When we adopted our first daughter Nova from China (four years ago!) we started celebrating Chinese holidays and traditions as a family. Each year, we decorate for Lunar New Year, host a small party, and read our Chinese children’s books during the two weeks. 

My husband is a Chinese cooking enthusiast, so each year we try out new recipes. This year, we are learning to make mooncakes. 

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10 / 11 / 12 / 13

Whether you are setting the table or decorating the house, these fun items are sure to bring a festive flair to your home!

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10

There’s something for older kids, new readers, and toddlers with this selection of Lunar New Year’s books (and the coloring book is a great gift as well!).

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6

Wear your Lunar New Year celebration vibes all through the year with these cute choices!

We are still learning so much about how to celebrate and new traditions to incorporate, so if you grew up celebrating, I would love to hear your favorite traditions! xo. Elsie

I will be the first to admit that this is as basic as basic can get. But, I’ve always wondered how restaurants make their toast. Am I alone in this? It just tastes better/different than when I use my toaster at home.

I thought it was probably the amount of butter and that I shouldn’t ask further questions, but then I got an air fryer.

Admittedly, I was late to fall in love with the air fryer. I had jumped on the instant pot trend and used it twice in an entire year before donating it. Yes, I know they can be amazing, it’s just not for me!

So, buying another what seemed to be trendy large countertop appliance wasn’t sounding like something I was going to do.

So what changed? My mom got one! And she let me use hers. Now I have the same air fryer that Emma has and it’s the most popular appliance in my kitchen … well … besides the coffee pot.

My sweet mama also gets full credit for discovering that you can make delicious toast in the air fryer. Her toaster broke, so she did some investigating to find out if you can make toast in an air fryer. And you can!

Full disclosure: I’m probably going to keep my toaster, but I think this is a nice alternative and if I’m wanting to make specialty toast on the weekend, it’s the best way to do it!

You can’t exactly easily slide a piece of toast with a spread on it into the toaster without making a complete mess.

Tips

• Don’t forget to preheat your air fryer. Mine takes 2-3 minutes to preheat, but that will vary with what type of air fryer you’re using. Some have an alert when they’re ready, too.
• Butter the bread. This is important so your toast isn’t really dry.
• Watch your time. I keep mine in the air fryer for 3 minutes, but if you like it crispier you may want to adjust.
• Bread type. Different types of bread will also impact baking time.
• Toppings. I wouldn’t bake fresh produce in the air fryer, but things like butter, almond butter and honey add to the flavor of the toast!

Topping Suggestions

• Cinnamon sugar. Put this combo on your toast before you put the bread in the air fryer. Oh my goodness, it’s delicious!
• Avocado toast with Trader Joe’s Everything but the Bagel seasoning (why yes, I am a millennial).
• Almond butter with sea salt
• Almond or peanut butter with bananas and honey

Are you team air fryer? If you’ve fallen in love with this superstar like we have, here are some of our favorite and most popular air fryer recipes to date!

• Air Fried Okra
• Basic Crispy Air Fried Wings
• Air Fried Breakfast Potatoes
• Easy (Air Fried) Seasoned French Fries

Thanks for letting me share! I hope you enjoy some air fryer toast soon! If you have any other topping suggestions or tips, please share, I’d love some new ideas to try!

xoxo, Claire

Print

Air Fryer Toast

This is such a simple way to make delicious toast that tastes like it's from your favorite restaurant.

Course Breakfast

Cuisine American

Keyword air fryer, toast

Prep Time 3 minutes

Cook Time 3 minutes

Servings 2 people

Cost $5

Equipment

• 1 Air Fryer

Ingredients

• 1 piece bread can be any type

Instructions

• Preheat your air fryer to 300° F. My air fryer typically takes 2-3 minutes to preheat, but follow your manufacturer instructions, as it does vary depending on what type and size of air fryer you're using.
• Butter your toast and add any additional toppings (optional) that you are wanting to cook with the bread.
• Set the timer or leave the toast in the air fryer for about 3 minutes. Check the toast to see if it's your desired level of baked, and if necessary add additional time.
• Top with your favorite toast topping and enjoy!

I love the look of wallpaper. I don’t, however, love the cost of wallpaper or how semi-permanent it is. Even the more affordable options are generally more than I want to spend, and I’d rather put that towards a cool chair or light fixture for a room than spend it all on the walls.

Thankfully, there’s a super affordable way to hack your own wallpaper, and I’ll show you the different ways to make it work for you based on your budget, skill level, how much you want to personalize it, and the amount of time you want to commit to it.

OK, the big budget-friendly hack to wallpaper is … removable wall decals! Easy to put up and take down yourself so you save on install and removal costs, and the actual material is much more affordable as well!

Choose your wall decal route based on the following options …

Budget:

Just like anything in life, you can decide if you want to spend more or less on your wall decals. The “more” end of the scale will still usually be quite a bit less than wallpapering (especially if you have to also pay someone to install the wallpaper), but even in this category, there are ways to splurge and save.

You’ll pay more for decals that are already cut and ready for you to put up (like these and these) than you will if you cut your own from rolls like this or this. You can also stretch a budget by simply spreading out the decals further apart than you see in the example photo so you can cover more square footage for that amount of money.

If you decide to buy your own vinyl rolls to cut yourself, you can either choose a design that can be cut by hand (tedious but possible depending on the design and you can recruit help as needed!) or you can invest in a cutting machine like this if you don’t already have one (and you can cut all the decals you want in no time).

It may not be worth buying a cutting machine for just one small room or one wall of decals (unless you also want to use it for its other features as well, like for making cards and T-shirts, etc.), but I’ve used my machine to make wallpaper for four rooms now in addition to other projects, so it’s been really worth it overall.

For example, I used around three rolls of each color for the stars in my bedroom, with the colors cream, melon, tulip, and signal yellow, and since I waited for a sale, I spent under $50 on the vinyl to wallpaper an entire room—NOT BAD!

I did use a cutter that I own to cut the shapes, but I could have also chosen a more organic design to cut with scissors instead if I didn’t have a cutting machine or want to buy one.

Skill Level:

When talking about DIY projects, skill level is always a big part of what a person may choose to take on. For decal wallpaper, it’s a pretty broad range of skill level options, so you can choose what works best for you!

Easiest: Buy pre-cut decals (like these) and stick them on your wall!

Medium: Buy your own vinyl and cut out an easy shape with scissors to stick on (think dots, confetti shapes, or more organic looking leopard-type spots).

Advanced: Use a cutting machine and computer software to create a design and have the machine cut it for you. This method is for sure easier on the hand muscles than cutting out shapes yourself, but you do have to take the time to learn how to use the software, etc. Totally doable and worth it if you ask me!

Check out our other wall decal DIYs!

• Removable Leopard-Inspired Wallpaper DIY
• Removable Star Wallpaper DIY

Personalization Level:

If you don’t see exactly what you want already for sale, if you buy decals on Etsy, you may be able to ask the seller to do something special for you if they are flexible and don’t have exactly what you want.

One reason I like the cutting machine method is that I was able to totally pick the shape, size, and color scheme I wanted and the only limiter was the color selection of vinyl I could find. But, other than that, it was all up to me!

So, if you are a little more open to what’s already available, you can go with an option that exists. But if you need to match something existing in your home, or are just super picky like me, you may want to do an option you can customize a bit more.

Time Commitment:

Trying to get this done quickly or do you have more time to spend on it? Ordering a pre-cut decal will allow you to go straight to the application part and you’ll be done in an afternoon, but you’ll want to set aside quite a bit more time if you are cutting out all the decals by hand (a great activity to do while you watch movies).

Using a cutter means that you’ll spend time on the front end getting your design set up and ready to start cutting, but once it’s ready your only job is to load the vinyl into the cutter every so often and let it do its job.

Need some tips on applying wall decals to create a wallpaper look? Check out my tips in this post!

What’s an even more budget-friendly DIY wallpaper hack? Painted wallpaper like …

• Lola’s Painted Daisy Wallpaper
• Striped Wave Wallpaper DIY!
• Geometric Painted Wallpaper DIY
• Painted Nursery Wallpaper DIY
• Stamped Star Wall DIY (Money Saving Wallpaper Alternative)
• Hand-Printed Galaxy Wall
  

In case you are wondering, it took me maybe two hours by myself to put up all the decals in my room. A few podcast episodes later, and boom, it was done. I’ve also taken off these types of decals after even a few years and they removed like a dream with no damage, so it’s great for renters as well!

Also, so far I’ve mostly used these decals on white walls, but that’s more a coincidence and you can use them on any color wall you want! The only exception is if you use a very light colored thin vinyl on a dark wall, it may darken the color the vinyl appears just a bit, but that’s kind of the worst that would happen.

Hope this DIY wallpaper idea gives you a more budget-friendly way to wallpaper a room so you can put that savings towards something else! xo. Laura

Print

Super Affordable DIY Wallpaper Hack

How to DIY wallpaper using removable decals

Keyword DIY, wallpaper

Author Laura Gummerman

Cost varies

Equipment

• cutting machine optional
• -scissors optional

Ingredients

• removable vinyl decals
• removable vinyl rolls

Instructions

• BUDGET: Just like anything in life, you can decide if you want to spend more or less on your wall decals. The “more” end of the scale will still usually be quite a bit less than wallpapering (especially if you have to also pay someone to install the wallpaper), but even in this category there are ways to splurge and save.

  You’ll pay more for decals that are already cut and ready for you to put up (like these and these) than you will if you cut your own from rolls like this or this.

  If you decide to buy your own vinyl rolls to cut yourself, you can either choose a design that can be cut by hand (tedious but possible depending on the design and you can recruit help as needed!) or you can invest in a cutting machine like this if you don’t already have one and you can cut all the decals you want in no time.

  It may not be worth buying a cutting machine for just one small room or one wall of decals (unless you also want to use it for its other features as well like for making cards and T-shirts, etc.), but I’ve used my machine to make wallpaper for four rooms now in addition to other projects, so it’s been really worth it overall.

  For example, I used around three rolls of each color for the stars in my bedroom, with the colors Cream, Melon, Tulip, and this Signal Yellow and since I waited for a sale, I spent under $50 on the vinyl to wallpaper an entire room—NOT BAD!

  I did use a cutter that I own to cut the shapes, but I could have also chosen a more organic design to cut with scissors instead if I didn’t have a cutting machine or want to buy one.
• SKILL LEVEL: When talking about DIY projects, skill level is always a big part of what a person may choose to take on. For decal wallpaper, it’s a pretty broad range of skill level options, so you can choose what works best for you!

  Easiest: Buy pre-cut decals (like these) and stick them on your wall!

  Medium: Buy your own vinyl and cut out an easy shape with scissors to stick on (think dots, confetti shapes, or more organic looking leopard-type spots).

  Advanced: Use a cutting machine and computer software to create a design and have the machine cut it for you. This method is for sure easier on the hand muscles than cutting out shapes yourself, but you do have to take the time to learn how to use the software, etc. Totally doable and worth it if you ask me!
• PERSONALIZATION: If you don’t see exactly what you want already for sale, if you buy decals on Etsy you may be able to ask the seller to do something special for you if they are flexible and don’t have exactly what you want. One reason I like the cutting machine method is that I was able to totally pick the shape, size, and color scheme I wanted and the only limiter was the color selection of vinyl I could find. But, other than that, it was all up to me!

  So if you are a little more open to what’s already available you can go with an option that exists, but if you need to match something existing in your home, or are just super picky like me, you may want to do an option you can customize a bit more.
• TIME: Trying to get this done quickly or do you have more time to spend on it? Ordering a pre-cut decal will allow you to go straight to the application part and you’ll be done in an afternoon. But you’ll want to set aside quite a bit more time if you are cutting out all the decals by hand (a great activity to do while you watch movies).

  Using a cutter means that you’ll spend time on the front end getting your design set up and ready to start cutting, but once it’s ready your only job is to load the vinyl into the cutter every so often and let it do its job.

This week, we’re reacting to 2022 design trends. We’re also discussing personal pivots we’ve made the past two years, and we answer a listener’s questions about true love.

You can stream the episode here, on the blog, or on iTunes, Spotify, Google Play, TuneIn, Pocket Casts, and Stitcher. You can find the podcast posts archive here.

A big thank you to our sponsors! Check out the offers from Ritual, Calm, BetterHelp, and Splendid Spoon. And, if you’re looking for a specific code you heard on the podcast, you can see a full list on this page!

Show notes:

-Vogue’s 2022 Trends: shades of brown walls, plaster and lime wash walls, dual-purpose rooms, vintage and sustainable accents, leather furniture, and bold patterns and colors.

-Vogue’s list of trends that are out: open floor plans, boucle, and all white-everything.

-Read Elsie’s blog post about open floor plans here.

-Architectural Digest’s 2022 trends: geometric grids, green as the new neutral, goblin core, glass blocks, and books as decoration.

Here’s a picture of the glass blocks in Elsie’s bathroom:

-Apartment Therapy’s trends that are leaving in 2022: open concept homes, cheap replica, shiplap, all-white kitchens, all gray interiors, minuscule home offices, boho style, mosaic tiles, waterfall kitchen islands, and harsh metals.

-Cherish’s up-and-coming trends: antique French and Flemish tapestry, a strong marbled look, tortoise print, ornamentation, metal shades, nostalgic florals, and vintage/sustainable accents.

-Color trends: green, purple, and red

-Emma’s personal predictions: burnt orange, vintage, and Turkish rugs

-Elsie’s personal predictions: traditional decor, secondhand, wallpaper, built-ins, framed TVs, and fake fireplaces

Elsie’s vintage chairs from FB Marketplace:

-Elsie’s not loving trends list: postmodern, pastels, clean minimal modern streamlined, and LED lights

-Emma’s not loving list: too much open shelving in a kitchen

-Emma’s personal pandemic pivot: walking

-Elsie’s personal pandemic pivots: going to bed early

See you next week! xo

Episode 131 Transcript

[read_more id=”1″ more=”Read More” less=”Read Less”]

Elsie: You’re listening to the A Beautiful Mess podcast. Welcome back. This week we’re reacting to the 2022 design trend forecast and they are weird this year either really surprising or super boring and hardly anything in between. You’re gonna love it. This is definitely just for fun because you know, we don’t obsess about trends too much, but we do think they’re fun to talk about. We’re also going to talk about our personal pivots that we’ve made during these past two years. Dun dun da.

Emma: Dun, Dun, Da. The whole podcast could be called just for fun, just for fun, a podcast by A Beautiful Mess.

Elsie: For sure, it’s just for fun. Okay, so storytime, Emma and I have decided to immortalize ourselves in the form of, wait for it. Wait for it. Wait for it. Muppet Show like muppet style puppets that look like us with our hair and clothing. So I found someone on Etsy who can make these puppets. He’s been making us a blank version of two Caucasian puppets. Then I have to build the hair myself and the clothing which I’m like, kind of nervous about, I hope I can pull it off. If not, then they’ll be going in the mail to Laura’s house. One way or another we’re getting these puppets and so this is why we ordered them. Before, or was it during Christmas break or right before? I can’t remember. We were like, should we go on Tik Tok? Should we try? Should we care? Should we just like do it? It’s always like we should but we’re not going to type of vibe. But then we got this idea that if we made these Muppet puppets of ourselves, it would be really funny. So we really have bought some stock in these puppets. 

Emma: I can’t remember exactly how you brought it up to me, but you’re like I had this idea where it’s like we could share little segments of the podcast or little things from our blog, but you know, it’ll be the puppets talking. There’ll be a puppet that looks like me and looks like you and I was like, immediately I think you couldn’t tell if I liked it or not because my face was just blank, but I go, I love it. I could not love it more. Kind of a dream come true. I love puppets so much. My Instagram discover page is nail art, pasta, and puppets. That’s like what I love and it knows. Elsie was like you gotta get a leopard beanie because I feel like my puppet has to have some leopard. 

Elsie: Yeah,  don’t you guys think Emma’s puppet is all leopard all the time and then my puppet, I was thinking I would put like a little Addams Family dress on my puppet. What do you think I should do?

Emma: She should probably get new clothes every season because she’s trendy.

Elsie: Ah. 

Emma: This is how you know, we take ourselves really serious when we’re like, should we get puppets that look like us and use those for segments? I think so.

Elsie: I definitely think so. So, yeah, I think it’s gonna be amazing. It’s gonna be viral.

Emma: We’ll see.

Elsie: Anyway,  Okay, well, let’s start on the trends because the trends are crazy. Okay, so we did this episode last year, and it was so much fun. And okay, so let me just say a little disclaimer up here in the front because we famously love disclaimers.

Emma: We love a disclaimer.

Elsie: Total vibe. Okay, so obviously, this is just for fun, and we don’t want you to be offended or take something personally. Also, I think that some trend reports can be kind of Shamy. That’s not what we’re going for at all. For me, it’s like if you love something, and it’s either coming in as a fresh trend going out as an old trend or nowhere to be seen as not a trend, those are all fine. If you know that you love it, then keep it on your list. But I don’t know, I still just like can’t resist the episode because they’re so fun to talk about and some of these are so weird. Then some of them I feel like they’re just recycling the same stuff they said last year like there’s very boring, you’ll see. Yeah, where it’s like Oh, really? So anyway, I just think it’s fun. What I hope for the episode is that every single person listening is able to just sit there and judge along with us and go along with us. Just like do it for fun as a guilty pleasure, right?

Emma: Yeah, let’s be judgey but about home stuff and not people, let’s do!

Elsie: Okay, so I got these from several different sources. I’m going to do Vogue first. So I’m just gonna basically read their trends for 2022 list and if there’s anything in these lists that you aren’t familiar with, or you’d like to see an example, I’m going to put the links in our show notes, abeautifulmess.com/podcast for every single one of these articles. So you can look at them in more detail if you want, but I think a lot of it, you’ll kind of know. So trends for 2022. So this is what they’re saying is coming in as a fresh new trend. The first one is shades of brown, beige, medium brown, and even chocolate brown walls. What do you say to that, Emma?

Emma: I like it. I don’t know if it’s fresh and new.

Elsie: Yeah, I feel the same. Well, I think chocolate brown like dark brown, that’s pretty new. I think that beige has been happening for a while. There was the bright white phase and then more recently, I think more people have been going towards the creamier whites or even beige as just like a more cozy warm vibe. I like it. It had such a hard like, out of style at one point, you know, beige was so bad that now it’s like, it’s kind of cool. How do you feel about beige for your own home?

