forward without losing the previous measurement or comparing it to the next measurement. so easy! It appears to be quite accurate from my tests and has made drawing floorplans much easier. There are plenty on the market, some that do more for less, but I like how simple and straightforward the buttons are on this one. Plus, it measures up to 65 feet! You know what metal tape measure can do that?!
From Arlin: I’m not one to wait in line for a new water bottle to be released. I’ve had the same aqua colored 32oz Hydroflask for the past 8 years and had no intention of getting anything new because…why? But the straw mouthpiece attachment that I had recently broke; Needless to say, it got pretty dirty from spills falling out of the small side pocket of my kids’ diaper bag (she doesn’t wear diapers, but parents everywhere know you still have to carry a lot). So when my husband came home from a work event with a brand new Ovala, I immediately claimed it as my own. I really enjoy the dual-purpose mouthpiece that lets you draw water from the inner straw or pour larger amounts into your mouth. Look, I know I’m about a million years late with my recommendation here, but I love it. However, this is not correct. I miss my HydroFlask’s sturdy and easily accessible handle, and it still doesn’t fit in my car’s cup holder. So I went on a virtual search to see if there was a solution I could bring to anyone reading this, and I found it! enter: ovala freeship swayWhich solves every problem I just mentioned. It has a much better handle, and the bottom is more slender, but it still has the simple mouthpiece of the original. If you’re going to buy a new water bottle, be sure to check this out!
From Jess: As I was trying to think of a link for this week, I really just want to recommend my Aunt Jeans. I first heard about them years ago from M, but they were out of my “jeans price range” and actually still are. However, during Thanksgiving week, I went to a store that carried used aunty jeans, and I found one for $100 that I want to wear every day of my life because I feel so good in them, ha. they are similar in. In fact, The RealReal They have a lot of jeans for a fraction of their retail price (like less than $100 when they’re originally around $400). If you’re looking there’s another jean I’m throwing into the ring again 🙂 But to learn more, have you checked out M’s spring jean try-on? I want those mother jeans too!
Thanks for being with us today, see you all tomorrow. xx
Opening Image Credit: Photo by Tessa Newstad | From: Ready Patio
