Two of my dear friends recently turned 50, and a group of us celebrated them with a weekend trip to Iceland. That sounds bananas, doesn’t it? But, as we learned, Iceland makes for a wonderful long weekend, especially if you’re flying from the east coast of the U.S.  Our flight from Dulles to Reykjavik was only 5-6 hours, and Iceland is 5 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time. We flew out at around 8 pm on a Thursday night and landed in Reykjavik at around 6 am on Friday morning. We returned on Monday, leaving Reykjavik at around 4 pm and arriving at Dulles around 6 pm. We only had to take ..read more

Our friends recently moved into a beautiful house near us, and I’ve taken it upon myself to come up with decor ideas for their consideration. I love thinking about the best ways to showcase their personalities and make their house shine. (And they’re very kind for putting up with my many ideas!) Their house has lots of cool, unique touches, like the stained glass in the bathroom pictured below. They want to keep the glass and the vintage tile but replace the sink and the weird countertop thing over the toilet. After seeing the room in person and talking to them about it, I’m picturing an old ..read more

Every new year, I get excited about the year ahead. For the past few years, I’ve adopted a habit from Gretchen Rubin that’s been really helpful for me — I write a list of things I want to do in the coming year. Past lists have included the mundane (get plumbing fixed, get passports for family), the challenging (teach a yoga series), and the fun (visit the roller derby, go swing dancing). To come up with this list each year, I consider questions like these: Which activities and relationships gave me joy this past year? Which ones didn’t give me joy? What new things do I want to try? What coul ..read more

Some of our dear friends just bought a house in our town, and I couldn’t be more excited! They got a gorgeous, stately house — a place with a great sense of history and depth. It has fabulous wood floors, beautiful moldings, and some cool stained glass pieces that make the house feel unique and loved. One of the first places they want to tackle is their primary bathroom. I haven’t seen it in person yet, but the pictures make it look huge! Everything is in working order, and the vanity is gorgeous, but the rest of the room isn’t quite their style. They love the stained glass, but it calls to mi ..read more

Maybe that title is misleading! Part of managing everything in December — especially if you’re the one who makes things happen in the family — is stress. It’s unavoidable. BUT we can use some shortcuts to alleviate some of the stress. How can we take away some of the pressure while still enjoying the beauty and happiness this season offers? 1. Make a plan, write it down, and post it for everyone to see When we had a bunch of family members coming into town one year, I was very nervous about how everything would go. Like all kids, ours can be unpredictable, and I figured they’d do better if the ..read more

Looking for gifts for your girlfriends, sisters, or mom? Or maybe you need a little treat for yourself? (No shame in that — I’ve been known to wrap gifts to myself, put them under the tree, and open them on Christmas morning!) Here are some of my top favorites from this year. If you’ve been following for a while, the sunglasses might look familiar — they’re my go-to brand, and I wear them every day. They usually go on sale on Black Friday, so I’ll be stalking the Quay website to get my sunglasses for next year. The only item on this list that I don’t own is the sneakers. Have you tried Veja sn ..read more

I’m back with another round of gifts my 12-year-old daughter thinks her friends would LOVE. But, first, I have to share a disclaimer: I’m buying only a few of these products for my daughter. I’m concerned about these girls’ focus on “skincare” and their desire for extremely expensive creams and serums. I love the idea that they’re taking care of their skin, but influencers have convinced them that they need very pricey products. It’s become a status symbol. I guess it’s no different from designer jeans or purses, like the ones I coveted as a teen, but I still have my guard up. That said, these ..read more

My two girls are now 12 and 13, and it’s pretty tough for me to pick out the perfect gifts for them. They used to be happy with most toys or pajamas or candy, and now they have such strong preferences . . . it’s the way things are supposed to go, I guess, but it sure makes it hard to shop for them. To make things easier for you, my 12-year-old consultant gathered the top gifts that she recommends for girls her age. And because she recommends so much stuff, I need to do this in two stages! Today we’re diving into part 1 of this series, and we’ll see more ideas in part 2 later in the week. Today ..read more

Some dear friends of ours live in a beach town in the south, and they have an adorable house in an artsy neighborhood. They’re raising kids and working full time. Their jobs are extremely important and rewarding — they work with people who are homeless and people who have disabilities — but it’s tough work that can be exhausting. With all they have going on, they haven’t had much time to devote to their home, and the wife asked me to brainstorm ideas. I was very happy to help, since designing on a budget is my jam. They just switched around the bedrooms in their house, and they moved into a sm ..read more

Do you decorate for Halloween? Over the past few years I’ve amassed quite a lot of spooky and silly decorations, but this year I wanted to do something different. I left most of those plastic decorations in the storage box and instead decided to try some low-cost (or even free) DIY decorations for our dining room and living room. I used black cardstock to make a witch’s hat for one of the portraits in our living room, and I cut out some bats for another part of the room. I attached all of these items using sticky tabs I bought from Amazon. (They’re supposed to be paint- and wall-safe, but I ha ..read more