Emma: I like beige. I love a creamy, warm tone. I don’t have any dark chocolate brown except for like wood but I’d be into that. 

Elsie: I can accept a little bit of beige here and there. I give this one a subtle thumbs up like a noncommittal, that’s fine thumbs up. Next one is plaster and lime-washed walls. I will say I agree. I would say this is coming up for the past three years. It’s not brand new or anything. I’ve seen it a lot, you know, like the Kim Kardashian house. The very minimal, I think it goes really well with that type of aesthetic. 

Emma: Yes, I agree that or also kind of a Mediterranean or kind of that sort of Spanish style. It can go with those as well. I’ve seen it a lot for range hoods. People will kind of plaster over their kitchen hood. I think that like a nice vibe.

Elsie: Fireplace and also showers, I’ve heard that it’s about the same price as nice tile to have your shower plastered. I’m not very hot on the plaster shower but I do think that I can go there on a plastered fireplace.

Emma: Yeah, or rangehood depending on your style. But yeah, the shower I’d rather just have the nice tile personally.

Elsie: I am a tile enthusiast. Okay, the next one is dual-purpose rooms. I feel like this one is kind of like a la-da. You stole this one from last year’s list. 

Emma: These next four that are from Vogue that are on your list here, I’m like, I don’t think these are trends. These are just things that exist all the time in my opinion.  

Elsie: So dual-purpose rooms and they mean like since COVID more people you know you work in your living room or you have your guest bedroom is also an office. You figure out ways to get more out of your spaces that you’re not using every single day. The next one is vintage and sustainable accents so this is actually going to be on a lot of lists and I’m glad that people think it’s a trend to buy vintage. It’s funny to me because it’s what we’re always into all the time. If that’s a trend to you and it makes more people shop it, I think it’s great. Leather furniture which I didn’t really understand why they put that on there but I like leather furniture so.

Emma: Yeah, I feel like it’s just like one option.

Elsie: Then bold patterns and colors so this was on a lot of lists as well. A lot of people are saying big colorful rooms, big patterns, minimalist is be gone, you minimalist. Be gone you neutral rooms and everything is supposed to be like a big look. I will say like I think it’s fun to say that and I think a big look is cool. I don’t know if everyone’s gonna be doing it. I don’t know if it would be a mainstream trend. It’s like everyone will wear a clown nose. Well, someone might but is everyone? 

Emma: Maybe there’ll be a runway show that has that, us normies I don’t think so. 

Elsie: But I do think that more color is definitely a thing. I don’t think I have anything else to say about those. Should we move on to their list of what’s out? 

Emma: Yes, because I thought these were, in my opinion, spot on. 

Elsie: The first one is open floor plans, which I will say was on a lot of lists last year. But I definitely agree, it’s still a pretty big debate. I just wrote a long blog post about it, which I will link in the show notes about my own open floor plan issues, which is very different from an open kitchen. My living spaces were open to each other but I explained what made me close them off more and how people are very resistant to any kind of closing in or adding walls. For me, it was all benefits. No downsides. Okay, the next one is boucle and I saw this on a couple of lists. Do you know what boucle is? 

Emma: No.

Elsie: I have two chairs of it that were in my living room and then Laura has this sofa of it. It’s like a white fabric that kind of looks like sheepskin a little bit. That’s what it is. 

Emma: No, I still like this a lot.

Elsie: I still like it a lot, too. I think people are putting it on the list because it’s white. It gets a lot of resistance from the owners, the parents, the people who are just like generally afraid of any kind of dirt or any kind of aging. I have mine, I’ve had it for over two years. I have kids and dogs and I will attest they do get kind of dirty and you do have to wash them. But for me, it’s like still I stand by the boucle. I think it’s nice and  I wouldn’t mind if it stayed around for a lot longer.

Emma: Yeah, I think it’s a really nice texture.

Elsie: Then the next one is all white everything. I think this is especially dominant in kitchens and bathrooms and also in flips and remodels. Where people will sort of like go the bright white, but then take it like three or four steps too far. Where there’s like no contrast at all. As far as the eye can see every single surface is white. I think that that is a trend that’s cycling out. You hadn’t seen it as much it was more appealing and now that we’ve all seen it a lot, it’s less appealing for sure. I think that some more contrast, some more color in there, maybe some wood texture. I still like a lot of white but I think that all white everything is too much. 

Emma: Yeah, I agree. 

Elsie: Okay, this next one is from Architectural Digest and this one definitely gets weird. I think this is one of my favorite ones. This is definitely my favorite one. Okay, the first one is geometric grid. Are you still obsessed with the checkers trend? The checkers trend is definitely I would say is a major trend from last year so that’s why it bothers me that they’re putting it on the list for this year because I feel like it’s already a major trend. But I would say yeah still going for sure. 

Emma: I mean, I would say it’s still going.  I do think a black and white checkered floor can be very cool. I still like that for a kitchen or certain parts of the house. Yeah, I’m into it. I think it’s still a bit timeless, but I could understand someone feeling it’s on trend for now.

Elsie: There’s different ways you can do it. Like I was thinking of the more 80s vibe of checkers like you’ve seen a lot of the pastels and things like that. I think that a black and white floor can be very classic and very timeless. So you’re right, it goes in a lot of different directions. I’m actually thinking of doing a checkered floor in our kitchen remodel, but I think I would tilt it so it was like a diamond.  I think it’s very pretty and very timeless, for sure. Definitely going strong, but also definitely not a brand new trend. We’ve all seen people making their floors checkered for two years now, wouldn’t you say?

Emma: I mean, I think so. Yeah.

Elsie: The next one is green is the new neutral. Duh.

Emma: I’m like uh-huh.

Elsie: Green is definitely the new neutral and it has been for a while. So we’ll skip to the next one. Okay, the next one is really good. We love you Architectural Digest. They mention goblin core, saying things that are vintage or very in like mushrooms, snails, frogs, plants, which thumbs up, we got it. It’s definitely a thing. Okay, this next one is my favorite one. I can’t believe they’ve mentioned this. They said glass blocks are coming back into style. When they say glass blocks, they mean glass blocks, for example, like in my bathroom, my 1990s bathroom, where the shower has glass blocks to let more light in. They’re saying that that is coming back in style. In my mind, my brain is half melted from it still, I will say I firmly disagree that this is coming in style. We’ll see. I would love to be wrong because it would be hilarious, but I just can’t see it. What about you?

Emma: Yeah, I mean, I feel like if I see them in someone’s home, I don’t think like, oh, that’s awful. You need to get rid of those. I’m like, well, they’re ok. 

Elsie: What if you saw that they were putting it in this year because that’s what they’re saying? 

Emma: That’s where I would go with it is I would be like, oh, that’s surprising that that’s what you chose. I just don’t see a lot of people choosing that because it seems like a 1990’s spa vibe, which is weird. I don’t know. Yeah, I don’t know.

Elsie: A lot of people like to call the 80s and 90s trends post-modern. I think it makes it sound more classy. It’s not for me but I’m very interested if someone makes a beautiful glass block room and you see it. Everyone, please send it to me. I want to see it. I have to be the first to know because if there’s a way to do it, someone will do it and make it beautiful. It’ll be cool and interesting. The next one is books as decoration, which I love. I don’t think this is a trend that’s new at all. But I do think that it’s something that you’re never ever, ever, ever, ever gonna regret putting shelves in your home or buying more books. That’s my opinion. That’s my hill to die on. Those are the things I just keep doing them over and over and I just love them more every year that goes by.

Emma: Yeah, I agree. Been buying books from thrift stores for a long time as decorations.

Elsie: Overall, I think that that Architectural Digest list is good because it was not vanilla and I think, for the most part, I agree with it, except for the one. Okay, the next one is Apartment Therapy and this one is a little different. This list is trends that are leaving in 2022. So this is kind of like a negative Nancy one where it’s saying things like bye, these things are no longer in style. There’s so many ways to take that but let me just say that as someone who held on to millennial pink for like six years after people started saying, this is so out, this is so not cool. No one’s gonna do this color. I just like kept doing it and kept loving it more each year, do whatever you want. 

Emma: For sure. Except for these things. No just kidding,

Elsie: They’re controversial, which is fun. Okay, so the first thing they’re saying is going out is open concept homes, we already talked about that. The next one, this one was really interesting, I thought. It is cheap replicas. They’re saying we should leave behind the cheap replicas. When they say this, I’m thinking the stuff like in the target home section, the stuff that’s meant to look like a vintage this or that. There’s a vintagey style that a lot of less expensive home stores are doing right now. I do think that maybe people should focus on just buying the real thing. This really made me think about that. For example, at Target recently, I saw that they had some wicker lamps. I was like, oh, that’s so cute, like a wicker lamp.  I haven’t seen that target before always like catches my eye just because it’s like, new at Target, you know, and it’s like, a lot of people have this target. I know you don’t have a target addiction. But I know that a majority of our audience relates with me and they also have a target addiction. I don’t know. I kind of just compulsively want the newest things they have and maybe it’s just a bad habit. So I love this idea of leaving behind the cheap replicas because there are certain things like I’m definitely not going to go on a Target boycott. There are certain things that I love going there for but I do think that like there are certain homes things that when I buy them, like trendy home things, I don’t appreciate them, like two or three seasons later. That’s not good to keep buying once you realize that about yourself.

Emma: No, I agree. Yeah, I think too, I mean, maybe you’re kind of speaking to this, but a little bit kind of the impulse buy nature of it. Where it’s almost like fast fashion for your home.

Elsie: It is. That’s the perfect example. 

Emma: If you really do want that item, and you’re just finding a cheaper version, because that’s what fits your budget, well, that’s understandable. We’ve all been on a budget. But I do you think if you’re just like, oh, it’s just convenient, I am already here at Target buying groceries or like fast fashion stuff. It’s like, oh, I’m getting this ad on Instagram and I’m just, you know, it’s so cheap. It’s just kind of an impulse thing. It’s like, well, maybe that’s not the best way to shop for your closet or your home is to be a little more thoughtful. It’s not necessarily the price because I don’t want to shame anyone who’s on a tight budget. Trust me, I understand. It’s more just the impulsiveness of it I think that I fall victim to plenty of times. Yeah, it’s like, maybe think on it a little more, you’re going to love this for a long time. That’s really more what it is, I think. i don’t know.

Elsie: There’s plenty of things in my home from Amazon, Target, and Walmart that I’ve used for years that I love. That I’ll keep using for years. I think that knowing the difference like that is the difference. Is this something that I’m going to use for a minute and then be sick of or is this something that has a place long term? 

Emma: Yep. 

Elsie: The next thing on the list is shiplap. So I do think that this has been on the list for a few years now and it’s kind of a lazy one. But I will say, this is going to surprise everyone because you guys know, I don’t really like farmhouse, but I actually still do kind of like shiplap. I like it when it’s painted a color. When it’s like painted like a bold color, moody color, or black even. I think it can look really classy. I’ve noticed about shiplap that a lot of people have started using it vertically, always. And that’s like sort of like the classier way to use it now, instead of horizontally. So maybe that’s the modification or just where the trend has landed. But I personally don’t hate shiplap as much as I hate the general aesthetic of farmhouse, as like a catalog. But I think shiplap can actually be really nice and it’s a historic feature, too.

Emma: I agree. I feel the same way about shiplap. We’re about to get to talking about all white again, and another color too. But here’s what I’ll say about it kind of relates to both of those. I think if you’re like oh, I don’t know what to do with this space, I’m just going to put up shiplap or oh, I don’t know what to do with this space, I’m just going to paint everything white. It’s like, well, that’s fine but maybe that’s not the most thoughtful and thought through decor plan. Which you know, they’re both safe choices and kind of a blank canvas because shiplap to me is just like a subtle texture. It’s like you’re just wanting a little bit of something in your room and it’s a subtle one. And so I’m like, Yeah, that’s fine. It’s also pretty inexpensive. So it’s not a massive commitment as far as financially. So it’s like, okay, you know, like, I think that’s all fine. But I think if some spaces, though, are really nice with shiplap, or they are really nice with an all-white or something.  I’ve seen people take their shiplap and they’re like painting it like a dark moody color and I think that’s really vibey and fun. So it almost has a board batten feel to it as well. I think it’s like, if you’re using it in a thoughtful way that works for your space, then I still love it. But if you’re just like, oh, I’m just gonna do this shiplap because that’s what everyone does., it’s like that may not end up being the best thing for that space than because you didn’t really think it through. You just kind of looked at what everyone else was doing. 

Elsie: Yeah. The next item is all-white kitchens. They are saying all-white kitchens are out of here. So my thoughts are, I still love an all-white kitchen. I like it more if it has something else like some wood maybe like a butcher block counter. Maybe some of the cabinets are different, maybe not all the tiles white. I do think that I agree that it shouldn’t be all white. If you want it to look like an exciting Pinterest kitchen for 2022, I think I do agree, not all white. 

Emma: I would agree. I think all white is kind of just been done so much that you kind of need to do a new spin on it if you’re going to do it. It needs to have a vibe to it. It’s like wearing an all-white outfit. It’s like, well, what’s the vibe, though? You can’t just throw together white clothes from your closet and be like, oh, here we go. It’s like well, yeah, I guess they match in that they’re the same color but what’s the vibe? Are you dressed up for a wedding? Are you going to paint a room and you have this kind of like painter vibe? What are you doing with it? So I think it has to have a point of view if you’re going to do it.

Elsie: Yeah, I think it’s just time for a Pinterest deep dive if you’re planning a white kitchen and I will say like, a white kitchen is classic forever. I get it because it feels fresh and clean and I also don’t want a bold color in my kitchen. I just don’t. I think that just find what’s special and unique about your kitchen and as long as you have that do whatever colors you want.

Emma: When in doubt, just copy a Nancy Meyers kitchen as best you can.

Elsie: Oh my gosh, Nancy Meyers posted her own kitchen on her Instagram and it’s a beautiful, classic all-white kitchen. I think it’s like 20 years old, she said and it still looks perfect for now. So you know, it’s classic. Okay. The next one is all gray interiors. I think I’m just a little confused as to when all gray interiors were on trend.  Gray is probably my least favorite color in decor. I’m not into Gray. I’m definitely not into all gray.

Emma: It’s more sterile than white. So it’s just weird.

Elsie: The next one is minuscule home offices. So they’re saying that like your closet office or your like tiny office because you don’t really use it because you work at a real office, that is a thing in the past. That’s definitely a pandemic thing and I 100% agree. I think that people want to at least know that they have a plan for a good home office, even if it’s like mostly a guest room. It’s like you could easily switch it around if your priorities change. Jeremy and I talk about this quite a bit like, what will our generation carry with us for the rest of our lives now? As someone who’s parented had little toddlers through the pandemic, I will always be different about how I house shop forever. I would never buy a house ever, ever that didn’t have good office spaces. 

Emma: Yeah, because you did then you moved three months later. 

Elsie: It’s our version of the great depression. I learned a big lesson fast. I mean, for me, I have a very high priority on spaces and what they’re used for, and working from home and also kids stuff. So anyway, no more tiny home offices. I think people at least need a place where they can expand their office. 

Emma: Yeah. 

Elsie: Okay. The next one is boho style. I take offense to this in some ways. Actually, yesterday on Instagram, someone asked me they’re like, so are you not doing boho style anymore? I was like, I don’t feel like you have to choose. My wicker stuff that I love, I have a hanging wicker chair that I’ve used in four houses now, I will for sure use it in this house. I still think it’ll fit in perfectly. I think that Serena Lily is the perfect example of how classic and wicker can meet together in a perfect world and make a beautiful home. I’m not writing off boho. I mean, I don’t shop at Urban Outfitters Home too much anymore but I also like still would if I see something I like. I don’t know. 

Emma: I mean, I think it’s one of those styles you can mix it in and it’s kind of timeless in its own way. To me, I think of it as just very cozy not in a like, you know, English Library kind of way but in more of a like floor pillows kind of way. You know, like, the way that Hansel dresses from Zoolander like it’s in his warehouse. Yeah, yeah, that’s what I think of and I think that’s kind of timeless but it’s something to maybe mix in. Some people have an extreme version of it and that’s cool.

Elsie: I don’t have a problem with it. I don’t think I’m going to. I love wicker with all my heart. I would still want more wicker things in my future, not less.  Okay, the next one is mosaic tiles and this is a head-scratcher for me. I’m like, were mosaic tiles recently super in style and they’re going out like, I don’t get that. I don’t think that they were that in style before so I guess I’m not able to comment on this one. It’s like, I think they’re the same. 

Emma: If you want to bold pattern tile, you either want it or you don’t I don’t know. It’s not really. I don’t know. 

Elsie: I mean, if you are doing a historic home you should use small tile. If you’re doing a mid-century home, you should use bigger tile like, just do what is right for your home and don’t worry about the stupid list. Okay. Next one. Okay, waterfall kitchen islands. I wrote oh shit. I feel like that is like throwing punches. 

Emma: For real. 

Elsie: I’m surprised that they put that. I don’t have a strong opinion about it. I am pretty neutral on the waterfall kitchen island. What do you think?

Emma: I mean, if anyone reads this list, and they’re like, oh no, that’s going out, I better get rid of mine. You could sell it to me like I’ll buy it. So I don’t mind a slightly outdated waterfall kitchen., lovely. Sign me up. Yeah, I don’t know. I don’t think it’s going out. 

Elsie: I think it either fits your kitchen or it doesn’t, right?

Emma: Yeah, it’s a vibe so it’s not for every kitchen. But yeah, if you have one, I wouldn’t get rid of it.

Elsie: The next one is, this is the last one also, harsh metals and it saying that warm patina look is more in an ultra-modern look is out. I would say yes to that. I agree that the warm patina look is definitely in for sure. I do think that as far as, the ultra-modern, it used to look so expensive, and now it’s like, maybe it doesn’t look as expensive as it used to me.

Emma: Yeah, I think it’s fine but it does feel a little outdated in a way to me. Yeah, metal is so tough though, because it’s one of those things that once you put it in your home, you’re probably not going to change it for a long time. It’s kind of weird to even think of it as much of a trend because it’s not like a rug, or curtains, you know what I mean, or even wall paint. It’s just such a different thing.

Elsie: Yeah. I think that in general, hardware trends are going in a more traditional way. Where five years ago, it was like the more modern, the better, and maybe now not so much.

Emma: Yeah, I think it is more traditional now. That’s true. 

