Emily Henderson's Blog, page 189

The Link Up: Emily’s “New” Favorite Blogger/Artist, Mallory’s Affordable Xmas Finds And The Perfect Loafer

This past week was a DOOZY! The waiting, the constant refreshing of our internet browsers to see if maybe in the last 20 seconds we would know who our next President would be… torture. But then finally, yesterday morning we heard the news and if you follow this blog you know we were all over the moon. Jess actually woke up to her neighborhood cheering. Y’all, we have a FEMALE Vice President-Elect!!!!!!! It was the best Saturday we’ve all had in a long time. So now that we’ve had a day to celebrate, the work needs to continue. We are just as committed to continuing to fight for equality, equity, and finding ways to teach and bring us ALL together.

Also, a HUGE thank you to all of the poll workers! What an insanely hard and tiring but incredibly important job. Your work does not go unnoticed or unappreciated.

Now we’re not sure how we transition from the BIGGEST news of the year to links so let’s just get right into it…

From Emily: This house tour is so simple and pretty and just what I needed to look at this week. Plus the history of it is very cool.

Also From Emily: Orlando is blogging again!!!! If you guys miss him on the internet like I do we can all have some good news that he will be documenting his new project on his blog and we might even be able to convince him to do it here, too. We can’t wait to watch and read it, Landy.

Also Also From Emily: In case you didn’t know Orlando is also selling art, pillow covers (that orMOMdo sews herself), and even an awesome t-shirt. Yes, now we all get to enjoy more of his genius in our homes. It’s all really beautiful and special and unique and would be SUCH a great holiday gift for a loved one.

If you haven’t seen this video of Van Jones’ response to the election results then please watch it now.

From Jess: Ok let’s get honest, boob sweat is a year-round problem. I finally realized I needed a solution because this year is already too much to also add in under boob discomfort. Arlyn had talked about Megababe’s Dust Bust before so I hit purchase and after a week of use, I can happily also sing its praises. It smells great and it’s free of talc and parabens. Wow, two weeks ago nipple cream and this week boob sweat. What will I recommend next week…

Also From Jess: While I haven’t really been on a fashion kick in about um… about a year, I really love this Instagram account (@caribbean_cowgirl). LaNatria’s bold and colorful style is infectious and honestly just makes me smile every time one of her photos pops up. She also has an online shop that has awesome pieces for great prices. Go support!

From Ryann: I have been wanting a pair of classic loafers for some time now and I finally hit “purchase” and bought these bad boys. They are sooo cute for winter and I am very excited to buy a bunch of socks to pair with them. I wear them almost every day now (usually along with this cardigan that I bought after seeing it on Em :))

In case you missed it, Ajai gave her bathroom rental a total spa retreat refresh that you must see.

From Mallory: Okay I know Emily talked about her favorite glassware the other week but now today I’m telling you about the BEST PLATES. These bad boys look handmade but are super affordable plus have a little lip so your food doesn’t slip off your plate if you’re a messy eater (@me). Treat yourself to the gift of nice dishware this holiday season lol.

Also From Mallory: ALSO I went to Target this past week to grab a phone charger, but wound up also buying this wreath, this mistletoe, this pillow, and this sweatshirt. IT’S LIKE THE FRICKEN NORTH POLE OVER THERE RIGHT NOW. I love the holidays so much you have no idea and yes, 2020 is giving us all permission to start EARLY. Enjoy

The Henderson’s Needed The Holidays To Start So Here Is What I’ve Purchased So Far…

I know it feels early. It is. The kids are on to me now and are like ‘wasn’t it just Halloween yesterday?’ and I say, yes and shove a candy cane in their mouths, put on Mariah Carey, and guess what? They get SUPER INTO IT. I actually waited till Thursday because of the election, even I didn’t want to engage in my favorite activity of the year yet without knowing how this was all going to turn out. But with the shoot scheduled for Monday, I actually had to start thinking about it. This isn’t the reveal, guys – that’s coming in a couple of weeks, this is a ‘what I bought early because everything is selling out in case you also want to start thinking about it’ post. The photos are kinda ugly, like the state of our country, but perhaps you can see what it’s going to look like and get some ideas for what you might do. Some holiday hope? Holiday denial? Let’s go.

