We Went to Bed Angry. Here's What Happened Next.
Answering the age-old question of if it's actually okay to go to sleep before resolving an argument.
Watch
Eric. If you’re looking for another great show to binge, this might just be it. Set in 1980’s New York City and starring a phenomenal Benedict Cumberbatch, Eric is about a puppeteer on a popular kids’ TV show whose son goes missing on his way to school one day. In a desperate attempt to find him, he conceives a plan to create and bring to life a puppet his son drew on a piece of paper and debut the puppet on his show convinced that if his son sees it, he will come home. The downside is that he is starting to see visions of this puppet follow him around the city and openly talks to him, much to the dismay of everyone around him. We’re only on episode four, but we’re hooked so far. The set design, costumes, and production really highlight what a whimsical, magical time the 80’s were in all their mustard and brown and earthy-colors glory.
You can watch Eric on Netflix.
Read
Why does everything online look the same? If you don’t already subscribe to
’s splendid newsletter , you absolutely must do so immediately. Every issue is filled with highly curated and researched links to fascinating articles, and going through the archives is my favorite. In the below issue, she explores the topic of why everything online is suddenly starting to look the same.
Listen
HIT ME HARD AND SOFT. The pop girlies are GIVING this year. It feels like every other week we’re getting a new, much-anticipated, bombastic album from our faves(Beyonce, Taylor, Dua), and this week’s chosen one is Billie Eilish. Her third album is gorgeous, and a bit of a departure from her previous two sonically. My favorite track, and maybe my favorite track on any album this year (I said maybe, Taylor!) is “Birds of a Feather”. It’s a beautiful 80’s inspired track where you can hear the full range of her voice as she belts and croons and swoops through the song in a way only Billie can. It’s a great, if short IMO, album that is totally worth the listen.
You can listen to HIT ME HARD AND SOFT wherever you get your music.
OKAY, happy Tuesday, loves, and more importantly, happy Pride!
How was your weekend? We’re finally back to our regularly scheduled programming after taking a week (or two?) off of this newsletter. We were slammed with brand collaborations, end of school chaos, and then going to our beach house to celebrate PJ’s birthday last week, and I just couldn’t find the time to send an issue out. I’m sorry! But it feels good to be back home and getting back to a routine. I thrive on routines and schedules and would be lost without ours. You, too?
Meanwhile, a couple of things to note this week:
Our oldest started summer school yesterday, which means we’re still in 8a-3p school mode for the first part of summer. He’s had a difficult time catching up and has done summer school for the last three years, and it seems to help him when he needs it, so we’re sticking to it for as long as it takes. The best part? He LOVES it. All of our kids thankfully love going to school (for now!) and always complain, if you can imagine, when we have to check them out for things like doctor’s appointments. Taking that as a blessing!
We have a little baby chick staying with us for the foreseeable future. She is teeny and so precious. She had dinner with us last night and the kids took turns having her sit on their shoulders. PJ has appropriately named her (or honestly, him? we aren’t sure yet) Chicken Nugget.
While we were in Florida at our little beach shack last week, both of our worlds collided when we ended up spending an entire evening with two of our idols. Vern Yip, the interior designer who got his start on Trading Spaces in 2000, and his lovely husband Craig, invited our family over to their gorgeous beach house in Rosemary Beach. They have two children who are in their teens and who “love little kids” as they told us. PJ grew up watching Trading Spaces, so this was a very surreal moment for him. Meanwhile, there was no blog I loved more in in the early 2010’s than Young House Love, whose site I would visit every single morning as I was starting the day. I was starstruck when we got the chance to meet them in 2015 at their book signing in Nashville, and was in utter disbelief when Vern said they would be there with their two kids, too! So basically, we all hung out and had delicious drinks and food while all seven of our kids ran around with each other on the green outside. It was a truly magical night, and one that neither of us will soon forget.
A few weeks back, we spent the weekend apart for the first time in forever. We’re not one of those couples who spends a lot of time apart, for better or for worse, but my oldest niece was graduating high school (and heading to Princeton in the fall!) and we had to go to her graduation. The only problem is we didn’t have anyone to watch the farm animals and we had a huge deadline that had to be finished by Monday for a brand collaboration, so we made the difficult decision for PJ and the kids to stay home and I would drive down to Georgia with my brother and sister-in-law. And you know what? It was actually really nice to have that time away from each other, even if it was only for a weekend, and spend time with my family with no obligations or people to take care of. It almost felt like being a kid again, as it often does when you get together with your siblings as an adult. We stayed at my older sister’s big, gorgeous house and it was so fun to see my nieces and nephews (she has six kids!) who are now the same ages I was whenever they were born! PJ took the kids out to eat and to play at the farm while he shot the collaboration, and by late Sunday night, I was back home with my family and ready to start the week.
The other night, we got into an argument as the night was ending. I didn’t see PJ’s point of view and he didn’t see mine, and we were going around in circles and getting absolutely nowhere. This is not how I wanted to end a rather good day, I thought.