Elsie: Okay, this is our last trend list and this is up and coming trends. These are from Cherish. The first one is antique French and Flemish tapestries. So I think what they mean by that is like tuol and wallpaper and I think for sure, yes. Like ornate traditional-looking wallpaper and textiles are for sure in style more than they were a few years ago. 100% 

Emma: Yeah, yeah. 

Elsie: There was a time like early in our blog years, where the only wallpaper people would use, is something like funny and like catchy and like modern like a little like tiger like you know what I mean? And now it’s like people will straight up use the same patterns from the early 1900s that are being reduced. So I love that. I think that’s great. The next one is marblilization. So this one, the pictures they showed was actually like a marbling look stuff. It’s not just like marble like you would see on a kitchen counter. It’s more like the effect you could get from dipping the paper in the paint, you know? You know when we made those ring dishes, one of our like old school viral DIYs, that kind of look, they’re saying is coming back. Which I think is cool if that’s true. I haven’t seen that personally. I’m not feeling that one. It’s not a prediction I would say, but I think if it did come back in a strong way, I would like it.

Emma: I could see that a little bit. I feel like that was a bit of like clothing trend from the late 90s and early 2000s. I feel like that time period is coming more in. I haven’t seen it as much in decor but yeah, I could see it.

Elsie: The next one is tortoise ornamentation, like tortoise glasses.

Emma: Like turtles? Oh, ok. 

Elsie: Like the brown and black molded plastic that you would see in glasses or a hair clip from J Crew like those kinds of things. I think, sure, I love that. I always love that. I think it’s very preppy, very classic. There’s never a time when I wouldn’t use a tortoise hair clip or something, whatever, you know. So as far as like, in my house, personally, I think maybe like a vase or something. I maybe would skip it because I would feel like maybe it was a little too leopard looking for my style. 

Emma: I mean, it doesn’t really go with my home at the moment but I would think it was cool if I saw it in someone’s house that like went with their decor. I would think it was really cool. So yeah, I think it’s kind of a timeless pattern.

Elsie: The next one is metal shades like lampshades. I’m just gonna put my hands up and say I don’t know.

Emma: I’m not into it. Yeah, I’m not into it.

Elsie: I don’t know. I mean, yeah, I’m not in the market for a metal lampshade right now.  The next one is nostalgic florals. So 100% yes. I don’t really think there’s a year when I wouldn’t like florals. I do think that a traditional floral pattern is back with a vengeance more than ever. 

Emma: Yeah, I agree. 

Elsie: Then the last one is, dun dun da, vintage. So they put vintage on their list, everyone did. I will say are so happy. I think there’s a huge part of our audience and probably just like the general population that never buys vintage things for their home. If people even add a little bit in, I think that’s cool. There’s enough for everyone. That’s something as an eBay enthusiast I will say, there’s enough out there for everyone. It is not competitive. Usually, when I bid on things, I never get outbid. It’s just not competitive at all to get all these like cool special vintage things.

Emma: Yeah, I love vintage. I don’t know, it’s great.

Elsie: I want it to be a trend. I hope that it is. Okay, so for a quick sec, let’s talk about color trends. So I will say I kind of think color trends are bullsh*t because it’s like it’s paint. I think that people worry way too much about paint. I guess six of the paint brands picked a shade of gray-green or light green, like a creamy colored green this year for their color. Green is like the overwhelming color trend. Okay, so first of all, do you wanna say anything about the green trend?

Emma: I love green. 

Elsie: That’s it. 

Emma: That’s what I would say. 

Elsie: I do think it’s so pretty. It photographs really pretty. It looks different in different lighting. It has a lot of good things about it. So the other paint color trends that I, basically I read like a whole bunch of lists, and then I just wrote down the ones like the main ones, so there was a lot of like, purple, coming through. The Pantone color of the year is purple. Then there were a lot of other brands that mentioned shades of purple. I’m really interested to see how that plays out because at this moment, I’m not like feeling a big draw to purple, but I am seeing other people do it. I don’t know, I’m just kind of, it’s a trend that I’m excited to follow, but not for myself. Then the other one is red. So a lot of people are forecasting different shades of red to be like a big thing. She’s shaking her head, no.

Emma: I don’t really like red that much. I mean, as an accent, but like too much red is a bit overwhelming at times. But I guess it depends.

Elsie: I will say I think that it looks very classy. If you want your house to be like, inspired by like the White House, then yeah. I can see a red room as like, it’s a big classy, rich lady grandma-like statement piece. Then I can see it in like the Wes Anderson way where it’s like kind of like a pinky red where it’s kind of corky. Then I can even see like the maroon, I’ve seen like a recently a maroon kitchen that was so beautiful. For me, I don’t think I’m gonna be partaking.  I was thinking about doing my little hidden closet in the Wes Anderson red. But other than that, and I’m on the fence, I’m not sure, but other than that, I don’t think I’m going to partake in the red trend, but I will love it for other people. Because you know, my number one love in life is the Home Alone house, which does have a lot of kind of peachy red walls in it. So we’re gonna do our personal predictions.

Emma: So if Green is a neutral, which I agree with, what is next, like next up to me is kind of burnt orange, or like, certain colors of brown. I guess they’re saying is like a trend for the year browns, and beige and all of that, but to me burn orange and things in that vein is going to be one of the next neutrals.

Elsie: Interesting. I think that’s a very bold prediction. 

Emma: I could totally be wrong, but I just think it’s like a vibe that I like, and I could like it all year round. Then the only other thing was vintage and Turkish rugs. I feel like those are like, everywhere, kind of a classic. I don’t even know if it’s a trend. I just think more people are getting into it because it can work in so many different styles of homes. I feel like maybe some people were feeling resistant to it and they wanted only like new rugs, but I feel like people are becoming they’re coming around to it. So I think it’ll become more and more mainstream, kind of the vintage and Turkish style rugs. 

Elsie: I hope so. I’m such a big advocate for vintage rugs. 

Emma: It can just really, really cozy up and warm up a room, no matter what color of rug you’ve chosen. I just think it’s a good vibe.

Elsie: I totally agree.

Emma: Yeah, but that was it for me just those two things.

Elsie: Okay, well, I have a few predictions. So I am loving, the resurgence in traditional decor feels really good to me, it’s what I’m into. It’s how I’m decorating my house so, of course, I’m excited about it. I just think that for so long, modern was always considered better. There’s just been like a shift in the last couple of years and people are starting to actually think that like, maybe modern can be actually kind of boring, and maybe old can be more beautiful and more exciting. I’m really excited about that idea because I think old stuff is so cool. It deserves to be you know, our end goal, not the thing that we’re trying to cover up and change and destroy or whatever. Right? Okay. And then well, vintage is always a trend that’s gonna work for me. I love, love, love, love shopping vintage, but I will admit that there’s been years in the past where I was doing it just because to add like a little thing here and there a little thing here and there in rooms. It wasn’t like a main part of my shopping but more recently, I’ve let it be a main part of my shopping again. I started doing Facebook marketplace recently, which has been awesome. I got some really cool vintage chairs. I’ll have to show you. Anyway, I think that shopping used. If that became a trend, I think it would be so great. I want that so much. I hoped for it. I still feel like wallpaper is on its upswing of popularity, which makes me really happy because I’m a wallpaper enthusiast for sure. I will always love wallpaper but I do think that there was a time when I first started using it when people were kind of freaked out by it. Now it’s like, like on our top affiliate links of the year last year. Your nursery wallpaper was one of the top, which means that people are actually buying it now, which is so different from how it was five years ago, which is really cool. So I’m excited about that. So what I’m prioritizing in my renovations, maybe these are trends, maybe this is just what I’m interested in, you guys have seen like I’m spending all my money on built-ins, built-in city. I’m loving it. I think that they add so much character especially to a newer house that’s kind of a blank box like mine was. Now it feels like they’ve been there forever, which is like such a good feeling. I will say frame TVs have my freaking heart. I love a framed TV. I have a couple of them in my house and I think that they’re amazing and totally worth the money if anyone’s on the fence. Then fake fireplaces. I’m going full ham on my fake fireplaces.  I just want to add a fireplace anyplace I can and I’m not really worried about them being functional. I’m just gonna add like little remote candles and little twinkle lights with you know, a plugin on the wall. I just think that they’re like sort of like an all, this sounds so silly, but an alternative to a lamp. They’re just like another cozy light source that you could have. I really am hoping I can fit one into my bathroom remodel because don’t you think a fireplace and a bathtub situation is like the ultimate?

Emma: Yeah, it kind of is. Yeah, it’s cute.

Elsie: Okay, and then not loving. On my not loving list and if you’re in, disclaimer, if you’re into these trends, I love that for you and you probably hate my Home Alone wallpaper and we can still be friends. So it’s all good. A lot of people hate that wallpaper but I love it so much. Okay, postmodern so the like 80s and 90s resurgence, I’m really not in anything modern right now. I see it and I’m like thumbs up. I like it and appreciate it in someone else’s house, but it’s not something that attracts me. It’s not something that I like. I don’t want to do any of it. Nothing with it. Then I guess I’m on a break from pastels which I never thought I would say. I would still defend pink paint to my death but I think I am on a break from like the pastels on pastels on pastels of the past few years. I think I’m kind of done with that. 

Emma: Mm-hmm. 

Elsie: Then anything in the category of like clean minimal modern streamlined all of that for me is like out and for what I want is like cozy worn and textured and old. Not everything has to look brand new anymore. Then my okay, this is like my controversial opinion maybe but I hate LED lights. LED lights are ruining everything. So if someone has a trick or if I’m just doing it wrong, I tried to buy the warmest, dimmest LED lights and I still feel like they’re not warm or dim enough. I just think that the quality of the light especially on like, you know the like colorful Christmas lights, they use to have that feeling. Now when you see them on people’s houses, they’re just like, kind of a noxious overly bright glow. I know LED lights are good for the environment. I know they last longer and I want those parts of it. But someone please help me figure out how to get like a more vintagey looking bulb or like if it doesn’t exist someone please invent one. I just need help with that.

Emma: Really, I agree with most of yours.

Elsie: Really.

Emma: The only one I’d really add is, that was a trend for a long time that I’m kind of like not anymore into is too much open shelving, especially in a kitchen. I don’t mind a little bit. So we have all open shelving in our kitchen and it’s great for an Airbnb because you can find things, but it just feels very, like cluttery and a lot. Like trying to keep it organized is the whole thing. I wish it was like a half and half because I like some of it for like your pretty dishes and certain things. I really like that. I don’t want it all closed, but I feel like too much open shelving is kind of like a too open floor plan, not into it.

Elsie: I agree with that, too.  Well, I hope that was a fun episode. I had so much fun talking about trends for some reason. I like really geeked out on this, I spent like a whole day making this outline. It’s so fun like reading all the articles and everything. So, anyway, listener question. 

Emma: The listener question is, how do you test whether it’s true love or trend love? I think this question kind of hints at a thing that I think comes up in lots of ways in life, which is that you can’t predict the future. You have no idea what you will love 10 years from now, like not really. But what you can do is, think about what you’ve loved in the past and make the best decision with what you have today. Then just keep moving forward. There’s not really anything else to do. We would all like to think, oh, I can make a decision today and that’ll be it for the rest of my life. You know, maybe some things. I don’t think paint works that way so just like don’t worry about it so much. Pick what you love today. I don’t know.

Elsie: For sure. I mean, when it comes to like, let’s say something, something expensive and final like a kitchen remodel, or a leather sofa, or like, I don’t know what, like, I just designed a fireplace and that felt really expensive and really final. Just think of the next five years of your life and try it. Emma gave me this pep talk one day where she was like, if you can keep these shelves for five years without painting them, you’ve done a good job. Like, okay, I can do that. That makes it feel less scary, you know? Maybe we don’t need to think ahead until we’re like 80.

Emma: Impossible. I mean, I’ll be running my mini-golf course by the time I’m 80.

Elsie: That’s true. It’s true. It’s true. I do wonder what things in my house like there has to be something that will last until I’m 80. I want to know what those things are, like those magical pieces. Like what are they?

Emma: Yeah, that’ll be fun to see. That’ll be a podcast episode from when we’re in our 60s, things we’ve had since our 30s. 

Elsie: Oh my God, I just like love idea of podcasting in our 60s. Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh, oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. Okay. There’s one more thing. So this is a question. It’s from our friend Morgan and it came in on Instagram. It says still pivoting, pandemic pivots, small stuff like new habits, routines, and interest. I think that I’m still like getting these two so I liked this question.

Emma: Yes. So the thing that came to my mind is walking. So like walking became my main fitness because I stopped going to the gym, which you know, I could go now but like, I realized that like, I look forward to walking. It’s like a workout that I look forward to so I will be really consistent with it. It’s like fresh air and sunshine. I would add to that I do a lot of walking dates with friends, like going on walks with my friends, and chatting became a big part of my pandemic because it was a way to be outside but still get to chat. I love it so much. I feel like walking and especially going on a walking date with a friend sounds kind of lame until you go through a pandemic. Then all of a sudden, you’re like, this is the best thing ever. It’s like it took that to be like, oh, this isn’t lame. This is fun. So for me, it’s walking.

Elsie: I love that and it really is true. When we were in Missouri at the pink house, Emma texted me pretty much every day and asked me if I want to go on a walk or she’s like I’m on a walk right now, do you want to come or I’m gonna stop by your house. It’s so wonderful. I love it. that neighborhood is so magical. Our kids love taking walks there, too.

Emma: I love it so much. It’s my favorite thing about this area is you can walk to a little coffee shop and just like seeing all the houses, it’s just the best.

Elsie: Okay, mine, so many things have changed. One of my big ones is I go to bed really early right now.  I don’t know if I always will. It’s like a thing. It started at the beginning of the pandemic because right away, we didn’t have childcare. We were like ones, people that took our kids out of daycare for a long time, like a year. We kind of just like survived. So it was like, we would put our kids to bed pretty early, eat pretty early, go to bed pretty early, and then do it all again the next day. Now that it’s been almost two years, I’m still going to bed really early and I love it. Now I feel like I always get enough sleep, which is great. It’s a thing that you know, any other time in my life, I am sure I couldn’t have said that. It’s like, there’s really nothing that I want to do late at night anymore. I very rarely go out at night. It’s like, I’m just kind of chilling. At night I either read, or we watch our scary movies, as everyone knows, and then we go to bed. It’s just like, wonderful than you know, wake up super early and  I don’t feel like I’m in survival mode anymore. I feel like this is just our regular life now. I do feel like I’m still pivoting though and I think that, especially this last few months, I’ve entered into a new phase. I think we’re gonna continue to enter into new phases of just like, a different type of survival mode.

Emma: Thanks so much for listening. And if you have questions for us, you can write us at podcast@abeautifulmess.com. Also, you can just write us just to say hi, if you ever want and if you haven’t yet, and you’ve been a listener for a while we would love, love, love it if you would leave us a review. That is one of the ways that you can help our podcast grow. But other than that, we love you all so much, and we’ll see you next week.

[/read_more]

It’s fully winter weather here now. Flashback to this photo from Christmas where we were comfortably outdoors with no shoes on. Now it’s boots and coats weather for the next few months.

I’ll share a few things in this week’s 10 things that are helping me get through the next few months.

Before I jump in … a book club note! If you haven’t heard yet, we are doing an ABM book club as a part of our blog and podcast this year.

We decided to do four books each season—two fiction and two non-fiction. You can read at your own pace or just listen to us chat about the books on the podcast as usual.

The first four books are Playing Big by Tara Mohr, A Good Girl’s Guide To Murder by Holly Jackson, Think Like a Monk by Jay Shetty and The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett.

We’ll be talking about the books in different podcast episodes starting in mid-February, so you still have time to join if you are interested!

1. I love this cardigan. Cardigans and boots are the main things I always pick up from Madewell. Also, they have an extra 30% off sale going on.

2. The most magical thing I’ve purchase from Etsy recently is my wax stamp initial. So much fun.

3. I got so many questions about our bookshelf edition games. They are so much fun to collect. My personal favorite game is Scrabble.

4. We always order red envelopes and gold coins (chocolate) for our kids to give to their friends for Lunar New Year.

5. I just got this beautiful print in the mail. I can’t wait to frame it and hang it! I’m obsessed with adding art to our home right now.

6. Probably my next rug purchase.

7. Personalized stationery.

8. I’m thinking of using this wallpaper in the pink house for the main living space. What do you think?

9. I got this collage book and this one and I use them constantly. It’s SO much fun.

10. I keep thinking about this pair of boots since I’ve been wearing my other Dr. Martens so much recently.

If you’re in the mood to bake today, you should try Emma’s birthday cake cookies! xx- Elsie

Happy birthday to me! Yes, today is my 36th birthday. To celebrate, I baked myself these birthday cake cookies.

You could probably think of these as funfetti birthday cake cookies, as they taste like a classic birthday cake and heavy on the sprinkles. Lol. These are as fun to make as they are to eat!

The key to these is a little chopped up white chocolate chips in the batter. Something about this just makes these cookies more cake-flavored to me.

But if you’re not feeling the sprinkles, here are a few of my other favorite cookie recipes:

• Oversized Soft-Center Chocolate Chip Cookies – basically an XL size of the classic
• Classic Shortbread Cookies – simple but an all-time favorite
• Lemon Burst Crinkle Cookies – if you’re feeling like you want something citrus
• Chocolate Snowcap Mountain Cookies – if you need something ultra chocolate-y
• Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cookies – if you (like me) still enjoy pumpkin recipes even when it’s not autumn

These birthday cake cookies are super simple and a great cookie to make ahead, as the batter needs to chill in the refrigerator for an hour or up to overnight.

You could also choose to bake some and freeze some of the dough to save for another celebratory occasion.

Birthdays hit a little differently at the moment, but as a January birthday I’ve always felt that a little. Snow days or sickness can always derail plans this time of year, and the last couple years that’s just been an even bigger possibility.

Print

Birthday Cake Cookies

easy funfetti birthday cake cookies

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword cookies, sprinkles

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes

Chill time 1 hour

Total Time 1 hour 20 minutes

Servings 24 cookies

Author Emma Chapman

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter softened
• 1 cup white sugar granulated
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 6 ounces chocolate chips white
• ¼ cup funfetti sprinkles plus more for the tops

Instructions

• Cream together the softened butter and sugar.
• Stir in the eggs and vanilla extract. Set aside.
• In another bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and baking powder.
• Stir the dry ingredients into the wet until a dough forms.
• Give the white chocolate chips a rough chop, and then stir those along with ¼ cup sprinkles into the dough.
• Chill for at least an hour, or up to overnight.
• Spoon the dough onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a baking mat. Roll the tops of each dough ball in more sprinkles.
• Bake at 350°F for 14-16 minutes. The bottoms of the cookies should begin to brown.
• Allow the cookies to cool before transferring to a cooling rack or storing.