Last year we decorated for ‘winter’ with Target in September and it was so lovely to have some elements really early. But we didn’t have a tree or anything ‘too Christmas’. We came up here a couple of days before Christmas, set up the tree and ornaments and it looked so pretty but we never actually shot it. It was super neutral and glowy – all wood, white and green with lots of faux candles, garlands, and sparkles. I set it up in ONE DAY which blew my mind because normally in LA it takes so much longer. Why? Why was it so easy up here? I realized a couple of things:

Faux greenery is just SO MUCH EASIER. I truly never thought I’d be such an advocate, but having a faux tree and faux garland is easy, not messy and once it’s layered with ornaments, etc you can’t really tell. Also GET PRE-LIT trees, garlands, and wreaths when you can. My favorite garland doesn’t come pre-lit, but we just add battery-operated glowy lights. There are less surfaces here to decorate and a clear focal point (fireplace + tree) so it’s pretty easy. Only 2 trees. Go ahead you can laugh. We normally have, oh gosh I’m embarrassed even writing this because I don’t want it on record, but we have historically had (in our last house) FOUR Christmas trees – living room, dining room, and one in each kid’s room. Here we have the pretty scandi, neutral tree in the living room, and our more personal family fun crazy tree in the family room with all heirloom or family ornaments. Still over the top and I’m not at all condoning this behavior, but I really, really love Christmas so this is me. But yah, cutting the rooms that we are decorating in 1/2 obviously cuts down on time to set up.

This year I added a bit more up here than last year since we are actually living up here and I wanted to have more personal elements (our ornament collection has gotten pretty epic). But it still took us only one day to set up a tree in living room + family room, and some pretty elements in the dining room and kitchen. To be fair I have a pretty intense holiday inventory to pull from so I didn’t need to buy much (and already having the trees made it easy).

I didn’t want to really buy anything, but I did want to add some small touches of red in the main living room so I started shopping and of course, I found some other things I liked as well as decorations that are still available that I bought last year but never showed you (lots of cute scandi wood stuff).

1. Pom Pom Felt Stocking | 2. Scandi Icon Wood Micro LED Battery Operated String Lights | 3. LED Curtain Rain Lights | 4. Dark Green Ingrid Bowl | 5. Metal Merry Christmas Hanging Sign | 6. Wood Snowy Nordic House LED Light Up Decor Set Of 3 | 7. Ho Ho Heart Gift Wrap | 8. Unfinished Wooden Star Ornament | 9. Modern Lacquer Nutcracker | 10. Flameless Wax Candles with Remote | 11. 12 Pack Wood Snowflake Boxed Ornaments Set Of 2 | 12. Plaid Throw Blanket | 13. Snow Day Snowflake Ornaments | 14. Embroidered ‘Merry’ Decor Pillow | 15. Wood & Enamel Church Decorative Figurine

For my small hits of red, I bought these stockings but they aren’t arriving til after the shoot, so I ordered these instead with the red pom pom stripe which is such a cute dose of red.

Last year I bought this faux tree, which at first without the ornaments I didn’t like (and it was VERY expensive, now sold out) so I almost returned it, but the scale of it is perfect for this room (its 9′ but not too wide, as to not take up the entire seating area) and once ornaments were on it it actually looked pretty great. Hearth and Hand came out with a faux tree that you should absolutely snatch up if you like this scandi look but it’s not tall enough for here (and I already had this one). I wanted it for our family room tree but getting things shipped up here is proving to be such a problem and it wouldn’t arrive for a couple weeks so we bought this one in store instead which is actually great.

This is us setting up last year, it will look kinda different this year.

Here are some of the things I already had from last year that are still available.

