Category: Honor Roll

• The House of Hackney x William Morris fabric and wallpaper collections feature Morris’ classic patterns, “reimagined and remastered” for today.



• Helpful apps for to-do lists and reminders.

• I’m thinking about skim coating some of the textured walls and weighing whether I want to do it myself or hire a pro. I know it’s messy work and slow-going. That’s not what has me hesitating — it’s whether I can do a good job or if I’m going to make the walls worse than they are. The series of posts on plaster repair from Old Town Home make it seem doable.

• Loving both Tim Gunn’s and Stacy London’s take on fashion lately.

• Too often, my answer to Brandon when he asks what I’m reading or watching a video about, the answer is “North Korea.” Have you seen these illegally taken photos yet? They’re fascinating.

• I’ve sort of fallen back in love with Pinterest again. (Case in point, this pin of an Australian home designed by FusionD, photographed by Julien Frenandez.) My feed was uninspiring for a while there, and I’ve heard the same thing from friends, but lately it’s been awesome. Have you noticed a change too? Maybe the algorithm is getting better. I hope Instagram follows suit — I realized with the change that I don’t want to see photos from my friends and family. I can see that on Facebook. Instagram is all about the fantasy! Give me the pretty stuff!



• My friend shared this video of Sanfilippo Estate and described it as an alternate “mini version of The House on the Rock.” Accurate, though the estate is a private residence with a charitable bent.

• The sconces that I ordered for the third floor have arrived and they are lovely. A good kick in the pants to just get things done sometimes instead of waiting around for unattainable perfection.

• I’d just read about the iPhone 6’s ‘touch disease’ problem, and guess what started happening the next day to mine? Yep. Anyone else having problems? No official word on a fix, and the recommendation I’ve seen is to get a replacement if you’re still under warrantee.

• Ever wonder why hotels give you shampoo, conditioner, body lotion, face lotion, hand soap, face soap, etc. and no toothpaste? Here’s why.

• Sales are still down across major clothing retailers, but here’s the thing… it’s not the economy anymore. It’s because they’re selling clothes nobody wants. I haven’t been all that excited about a lot of what’s out there right now — have you?

• McMansion Hell is everyone’s favorite new architectural criticism blog. (p.s. Shoutout to Oak Park.)

• Hot dog manicures. (There is nothing more I need to add. Three words say it all.)

• I am really not putting our pets to work like I could be. Look at these hedgehogs! Why am I not posing my kid’s guinea pigs in tiny hats?

• Slightly ‘off’ photos of midwest suburbia.

• A lot goes into a single photograph or video segment sometimes. Like a month’s worth of building a robotic ‘burger drop’ machine.

• Attention, creatives. Are you getting a lot of requests from people wanting to “pick your brain?” Here’s what to say in response.

• Why am I so fat?

• They’re called “dieoramas.”

• Fellow former or current booksellers, did your bookstore have a quiz as part of their application? (We had a one at Barbara’s too!)

• Brandon took Eleanor to pick out a new toy, and she chose Janet Weiss. How ’bout that.

• 7 cool ways to style a scarf, which is exactly what it sounds like.

• Would you like to know how I came across the scarf post? ↑ I’m a little obsessed with Jillian Holtzmann and her style. Yup. (I mean, I already own the safety glasses. Although pink is really more my thing than yellow if I was going to switch out some lenses…)

• D’accord!

The sandbox that I ordered arrived, and I spent yesterday assembling it. I also took the kids to a stone yard to pick out our pea gravel, and that’s here and waiting to go in. I’ve pulled weeds and relocated some of the plants from the area where the sandbox will go, but there’s more to do in preparing and leveling the site. I’d love to have it finished by the end of the weekend, but it has been hot, humid, and rainy, so I’m not sure if it’s going to happen.

I haven’t been excited about my weekly (or semi-weekly) Honor Roll posts lately because everything is horrible. I think we’re all feeling it, but I guess I’ve come to accept that this is probably how I’ll be feeling through the next several months at least? So we keep going. Good stuff is still happening.

• Get the look of an original fashion hero: Lady Elaine Fairchilde.
  And check out who left the first comment. Ah, happiness.

• Gwen has finished her amazing kitchen renovation, and the before and after post is up! SO GOOD.

• A good pedestal table is a thing of beauty.

• Brandon has mentioned wanting a Little Free Library in front of our house, but I’m not on board.
  “Little Free Library has a seductive marketing slogan that’s carved into the top of every unit: “Take a Book; Return a Book.” Such a simple equation. And such wishful thinking. Take? Oh, absolutely. People are, in fact, really good at that part. For example there was the young mom who lifted her toddler up to the box, watching uncritically as he scooped up “Imaginary Homelands,” Salman Rushdie’s collection of criticism and essays. Which I’m sure he enjoyed.”

• Dance break. Animated.

• Blue Feed, Red Feed is illuminating. Sad!