Stamped and stenciled DIYs are easy to do, budget-friendly, and typically renter-friendly. We have quite a few of these projects in our blog archives (and the colder months are a good time to do a little crafting), so we thought we’d share our favorites with you today.

We included a variety of projects depending on what you’re in the mood for.

Do you have a room that needs a quick makeover without spending a lot of time or money? Or, maybe you need a cute gift idea for a friend like this ring dish or these a set of cloth napkins. Keep scrolling for more ideas!

Easy Stenciled Outdoor Rug

You can easily give a plain outdoor rug a makeover using any color of acrylic paint and our star template. Way cuter (and less expensive) than something you’d find online, in our opinion!

DIY Masked + Printed Geometric Shoes

This one might be a surprise to some of you, but you can add paint to a pair of boots, shoes, (or a handbag) using fabric paint. We included a video tutorial and tips in this post so you can get the same results.

Here’s another option using a gold star design on a pair of white boots. So cute!

Geometric Painted Wallpaper DIY

We love a good wallpaper hack. And just like our other stenciled DIYs, we included a template in the post so you can print the design at home. If you have a blank wall that needs some extra love, this is a great option.

Buffalo Stamp Set DIY

Have you ever made your own stamp? We love the classic buffalo plaid design of this one, and you can add it to gift bags, cards, or a scrapbook. You can use this method to make any shape or style of stamp, too.

Stamped Star Wall DIY

This is the easiest and most budget-friendly (under $10!) alternative to wallpaper. Simply cut out a design using craft foam and dip it in your favorite paint. You can listen to a podcast or a book while doing this one! How great is that?

Painted Star Faux Tile Floor

Can you believe this is a faux tile floor? This is more of a weekend project, but 100% worth the effort. If you’re curious, you can see the rest of this amazing office makeover here.

Hand-Stamped Strawberry Crib Sheets

We love a fruit print on just about anything, and these crib sheets are no exception. These are handmade, but you could buy your own set and make the strawberry stamp. Adorable!

Spotted Curtains DIY

Curtains can be the “icing on the cake” as far as making a room feel complete. This project only requires a few things—plain curtains, fabric paint, and a paint brush.

You can do the same thing using a potato stamp. Click here to see how we made one!

Grab that extra paint and make a set of hand-stamped cloth napkins.

Gold Stamped Ring Dish

A ring dish is an easy craft to make for yourself or give as a gift. Elsie used wooden stamps like this to personalize her clay dish. You could do the same thing with our marbled clay ring dish DIY, too!

White Tablecloth Makeover

If you’re planning a party and can’t find a tablecloth that matches the theme, you can use fabric dye to get the perfect look. You can even add a stamped design like Mandi did here.

Hand Stamped Clementine Wall

We can’t think of a cuter print for a kitchen wall. Elsie made her clementine stamps using craft foam and cardboard, but we’re thinking lemons would be equally good!

How to Update Planked Wood-Look Tile

If you’re not happy with your current flooring situation, remodeling doesn’t have to be the answer. As you can see from the before photo, this DIY made a huge difference in Keely’s bathroom. Here are steps to doing the same thing for your space.

We hope this gave you some DIY inspiration! Happy stenciling and stamping -The ABM team

My obsession with my air fryer continues. In this week’s saga, I’m sharing how to air fry salmon. It’s SO good! So quick! And it’s cooked well, but not dry.

This is a new favorite at our house for sure. It’s been added to the rotation of air fried wings, broiled steak, and homemade cashew chicken. Ha.

I have air fried both fresh salmon as well as frozen. I must admit that I prefer unfrozen, but as I only grocery shop once a week or less during this season of my life, having lots of dinner options I can pull from our freezer makes a lot of sense. So, we do both just depending what we have on hand.

To air fry frozen salmon, all you have to do is thaw it first. Otherwise, it’s no different than air frying fresh, unfrozen salmon.

How to thaw frozen salmon:

You can thaw frozen salmon a couple of ways, but what I usually do is (if it’s packaged inside a sealed bag, the filet itself) I will put it in a bowl with very warm water in our sink. This typically takes anywhere from 5-8 minutes depending on the size of filet.

I season the salmon before air frying with whatever I’m in the mood for, or whatever I think will go with the rest of the meal I’m making. This can be things like: garlic powder or salt, seasoning salt, Italian seasoning, cayenne, pepper, or a seasoning mix I have.

Do you leave the skin on before air frying? Yes, I do. I leave the skin on for the entire process. I remove the skin before eating (so I even leave the skin on when serving).

Do you have to flip salmon when air frying? No, I don’t. I cook the salmon skin side down (so the skin is touching the air fryer or parchment paper) and I don’t flip it while it cooks.

How do you keep salmon from sticking to your air fryer?

Two methods for this. First, you can lightly brush the air fryer bottom grate with oil before adding the salmon and cooking.

The other option is to use parchment paper. Yes, you can use parchment paper in your air fryer. I will add parchment so it fits under the salmon, but not bunch it together or have lots of loose paper on the sides of the air fryer (see photo below).

The parchment paper will curl up some as it cooks, so that’s why you don’t want an excess amount, but you also want enough that it fits under the entire piece of fish you are cooking.

You can see (or print) the recipe card below for all the details, but I air fry salmon at 390°F for 8 minutes. I find this cooks the fish well, but doesn’t dry it out.

This can vary some depending on the size or thickness of the salmon you are cooking, but somewhere between 7-9 minutes will likely work well.

You can serve this alongside a salad, risotto, pasta salad, broccoli slaw, or steamed rice.

Squeeze a little lemon juice over the top of this air fried salmon and enjoy! xo. Emma

Print

Air Fried Salmon

how to easily air fry salmon

Course Main Course

Cuisine American

Keyword air fryer, salmon

Prep Time 2 minutes

Cook Time 8 minutes

Total Time 10 minutes

Servings 1 serving

Author Emma Chapman

Ingredients

• 6 ounce salmon filet
• 1 teaspoon seasoning of your choice
• 1 teaspoon olive oil, optional
• lemon wedge for serving

Instructions

• If your salmon is frozen, thaw first.
• Prep your air fryer by either brushing the bottom rack with a little oil OR adding parchment paper.
• Brush the top of the salmon with oil and season well.
• Add to the air fryer and cook at 390°F for 8 minutes.

Notes

-You do not need to remove the skin before cooking. Air fry the salmon with the skin side down, on the bottom.

-You do not need to flip the salmon while cooking.

-For seasoning you can use any combination of salt, pepper, garlic powder, garlic salt, seasoning salt, Italian seasoning, cayenne, or a seasoning mix. 

-You can cook multiple salmon filets in the air fryer at the same time, but you do not want them to be overlapping or touching as they can stick together. 

-Serve with a fresh lemon wedge to squeeze over the top before eating. 

During the winter months, I basically live for candles! I have an evening ritual that starts around 5 or 5:30 p.m. when the sun sets (ahhh!!!!!) where I go around my house and pull down the shades or curtains and turn on any twinkle lights while lighting candles.

It’s my way of dealing with the winter blues, and I’ve been making these DIY wood wick candles lately, so I thought I’d share.

I typically make soy wood wick candles using essential oils for the scent, so that’s what I’ll be sharing here. You can learn how to make soy candles with traditional wicks and we also have a tutorial for making your own beeswax candles.

What’s so special about wood wick candles?

I love the crackling sound! The wood wicks burn a little different from traditional wicks so they almost sound like a tiny fire; the crackle sound from wood logs burning. I already love the smell and the glow from candles, so adding this little extra sound just turns up the cozy factor for me.

Supplies you will need:

• soy wax beads
• essential oils
• candle making melting pot
• candle containers
• wood wicks and bases
• wick stickers, glue dots, or hot glue

You can certainly buy candle containers, but before you do, I would recommend walking around your house and just seeing if you already have things that might work well.

Here is how I easily remove leftover candle wax so I can reuse candle containers. You can also thrift containers (including things like kitchen bowls or even mixing bowls) if you want an extra large candle!

How to make wood wick candles:

1. Measure out the wax beads by filling the container(s) you plan to use. The melted wax will take up less space than the wax beads, so keep this in mind.

If you fill the container all the way to the top, the melted wax will take up less space once poured, so this is typically how I measure.

2. Add the wood wicks to the containers. They should come with a metal base. Add a wick sticker or glue dot to the bottom of the metal base once the wood wick is inserted, then add to your empty container.

3. Melt the wax, then remove from the heat and add your essential oil.

For a smaller candle, I’ll add anywhere from 8-12 drops. But you can measure based on your smell, as some people want a super scented candle and some like their candles more subtle.

4. Pour the melted wax into the containers. If you have a candle with multiple wicks or a slightly uneven base (like a rounded bowl), you can use items like a wooden spoon to keep the wood wicks from leaning as the wax dries.

5. Once the wax is fully dry (it will become solid looking again, like the beads), trim the wood wicks before use.

I currently use these DIY wood wick candles all around my house. But they also would make a really fun gift for friends or family. Enjoy and stay cozy this season! xo. Emma

Print

DIY Wood Wick Candles

soy candles made with essential oils and wood wicks

Keyword candle making, soy candles

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 5 minutes

Total Time 10 minutes

Author Emma Chapman

Equipment

• candle making melting pot
• candle containers

Ingredients

• soy wax beads
• essentail oils
• wood wicks with metal bases
• wick stickers, glue dots, or hot glue

Instructions

• Measure out the wax beads by filling the container(s) you plan to use. The melted wax will take up less space than the wax beads, so keep this in mind. If you fill the container all the way to the top, the melted wax will take up less space once poured, so this is typically how I measure.
• Add the wood wicks to the containers. They should come with a metal base. Add a wick sticker or glue dot to the bottom of the metal base once the wood wick is inserted, then add to your empty container.
• Melt the wax, then remove from the heat and add your essential oils. For a smaller candle, I’ll add anywhere from 8-12 drops. But you can measure based on your smell, as some people want a super scented candle and some like their candles more subtle.
• Pour the melted wax into the containers. If you have a candle with multiple wicks or a slightly uneven base (like a rounded bowl), you can use items like a wooden spoon to keep the wood wicks from leaning as the wax dries.
• Once the wax is fully dry (it will become solid looking again, like the beads), trim the wood wicks before use.

We are excited to be kicking off a new season today because we missed you. Today, we are talking about our New Year’s plans for 2022, working from home, and we’re introducing a new funny segment.

You can stream the episode here, on the blog, or on iTunes, Spotify, Google Play, TuneIn, Pocket Casts, and Stitcher. You can find the podcast posts archive here.

A big thank you to our sponsors! Check out the offers from Bite, How to Buy a Home Podcast, Shopify, and Girlfriend Collective. And, if you’re looking for a specific code you heard on the podcast, you can see a full list on this page!

Show notes:

-Elsie’s New Year’s goals: Enjoy more time in her home, wake up early, and live guilt-free.

-Emma’s New Year’s goals: Work on her novel, find remedies for her dry eyes, and to buy less junk food.

-We mention The Lady Gang Podcast

-We mention The 12 Week Year by Brian P. Moran and Michael Lennington and On Writing by Stephen King

What to expect from the podcast in 2022:

-The first book report episode will be Playing Big by Tara Mohr

-There will be 16 episodes in this season from January-May, and then we will be back at the end of August.

-No more mini-episodes

-Elsie’s unpopular opinion on motherhood: Not worrying about how quickly your kids achieve developmental or educational milestones

-Emma’s unpopular opinion about motherhood: Sleep training (recommends Babywise by Robert Bucknam M.D. and Gary Ezzo) and the Taking Cara Babies Course

Tips for working from home:

-Write three things you have to do that day on a post-it note

-Use a weekly calendar like the Get to Work Book from Elise Blaha Cripe

-Have a designated workspace

-Do your most important task first

-What Emma would be doing if she wasn’t doing her current career: Own a cleaning business

-What Elsie would be doing if she wasn’t doing her current career: House flipping

-Elsie’s fun jobs: bookmobile and bed and breakfast

-Emma’s fun job: owning a mini-golf course

See you next week! xo

Episode 130 Transcript

[read_more id=”1″ more=”Read More” less=”Read Less”]

Emma: You’re listening to the A Beautiful Mess Podcast. We’re excited to kick off a new season today with a little catch-up time because we missed you, some New Year’s goals, and plans for 2022, and we have a work from home pep talk and a new funny segment for you. Oh, yeah.

Elsie: Yes, I’m so excited to be back. 

Emma: Me too. It’s been kind of weird.

Elsie: I know. It’s our first sort of long break maybe that we’ve had since we started?

Emma: For you definitely because I had a break for maternity leave. 

Elsie: Right. 

Emma: But that’s like the only real long break I’ve done from it since we started podcasting a couple of years ago.

Elsie: Yeah, well, we are excited. We have really spent some time talking about how we can make things better this year. We’ll share some of that with you in this episode but we are excited for the new year and kind of more inspired to podcast than ever, huh?

Emma: Yes. Oh, yeah.

Elsie: Okay, so I thought it would be fun to start off with a little storytime. So over the Christmas break, it’s kind of been a while since Christmas now so we won’t recap every detail of our Christmas for you because you’re like, wow, that was a long time ago. There was one really cute thing that happened when we were in Missouri visiting family and I wanted Emma to tell the story because it just warmed my heart, like a cup of hot chocolate.

Emma: Oh, me too. I have a Slack group with my book club, all the women in my book club and I immediately sent them a photo of this.  I was just like, I have to tell someone but I don’t really want to put this on social media. Anyway, and now I’m telling you on the podcast, so Elsie’s girls Nova and Marigold both got me a Christmas present, which, you know, you don’t have to get your aunt a Christmas present. So I felt very special, just that. And I’ll say what Nova got me too, Nova got me a cookbook, which is about mooncakes and Chinese cooking, Chinese baking. So that’s really exciting and we’re definitely gonna make something from that and that’s really up my alley.

Elsie: I bought exactly what they said, exactly what they said. I just went on Amazon and bought it for their presence so that’s what Nova said a Chinese cookbook and then…

Emma: Yes. Then Marigold got me, in my size, Elsa princess dress.

Elsie: It’s so cute so she put it on immediately. Emma is coming to visit us actually next week for her birthday and we are going to have a princess tea party. We’re going to make those little layered sandwiches, like a tea house in London so we’re super excited. 

Emma: Yes and if you don’t know Elsie’s daughter Marigold, Goldie, she wears her princess dresses, especially Elsa princess dresses all the time. So it’s like she gave me something that she herself would have wanted if she didn’t already have a bunch. So it just felt very thoughtful in a three-year-old way, almost four-year-old way now because it’s almost her birthday. It was awesome.

Elsie: It definitely means you’re special.

Emma: I felt it. I opened it up and I was like, oh my gosh, this is maybe the best gift she could have ever picked out for me and I love it so much. I was like, please fit me, please fit me and it did. So that was amazing.

Elsie: Yes. Yeah. Oh, I mean because usually when you unwrap a present from a kid, it’s like a drawing with googly eyes glued on it. 

Emma: A candle. Yeah. 

Elsie: So yeah, it was fun. I had a fun Christmas and I hope you did too.

Emma: I did. It was awesome. Oscar’s first Christmas so it was great. Just different and special. So it’s a new year though, moving on from Christmas. Let’s talk about New Year’s goals.

Elsie: I will say we called this episode New Year, Same Me because I love it when people say that because I actually love New Year’s goals. I have no problem with them. I relate with both sides of the debate. Like I have no problem with them and I love them but I also do feel like a lot of people make goals that they can’t and won’t keep like even for a whole week. 

Emma: Then they’re sad. 

Elsie: Yeah, it’s just kind of like a womp womp. I think that we’re on the verge of maybe we could call ourselves like goal experts, right? We’re really into goals. You wouldn’t call yourself that? 

Emma: I mean, I guess so. 

Elsie: I’m pretty loose with when I’ll call myself an expert so I’m just gonna keep the label.

Emma: It kind of dawned on me, as you said, I was like, I don’t know if I would call myself an expert on anything so maybe that’s a bit extreme.  Anyway, we do love goals and so we’ve got them.

Elsie: I think that we know the art of making a goal that works so it’s like the right size and the right little contingencies where it’s like you don’t have to be perfect to just do it, I think is like a big part of it. So anyway, we thought we would share two goals. This is just for fun. I definitely think on mine, mine are guaranteed I will do them. It’s not like a maybe it’s like it’s happening. So my first one is poh, renovation stuff, well, yeah, I’m definitely gonna do that, that’s all I do. It says renovation wise, we’re about to turn a corner and I’m really hoping to spend 2022 enjoying more time in our home, movie nights, pool parties, pizza, whatever. That actually hits really good for me right now because the last few months, you know, having your space be a construction zone is pretty, it takes its emotional toll. I’m a pretty tough person and I’ve been through renovations before. I knew exactly what I was getting into. I signed up for it and I’m happy that we’re doing it and it’s moving pretty fast. It’s like going on schedule, but it’s still so hard, it just is no matter what. So I think that for the light at the end of the tunnel is to just think about all the memories that you’re going to make in the space and it makes it feel worth it. Like why am I doing all of this? It’s for the board games that we’re about to play in the dining room so yeah, that helps me a lot.  

Emma: My first goal, oh, so I guess I’ll say too, I kind of think of my goals as like quarterly goals. I just do better thinking of the shorter term, even if it’s something that I do plan to do for the whole year. Somehow it just helps me. Last year, we were talking about the 12 week year, that book. I just like kind of a month long goal or a quarterly goal and then I can keep it going if I want or whatever. So anyway, the first one, though, is work on my novel. I keep going on walks anytime it’s not terribly cold. It’s cold all the time now but if it’s just decent enough to go on a walk, then I’m out there walking. Lately, I’m either listening to my audiobook for the A Beautiful Mess book club.

Elsie: Which one are you reading currently? 

Emma: What’s the one? Tara Mohr? Playing Big, Tara Mohr. Yes, that’s the one. I just got yesterday to the part where she’s going to do the visualization. So I was like, oh, I can’t be walking while I do this because you’re supposed to close your eyes. So I had to pause it and I need to do that before I can listen to more of it. So anyway, if I’m not listening to a book though, I’m thinking about my novel. I’ve come up with a number of like, I kind of get hung up in spots. I generally know the outline, generally, like loosely. I always leave space for surprises, which is the tip that my friend Stephen King said in his book, On Writing. He’s not really my friend, but I think of him that way. 