1. 2pk Bottle Brush Christmas Tree Set | 2. White & Brown House Christmas Stocking Holder | 3. 6′ Faux White Berry Pine Garland | 4. Santa Gnomes Pattern Christmas Tree Ornament | 5. 24″ Faux White Berry Pine Wreath with Bell | 6. Nutcracker White Christmas Tree Ornament | 7. Wooden House Candle Noel Christmas Stocking Holder | 8. 3ft Pre-lit Artificial Christmas Tree Potted Balsam Fir | 9. Dressed Winter Animal Christmas Tree Ornament | 10. Wooden Ornaments 3 ct | 11. Pinecone Christmas Tree Ornament | 12. LIT Ceramic Traditional House Decorative Figurine

I know you might not be in the mood yet but because of covid there is a big supply chain issue right now and inventories are lower than ever. So I didn’t want to reveal my Christmas and have everything that’s available now, be sold out.

One last hot tip if you like this scandi look of white and wood I bought a ton from a craft store downtown LA (Moskatels if you are in LA) and they are super cheap.

The post The Henderson’s Needed The Holidays To Start So Here Is What I’ve Purchased So Far… appeared first on Emily Henderson.

The Feel Good Flash Makeover Reveal (A.K.A. My Favorite Thing I Did All Year)

Well, we’re still here and as of 6:18 pm last night (the time we’re writing this), we still are in limbo. BUT what always helps us in times of high stress is to be reminded that there is still A LOT of good in the world even when it feels otherwise. This project back in 2018 was our first “official” feel good flash makeover (Em considers Sylvia’s to be real first:)) The surprise video reveal you’ll soon watch still makes us happy cry. So if you are in need of a cathartic emotional release that comes from something wonderful and full of love, then you are in the right place:)

Last week, we did our first ever surprise flash makeover and it was probably the most fun and fulfilling day in YEARS. It wasn’t about pillows and lamps. No, it was about creating a moment that, hopefully, will have a lasting positive effect on a family. I believe that the state of your home reflects and affects the state of your mental health. When mine is not pulled together or in disarray, guess what—so is my brain. I cry more often. I’m more impatient with my kids, which makes me more ashamed and full of disappointment and guilt. Alternatively, when it looks beautiful, clean, cohesive, and stylish, I live through life with more ease and joy, and that gets carried into your relationships and your career.

That was our wish for Liz, a single mom of 4: a moment, a week, a month or a year where she can breathe and feel proud. You can read the post for details or watch the video of the surprise and makeover which is VERY FUN, I promise.

It was like Extreme Makeover, “indie-styling” edition. It was half of my team (5 of us), with Brian shooting the video and only 7 hours of design time. It was run-n-gun with no experienced TV producer to make sure it actually worked or flowed, BUT IT DID. My experience with makeover shows came into play and between Brian, myself and my awesome team, we produced this pretty darn seamlessly.

The back story: Last month, we threw the flash makeover idea out there on social media, asking people to nominate anyone in the LA area that could really use a holiday spirit boost. Amanda wrote in and told us about her friend Liz who was “the hardest working person I know.” A single mom of 4, a hairdresser in Castaic who worked so so so so so hard to take care of her kids, give them what they needed and was insanely busy driving them around to a million activities.

There are no resources or time left for herself or her house at the end of the day. I can’t imagine the emotional, physical, and financial responsibility it would be to take care of four kids—an 8-year-old, two 10-year-old twin boys, and a 16-year-old girl. BY YOURSELF.

I seriously think that single mothers deserve their own holiday.

So two weeks ago, Velinda from the design team snuck into her house (with the help of Liz’s friend Amanda), took measurements and pictures and assessed the pieces in person. Here’s what the space looked like before:

When I first saw the photos, I remember thinking that Liz had done a decent job! Considering she had four kids to tend to, she had things going in the right direction with a great sofa, bookshelves, TV unit, etc. But there is always room for extra love, styling and organization, and that’s really what we intended on doing.

So, we put forth a plan to tackle the living room and dining room, using a lot of what she already had, then bringing in some new pieces to zhuzh it up and take it to the next level. Put that finishing flair on the space we know Liz wanted (she’s a reader!), but just didn’t have the means to manage.

They had an elderly dog who had just passed away and he had badly soiled the carpet. We couldn’t do this makeover without replacing the carpet. Full stop. It’s a decent expense that wasn’t in Liz’s budget, and we knew it would be a transformation she needed.

The rest of the room could use updating and styling: the coffee table was fine, but could it be better? The TV console was fine, but could it be better?

