10 Actually Easy Dinners
I have a few dishes in regular rotation that I lean on in moments of desperation or when life gets too busy. Meals that feel like a relief: “wow, we’re fed, and that was so easy.” My criteria for inclusion here is simply: would I want to make this and clean it up by myself after I get home from work? If no, I didn’t include it. (Mostly, this means the list has a lot of soups and stews.)
Beautiful Moments: 2023
This is my fourth year writing an annual review of my most special memories. Every year, the collections have gotten longer; I’m getting getting better at living life with my eyes open for the moments I want to keep forever… Memory is fickle, and we lose so much of our lives — not just the mundane, but the truly sublime as well. These posts are my attempts to hold on.
What I’m Making for Thanksgiving
Here’s what’s on the menu for our first hosted Thanksgiving. I’m leaning into our favorites from the last few years and ready to put our new kitchen to the ultimate test!
Perfect Pumpkin Cookies
These are my perfect pumpkin cookie: soft but not a muffin top, heavy on the fall spices, and finally (classic me): made in one bowl with no mixer. They’re heavily studded with chocolate chunks and caramel sea salt chips.
Strawberry Pretzel Jello
A pretzel crust is perfect to layer a sweet mixture of cream cheese and Cool Whip on, and the whole thing is topped with a pound of strawberries and strawberry Jell-O.
One Week in Mexico City
We went to Mexico City on a whim. Desirous of a new adventure but lacking the planning bandwidth or enough stored-up vacation time to take an anniversary + birthday trip to France, I mentioned one night that we should head down to the city where all the coolest people I know seem to have been jaunting off to for the last few years: Mexico City. Friends, it knocked my socks off.
We’re finally renovating the kitchen!
For the last two months, Joey and I have been in the thick of a kitchen remodel. This has been on our project list since the day we moved in, and I have to say: I’m glad it took us 3 years to get to it. We’ve picked up so many skills over the last few years of homeownership, and it was all leading here.
2023: Connect
I’ve been thinking about how Joey and I can build a life here, so far away from the place we began. About how it will continue to feel a little bit impossible with shallow roots… I’m beginning to wonder if I need to make it all a bit more explicit: “I’m choosing you. I want to show up for you. I want to be inconvenienced for you. I would love for that to be mutual. Can I count on you? Can I love you?”
Beautiful Moments: 2022
Maybe more than any other year, this was the one that made me wish I could keep all the memories. But that’s not how memory works. Memory selects the shiny, the sublime, the emotionally intense; and, as always, this exercise for myself is about the beautiful.
Gift Guide: For the Bookworm
This year, I’m pretend-shopping for three portions of my personality and sharing a few things I’ve loved and a few things I would love. Next up: the bookworm.
Gift Guide: For the Homebody
This year, I’m pretend-shopping for three portions of my personality and sharing a few things I’ve loved and a few things I would love. First up: the homebody, the lover of a quiet night in, the curator of cozy.
The Best Books I Read in 2022
I wasn’t sure I’d manage to read more than 50 books in a year; it seemed steep, even for me. But last week, I finished my fifty-second book, six weeks early! I do not move from periods of serious nonfiction to periods of fun romance to periods of prestigious fiction: I pinball between genres with utter abandon.
How I Grow Ranunculus
Most resources online are directed toward flower farmers, so I want to share what I’ve learned as a hobbyist, a backyard flower-grower with a day job and supplies purchased from the hardware store.
All the Desks I Considered for Our Study
I saved too many beautiful options along the way to keep them all to myself. In the past few years, companies have really stepped up their game to outfit the home offices of those of us who work from home, and there has never been a better time to find truly beautiful and functional pieces for a home office.
What I’m Planning for Our Study
This was meant to be our first project after moving in, but suddenly it was a home office for me, I started calling it “the study” like I lived in a period piece, and it was no longer a priority on our project list. But during the pandemic, the corporate world shifted, we now have the option for some flexibility, and we’ve decided to take it. All this to say: I guess The Study is here to stay, and it needs to be extremely functional.
Zucchini, Mushroom + Dill Pasta Bake
I wanted a vegetarian pasta bake that felt indulgent but not heavy, and I wanted to lean into my love of jammy zucchini. One of my personal favorite flavor combinations is balsamic and dill, and I’m leaning fully into that with a probably-sacrilegious version of a bechamel sauce that incorporates either white wine or balsamic, depending on your preference.
The Guest House Bath Reno
What started as a low-impact refresh turned into a gut job, and we spent two months of nights and weekends working on it. Our goal for the space: a clean, functional, beautiful guest bathroom that we won’t need to touch for the next decade.
10 Meatless Weeknight Dinners
I’m sharing some of the best vegetarian recipes in my cookbook. It’s easy enough to eat vegetarian by simply omitting meat from recipes or eating cereal for dinner, but I’m far more interested in having meals that make me forget I ever ate meat to begin with. I want to feel satisfied at the end of the meal! I want protein and umami!
Ask a Designer: Why does furniture cost so much?
Furniture is where we live our lives, and I believe it is worth spending our money on. But furniture - and the industry responsible for making it - is complicated, and it’s very understandable that it’s a confusing thing to navigate for consumers.
While it’s by no means exhaustive, I hope this primer is useful to help you begin to be able to see quality differences as you shop for your own home.
Coconut Sweet Potato Lentil Soup with Rice
This soup is such a great choice for a night when you want a bowl of something warm, but also healthy and nourishing. Sweet potatoes! Ginger! Curry powder! What’s not to love? I’ll admit that I tend to throw frozen spinach into just about everything (sneaky greens are my favorite greens), but it works so well here.