Elsie: I absolutely claim Stephen King as one of my friends. He is so wonderful. 

Emma: Me too and it can be a one-way street.

Elsie: I love his book as well. We’ll link his book in our show notes. If anyone is trying to write a novel or kinda like anything, definitely read this because it’s so good. 

Emma: It’s really good. Yeah, I know generally where the books going and I definitely know the ending, but I have a lot of space for surprises. Anyway, as I’m walking a lot of times, I’m kind of thinking through a little hang-up I have about the book like oh, how is this character going to figure this piece out? Because I know they have to figure it out but I don’t know how they’re going to do it. I’m just always thinking through things like that. Lately, I’ve had a number of like, oh, well, this could happen. I don’t know, something about walking and being outside just gets my brain juices going. It’s like that in the shower. I have an idea, which both times I can’t really write it down. If you ever see me out walking my neighborhood every now and again, I’m just standing there typing on my phone. It’s usually me making a note of something I don’t want to forget. I just like, oh, yeah, that would work, you know. So anyway, so working on my novel. I need to find more time in my week to do that. Especially like a dedicated hour or two where I could do a little bit of deep work. Having a really hard time finding space for deep work lately in my life. It feels like I work in like one-hour increments and then I have to do something else and then something interrupts me.

Elsie: What does deep work mean? 

Emma: Just where you can focus for a long time. My work week gets broken up by meetings a lot, which is totally fine. It’s hard to be like I was just in a meeting and now I’m going to think deeply about this completely other thing for 30 minutes until my next meeting like it’s really hard to do that for me. I kind of need space to get into it and then come out of it. Then I can think about something else. So anyway, I’m working on that kind of like maybe I could work a little later at night but that’s kind of my time after Oscar goes to sleep to hang out with Trey. So I’m like, kind of hesitant on that. Then I’m also like, I could wake up earlier, but I’m like, I have a seven-month-old and he’s really just recently started sleeping through the night and I just kind of want to sleep. So I don’t know, I like trying to find the space in my day but it’s a little tricky.

Elsie: I definitely relate with that struggle and I think that a lot of people will. Yeah, just like finding your, even an hour or you know, like for me, I always think that I need more time than I really need. So that’s also one of my struggles is like if I want to clean my closet, I think that I need a whole afternoon and maybe I really only need an hour. 

Emma: Yep, that’s true. That’s a good point. 

Elsie: It’s like having the time blocked off a little bit more than I need is important to me too just like to help me feel like I’m not gonna be rushed the whole time or whatever. That is a good one and I am excited for you this year for your novel.

Emma: Yeah, I thought of like a tagline yesterday. Which doesn’t really need a tagline, I’m always just randomly thinking about things.

Elsie: Everything needs a tagline. 

Emma: I think it’s just three words. If people are like, what’s the book about? I like trying to find a quick way. I think I’m just gonna start telling people it’s about motherhood, miscarriage, and murder. That’s it. I like that it’s 3 M’s. I like the alliteration. 

Elsie: I know that a lot of people are excited for your novel so this is gonna be exciting. 

Emma: What’s your second goal? 

Elsie: Okay, so for the new year so I have been the person in my family who sleeps in the longest, which to be fair, is only like sleeping until 645ish usually. It’s not like I’m actually sleeping in. It’s just that everyone else wakes up earlier than me. Then all last year, it was something I was really struggling with. I was struggling with my night routine and my morning routine, actually but for the morning, it was like I would wake up and immediately feel like I was behind. Because my husband has already had his old man kick in where he wakes up really early, just like naturally. It’s just like every day, he is up so early and I am not as much like that. So anyway, I’m giving this a really fun setup. But another part of the setup, so I started rereading Playing Big for the book club because we’re going to talk about it next month in February, so I started rereading it. When I got to the future self visualization or the inner mentor visualization, I love that part and I got a couple of new things this time. It was like the same mentor, the same visualization, it felt very similar from my first experience, but I got a couple of new little bits from it. One of them, there’s a part which was to ask the future self, what do I need to do now to get where you are or whatever, something along those lines/ I asked that question, and the answer was to try waking up early. I was like, okay. So I started setting my clock for 5am on I think it was either on January 1st or January 2nd. Now at this time we’re recording it, it is like the 11th, is it today? So yeah, it’s like a week before the podcast comes out so the 11th. So anyway, I’ve been doing it, I guess 10 whole days now. I’ve been doing it just on the weekdays only and not Saturday and Sunday. Saturday and Sunday, kind of taken a chill. It has been giving me a full two hours of alone work time every morning, it is a huge difference.  can already tell it’s totally worth it but yeah, just like taking that leap for some reason was really hard for me. What’s your next goal? 

Emma: My second goal is maybe kind of stupid to some people but it’s important to me, is I’m trying to work more on my dry eyes. 

Elsie: Oh, yes. 

Emma: I’ve mentioned this before. I still just have these terribly dry eyes. It kind of affects my life a little bit. It makes it hard for me to like, in the middle of the night, if I do need to wake up Oscar related stuff, I feel like I can’t see sometimes or like, my eyes are so watery. Sometimes when I’m driving, especially if it’s getting dark, which it gets dark at like 430. So, you know, easy to be out driving after that at this point in the year. The lights from other cars and things., I don’t know. It just it’s really annoying and I just really want healthier eyes.

Elsie: If you’ve never met anyone like this, driving with Emma at night, it’s like scary. No, I’m serious. It is a real problem. I’m sure that it would give you a lot of relief if you didn’t have to worry because we’ve had a couple of times before where you felt almost panicked because you felt like you couldn’t see and you couldn’t drive at all. That’s not cool. No, yeah. I know last time, we talked about it, a lot of people sent you suggestions and ideas.

Emma: Yes and I’ve done a lot of those things. Here’s my problem is I’m not very consistent. So that’s basically the goal right now is I’m trying to consistently wear my glasses more like I’m wearing them right now while we’re recording. I don’t love wearing glasses, but I realized one of my hang-ups was I never go to the expense of buying prescription sunglasses. I like to go on walks and sometimes I need to run errands and stuff and I hate like oh I don’t have my glasses on, what do I do?

Elsie: How do you not have prescription sunglasses? 

Emma: I know I always just like was like oh, it’s like you have to buy a whole another pair. You know what I mean? It’s a whole thing and I’m like oh do I want to spend the extra money?

Elsie: It’s like something you would use every day. I’m so mad at you. Did you order some?

Emma: So anyway, I bought so I have a couple of pairs of prescription sunglasses. I have a bunch of glasses that I like wearing like I think they’re cute. They’re lightweight because I hate heavy heavy glasses or glasses that pinch your nose or pinch the side of your head so I have a bunch that I like now. That’s been a few years in the going and then I’m also trying to be more consistent about putting my eye drops, I have special eye drops that come in like little vials, and I’m trying to be more consistent about putting those in before I go to sleep at night. So I’m just trying to be more consistent with all the things that I know I’m supposed to do and just keep trying to improve. I do think it has improved some the last couple of years, but I’m just trying to be a little more consistent because like anything in life, like exercise or skincare or anything, I feel like the main thing that is so boring, but it’s true, is just being consistent. That’s going to make the biggest difference, you know, so that’s what I’m trying to do with my dry eyes, in case anyone cares about that? There you go.

Elsie: I guarantee you someone cares. Okay, well, that’s a great goal. I’m glad that you’re gonna take care of that you should always take care of things that are going to make you a healthier person and be able to live a more accessible life.

Emma: Yeah, I think too, like I used to in the past, think of it as more like an oh, if I just do this, then there’ll be a finish line. Now I’m kind of like no, I don’t think there’s a finish line, I think this is like eating healthy. It’s something you have to get in the habit of and do your whole life basically. Okay. Then those are two goals. But do you have anything that you are cutting out or quitting this year?

Elsie: I’m going to quit eating sugar forever. Just kidding. I feel like that’s the kind of thing people usually say and it’s like, okay, like, maybe, maybe not. Here’s my mine for real, mine is I’ve been working on this for a few years and it is tough, but I am trying to live guilt-free. Guilt is like something that for whatever reason, I don’t think I can, like, explain why I’m like this, but for whatever reason, it’s something that is really ingrained in me and that I really struggle with. I feel guilty about things that I am not even trying to fix. I feel guilty about things that I don’t need to fix or that I didn’t do wrong. I feel guilty about or worried about what people think, you know, just that kind of stuff. Like I think people, you get it, right? So I’m really working on just sort of like living free of that, just like letting it be okay. Like when someone asked me to, like, I get a lot of emails that are asking me to do things I don’t want to do, right? That’s like a normal thing that anyone in our phase of career would have. For me to get to the point where I can just say like, no, thank you is such a big step, you know, to either not avoid it, or to say yes to something I don’t want to do, or to say maybe but to actually just say like no, is like so hard for some reason. So anyway, that’s my big one for this year. I feel like I’ve made some progress but I’d like to get into the mothership of that kind of lifestyle. What about you? 

Emma: Yeah, I like that. I feel like my line, which actually said it to you the other day about something is like I don’t have the capacity to care about that this season. 

Elsie: She says it about everything. Actually, you’re really good at like, maybe we could swap one little part of our brain. You could have the part of my brain that would have bought 85 pairs of sunglasses by now and I can have the part of your brain that’s able to just say no.

Emma: That would be a good swap. Actually, we would be unstoppable. Okay, mine is again, I kind of think of it as a quarterly thing, but it’s basically to buy less junk food from the grocery store. So this doesn’t mean I’m not eating sugar. I’m definitely eating sugar. It doesn’t mean that I’m not like baking stuff. That’s definitely baking stuff.

Elsie: Emma’s a pro sugar person.

Emma: Oh yeah. I let Oscar have tiny bits of sugar. Come at me, I’m fine with it. But around the holidays I tend to buy more junk food.  I mean, like prepackaged, basically, Oreos start making it into my house.  I’ve got to blame the Oreo truffles a little bit.

Elsie: Oreos are one of the keystones of junk food in my opinion. They’re definitely for me, they’re like the only grocery store cookie that turns my head.

Emma: Yeah, exactly. Yes. I love Oreos, but it is not something I have in my house all year round because I will eat them all year round and I don’t need to. So anyway, so it’s just like kind of getting back into the habit of I just don’t buy prepackaged junk food stuff. I can still bake cookies if I want to bake cookies or if I’m out, which I’m never out, but if I am can’t get something if I want. To me, all of that is easier to say no to or have moderation with but if I have a bunch of junk food I already bought and it’s in my house. I’m just going to eat it endlessly in the evenings and so that’s sort of my like, okay, that’s where I need to cool it. 

Elsie: Nice. Yeah, I love buying healthy groceries. It’s such a miracle when you have little kids. My kids will eat whatever. It’s like confusing how one day depending on what we buy, they would just eat cookies the entire day or like the other night, they ate an entire package of strawberries and an entire package of blueberries in one night. Just because that’s what we bought. So I do think that that’s a good method just like buying what you want to eat. If it’s staring you in the face and it looked good to you at that moment, you know?

Emma: Yes and honestly I’m exactly the same. If I buy cookies, that’s what I’ll eat that night. If I buy a package of strawberries the Trey and I will eat the whole carton of strawberries. We’re the same as your children. I just have to only buy the strawberries or whatever, whatever it is.

Elsie: Nice, cool. Okay, so let’s talk about what to expect in 2022 from the podcast. So first of all, we had a lot of questions coming through about the book club schedule. So for those of you who would prefer that we tell you exactly when we’re going to do each book report, I’m sorry to tell you that we can’t commit to that level of a rigid schedule, it’s just not for us.

Emma: It’s called A Beautiful Mess. 

Elsie: Yeah, we’re actually going on a less rigid schedule, you’ll see. So what I will tell you about the book club, here’s how you can get prepared. If you want to join in, we’re going to do the first book report, and I do think we’ll do Playing Big first, just because we’ve both said, we’re already reading in, it’s like, might as well. In February, we’re going to start and we’re going to break them up so there will be four different episodes that have a book report in them. So it’s not gonna be the entire episode just about the book, it’s going to be a part of the episode. We’ll do Playing Big first, but I can’t say what order we’ll do the other ones in because for us, just like reading these four books and doing these podcasts is enough of a to-do list. Putting it on a perfect schedule is not possible. So yeah, but it’s kind of an experiment. It’s like, see how well we can make this work, and then maybe we can improve it a little bit next season, whatever. Hopefully, it’ll work great. But I will say if you are nervous or worried about it, if you see it come up in an episode, just wait until you’re done reading it, it’s okay. I guess it depends on if it’s like a fiction book or a nonfiction book. I feel like on a fiction book, you would want to wait, if you’re planning on reading it because it’s like, there might be spoilers or whatever. But on the nonfiction books, maybe it would make you like, I always love hearing reviews of nonfiction books, and then reading them afterward.

Emma: I do too. Yeah. So yeah, everybody chill.

Elsie: We do not have a perfect schedule, but we are having a book club. And I think that’s a good step.

Emma: Yeah, maybe next year, we’ll have a perfect schedule, you know, maybe it’s like a gradual thing, we’ll see.

Elsie: Then the other news is, okay, so this is the first episode of our new season, we’re going to have 16 episodes in this season from now until May, and then we are going to take the summer off, which is new for us. So we’ll be off June, July, and part of August, and then we’ll be back at the end of August. Okay, so last year, I don’t think we talked about this, I don’t think we did or would but I got pretty burned out last year. I was really proud of the episodes we did but I also think that for one, we were doing lots of mini-episodes. I did a whole bunch of episodes with different people when Emma was on leave. Those on the back end are a lot more work and a lot harder to do. Like us sitting down chatting, we’re like, we kind of have our flow, it’s just much easier. That’s why we don’t have guests as much, just more sustainable for us. So anyway, the name of the game this year is just like, make it sustainable and make it fun. Because we feel like if it’s fun for us, then it’s like we’ll keep doing it longer. We don’t want to burn out and quit. It kind of got close last year where it was like, ooh, like, how many years are we gonna do this. With the new schedule that we’ve put in place, I feel we’re like, gonna go strong again and I’m feeling really motivated again.

Emma: So we make new content all the time. We come out with new podcasts every week. We have new blog posts that come out almost every single day and it’s been that way for like 14 years. We have an Instagram where we put original content all the time too. So we make a lot of content and it’s really fun. We love it. But sometimes it starts to feel like a little bit of a hamster wheel. I think when it starts to get to that place, that’s when Elsie and I are like, oh, we need to figure out some boundaries here. If all of the joy gets sucked out, it’s fine for it to be a job because it literally is, but if all the joy gets sucked out, I feel like people listening or reading or however they’re consuming the content can feel it and it’s not as enjoyable. It needs to be joy-filled and creative and even if it’s not always A+ content, it’s at least got to have the heart. It was starting to lose the heart but don’t worry, we fixed it.

Elsie: Yeah, so our new plan is it’s seriously just like built around health and sustainability because, in my heart, I would love to do this podcast for a lot more years. With our blog, we feel very confident that we’ll still be writing our blog in some way or form or maybe the same as we are now when we’re 50. It’s extremely sustainable because we set it up that way and did the little tweaks over time. So that’s what we’re doing here and it feels really good. Okay, so with that said, we are no longer doing mini-episodes. So mini-episodes were something that we first added in at the beginning of the quarantine. I think that we did it for a lot of reasons. We did it because The Lady Gang does it and I love The Lady Gang. It’s one of my favorite podcasts. I think that they’re so cute and I would love to be just like them. It was the beginning of quarantine, it felt like, we were gonna be like, at home forever and maybe this would be helpful for people. It felt like this is something I could do. It was kind of like a time when you were trying to find your new flow. Over time, it just became like a chore to think of more and more topics and then to divide. The topics that we’re doing in our mini-episodes could have been really good topics for the main episodes. So at this point, we’re feeling like we’d rather just do a more hardy, high quality, one episode a week, and maybe they’ll be able to be a little bit longer, and they’ll be able to have all of our ideas in them. So we think less is more in this case, for sure. Okay. That’s our little what to expect when you’re expecting 2022. Okay, so I got the best listener question on Instagram. The last couple of times, I asked I got so many good questions. I always say our podcast audience is our favorite audience and you guys are so funny and wonderful and full of hearts. So we decided to make this a whole segment, but unpopular opinion. So we’ve done an unpopular opinion, I think episode before, but a lot of people were requesting, like different variations on it. And like, do your unpopular opinions about this topic or this topic. So anyway, I thought it was funny and so this week, we’re going to start a segment on popular opinions and we’re gonna do our first topic, motherhood. If you’ve never been a mother on the internet, let me just tell you that people have so many opinions. Like at first it was stressful to me and kinda like nerve-racking and then over time, it’s actually just like, funny to me now.  Do you have an unpopular opinion yet since you have been a mom for seven months?

Emma: Seven months plus pregnancy, whatever that’s worth. Yeah, I was trying to think of one. So it just means like, I think this and I know other people don’t agree kind of thing, right?

Elsie: Yeah. I’m trying to think of what mine is, too. 

Emma: I think mine right now, like at the age my son’s at is probably that I really like sleep training. I know some people are kind of against it. The two that I’m familiar with, there’s probably other methods, is a book called Baby Wise, which I read and also I have had friends read and kind of like digestive for me, like my friend Katie Day. Also a course I took recently that’s called Taking Cara of Babies and the gals name is Cara. So it’s like c a r a, taking cara of babies. They’re slightly different, like slightly different methods. But the whole idea is helping your child learn to sleep through the night. I don’t know if they’re considered cry it out methods. I don’t really know what that means. But I see people like to ask things around that. But it definitely does involve a little bit of crying. I know some people are like, I don’t know, like some people think you should never let your kid cry basically. I think that if that is how you would like to parent, it is your choice but I don’t really feel that way. I think crying is just like a way that they’re learning to communicate. There’s different cries. I think most parents can feel this. When you hear your kid cry like you can tell when it’s like there’s something wrong or when it’s more of a like, oh where are you.

Elsie: There’s one that makes me run up the stairs really fast and there’s one that makes me walk really slow. 

