House Beautiful

Archive for the 'Good Things' Category

8 Things To Entertain Yourself With During Lockdown

ISN’T THAT THE TRUTH?  GRACIOUS!  Um, ok – so, we are where we are.  What felt like semi-normalcy about a week ago has since escalated to utter insanity and uncertainty, to a zombie apocalypse degree.  The best advice I’ve heard thus far is this:

Even if you don’t have symptoms, self-quarantine and distance yourself socially as if you DO have it, so as not to perpetuate the spread of this thing.”

And we’ve probably all seen this but it’s about all you need to see to get the picture – video version of it here:

Plus Gaga said basically the same thing and when she talks, I listen.

This is going to be tough on and impact EVERYONE for a million different reasons… but let’s stick together, shall we?  Cuz WE ARE ALL IN IT.  Sales people can’t go out and sell.  Hospitality has to be losing their a$$.  People who work in sports stadiums have no stadiums to tend to.  Health care workers are going to be worked to the bone.  People like grocery store checkout folks and UPS drivers are completely exposed to the virus because they don’t really have the option to self-quarantine.  How do people who DO still have to go to work care for their children, whose schools are closed for at least the next few weeks?  Chris is a medical sales rep and since the surgeon general just advised that all elective surgeries be halted for the time being, he’s basically out of work for a month.  There’s no one this thing isn’t touching.  Quel mess!

And, the smallest potatoes (seriously) but: we’re going to have to reschedule our April 4th destination wedding which has taken a solid year to orchestrate…it’s a stinker and a pain in the arse and it’s disappointing – but really, no bigs… There is absolutely nothing we can do about it and we certainly can’t afford to put anyone at peril.  Plus… this way in the Summer we’ll all have tans, I guess?? (#silverlining).  And it’ll be plug & play.  Luckily, all of our vendors are AMAZING and have graciously agreed to transfer our deposits to a future date – for which I have a few on hold.  The only thing that hasn’t been so easy to swallow is THIS situation, which I’m sure anyone & everyone with a vacation rental coming up is also dealing with, to some degree:

ANYHOW.  Here we all are – sequestered in our individual casas, twiddling our thumbs and wondering if we have enough food to last us for the next few weeks.  Whatchagonnado????  Welp, those of us who are fortunate enough to be able to work from home, we can work from home.  And I have a LOT of work catch up to do.  But outside of that – I can think of a few things:

1. VIRTUAL MUSEUM TOURS (here): Hey. Let’s be honest – most of us are glued to social media to a brain-melting degree and could all use a little cultural timeout.  Includes some of my favorites like the Musée D’Orsay in Paris, the Uffizi Gallery in Firenze, and the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam.

2. (FREE!) COREPOWER YOGA CLASSES ONLINE (here): HPF isn’t quite the same when it’s not 105 degrees, but hey.  I’ll take what I can get!  Safer than going to the gym and touching all the sweaty things with cooties.

3. NETFLIX & CHILL.  Here’s what’s on my watchlist:

Homeland Season 8 – GASP!  Literally one of the most gripping shows on television.

CREDIT: SHOWTIME

Super interested to watch this.  I’ve always been pretty lukewarm on Hillary, but I do think she’s smart as a whip and I certainly respect her.

CREDIT: HULU

Um, this is our friend Steph Turner!  She wrote, directed AND starred in Justine.  You gotta be a talented mofo to do that.  Cannot wait to watch.

CREDIT: NETFLIX.

And if you haven’t binged any these below yet, you’re in for a treat:

CREDIT: FX

CREDIT: COURTESY OF ©NICK BRIGGS/CARNIVAL FILM AND TELEVISION LIMITED 2015 FOR MASTERPIECE

CREDIT: IMDB

4. PAINT SOMETHING, PICASSO!  Or whatever crafty venture tickles your pickle and takes your eyes away from a TV or computer or iPhone screen for awhile.  I have canvases & oil paint in a drawer that I bought almost 2 years ago that I haven’t even opened yet.  And a cross stitch kit so I can stitch out one of those: “Please don’t do cocaine in the bathroom” things and hang it on the wall.

Or, maybe this one would be more appropriate this week:

5. GO OUTSIDE & PLAY.  We live in a place with tons of open space so we’re super lucky, but surely even a walk + some fresh air is good for the soul, right?  Just don’t hug or like, make out with any passersby.

6. SPRING CLEAN!  I mean… what if we all come out of this thing with closets that look like Athena Calderone’s???

Anuschka Rees’ Closet Detox Cheat Sheet is a good place to start.  If I can get Chris to do this with me it’ll be like the 8th wonder of the world.  Pretty sure he is holding on for dear life to drawers-full of unmatched socks from high school.

