DIY

Before & After Renovations

Before And After: Black and White (And Wood and Gold) Bathroom

IT'S DONE.

I love, love, love, LOVE my bathroom. I say "my" bathroom even though it's the bathroom in the hall (as opposed to the master bathroom) because from the time we moved in it was the only bathroom with an actual bath in it - and we all know how I feel about baths. So while it was the kids' primary bathroom, too, I sort of adopted it as my own.

When I set out to renovate this bathroom (before and after pics are below, but you can take a look at what it looked like when we moved in, and then it's first evolution before the major renovation here), I wanted to make sure that it worked for the kids...but I also thought, what the hell: I've always felt like my bathroom is my sanctuary. So if I'm going to put in the work to fix it up, I might as well go ahead and make it everything I've ever dreamed of.

Home Projects

Oh, My Patio

This is what my patio looks like this morning. It is not, however, what it looked like yesterday. Between the whole winter/rain situation (the one that also destroyed my outdoor table and benches) and the fact that it’s served as the equipment storage area and workspace for the renovations we’ve been doing for the past six months…

It was officially trashed.

It was so gross I’m embarrassed to show you, but I’m going to. Greater good, and all that.

Fashion Projects

Style Hack: How To Get the Vetements Look…At Costco

On Mother's Day morning, Francesca and I were laying in bed drinking coffee and scrolling through TheRealReal (because this is our favorite thing to do, especially when Kendrick indulges us by bringing us refills and also toast and then segues neatly into mimosa-delivery around 11AM), and I said, "Ooh, search for Vetements."

I love Vetements. I know I shouldn't, and I know I would never actually buy anything from the brand because I obviously cannot afford to, but I still find myself lusting over their stuff. If you're not familiar with Vetements, it's actually a Paris-based "design collective" with a largely anonymous design staff, and is sort of an experiment in what happens when "real clothing" is worn "in a real way" (distressed, DIY-ed, abandoned, etc). Think sweatshirts. With reallllly long arms. And logos. For $2k.

So depending on your perspective, what they're doing is either making wearable art, or blatantly taking advantage of impressionable fashion people and making a fortune while doing it, a la Derelicte. I am certain that my mother thinks everything Vetements makes is hideous. I am certain that it looks far, far better on people like Gigi Hadid than it would on me.

DIY Projects

Five Super-Easy Denim DIYs Literally Anyone Can Do

Omg, this photo. MEMORIES. I no longer have that pair of sandals, that hair, or that zip code (just re-watched our moving day video and sobbed through the whole thing)...but the shorts? Those are still hanging on. (I wore them today, in fact, which may have been a not-so-hot idea considering the fact that they're in the process of disintegrating, but whatever: I love them, and they fit me perfectly, and they are not going anywhere until the wearing of them results in the exposure of actual NC-17-rated body parts.)

If you've been reading here for awhile, you know that denim is sort of my thing. It's just what I feel best in - and what that means is that I've amassed a truly enormous collection of jeans over the years, approximately three of which I actually wear (so sue me: I'm fickle). And so every spring, I dig out a couple of old pairs that I can hack up with a pair of scissors and transform into new items of clothing that I'll actually wear. (As an aside, I know that jean cutoffs sound like the kind of thing you don't need a tutorial for - "...So you, like...cut them?" - but trust me: there are myriad ways in which to go wrong when doing something as permanent as slicing up your clothing. Let me help you.)

But DIY cutoffs aren't the only denim trick I have up my sleeve - and I am not a person who owns a sewing machine or enjoys do-it-yourself projects that take more than five minutes. Which is to say: The below projects require no experience, knowledge, or talent whatsoever, making them - to my mind - just about perfect.

Makeup & Beauty

Reader Question: The Perfect Shade Of Pink

the best pinky nude lipsticks for all skin tones

I have been on a lifelong hunt for the perfect pinky-nude* lipstick: one that's natural-looking but still makes you look all polished and put-together, and also completely non-gloppy and non-sticky, because I enjoy my lipstick on my lips, not on my hair. AND I HAVE FOUND IT. (I have found several, in fact.)