Emma: Yes, exactly. Yes. Like for me, I probably would have gotten to a place where I’m starting to hear those unless letting him cry a little bit at times. It’s really hard to so like I have to set a timer and like you know, go by whatever the method that I’m trying to learn because I can’t do it forever because you know. Really, I don’t know if you should do it forever. If your kids crying forever though, it’s a whole different thing, probably something’s wrong like they’re sick or something. But anyway, yeah, I like sleep training. At the moment, Oscar goes to sleep around between 7 and 730. He usually doesn’t get up until around 6. He sleeps most of that. He has nights sometimes where he wakes up in the night, but for the most part, not really. It’s great. That’s fairly new for us in the last couple of months, and I think it’s in part to Baby Wise and Taking Cara of Babies. So working for us, and I like it, but other people don’t. That’s cool, whatever.

Elsie: Okay, so, like, whenever I was about to adopt for the first time, one of my closest friends told me just follow your instincts on everything, and like they’re there for a reason. And so I’ve always parented by that advice, and I definitely, like, thumbs up to that advice. I think that that’s what most people need to hear.  I guess my unpopular opinion, is, I don’t know if this is really unpopular, though it might be popular, I don’t know. But the thing that I think is different about me from a lot of other parents that I’m around, is I am not really tracking my kids, like speed on developmental milestones and educational milestones. That for me is like, I feel good about that. I’ve had one kid who potty trained super fast and one kid super slow. I truly am one of those people that’s like, my kids not going to be 10 years old and still wearing diapers. So I’m just like, not gonna worry about it. I’m just gonna let you know it happened faster sometimes and slower sometimes. I’m like that about reading. When we’re reading together, I’m super proud and excited when she’s getting words. But I’m not gonna push it. It’s not one of my goals to make her the fastest reader in her class, I guess is what I’m saying. So I think that’s my thing is I think that just like letting some things happen, like, I’m gonna nurture it, but I’m not gonna push it and that feels right to me. I think maybe like, I would die on the hill. That feels like a good parenting approach to me.

Emma: Yeah, plus your girls are so different, their personalities. I can’t imagine trying to fit them both into the same mold.

Elsie: For sure. You can’t compare. Because I mean, that is one of the tough things about getting into school and stuff is that you do have assessments and parent-teacher calls and things like that where they give you like black and white concrete information about if your kids ahead or behind. It’s hard not to feel there’s something wrong if your kids are not ahead in every single line item. But I don’t know, I really don’t believe that that’s what makes an intelligent adult. I think that making reading fun, like at this age, making reading fun is probably the most important thing over everything and potty training. I don’t know. I’m just like winging it. We’ll see.

Emma: I think that sounds good.

Elsie: Yeah, I don’t actually have a lot of controversial parenting opinions. I just like, zone out whenever people start talking about it. Sometimes I think some people like yes, you should take it seriously but I think some people take it too seriously. They’re trying to control it way where it’s something that can’t really be controlled. 

Emma: I don’t think there is one right way to do it. 

Elsie: For sure there’s not. 

Emma: It’s definitely do what seems right to you and like you’re gonna know your kid best. No one else is so you and your partner and just do what do you think helps them.

Elsie: Honestly, the best thing you can probably do as a parent is just to keep your head down, parent your own kids your own way, and not worry about what anyone else is doing. 

Emma: So on that note, I think like, you don’t necessarily need to give all your other friends advice or comment on the way they’re doing it either. It’s like, you know, do your thing. I mean if someone asks you your opinion, that’s fine. But I think otherwise, it’s like, Nah you’re good, maybe just stay in your lane.

Elsie: That’s definitely a good rule in life is to not send parenting advice unless you’re asked because whenever I receive parenting advice on Instagram, I have blocked people. I know it’s petty, but I’ve straight-up blocked people before because they sent me unsolicited advice, because I just think that that’s so rude. Even if they don’t mean it in a mean way. It just crosses a boundary that shouldn’t be crossed.

Emma: Yeah, I mean, it’s okay to have boundaries. I don’t think that’s petty. I don’t think it’s petty to have boundaries at all. I think it’s quite healthy.

Elsie: Mommy likes to block people. Okay. So we have a listener question.

Voicemail: Hi, Elsie, and Emma, this is Hillary calling from Virginia. My question is, in the new year, I am launching my own creative business. I’m really excited that I finally get to work for myself. But I’m also feeling fairly daunted by the idea of how to set up my days after working for other companies for many years. I’m wondering if you could share tips or advice on how you create a schedule, how you structure your workday, and how you stay focused week after week, especially with all the distractions of working from home. Thank you so much.

Elsie: Hey, Hillary. Okay, so we love a pep talk. We’re professional pep talk givers. It’s one of our strengths as humans and working from home, I will say that Emma and I have a natural love for working at home. Some people have to let it grow on them and some people have a longing to do it. We naturally love it. So I would never want to work outside of the home. I love working at home, it gives me the perfect introvert battery charging station while I’m getting things done. It’s just like so many upsides, so few downsides.

Emma: Yep. So maybe that’s a tip is if Hillary, if that isn’t the case for her, then thinking about how she is going to get that social battery recharge. For anyone who works in an office, that probably does it for them but she’s going to have to think of new ways of doing that. But Elsie and I have no advice on that because it’s not something we need. I don’t.

Elsie: No I don’t at this time. So here’s what works for me, I think I can actually, simplify this a lot. So whenever I’m working from home, I would say my biggest struggle is that it’s very easy to get distracted. Especially if you have a job that you love to do, that’s exciting. I like to plan ahead. I can spend a whole day planning podcasts and sometimes I do. I can spend a whole day planning blog posts and sometimes I do. I can spend hours just like talking to people on Instagram and I get wrapped up in conversations and things like that, emails, you know, it goes on and on. It’s very, very, very hard to stay on track. So what I do every day is I have kind of like an extra-large post-it note, think of like a tiny pad of paper that has a postage sticker. Every day I rip off the old one throw it in the trash and every day I make a new list on my little post it and I write, usually, three things that I have to do that day. One of them might be something urgent like I need to pay a bill or I need to have a meeting or I need something like that. Then maybe one of them is something like I want to work on this, like when Emma was saying deep work. Like I want to write a blog post or something that’s something that I have to get in a headspace for it, I can’t just do it in five different settings. I usually do them in one sitting. Then maybe one of them will be like something small but annoying. Just like you know, I need to make this call. I need to return this email. I need to talk to this person about this thing that happened. So I think just making your priorities for that day and really making like two or three and then you know staying up on your emails is great, finishing your work early, things like that, that’s all great, but there’s gonna be better and worse days. Working from home for me, it’s always like, I always feel like I’m on a roller coaster of being too busy and then having a lot of free time and it just goes back and forth. So I think just staying on those most important tasks is what helps me and then when I have that extra time then I do sort of dive into things that I have been wanting to do for a while usually.

Emma: Yep, Yep, I agree. Yeah, I use it, it’s like a weekly planner notepad. You can see your whole week and it’s from our third sister Elise. She’s not really our third sister, but we call her that. Her brand Get to Workbook. It’s her weekly planner. I’ve used it for years, I buy them for our staff, I love them so that’s what I use. Similar thing to what Elsie does. It just like has the things that’s like, just get these done today. Sometimes I’ll put some bonus things, but then they’ll get moved throughout the week. So it just depends on how long certain tasks take but other than that, two other things is, number one, have a designated place in your house, that’s like a workspace. You may not have an office. I do, I happen to have a room that’s like my office and I love that. But that may not be the case for you, if not just think of a designated space. I will say if you’re a laptop user, which I recently, I used to have a desktop computer now I’m just laptop. I will sometimes in my mind think okay, I’m gonna do a couple of emails in bed tonight and I will do that. So it’s okay to have a little bit of gray area but generally speaking, I have a designated like, this is my work spot. I’m now sitting there. I have brought my coffee. I have brought my snack. I am not going to move from the spot now for the next two hours while I complete these two things, or whatever. Then I can go to the bathroom but I gotta finish these things first. So designated spot. Then the second thing, it is so easy to get distracted when you work from home. For me, a lot of it is cleaning. I’m like, oh, if I could just throw a load of laundry in Oscar’s out of pajamas, I could just throw a load of laundry in. Then the next thing you know, I’m like folding that laundry, and then I’m like, oh, maybe I just need to clean out some of his clothes from his closet or clean out some clothes for my closet. It’s a slippery slope, the cleaning. So what I’ll do is I have to get certain tasks done before I will let myself throw a load of laundry in. So it’s not that it’s off-limits. It’s not that I’m not allowed to do any dishes during my workday. 

Elsie: You kind of save it for the end of the day? 

Emma: Yeah, or usually it’s like, I’ll start it on my lunch break, and I have to get whatever’s the most annoying task that I would probably put off, I have to get that done first. Then I can do the laundry or do some dishes or pick up something, you know, if the dining room tables are full of junk, pick that up or whatever. Sometimes I won’t get there because work just took up the whole day. I didn’t get to do it. That kind of annoys me because I’m like I was home all day I wish I could have started this laundry. But I needed to prioritize and that’s just how the cookie crumbles sometimes folks. That’s kind of what I would say is think of those distractions and don’t make them like red buttons, like you’re not allowed. But build them into your day and make sure that they come in a place where you’ve prioritized work first.

Elsie: Yeah, I think working from home is one of the best things in the world but if you’re new to it, just give yourself like a season, or maybe even two to get used to it and make improvements. Be like, how can I make my workspace better? I do these little things like plug-in certain things at the end of every day so that’s how I want it in the morning. Like little things like that can make a big difference. It’s whatever you need it to be right. So just modify it as you go. Okay, so to close this out, we got a funny business idea question. Well, it’s not funny, I think it’s a fun question. So we got this question on Instagram and it is, if you were starting a business today from scratch, what business would you start? I take this to mean, what business do you think could be a banger right now, not just like what do you think sounds fun, because I think starting a bookmobile sounds fun and that’s what I want to say. I think that what they really mean is like, an app idea or a website idea, or something that could make money. Like what do you think?

Emma: I guess so? Yeah. I mean, I wrote down two things. One’s like what I think I would be doing if I wasn’t doing my current career. If I really had is like, start over like you and I never worked together, like what would I want to be doing now. So ones like that and then ones like, kind of like my dream job that I do want to do one day, but it’s not as much about money, although I want it to make money but you know. So I’ll start with what I would be doing if it wasn’t doing this. I would love to own a cleaning business. I used to clean apartments and houses when I lived in Los Angeles right after college and I loved it. I thought it was really fun to go into a house and it’s so messy and then by the time you leave, it’s just that before and after feeling like I accomplished something. So I like that and then I also think I would probably be pretty good at growing that type of business. Like the logistics of it and sort of running it, and I think it could play into, you know, since short term rentals had been on the rise the last few years and just like different people working from home, I think that’s kind of changed the game a little bit, too. I could see myself doing a business like that, a house cleaning, small business cleaning type business, and I would probably really enjoy it. 

Elsie: Nice. 

Emma: So the other one is maybe not what they’re asking, but like, kind of a dream job thing I want to do one day, and I think I’ve mentioned it on the podcast before it was probably like maybe two years. Someday, I would love to own a mini-golf course. 

Elsie: You have talked about this before. 

Emma: yes, I want to make the sculptures where you have to hit the ball around them or like goes through it. I just think it could be so artistic and fun. Then also, I would love to flip it for the holidays so it’s very spooky for Halloween, and then it’s like very holiday for Christmas. 

Elsie: Oh my gosh. 

Emma: I love it. 

Elsie: So what I would do if I were just like, I all of a sudden don’t have a job so I have a full day of free time, put that out there. Then also just like what can I use my talents to make money? I think I would do house flipping. That’s something that I think I would be really good at. I would enjoy it but I don’t at all want to do it like in this phase of life with little kids and having two businesses like it’s a hard no, it’s not something I think I could do. But I do think in another life that that would be something that would be a good career for me, even just like a way to make money for a couple of years or whatever. So yeah, I think maybe someday I could see myself doing that when I’m older. As far as my version of Emma’s mini-golf like my for fun things that it’s not necessarily for the money, but the joy is there and the nostalgia. So I said before I would love to a bookmobile and I think that would very seriously be fun. I would not do it for money though. It would be like for fun, for the love of kids books, for the magic of childhood with kids.

Emma: So what do you mean by a bookmobile because usually, that’s like a thing the library does? So is this just like you’re giving away books, you drive around and give away books?

Elsie: I mean, they could be for sale but like yeah. It’s a traveling bookstore in a van or a bus or a cool little camper or something like that. Then the other thing, I think I really will do this someday, I’ve always wanted to do this since I was about 17 or 18 years old, I’ve always had this dream and I will not have it is I would love to own a real bed and breakfast. A true bed and breakfast, not an Airbnb, a real bed and breakfast. That’s like a hotel, where sometimes they have wedding receptions. In our small town that you know they had like those and then ones where you spend the night and you actually like have breakfast together in the big fancy dining room. I’m into that kind of thing. I think I could see myself doing that, maybe as a retirement dream someday.

Emma: And you can hire my company to do the cleaning.

Elsie: Oh my gosh, that’s a fun question. I would answer that one every week and probably say something different because it’s fun to think of business ideas. Okay, so thank you so much for listening. We will be back next week with our reactions to the 2022 trend reports which are pretty surprising this year. You’re gonna love them, Emma. They’re really funny. If you’re enjoying the podcast, please take a moment to leave us a review wherever you listen to our podcast. If you know any friends who like podcasts, just please share our podcast, just share it around. We love seeing when you post our podcast on Instagram. That means a lot to us every week. So we’re happy to be back and we will be back next week. 

[/read_more]

Well, it’s that time of year when your house feels boring and bare without all the Christmas magic. It always takes me a solid month to really get used to my regular house again once the decor is gone.

We are really, really hoping to have our main floor bathroom renovation done before the end of the month, as it’s been two months already without a bathroom on our main floor.

This is a smaller ’60s home and there’s just one bathroom for everyone (parents, kids, guests) on the main floor, so it’s been a big deal to be without it for so long.

Thankfully, we do have a tiny bathroom with a shower in the basement, but it’s very small and not in great shape (leaking from multiple places so the floor is always wet), so it kind of reminds us of an RV bathroom from the ’70s.

It even had a broken accordion door when we first moved in like they have in RVs when the bathroom is too small for a door to swing inward, haha.

All that to say, I’ll be very happy to have an upstairs bathroom with a tub, as showering in a tiny space with a wiggly 4-year-old while trying to wash her hair and shave my legs at the same time is basically a superpower that I wish to give up soon!

Anyways, here’s some things that are making me happy this week while I wait …

1. Added this table lamp to my living room—so cute and affordable, too!

2. Have you heard of Frownies?! They look crazy, but I guess it’s an old Hollywood secret. They are basically little craft paper stickers for your forehead (or other spot on your face) where you tend to develop fine lines/wrinkles.

It keeps those muscles from moving to re-train them to chill out and lie flat (you can wear them during the day but most people just do it at night).

I have always been the worst about scrunching up my whole forehead when I’m stressed or just plain thinking, or doing something passive like watching TV. People would always think I was mad at them and glaring across the room when I was really just thinking in their direction, haha.

Anyways, I’ve been using them for a few weeks and I can already feel my forehead noticing and then relaxing when I start to get the “worry brow” throughout the day, so it’s starting to work already!

Love my living room? Get all the item details and links here!

3. While this is still my favorite “treat myself” facial cleaning oil, (smells SO good), my sis-in-law was saying this oil cleanser is her all-time fave, so I decided to give it a try since it’s more of a budget option and I really love it so far!

I have dry skin, and a lot of cleansers can make my face feel super dry and tight once I rinse off, but oil cleansers help keep the moisture while taking off the makeup. And, my more oily-prone friends love it too, so it’s not just for dry skin!

4. Got this heart sweater for V-Day for Lola and a few other fun things from this page to round out her present basket. We definitely do candy, but it’s nice to give some non-candy things, too. She will love these heart hair clips and this strawberry bath gel I’m adding.

5. My birthday isn’t until May, but I already bought a birthday dress—it was just too perfect to pass up! And if you remember, my daughter and I share the same birthday, so I’ve been doing matching birthday outfits since she was 2. Soooo, this one for her?

6. My office is one of the last rooms on the main floor of the house to be finished, but I got this rug and I love the checkerboard pattern for the room.

7. Speaking of offices, I chose a pink desk when a Craigslist one didn’t work out (spent a year working from it, but I hated it) and I love it!!

8. My husband knew I was looking for a smaller blender to use for smoothie making, so he surprised me with this blender for Christmas. It’s one of the prettiest kitchen items I’ve ever seen!

The sleek white design and fluted glass look so pretty on the counter, and it’s small enough that I can leave it out on a daily basis. Pretty and works really well, yes please!

9. I’ve heard so many good things about the ILIA Super Serum Skin Tint Foundation that Elsie uses, so I decided to try it myself and I love it! I have a really hard time finding liquid foundations I like and this one is so easy to apply (I can just use my fingertips if I don’t feel like hunting down a beauty blender and it looks great). It also has SPF 40 built in.

PRO TIP: If you also hate choosing shades of foundation online (I’m not very good at it, so I always get the wrong color), you can choose the “find my shade” option and actually send the ILIA team photos of yourself in natural light with no makeup, and they will choose the shade for you.

I was skeptical, but they nailed it for me with the Diaz shade! Don’t forget the finishing powder to set it all.

10. I was looking for an exercise bike so I could work out from home, and I went with the same one Elsie has since she loves it, and it has great reviews (and wasn’t a flashy color).

So far, I love being able to do a workout at home! It definitely makes me sweat, I can watch dumb TV while I do it to distract me, and you can fold and move it easily as needed.

Overall, winter is not my favorite season (the temperature high is 22 today here in Pittsburgh–brr!), but I’m focusing on gathering some cute things for Valentine’s Day since that’s a holiday that Lola and I both really enjoy. xo. Laura

P.S. My top in the photo is from this summer, but here’s a similar one!

Looking for a yummy warm drink this winter? Check out …

• Earl Grey Tea Latte 
• Nutella Hot Chocolate
• Make Your Own Latte at Home (Without An Expensive Espresso Machine!)
• Gingerbread Hot Chocolate

I LOVE fresh spring rolls. They’re one of my very favorite ways to eat raw vegetables.

Yes, they are a little bit of work to make, as you have to roll up your prepped veggies in the spring roll wrappers, but I have never been upset or felt like it was a waste of time when I’ve made them at home.

My only issue is that I might eat all the spring rolls in less time than it took me to make them. Haha.

My favorite spring roll recipes:

• Fresh Spring Rolls + Spicy Peanut Sauce
• Mostly Raw Pad Thai Spring Rolls
• Marinated Spicy Tofu Spring Rolls

The secret to great spring rolls is that it’s ALL about the dipping sauce. My favorite is spicy peanut sauce, but I have a few others that I really love as well.

