Home Decorating & DIY Tutorials
Last fall, I got to eat, walk, and gasp my way through Florence, Italy (including a day trip to Venice) with three friends. Literally, it was the stuff of dreams. I already shared how I packed light for this trip, but today I’m recapping everything we did, saw, and ate. So if you’re considering a trip to Florence (and/or Venice), here are my thoughts on what was extremely enjoyable to see/eat/do… and a few things we’d actually skip if we were to do it all over again!
Our big renovation project isn’t anywhere close to done (it just started this week, and Sherry’s sharing peeks over on Instagram in stories) but I’ve already embarked on another project that I’ve wanted to tackle for years: digitizing all of our old photos! It’s arguably less exciting than our renovation, but I’m genuinely eager to tackle this long-overdue project. And since we’re not the only ones who suffer from photo clutter, I plan to document my process for anyone else who is also interested in digitizing their photos. So I’ll be testing out a few digitization methods, and sharing tips along the way.
The annual Color of the Year announcements are one of our favorite traditions to follow (and predict, with varying degrees of sucess). Each year, a lot of the largest paint manufacturers select a hue and/or palette they believe “captures” and/or “forecasts” design trends. Some are bold. Some are boring. Some are straight-up bonkers (who remembers the color we affectionately dubbed “hot dog”?). So we’ll continue to update this post as the 2026 COTYs are announced over the next six months.
I recently read that Ina Garten likes to give “disappearing gifts.” By this, she means consumable gifts that don’t take up room in the recipient’s home (maybe just some room in their stomachs). She noted that material gifts often come with an unintentional burden on the recipient to find space to use, store, or display an item. The easiest way avoid that? Give someone something that isn’t a thing at all! So here are 30 ideas for gifts that won’t take up any space at all – from experiences and edible delights, to subscriptions or meaningful charitable donations.
You asked and we answered! Yes, due to popular demand, we have put on our Oprah hats (are they berets? fedoras? what would Oprah wear?), and made a list of our favorite home/life/everything purchases from the past year. These are all items we bought with our own money and loved in 2025… so much so that when we took a look back, they stood out as some of our best buys and favorite additions to our life. So you’re still searching for holiday gifts (or struggling to tell someone what you want), this post might help.
Cue the demo dust! After 5+ years of living in this house, we’re embarking on a renovation! Of course over the holidays (because we are nothing if not consistent). We’ve tackled some sizable projects over the last five years here, like adding a pool in 2021, gutting & rebuilding our kitchen in 2022, and replacing all of our windows & doors with hurricane grade ones two years ago… but this is the first time since we moved in that we’re removing walls and changing rooms. The chaos you see above is from early 2020, but actually some of those walls being open is a preview of the new view we’ll gain from our kitchen and living area downstairs! We are VERY EXCITED.
Every year, people ask us for theme ideas from my family’s annual Christmas gift exchange. We first mentioned this tradition on a podcast episode in 2016 and now, nearly a decade later, we’re putting the full, updated list in an easy-to-reference blog post. So if you or your family are feeling stuck or overwhelmed by your holiday shopping list, see why introducing a theme might do the trick!
They’re here, all in one post for you: our 2025 Holiday Gift Guides! They include everything from the things that we’re getting our own family & friends this year (from small businesses and Black-owned shops to big box stores) as well as things that we already own and love. Nothing has been gifted, nothing is sponsored, and they don’t know us from Adam – these are all just things we genuinely like. We arranged all of our gift ideas into the following three categories for you: Gift Ideas for Grown-Ups, Gift Ideas for Kids, and Gift Ideas that are $15 & Under.
Every time I go to Europe for a week with just one carry on (and a purse as my personal item) I get asked for a detailed rundown of how that’s possible. (There have been two times. That made it sound like I go every month.) But I’ve definitely worked out a packing method that allows me to travel lightly and have lots of outfit options that I love wearing.
I love an iced something for my daily coffee. And most days that’s a cold brew I make at home. For over 2 years now, I’ve relied on this cold brew maker to keep a delicious batch at the ready in my fridge. I’m going to show you exactly how I make homemade cold brew and why it’s my method of choice. Sherry and I aren’t expert baristas or even persnickety coffee connoisseurs. We prioritize simple & straightforward brewing methods that can be successful without treating coffee like an intricate science. No shade if you have time & energy for it, but this guide is for the average home coffee drinker who wants good, reliable cold brew without stressing over the details.
We get a surprising number of questions about how we make our pour over coffee (and even requests for a video tutorial). We aren’t baristas by any means, but we love an easy, affordable, and delicious cup every day. So we’re sharing how our system checks all of those boxes – without ever tasting bitter or burned. Pour over is known to make better tasting coffee with less equipment & waste than electric coffee makers, but the process can sound intimidating – especially for beginners! Honestly, pour over is only as complicated as you want it to be. So we’ll show you just how easy it us for us to make. I do it every morning in just a few minutes. And I truly think it tastes better than many fancy coffee shops – so it saves me money!
Anyone who knows me is typically shocked when they learn that I now have – and sleep next to! – an actual real-life cat. Even I can’t believe it most days. But if you follow me on Instagram, you know my cat obsession is currently cranked to 11 and my cat possession currently stands at 1. So today I’ll share my personal experience about managing and essentially eliminating my cat allergy – including the products that have (and haven’t) helped.