Honestly… I am also seriously considering going through my iPhone pics (all 30,000 of them – #brainexplosion) and deleting the goofs and filing the others into folders if need be.  Sounds about as fun as watching paint dry but would feel so cleansing.

7. DO YOURSELF A LITTLE SPA DAY. Got Epsom salts, a nail file and some nail polish?  Treat yo self!  My dome is currently marinating in Olaplex and I’m about to do a deep soak in a lavender epsom salt bath.  If you soak to prune-y perfection, you can give yourself a scrub with my favorite $3 exfoliant – Domino Granulated Sugar – and then slather on some coconut oil.  You’re welcome.

8. GET INSPIRED BY VINTAGE COVET LIVING POSTS!  haaaaaaaaaaa.  Wait I’m actually not kidding.  I do a favorite things-esque post almost seasonally (which is filed under “Mishmashes & Musings“) – compilations of the most beautiful things on earth I’ve seen.  I go back and troll them often and am always re-inspired.  Have at it!  I’m long overdue so maybe I’ll write a new one this week.

What else??  What did I miss?  What are you guys doing this week to be productive (or not productive) and entertain yourselves?

Everybody stay safe and hang in there.  Sh%* is nuts, but maybe we try to think of it as a way to remember what’s really important… to pare down, reconnect with your family, and reconnect with yourself.  Good juju like that.

xoxo,

 

6 Good Things

Because we all need em!

1. They’re maybe making a sequel to Troop Beverly Hills. I repeat: TROOP BEVERLY HILLS. They’ve already written the script. It’s cookie time, people!

2. My girl crushes and fave designers in AD this month: Louisa Pierce & Emily Ward. It’s the most refreshing article about how they came to be, their unconventional style & process (which includes buying cool stuff having no idea where it’ll actually go, as well as not doing space plans). Neither of them went to school for design and they knock it out of the park every. single. time. They are intuitive, fearless and so refreshing it’s stupid. All hail. Do yourself a favor and scroll through their website real quick. You’ll soil your shorts.

AHEM – please note the height of the bubble chandelier hanging in the living room. Now, log that away, then come sit on my lap in a few months & I’ll tell you why it means something.

3. The best red vino I’ve had in a hot minuteI. Brand & Family Cabernet Franc, Bayly Ranch – which went down REAL EASY sittin across the table the other night from Karrie at Gjelina. And a convo about how time is flying, and what as we get older we really think is important, peppered with gossip.

Wait, have y’all met Karrie?  I know, you thought she was hot off the Mayflower / a stunt double for Laura Ingles Wilder.  OMG OMG I take it back I take it back before she posts long-lost pics of me doing something godawful, like peeing behind a bush in public or asleep with chicken fingers in my mouth.  Signed, the only mistake I made that night was not ordering a margherita pizza for dessert.

4. So, this is fun – I did another TV show!

Meaning, I competed on an episode of Bravo’s upcoming series of Best Room Wins, which is kinda like the lovechild of Project Runway + Trading Spaces… except Heidi Klum & Tim Gunn are rolled into the form of one Genevieve Gorder, and Elle Decor Editor-in-Chief Whitney Robinson is also a judge in every episode, with the 3rd judge being a rotating celebrity bad ass: aka Molly Simms, Jason Wu, Thom Filicia, Martyn Lawrence Bullard & Jonathan Adler. NBD.

Reality TV is always a little bit of a crapshoot – as in, there’s what happens IRL and then there’s what you see on TV (can’t say that they always mirror one another… I mean *cough* *wink* so I’ve heard) – so you kinda never know how it’ll shake out… eh, but what’s life without a little risk? What am I gonna do, sit in my house inside a padded room and never say or do anything for fear that I might fail, or piss someone off, or that you might ugly cry on national television, or that it won’t go as planned? Mmmm nah who cares – I figure I’ll take my chances!  YOLO, yo.

Best Room Wins premieres on Bravo on May 2, 2019 so cue up your DVR’s homies. Each week, 2 designers are randomly matched with a family – likely one whose home (or at least one room in it) is in some state of disarray. We each had 4 days and $25,000 to completely remake (we’re talking renovate, then decorate) the room before it was judged… below is the sneak peek. Pass the Xanax!

5. Pantene Pro-V Intense Rescue Shots are allegedly the best thing you can get for $5 bucks, according to my other blogging half. Can’t wait to douse this frazzled mop in a squeeze bottle of that shizzy.

6. Hands-down the best thing on this list and on the interwebs right now is Charlie & Maverick – Charlie being the newly blind older fella, and Maverick, his spry seeing eye puppy. They’re best friends. I DIE. PS, Gus wants one.

Have a great rest of the weekend!!!

xoxo,