I thought I’d share all three spring roll sauces here so you can print and make any of them that sound good to you.

Here’s my favorite pre-made dipping sauce, if you’re curious.

Spicy Peanut Sauce

This spicy peanut sauce is creamy, slighty spicy, slightly sweet, and just totally delicious.

I’ve made this exact recipe, but swapped the natural peanut butter for almond butter and it was still really good, so feel free to try that if you have a peanut allergy or are just avoiding legumes.

Sweet and Spicy Sauce

The sweet and spicy sauce is exactly what it sounds like—a thinner dipping sauce that really packs a punch!

You can use fresh chilis or even just a good amount of dried red pepper flakes to make this recipe.

Yum Sauce

If you’re looking for a super quick and easy sauce (that you can make from things you probably already have in your kitchen), then make some Yum sauce to dip those spring rolls in. Yum!

These small bowls are perfect for dipping and a cute serving tray makes your presentation a snap!

And, if you’ve never made fresh spring rolls before and would like a straightforward photo tutorial, just click here or browse all the other yummy apps in our archive. Enjoy! xo. Emma

Print

3 Easy Spring Roll Sauces

homemade spicy peanut sauce, sweet & spicy sauce, and yum sauce

Course condiment

Cuisine Chinese

Keyword spring roll sauces

Servings 4

Author Emma Chapman

Ingredients

For spicy peanut sauce:

• ¾ cup coconut milk canned
• 2 tablespoons curry red
• ⅓ cup peanut butter natural
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• ¼ cup brown sugar packed
• ¼-⅓ cup water

For sweet and spicy sauce:

• ¼ cup rice vinegar
• ½ cup + 1 tablespoon water
• ¼ cup sugar
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce
• 1 red chili finely chopped OR 1 tablespoon red pepper flakes
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch or arrow root powder

For the Yum sauce:

• ½ cup mayo
• 1 tablespoon ketchup
• ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
• ¼ teaspoon paprika
• ¼ teaspoon cayenne
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1-2 tablespoons water

Instructions

• For the spicy peanut sauce, first shake well your can of coconut milk. Then add all the ingredients, except water, to a pot and cook over medium heat.

  Stir as you cook until the sugar is dissolved and everything is heated through. Taste and add more red curry paste if you prefer (start with just 1 tablespoon).

  Then, thin the sauce with water to the consistency you desire.
• For the sweet and spicy sauce, first mince the garlic and finely chop the fresh chili if using. Remove some seeds if you prefer a less spicy sauce.

  In a saucepan, combine the vinegar, 1/2 cup water, sugar, garlic, soy sauce, and chopped chili or pepper flakes.

  Cook over medium heat and stir well to dissolve the sugar. In a small bowl with a fork, whisk together the 1 tablespoon water and 2 teaspoons arrow root powder or cornstarch.

  Whisk until combined well. Drizzle this into the pan and continue to cook until the sauce thickens and coats the spoon well. Remove from heat.
• For the Yum sauce, simply combine all the ingredients except water in a small mixing bowl. Stir together. Taste and add more salt or seasoning you prefer.

  Then thin to your desired consistency with water.

Credits // Author and Photography: Emma Chapman. Spicy peanut sauce adapted from Simple Thai Food by Leela Punyaratabandhu and Sweet and Spicy Sauce adapted from The Flavor Bender.

For anyone putting together their kitchen for the first time, shopping for a friend who’s about to get married or moving into a new house (or just loves cooking), this list is for you!

These are the most-used items in my kitchen that I love. If I had to start from scratch with nothing in my kitchen, this is what I would buy first (beyond major appliances).

And after you see what’s on my most-loved/most-used list, I’d love to know what’s on yours! Leave me a comment with your most-used kitchen items.

Handheld Immersion Blender

A must-have for all types of cooking!

If you don’t already have an immersion blender, then you don’t know what you are missing!!

If you’ve ever tried to blend a piping hot soup in a blender, then you know that an immersion blender is worth it, even just to avoid that potential burn hazard.

This handheld immersion blender is perfect for soups, smoothies, and sauces. And you can froth, whip, and blend food and beverages quickly and easily.

The slim design also allows you to reach it into small cups and bowls and the detachable blending wand is dishwasher safe as well.

Use your immersion blender to make these delicious soups!

• Potato and Cream Cheese Soup
• Cafe-Style Tomato Soup
• Baked Potato and Broccoli Soup
• Curried Lentil Soup

Quality Knife Set

Make sure to get a set with kitchen scissors!

Having a good knife set with options is a key to making cooking easier.

This set includes a chef knife, slicing knife, santoku knife, utility knife, paring knife, bird’s beak paring knife, steak knives for eating, a sharpening steel to keep blades sharp, and all-purpose household shears.

And if you haven’t had a pair of kitchen scissors before, they are a great tool to easily cut up food and super helpful to cut things like pizza into bites for smaller kiddos.

Kitchen Aid Mixer

The gold standard of mixers!

This classic mixer is a classic for a good reason!

Besides the coated flat beater, wire whip, C dough hook, and pouring shield that the beater comes with, you can get lots of other attachments from pasta rollers and cutters to grinders and ice cream mixers, as well.

Whether you are making cookies, bread, or pasta, this mixer will stand the test of time (and all the color options mean it will look cute while doing it!).

Ground Beef Chopper

The secret to cooking ground beef easily!

This 5-blade chopper makes cooking and breaking up things like cooked ground meat a snap, and you can use it to mix and mash softer cooked foods, like potatoes, yams, pumpkin and squash.

It’s dishwasher safe as well, so you can throw it in with the rest of the dishes after dinner.

Always Pan

Not just a pretty face; this pan lives up to the hype!

Besides the 10 trendy colors you can choose from, this Always Pan is a team favorite, and we love the ease of use, the spot on the handle to hold your included wooden spatula, and the nested steamer basket that it comes with.

If you are a dumpling type of household, you can also add the bamboo steamer that cooks dumplings, fish, and veggies to perfection.

Glass Food Storage Containers

A healthier way to store your food!

When it comes to storing leftovers, using glass storage containers is the way to go.

Hot food can be transferred to them right away, and you don’t have to worry about chemicals in plastics leaking into your food.

These glass containers are dishwasher safe, and when you see all these cute containers lined up in your fridge, you’ll feel like you have one of those celebrity kitchens.

Food Processor

Even a small one will be your new kitchen’s best friend!

Food processors can be your new kitchen’s best friend to help you make dips, soups, dressings, and sauces.

If you are cooking for a lot of people, most of the time you may want a larger model, but even smaller ones like this 3.5 cup version will get most jobs done, and take up less space on your counter, too.

Here’s a mini version for even smaller households.

Coffee/Spice Grinder

Use your grinder for double duty (with a removable bowl!)

Having a coffee grinder is a must, but getting one with a removable bowl so that you can wash it out properly (this one is dishwasher safe) means that you can also use it for spices, herbs, grains, and nuts!

Air Popcorn Popper

What’s better than fresh buttered popcorn?

Freshly popped popcorn is just one of those movie night treats that can’t be beat!

Make the ultimate snack a snap with this cute popcorn popper (it will even melt the butter for you on the little tray above the popcorn).

Insulated Can Coozie

Keep your hands dry and your drink cold!

If you love a cold drink, then your next beer or LaCroix is going to love being in one of these insulated can coozies.

Made of stainless steel, just slide your can into the metal sleeve, and your drink will be as chill as you are. Not to mention, they are also so pretty!

Air Fryer

Go for a double basket fryer for large families or frequent “frier miles!”

No joke, this is currently my most used kitchen item! If you haven’t used one yet, then you truly don’t know what you are missing.

This this double one with two frying baskets is my go-to for larger recipes, but I also love the smaller size, sleek look and the color options. It also comes in a double size!.

Need some ideas? Check out our favorite air fryer recipes!

• Air Fried Okra
• Basic Crispy Air Fried Wings
• Air Fried Breakfast Potatoes
• Air Fried Pickles
• Crispy Air Fried Brussels Sprouts

Stackable Drinking Glasses

They come in six colors!

I love these stackable drinking glasses, as they are everyday enough for a glass of water, but cute enough to hold your wine or iced coffee.

The color choices (we love the sunset and sunrise colors) and shape add a little retro flair to your table and your guests are sure to ask “where do you get those?” They have tableware as well!

Matching Flatware Set

Comes in three metal colors!

If you have a silverware drawer full of mismatched items, it’s time to up your game and snag a matching set for your dinner table.

And, you don’t have to be throwing fancy dinner parties for cute silverware—they even make weekend brunch at home feel more special!

Timeless Plate Set

Always in style, and they will last for years!

While it can be fun to have some specialty dinnerware (Christmas tree plates, etc.), having a modern, yet timeless everyday plate set is a must.

And when it’s a classic like this set, they will also fit right in at a fancy dinner party.

This collection also comes with a smaller salad plate and a dinner bowl so you can match all the way through each meal of the day and they are dishwasher, microwave and oven safe (up to 350 degrees).

There you have it—all my must-have kitchen items. What’s on your list?! xo. Emma

Cake pops are probably one of my favorite treats since I first started making them in 2012 (when I originally published this tutorial). They are the perfect little bite-sized indulgence!

If you’ve never made cake pops before (or it’s been a while), I’m going to share a step-by-step guide to make them with a cake mix and frosting.

These are a classic—no special equipment or molds needed, but I’ll share a few tips and supplies that can be helpful.

What’s the trick to making cake pops?

You can use any flavor cake mix: chocolate, vanilla, red velvet, yellow, etc. Be sure to check your cake mix to ensure you have whatever other cake ingredients the mix recommends for baking.

You will also need one container of store-bought frosting. I like to use anything with a simple texture like vanilla, chocolate, or strawberry.

I would avoid things like German chocolate (which has a texture to it since it contains coconut flakes).

1.

1. Bake the cake according to the package instructions and allow to fully cool.

2. Spoon the baked cake into a large mixing bowl. Add 2/3 of the container of frosting.

In my experience, using the full container makes the cake pops a bit too soft and harder to work with once we dip them in chocolate. But, this is how you get cake pops to stick together—with frosting.

3. Use your (clean) hands to mix together the frosting and cake. The cake pop batter is going to be pretty soft, but moldable.

4. Form your cake pop batter into small balls (about 3-4 tablespoons each). You don’t want them to be too big, just so they easily fit in the palm of your hand.

Once you have formed all your pops (a standard size cake will make around 35-40 cake pops), put them in the refrigerator for 1-2 hours or the freezer for half an hour.

5. Get your candy melts and any other supplies ready like cake pop sticks, sprinkles or other edible decorations (like these butterflies) you want to use.

I think candy melts work best for cake pops, but you can also use chocolate chips instead.

The mixture will be a little thicker and slightly harder to work with (but still OK). And, the shell around the cake pops will be thicker once the chocolate sets.

I usually melt candy melts in the microwave in 30-second increments. You could also use a double boiler or a chocolate melter like the one in the photo below.

If you need to thin your candy melts, you can stir in a teaspoon of canola or vegetable oil once melted.

6. Dip the cake pop stick in the melted chocolate.

7. Push the stick 2/3 through a cold cake pop.

8. Dip the pop in the melted chocolate.

9. Allow any excess chocolate to drip off the pop. Then, store the cake pop upright while it sets (unless you don’t mind a flat bottomed cake pop).

You can do this a number of ways, but I like to stick the pops into a container that is filled with granulated white sugar.

You can decorate your cake pops all sorts of ways! I like to drizzle on a bit more chocolate after I’ve dipped all the pops, just to add some texture.

Or I will add sprinkles or other edible decorations, like these edible butterflies. Once the chocolate is set, these are ready to eat.

I tend to keep cake pops pretty simple as far as the decorating goes. But if you want to make more elaborate shapes or different cake pop looks, then I recommend checking out the Bakerella site. Angie is the queen of cake pops!

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10 / 11 / 12 / 13

Print

How To Make Cake Pops

a step-by-step guide to make cake pops from cake mix and frosting

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword cake pops

Servings 40 cake pops

Author Emma Chapman

Ingredients

• 1 box cake mix any flavor
• 1 container frosting store-bought

Instructions

• Bake a cake from a cake mix (any flavor). Allow to fully cool.
• Spoon the cake into a large mixing bowl and add 2/3 a container of frosting.
• Use your clean hands to mix together the frosting and cake.
• Form your cake pop batter into small balls, about 3-4 tablespoons each. You don’t want them to be too big, just so they easily fit in the palm of your hand.
• Once you have formed all your pops (a standard size cake will make around 35-40 pops), put them in the refrigerator for 1-2 hours or the freezer for half an hour.
• While those are in the refrigerator, melt the candy melts and get your other supplies ready.
• Dip the end of cake pop stick in the melted chocolate.
• Push the stick 2/3 through a cold cake pop.
• Dip the pop in the melted chocolate.
•  Allow any excess chocolate to drip off the pop.

Notes

See post for additional notes and ideas for decorating cake pops. 

Today, I’m here to talk about adding walls to my floor plan. It often feels like the online design crowd and the home improvement shows ONLY take walls away, but what about when you could benefit from adding a wall or two?

In today’s post, we’ll explore when it’s worth it to close in a space and even (gasp!) lose a natural light source.

My DMs got quite controversial and I realized that this subject is a big, fun thought experiment. Let’s take a journey together.

Let me start by saying that I love an open floor plan, and most of the time I think the more windows, the better!

As someone who bought my very first home on pretty much the smallest American budget that exists, I completely understand the allure of always wanting a big more space, added windows, and that coveted kitchen island that so many people knock out walls to achieve.

We all know more and bigger is not always better, though, right? There has to be a line where your house is too open, and lacking room definition.

Or, what about those cool modern homes that are all windows? Many people feel they lack needed privacy. Your line will be different depending on the style of your home, your location, and your lifestyle.

Many brand new, beautiful (expensive!!) homes in my area basically have a living room and kitchen that are one big room. It’s one of the most controversial major trends of our decade.

People have very strong feelings about open concept—usually they absolutely love it or absolutely do not.

For the record, I am 50/50 on the issue! I think an open kitchen can definitely be an improvement on a smaller home, giving you more opportunity to make the kitchen you really want.

My parents knocked down the wall between their dining room and kitchen in the 1990s, and I remember what a huge improvement it was. It really just depends on the house!

For my own home, I strongly prefer a separate kitchen. I love cooking and baking all by myself in the kitchen while my family plays or watches TV in another room.

Having a little alone time while cooking is something my (introvert) husband and I highly value at times. As a decorator, I prefer a layout with separate spaces where you can see other rooms, but not the entire room.

Decorating one big open space is truly much more difficult.

In 10-20 years will people be remodeling to add walls to the kitchens of their 2021 farmhouse-style mansions? Only time will tell.

OK, let’s talk about my remodel because my open floor plan was in our living spaces, and it actually has nothing to do with the kitchen!

Here are a few photos from when we originally purchased our home (to see how open it was). VERY open.

In these photos you can see the entryway, living room, and dining room which were originally one big open space.

When I first saw this home, I fell in love with it. The layout is great and it checked all our boxes of wants and needs. I knew it was going to take a lot of renovating to make it cozy and our style (I just didn’t realize HOW much).

Before this, I had mainly experienced renovating mid-century and early-century homes, so this larger 1990s home was very different from the starting point I was used to.

A few months in, I started to realize that no amount of decorating was going to give the home the look and feel I wanted. We needed to add some walls.

When I first brought up the idea of adding walls to my husband and close friends, they thought I was crazy. Who ADDS walls?

Plus, when we first walked through the house, all I could say was that it was perfect and that I loved how open it was. So why did that change over time? For me, it was living in the space.

Slowly, I convinced everyone (myself included) that adding some walls would make the home feel bigger, not smaller, because we would gain more useful space and be able to decorate each space more separately.

I am sure I said more than 100 times, “Don’t worry, it will still feel open.”

By the time I started sharing our plans online, I received a second wave of skepticism, but I felt prepared for it and eager to show my project in real time.

Over the past few months, I shared videos of adding walls, adding a lower ceiling, and even losing a light source in one room.

There are definitely still opinions on both sides, but I’ve received hundreds of messages saying “It looks bigger” or “It looks like it was always meant to be this way” once we added the new walls and arches. Even my bff texted me and said, “Maybe you’re not crazy.”

I was most nervous about closing in the double story entryway. On paper, I knew it was going to be good, but it was very hard to visualize when we were so used to the double story ceiling in that space. Would it feel too small?

On the morning it was completed, Jeremy and I walked in to take a look and he said, “It feels bigger.” That was probably the most satisfying moment of the whole renovation.

I was so happy and proud that it worked. It really does feel bigger, by the way. Not bigger than it was before, but bigger than you imagine it would feel. It’s a huge improvement!

That’s my open floor plan story! Let me know if you have any questions. It was a huge learning process for me and I really enjoyed putting the puzzle together over this past year.

I would LOVE to hear your thoughts and opinions in general or from your own homes! I think open concepts are SO controversial because they truly can solve a problem, but also create one when used as a one-size-fits-all solution.

If you’d like, click here to read more of my posts. xx- Elsie

Air frying tofu is one of my favorite ways to prepare tofu for recipes because it’s super quick and turns out crispy without even using oil.

If you are looking to add a few more vegetarian or plant-based meals to your weeknights, knowing how to air fry tofu will help you out!

First off, when I’ve had friends start eating tofu for the first time they usually have questions like “Is tofu healthy?” or “Isn’t tofu bad for you?”

I certainly don’t think you should eat it exclusively, as there are lots of great protein sources in the world.

But, tofu and soy in general are pretty great, and you can read an article that Lindsey (one of the dietitians we worked with on our cookbook) wrote, called Is Soy Safe?

Air Fried Tofu Recipes:

• How to Build the Perfect Stir Fry
• Red Curry
• Pineapple Fried Rice
• Massaman Curry
• Easy Pad Thai (this recipe has shrimp, which you can substitute for tofu)
• Pad See Ew
• Simple Yellow Curry

A few tips and notes about cooking with tofu:

Can you eat tofu raw? Technically, yes. I’ve personally never eaten it cold or straight from the container, but you could. Like, you can add tofu right into homemade miso soup (although that still warms it).

What I find comforting about this is, unlike most meat, you don’t have to worry about if you are cooking tofu enough. It’s safe to eat as is, so you can experience with air frying times to get the level of crispiness you prefer.

