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Noritake’s New ColorTex Dinnerware Gives Me All The Beachy Feels

Reformation Maxi Dress

I’ve been mixing and matching Noritake’s dinnerware for years - my first collaboration with them dates back to my Upper East Side days (#memories) - but my adoration of their new collection is so complete that I wanted to showcase this one solo. It’s just so simple and sculptural and fresh-feeling - and I’m obsessed with the fact that all the pieces are modular, with each plate being matched in size to serve as a lid for one of the bowls (coooool). 

The best thing about the ColorTex dinnerware, though, is how versatile it is: You can dress it up, dress it down, and make it feel seasonally appropriate whether it’s snowing or sunny. What I decided to do here: Create a simple beach-inspired tablescape using whatever beachy bits and bobs I had laying around - some driftwood, shells, and little vintage candleholders that I use as miniature vases - and layer the dishes in whatever ways made sense for each person sitting at the table. 

Crafts for the Uncrafty

DIY Yarn-Wrapped Lucky Horseshoe

Ever see something in a store, and think oh, I could totally make that! And then you realize that there's a reason why you're working in, say, ad sales rather than running an adorable little shop in Brooklyn specializing in hand-whittled incense burners shaped like sloths? Because even though hand-whittling may seem like a thing you should be able to do, it actually...isn't.

Which is all to say that the other day I saw something in a store, and thought oh, I could totally make that!

And then I DID.

Decor

Current Obsession: Laura Ashley Home Decor

So Francesca and I were texting each other the other day about adorable things we found on the Internet - as we do - and all of a sudden we found ourselves on Etsy and eBay, going down a total vintage Laura Ashley wormhole.

You know Laura Ashley, of course. Your mom probably had Laura Ashley bedding with roses all over it in 1984 (mine did, too).

But what you might not know is that the vintage Laura Ashley look - all those florals and lace and the feminine everything - all of a sudden feels super fresh. See that dress laying across my bed up there? It's a 1970s lace Laura Ashley nightgown with big belled sleeves (found it on Etsy), and I plan to wear it alllllll over the beach this summer.

Decor

Couch Problems, Take 4,253 (And A Solution)

Couch | Pillows | Top Rug (machine-washable) | Bottom Rug

Alright, so fiiiiiiine, the white family-room couch wasn't my smartest-ever purchase. I rationalized it because a) it's Ikea, and that's where my budget tapped out, b) there was only one Ikea style that I really liked, and c) that one style only came in dark grey (too dark), pink (too pink), turquoise (just no) and - yes - white.

But I figured we'd be able to collectively hold it together for at least the minimum of two years that I feel like you should be able to get out of an Ikea sofa. ...Right?

DIY Projects

What To Do: Hideous ’70s Linoleum Floor

Oh heyyyyyy

I spent yesterday in Malibu, doing a little renovation consult for a friend who recently purchased a trailer home right on the ocean (more on the trailer home thing in a bit; it's a super cool story). It's an interesting undertaking, because the house is going to be torn down and rebuilt from the ground up in a couple of years, so the renovation is more about making the house pretty and livable for the short term, without spending tons of money on things that'll ultimately end up getting tossed.

So. My advice was to figure out what amount of money per month was a comfortable amount to spend on general Life Happiness (meaning an amount that creates no financial stress whatsoever, but that feels "worth it" for the lifestyle improvements it'll confer), and multiply that by 24 to arrive at a budget for the mini-reno that'll take him through the next two years. Certain things are OK to spend a little more on, IMO - appliances that'll make the jump to the new place, and so forth. But when it comes to structural features, things are a little trickier.


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