Latest Posts

Lifestyle

Links & Love & Stuff

Reblonding at Chris McMillan

Supporting evidence for my ongoing insistence that you should try Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk Foundation: this photo. Spoiler: My skin does not look like this when I wake up in the morning. (I wear shade 5.5, if that's helpful.)

For those of you with elementary school-aged kids: My son just tore through the Goosebumps and Press Start series, and is moving on to the Notebook of Doom series, which came highly recommended by a friend. Any other really great early reader series recommendations would be amazing, if you have them!

Lifestyle

I Think They Call This “Living Your Best Life”

Yup.

I didn't have tons of expectations going into this weekend, because the sum total of the the research I did when I was contacted by a publicist asking me if I wanted to go on a press trip to Palm Springs was to say "yes," and then go there.

But had I done the research, I would have a) been geeking out over the fact that this is the hotel from the Saved by the Bell wedding episode, and b) been even MORE excited, if such a thing is possible, because the JW Marriot Desert Springs Resort and Spa is a total retro-luxe fantasyland.

Makeup & Beauty

I Cannot Say Enough Wonderful Things About This Toothbrush

 

The other day, I sat down to start cobbling together a post called “8 Products I’m Still Obsessed With One Year Later.” Because here’s the thing: beauty writers (and any writers with public platforms) get asked to review lots of products. Which means that if one of these writers - me, say - is not only still using one of these products a solid year later, but has actually subscribed to a delivery service for said product, and still insists showing said product to people who come over to her house because they need to know about it…

You know it’s a good product.

Which is to say that one product that I knew from the get-go was absolutely guaranteed a spot on this list of mine is quip - the electric toothbrushes that I first wrote about last spring. I hadn’t been aware that the toothbrush industry was one that could be disrupted, as they say, but it also hadn’t occurred to me that I could have a toothbrush that can only be described as “stylish.” 

Makeup & Beauty

Spotlight On: Riddle Perfume Oil Original Scent

I LOVE it when things like this happen.

OK, so a couple of months ago I was in Malibu with my mom, and we went into a little boutique filled with many, many things that I wanted to own but could not afford. My mom felt similarly, but nevertheless decided to try on everything in the store, so I ended up wandering around by the cash register, picking various things up and putting them back down while trying to keep my children from doing the same, and one of the things I picked up was this little rollerball perfume oil from a company I'd never heard of called "Riddle."

I couldn't put my finger on what, exactly, it smelled like, but I was instantly OBSESSED, to the point where I flagged down the woman who was standing in the corner folding $300 t-shirts to ask her about it. She had virtually no information to offer me and had seemingly never noticed it even sitting there in the shop, so I figured it was some ultra boutique-y oil made by, like, the owner's friend. It was also a little pricey ($50 for the small oil, $80 for the large), so even though I definitely thought about buying it, I managed to restrain myself and went on my (now blissfully perfume oil-ed) way.

Makeup & Beauty

8 Products I’m Still Obsessed With One Year Later

I wouldn't call myself a "beauty blogger," per se, but I've certainly written about beauty (treatments, techniques, procedures, products, and so on) a lot over the years, including two entire YouTube shows produced by Allure (#memories).

What this means: I've tried out a lot of products - far more, I'd guess, than your average non-blogging bear. And I've liked - even loved - a lot of them. But like any human being with non-abnormal quantities of time to spend on things like makeup and skincare, there are only so many new discoveries that I actually continue using over the long-term (and on my own dime).

Read: What Do Beauty Bloggers Spend Their Own Money On?

DIARY

#BornToBlog (Alt Title: Watch and Learn, Gwyneth. Watch. And. Learn.)

Current mood.

Alright. So. Remember that time I ended up with the top half of my body inserted into an industrial-sized dumpster coated with 6-inch-thick black slime? Or that time I was driving down the highway and realized that the scent of Cheetos and death that was making me choke was coming from...me? Or the time Lucy's dead eyeball fell out of her head and crawled across the floor (well, not exactly, but let's not nitpick)?

This is all to say that I feel like maybe I was born to be a blogger. Because really: when you're bent over in a parking lot while your ex-husband kneels behind you, Windex-ing poop off of the seat of your pants, it can help to think, "Well, at least I know what I'm going to write about tomorrow."

Crafts for the Uncrafty

DIY Yarn-Wrapped Lucky Horseshoe

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

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

And then I DID.

Crafts for the Uncrafty

Super Easy “Bread Slime” Tutorial (If You Have Kids, You Know This Is A Thing)

Our friend Piper is a legit Slime-Making Expert, having been making her own for years. (Presumably not that many, because she is 11 years old.) And last weekend she went to the Las Vegas Slime Convention, Slime Vegas (#yes), and returned home with even more superior knowledge than before. For example, she informed me that the stuff you make on your own is an entirely different beast than the stuff that comes in kits; so if you, too, have failed to make Unicorn Slime From A Box, do not despair. Just buy some Borax! (For reals.)

Decor

Current Obsession: Laura Ashley Home Decor

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

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

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

DIARY

Under The Sea

So my dad just left - his Uber literally just pulled away down my driveway - and I am sitting here at my dining room table in tears. Because as much as I dreaded leaving...once I was there, I realized very quickly that what was happening was that I was on the trip of a lifetime.

And now it's over. And that's ok, of course - and of course I'm happy to be home...but still.

On a lighter note: I'd thought I'd skipped the whole "jet lag" thing (hahahahahahah) because yesterday I was ping-ponging around acting more or less like I had mainlined a whole bunch of speed instead of just popping my usual Omega-3s (that is a joke; if you think I'm together enough to take vitamins you have not been paying attention these past few years). But it turns out that I was apparently going through some kind of adrenaline-induced mania, because I am currently Zombie Jordan.


powered by chloédigital