Do I have to drain and press tofu? I would recommend you do. I have tried air frying tofu without pressing it (to drain away excess moisture) and although it works fine, it doesn’t get quite as crispy.

Can I air fry tofu with no oil? Yes! See the recipe card below for exactly how I air fry tofu, but I think it’s better to air fry without any oil at all.

Can I air fry tofu without cornstarch? Yes! Again, I recommend and prefer this. As you can see in the photo below, adding cornstarch or arrow root powder to your tofu before air frying can make it stick.

My favorite brands/ types for the air fryer are brands where the tofu is packaged with some liquid (as opposed to snuggly packaged in the container without liquid surrounding it).

You’ll also want to use extra firm tofu for air frying.

Try to keep your pieces of tofu in one layer and not touching each other when air frying. It’s OK if they touch a little, although they may stick together some. If they do so, you’ll have to separate them after cooking.

But as much as possible, try not to overcrowd your air fryer basket.

No extra ingredients—just crispy tofu ready for use! xo. Emma

Credits // Author and Photography: Emma Chapman.

Print

Air Fried Tofu

crispy air fried tofu without oil or cornstarch

Course Main Course

Keyword air fry, tofu

Prep Time 6 minutes

Cook Time 12 minutes

Total Time 18 minutes

Servings 4

Author Emma Chapman

Ingredients

• 1 package tofu extra firm

Instructions

• Drain the tofu from the package liquid.
• Using paper towels or clean kitchen towels (that will not leave lint) press the tofu, removing excess liquid.

  I usually place the tofu before two plates and set something semi-heavy on top of the upper place like a heavy bowl or cookbook.
• Cut the drained tofu into bite-sized cubes.
• Air fry at 390°F for 10-12 minutes. Halfway through, pause the air fryer and toss the cubes.

Notes

See post for many recipe suggestions in which to use air fried tofu.

Is there anything better than making a project list for the new year? I love to make a project list for my home at the beginning of each year.

It always ends up changing and evolving in some way by the end of the year (and I never get every item done!), but at the end of the year I am usually surprised how much we completed.

You can see last year’s goals here and last year’s end-of-year recap here. In this post, I’ll share my project list for 2022 and what I decided not to do this year, as well.

Here’s my mood board so you can get an idea of the general vibe and family of colors I want to stay within.

My biggest priorities are that rooms feel super cozy and that they are versatile for my love of holiday decor, themed parties for my kids, and swapping accent colors by mood or season.

Entryway. If you follow us on IG you have seen that I’m already pretty far into this renovation. After much head-scratching, we decided to close in the second story above our entryway.

By adding that new ceiling/floor, we gained an entryway that is much easier to decorate and a little bonus room above the entryway (more on that below).

Currently, we’re adding some moldings to this room and planning to do a wallpapered ceiling. Oh, and we chose herringbone wood for just the entryway when we replaced the tile in November.

Living Room. When you enter the home, this room is just to your left. We are adding built-ins, painting it a moody color (it’s not a dark color, but it feels moody to me in comparison to what I usually choose).

We were originally planning to keep the fireplace, but it was damaged during the tile demo and couldn’t be salvaged. We ended up designing a new fireplace that I love even more. It has a seat and feels really great for the scale of the space.

So, all is well that ends well. I can’t wait to show you this completed space!

Dining Room. This room is being renovated right now. We added a wall with an arched opening so it’s less open (but still plenty open).

I decided to do bookshelves surrounding the dining table and add a faux fireplace. There will be a window seat below the window.

This one is a little more difficult to imagine, but in my brain it is AMAZING and I can’t wait for you to see it.

I was inspired by a restaurant we ate at once that had bookcases everywhere with books and little tea light candles. I think it will be so cozy and fun to decorate.

Powder Bathroom. Augh, finally! This has been out of commission for months since we did the wood floors.

It was surprisingly really difficult for me to design. I still haven’t picked the wallpaper and the paint color, but I’ve picked everything else. It’s going to be cute and blend with the rest of the rooms really well.

Art Room. I have to give Collin credit that he did so much nice work to this room before he left. He built out the shelves to touch the ceiling and they are both more beautiful and more functional now.

Currently, it’s been stuffed to the brim with furniture since we’ve been renovating the other rooms. I haven’t had access to it for months and I really miss it.

It has some drywall holes that need patching (here’s a hack to patch a drywall hole) and needs some minor decor, but it’s close to being completed.

Movie Room. Another one that is SO close. I really just need to tweak the art and get a new coffee table and we can shoot this room. I can’t wait to share it with you—it should be done by next month.

Last year, I decided to buy a pottery wheel and kiln. I was planning to put them in our garage and my husband really wanted me to use this little attached shed instead.

I was hesitant because it didn’t have a water line and or as easy access to our house.

I spent so much time and money in 2021 getting this room ready. Aside from purchasing a kiln and wheel, we had to get a sink added (and they had to make the water tap a freezeproof outdoor one).

I had to get a new roof put on the shed because it was leaking, and I had to get new doors put on because the doors previously had no windows and it was not weatherproofed.

All of that is finally done and now I am just waiting on an appointment to get the kiln and vent installed. We’re so close! By the way, I’m really glad Jeremy talked me out of the garage now.

Landing and Hidden Room. At the top of our stairs, there is a little landing area that leads into our bedroom (as well as the hallway to the other rooms).

Then, where you see the rail here is where the new floor was added above the entryway. So now we have this little extra room that connects to this landing. It’s a small room, basically a large closet size.

I purchased a vintage armoire from Etsy and it will become the door into the hidden room. We decided to make it a kids library inside.

One of my biggest parenting goals for the next 10 years is to encourage my kids to become readers, and I think this will be a good step in that direction.

Main Bedroom. Our bedroom is really big and weird. When we first moved in, it freaked me out because it made all our furniture look shrunken. We had scale issues for sure. It took me a long time to get ideas for the best layout, too since it’s closer to a square shape than a rectangle.

We don’t have enough room for a full living room setup (sofas, chairs, coffee table), but it also clearly needs more furniture than just the bed and dresser. I would say it was probably the most challenging room in our 1990s puzzle.

I’m excited to show you what I have planned, but I’m also still crossing my fingers that we can make it feel how we want it to feel. I’m the most nervous about this room.

Other plans: A few more rooms we have our our list this year either as a “hell yes” or a “maybe” are: Jeremy’s office (it’s almost done, but needs an annoying drywall patch job that would disrupt his work), main bathroom (if our contractor can meet our budget we will probably go for it this spring!) and our home gym (currently functional but needs work to feel complete).

The other thing I am contemplating is adding a playhouse to our backyard. We really loved our last one and if we’re going to do it I don’t want to wait too long since kids grow fast. On the fence with that one.

What’s not our list: I can’t believe I’m about to say this, but we decided not to do our big kitchen renovation this year. The reason why is because if we wanted to finish it by the end of the summer, we need to start now to be on schedule.

Since we just renovated through the holidays I am not in the right headspace to plan my dream kitchen this season and I don’t want to have any regrets. So, we decided to hold off until 2023 for that project.

If all goes well, we will wrap up our renovations and I will spend next fall and Christmas enjoying our new spaces, using my functional ’90s kitchen to make Christmas cookies and planning our dream kitchen.

As of right now, I think January of 2023 would be a good time to start demo. It’s a huge project that will put us without a kitchen and laundry room for months, and I’m just not feeling that for 2022.

Plus, when I looked at our list of what all we have going this year, it felt like we already have more than enough renovations for the blog, so no harm in spacing out more for the future. I don’t want to stuff my schedule too much or rush through this since it’s truly a dream project.

I’m really excited to share this year’s renovations with you! Which room are you the most excited to see? xx- Elsie

Welp. This week was overwhelming. I’m not complaining, but yeesh! Let’s discuss fun, light things, K? Here are 10 things I’m loving lately.

-I read this book over my holiday break and LOVED it. When I mentioned it on IG I got mixed reviews from those who had already read it.

Anyone else read this one? I am stoked to get my copy of book two now. I love magic! I love wizards in high school! Lol.

-Next up, I am planning on reading this book, which was a Christmas gift from Trey. He knows how much I like true crime, so the premise of this novel seems pretty promising.

-I got some chunky boots a few months ago, and lately (as it’s been rainy and then snowy) they have come in useful.

-I used the Pink Papaya app to add the glitter in this photo—they have a cool eraser tool, so you can glitter the areas you want!

-Speaking of apps, last year I used the 1 Second Everyday app and shared it on my personal IG (it’s a highlight called “2021” now). I loved the experience so much that I’m doing it again this year.

-I recently replaced a couple of clean beauty products I used down to the empties (which is how you know it’s good).

I rebought this bronzer, this multi-stick (I use it on my cheeks and lips) and then I decided to try the same multi-stick in a different shade, as well.

-I have been a little hair sad lately. My hair got SO thin after having my son, and then especially after I stopped nursing. It’s all worth it, but it’s not my favorite thing.

So, I’m letting myself buy and try new hair products basically as much as I like right now. I recently got this wonder water conditioner and love it, while I also bought these for topknot buns and they help a lot!

-Oscar is getting his first tooth! Yes, I’m including this as a thing I’m loving lately. It’s so cute! I’m an annoying mom. I’m not sorry. This is who I am now.

Hope your weekend treats you well. Take care of yourself, friend. -Emma

If you haven’t noticed by now, I am pretty obsessed with our air fryer. Did anyone get one for Christmas last month? Today, I thought I’d share how to make crispy air fried chickpeas.

These are such an easy and healthy snack you can throw together with very few ingredients. And they only take about 20 minutes to make total, including prep time! I love them!

Tips

I did a little experiment recently. I wanted to know if you can air fry chickpeas with no oil, and if so, would they be just as crispy as when I air fry them with a little oil? Here’s what I found:

If you want crispy and little bit crunchy chickpeas toss them in a little oil before air frying (see the recipe card below for measurements).

That being said, you absolutely can air fry chickpeas with no oil. They still turn out very delicious, but not quite as crispy.

Customize Your Air Fried Chickpeas

I like to season air fried chickpeas with a little Lawry’s seasoning salt, garlic powder, and cayenne. If I have some fresh herbs like rosemary or thyme, I’ll toss a couple chopped teaspoons of that in as well.

But, you can season these with even less, like just salt and pepper, or try any combination of other things.

Air fried chickpeas taste slightly nutty, or kind of like tahini. If you like the taste of hummus you will probably like these crispy air fried chickpeas.

For me, these make a great high fiber snack for a small get together or for just snacking in front of the TV. They’d be great in a trail mix too or as a salad topper!

Here are some other lighter/healthier snacks I love:

• Air Fried Okra
• Homemade Crispy Kale Chips
• Air Fried Pickles
• Crispy Air Fried Brussels Sprouts
• Date and Almond Hummus

I hope you enjoy these crispy air fried chickpeas! If you make them, let me know what you think in the comments. xo. Emma

Print

Crispy Air Fried Chickpeas

a quick and easy snack you make in the air fryer

Course Appetizer, Snack

Cuisine American

Keyword air fryer, chickpeas

Prep Time 2 minutes

Cook Time 16 minutes

Total Time 18 minutes

Servings 4 servings

Author Emma Chapman

Ingredients

• 15 ounces chickpeas one can
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• ½ teaspoon seasoning salt
• ½ teaspoon garlic powder
• ¼ teaspoon cayenne
• 1-2 tablespoons chopped rosemary or thyme optional

Instructions

• Drain and rinse the can of chickpeas. You don't need to completely dry them after.
• Toss in the oil.
• Toss in the seasoning salt, garlic powder, and cayenne.
• Air fry at 390°F for 16-18 minutes. Pausing and tossing every 5 minutes or so.
• Sprinkle on the fresh herbs, if using, in the last 5 minutes of cooking.

Notes

You can omit the oil and these will still turn out delicious but not quite as crispy. 

I think every house I’ve moved into has the a brown hollow core door situation. Sometimes they are in decent shape and other times they are splinted (and split) in spots, so you can really tell how thin and cheap the veneer of wood is.

Once you start to research how much new/nicer doors are, it becomes apparent (to the budget-conscious shopper, anyway) that the budget-friendly thing to do is rehab the doors you’ve got and give them a total refresh!

That also saves you from having to hang all new doors, which can also be a frustrating project. As I’ve done it a few times now, I’ll show you my process to refresh hollow core doors and take them from crummy to cute!

Supplies:

–wood filler and putty knife
-sandpaper (medium and fine grit)
-primer that’s also a stain blocker (like this one)
-semi gloss paint in your color choice
-hinges in your metal preference (I used these)
-doorknob set of your preference (I used this one but you can see trendy hardware options for all budgets here!)
–half round molding or molding of your choice

1.) Repair any splintering/cracks:

It’s not uncommon on hollow core doors for the bottom of the door to start to splinter off and leave some uneven surfaces. The best way to repair that is to get some wood filler and a putty knife to fill the splintered areas.

Put a layer of wood filler that’s a little higher than the surface of the door so you can sand it down to a level surface once the wood filler has dried.

2.) Paint the door:

The color and tone of the wood on a hollow core door is always a dead giveaway that it’s a cheap door, so painting it helps to hide those splintered areas you just repaired, and makes it look like it could be a solid slab door.

I like to sand down the door with a medium sandpaper to rough up the surface. Don’t skimp on the sanding—the paint won’t stick to the door as well if you don’t really rough up the glossy surface enough. Then, do a coat or two of a stain-blocking primer to keep the wood stains from bleeding through.

If you’re painting the doors a dark color, you can probably get away with a paint/primer in one rather than separate coats. Then, use a semi-gloss paint in the color of your choice (I usually do white) to refresh your door with a low nap roller for smooth surfaces.

3.) Replace the hinges:

A lot of the time, an older hollow core door will also have older hinges that could use a swap for something nicer and newer. Our doors had really clunky heavy hinges that are meant for outdoor doors (very heavy duty) and they were also rusty and splattered with several colors of previous trim paint colors.

Getting a pack of sleek modern hinges can go a long way in modernizing a door and making the whole thing feel refreshed (you’ll want these if your hinge cutouts are rounded).

4.) Switch the door hardware:

Now, this is the final step in making your door makeover a real success! Getting some sleek modern door hardware will be a giant leap forward for your hollow core door project.

I wanted to spend a little more on the hardware to really make the end result feel more luxe (and since we saved so much on rehabbing the doors that was possible), so I bought this one. It has a 5-year finish warranty for the finish color I wanted (a nice thing to have for brass hardware).

If you are wanting to save all around, they have more budget-friendly options that are similar like these and these that would be beautiful, too!

5.) Add some custom trim (optional but amazing!!)

Now that you have a repaired door with a fresh coat of paint and new hardware, you can call it a day and admire your new door, OR, you can go one step further and make the door pretty special with some custom trim additions.

I’ve made quite a few basic doors feel much more special with either wooden trim or wooden cutout designs, but in this house I added an arched half-round trim design to the back and all the main interior doors with flexible moulding and I just LOVE how it made the doors feel so much more luxe and custom.

Want to see more door DIY ideas? Check out …

• Star Trim Closet Door DIY
• Pyramid Trim Closet Door DIY
• Circle French Door DIY
• Add Geometric Panels to Your Doors DIY
• Modernizing Bi-Fold Closet Doors

Looking for new hardware? Check out our trendy hardware favorites for every budget!

As a side note, especially if you have older doors, you may need to drill a hole bigger to fit current standard door hardware sizes and a jig like this one is extremely helpful for that!

The doors that were add-ons later in the life of the house were updated to the standard hole sizes, but all the doors in the main hallway of our ’60s house had smaller latch holes than we needed, so that jig came in handy to update those holes so the hardware would fit properly.

There you go! You can see that we also updated the door casing around the doors since we had the baseboards and flooring replaced, and that also helps make the whole doorway look more updated.

Hope this helped show you that hollow core doors don’t have to be removed to refresh your home into a more modern and updated space! xo. Laura

Credits // Author and Photography: Laura Gummerman.

Print

How To Refresh Hollow Core Doors

Best ways to makeover hollow core doors

Cook Time 1 day

Paint Dry Time 2 hours

Total Time 1 day 2 hours

Author Laura Gummerman

Cost varies

Ingredients

• sandpaper medium and fine grit
• wood filler and putty knife
• primer that’s also a stain blocker
• semi gloss paint in your color choice
• hinges in your metal preference
• doorknob set of your preference
• half round molding  or molding of your choice

Instructions

• Repair splinters and cracks: It’s not uncommon on hollow core doors for the bottom of the door to start to splinter off and leave some uneven surfaces. The best way to repair that is to get some wood filler and a putty knife to fill the splintered areas. Put a layer of wood filler that’s a little higher than the surface of the door so you can sand it down to a level surface once the wood filler has dried.
• Paint the door: The color and tone of the wood on hollow core door is always a dead giveaway that it’s a cheap door, so painting it helps to hide those splintered areas you just repaired and makes it look like it could be a solid slab door. I like to sand down the door lightly with a medium sandpaper to rough up the surface and then do a coat or two of a stain-blocking primer to keep the wood stains from bleeding through (if painting the doors a dark color, you can probably get away with a paint/primer in one rather than separate coats). Then use a semi-gloss paint in the color of your choice (I usually do white) to refresh your door with a low nap roller for smooth surfaces.
• Replace the hinges: A lot of the time, an older hollow core door will also have older hinges that could use a swap for something nicer and newer. Our doors had really clunky heavy hinges that are meant for outdoor doors (very heavy duty) and they were also rusty and splattered with several colors of previous trim paint colors. Getting a pack of sleek modern hinges can go a long way in modernizing a door and making the whole thing feel refreshed (you’ll want these if your hinge cutouts are rounded).
• Switch the door hardware: Now this is the final step in making your door makeover a real success! Getting some sleek modern door hardware will be a giant leap forward for your hollow core door project. I wanted to spend a little more on the hardware to really make the end result feel more luxe (and since we saved so much on rehabbing the doors that was possible), so I bought this one that has a 5-year finish warranty for the finish color I wanted (a nice thing to have for brass hardware) and here’s a pretty budget-friendly option too. If you are wanting to save all around, they have more budget-friendly options that are similar like these and these that would be beautiful too!
• Add some custom trim: Now that you have a repaired door with a fresh coat of paint and new hardware, you can call it a day and admire your new door, OR, you can go one step further and make the door pretty special with some custom trim additions. I’ve made quite a few basic doors feel much more special with either wooden trim or wooden cutout designs, but in this house I added an arched half-round trim design to the back and all the main interior doors with flexible moulding and I just LOVE how it made the doors feel so much more luxe and custom.