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Fashion Projects

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

May 16, 2018

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.

Decor

Ariane Moshayedi: California-Inspired Fine Art Photography

May 15, 2018

Three, by Ariane Moshayedi

Forever and a lifetime ago, an email landed in my inbox from a woman, Ariane Moshayedi, who said she was a reader of my site and knew I was expecting my first child. She was a photographer, she said, and she'd love to take our first family photos once the baby arrived.

The shoot did not start out especially fun. We timed it perfectly, of course: Ariane arrived at the exact moment that our son decided he needed to nap, and that if he was not going to be permitted to do so, he was going to make all the adults contributing to the non-napping situation as miserable as possible. Kendrick and I were mortified, but Ariane was patient, relaxed, and so much fun to work with that we eventually just all settled into letting the photos be whatever they were. We coaxed a couple of smiling-through-the-tears shots out of him, but most of them ended up looking slightly less peaceful-and-dreamy, and slightly more like...this.

DIY Projects

How To Make Your Trashed Outdoor Furniture Look Gorgeous Again

May 11, 2018

Winter can be rough on wood.

During the purchasing process for our home, the one thing I asked the former owners if they'd be willing to sell me was their patio table and benches (you can see the set here). It was rustic, and sturdy, and fit the space perfectly - but it was also clearly handmade, so I doubted they'd say yes. And I was right - they said no - but then we moved in a couple of months later...and there they were, waiting for us.

Yay, right?

Makeup & Beauty

Just Some Earth-Friendly Products I Love

May 9, 2018

"All-natural" isn't something I typically look for in my beauty products. Perhaps not the loveliest admission, but I tend to be about results more than about the absence of parabens (yes, I know, parabens = bad; it's just an example). As I'm getting older, though, I'm discovering that my skin is getting increasingly sensitive, to the point where some products make my skin react immediately and visibly - and extremely unattractively. When I was in LA with Francesca, for example, I decided to try a different K-beauty mask every night, and...let's just say that this is not something that the sensitive-skinned among us should do. (Oh my god.)

So while I'm not tossing all my chemical-containing serums anytime soon - because excuse me, those things were expensive and many of them are indeed quite wonderful - I am trying to pay a bit more attention to what's in the stuff I put on my face. Mostly what I'm looking for are products with fewer ingredients and fewer artificial scents, but I'm not especially well-versed with regards to what's out there in this category, so back in April (a.k.a. "Earth Month") I decided to test-run a whole bunch of eco-friendly, all-natural products. I spotlighted a few of my favorites on my IG stories, but now it's mid-May and I've had more time to play around with them...and there are a few that ended up being so great that I needed to write about them here.

For posterity, you know.

DIARY

Putting It On My Succulent

May 8, 2018

I may need more than one.

Francesca has, as of late, been using the word "manifest" in casual conversation more than I'm reasonably able to handle. (And I have told her as much, e.g. "I love you very much, but if you keep telling me to manifest I will put you on mute.")

Look, I had a meditation coach for awhile. I spent my high school years practicing Wicca, and really wanted to buy a massive, perfectly round crystal I saw in a store the other day. I am, in other words, not completely sans woo elements in my own personality. (And please be aware that I use the term "woo" - as in "woo-woo" - with a big spoonful of affection; I respect and appreciate that people explore their inner selves in various ways that sure, may appear a little odd to others, but that work for them. Yay for spirituality and self-exploration. Yay for crystals and meditation. Just please don't make me manifest.)

DIY Projects

Five Super-Easy Denim DIYs Literally Anyone Can Do

May 7, 2018

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.

Decor

I Am A Trucker Now

May 4, 2018

Just a girl and her (huge, huge) ride.

If you're wondering why, exactly, I decided to rent a 16-foot truck and drive it from Los Angeles to San Jose, my feeling is that the answer should, at this point, be obvious:

For a chair, of course.

Home

Refresh All The Things

May 3, 2018

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Charmin.

The opinions and text are all mine.

ENTREES

Gnocchi with Simple Marinara Sauce, Fresh Mozzarella and Basil

May 2, 2018

four ingredient gnocchi with marinara sauce and fresh basil

I love it when it's 5pm and I realize that I have to feed my beasts, then poke around in my refrigerator and discover that I have everything I need to whip up a dinner that they'll be thrilled about with just about zero effort.

This sauce - which is thrown over fresh store-bought gnocchi and finished by a quick run through the broiler with some fresh mozzarella on top - is the Platonic ideal of marinara sauce, I swear: it's light, but super flavorful, and 80% of the process of making it involves ignoring it.

(Did I mention my kids love it?)

Anxiety

Less Sorry

May 1, 2018

A scar is what happens when the word is made flesh. - Leonard Cohen

I wanted another baby.

It’s strange to be saying that out loud, because for a long time not even my own mother knew that I wanted a third child. A couple of my friends knew, but when we discussed it I never used the word “trying.” I danced around the subject. Oh, you know, we’ll see what happens.

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