For the dining area, there were some chairs that needed some love, a ceiling fan that was dating the space, curtains that made it feel smaller, but the table was totally fine.

So then we (Brady, Velinda, Emily B. and myself) came up with the design plan. We then “shopped” from my storage unit (like some pillows from The Citizenry project from last year), I shopped the flea market, we ordered a ton online and at the end, did a big shop at some affordable major retailers. No sponsors and nothing gifted. We wanted it to be fast and budget-oriented, which meant we wanted to do this one on our own.

IT WAS THE JOB OF OUR FANTASIES.

We surprised Liz at 7:40 am, after ensuring that she would be dressed and ready. Hilariously, Amanda spied on her all morning and even followed her to school and watched her drop off her kids but she lost her on the way back and we didn’t know her status. Typically if this were a real show, there would be producers making sure people were in place, but we didn’t have that so there was DEFINITELY a 10-minute period where Liz was unaccounted for and we were like is she coming home? What if she went to work early? What if she had a Target run? What if today was the day she decided to drive to six flags and ride the roller coasters by herself?

But then we snuck into the neighborhood and saw her car…

YOU HAVE TO WATCH THE VIDEO (just wait for the ad to play.

She was shocked, overwhelmed and so sweet. It’s really, really weird to have a bunch of people (some with cameras) crashing your house with oddly huge smiles on their faces, staring at you. She was so lovely and excited and gave us carte blanche to do whatever we wanted with the space. The only thing she loved was the sailor painting (a family heirloom), which we loved, too. Other than that we knew we’d keep the sofa, but had freedom with the rest of the pieces.

SEVEN HOURS LATER…

We finished around 3, feeling pretty darn good. She had picked up her kids and they were all waiting for us at Amanda’s for us to text. They came back, nervous but were so cute and excited and frankly VERY well-mannered. I made them pinky swear that they wouldn’t look through the window. They closed their eyes until we had them inside the room and we dramatically counted ONE, TWO, THREE before they opened their eyes and saw their new space.

As you can imagine, it’s really weird to see your home done differently, with a couple people with small but still weird cameras on your face. It’s more than shock—it’s kind of an out-of-body experience, I’m sure.

But strangely I was used to that from Secrets From A Stylist where people would mostly just stare and look around for a while (editing showed immediate screams, but that rarely happened).

I’m not sure what was more moving: a mom tearing up because her life just got a bit easier as her pride for her home ballooned, or her 10-year-old son trying to wipe his happy tears away before we could see them.

We were moved, and I cry just thinking about it.

The carpet made the biggest difference, obviously. We had it coordinated earlier in the week and chose a pretty and fresh neutral. After realizing the amount of wear and tear it will likely get, we actually left her a huge navy blue rug to go under her sofa. It looked SO much better without it so we didn’t shoot it, but I was like “I can’t leave this mom of four with a light carpet” and we had the rug as an option anyway.

We kept the color palette pretty muted and calm—a lot of cool tones and added some vintage wood pieces to give it some soul.

We printed out photos of her family and framed them in our favorite IKEA frames, which made her cry. I wish the wood versions had been in stock (or do they not make them anymore?) to help warm them up, but maybe having it all white keeps it really simple, and with less contrast, the room will feel less busy.

The curtains were switched out for affordable readymade Roman shades. If these had been a natural texture or a light gray that probably would have looked even better but the white versions fit our needs of fast, affordable and simple.

We restyled the bookshelves with less stuff and put a lot of the more colorful books in the bins to help it feel cleaner. We used a lot of the pieces she already had, just edited them down and then we framed a lot more of her family photos.

The desk area was streamlined with a white desk, two storage drawer units and a tall cabinet for their printer and more storage. Some of the kids; art was sprinkled in which made it feel personal and homey. We had that piece of art leftover from The Citizenry in my storage unit so we nabbed it and it found a pretty home on that wall.

We added floating shelves to add more storage and display more family photos and art.

In the dining room, we kept the table but switched out the chairs. Now we didn’t want to spend too much on new chairs that were upholstered, so we bought four IKEA chairs and then I had two of my dining chairs left over (they were plastic-wrapped in my garage) that we thought could be the head chairs. I wanted to give her the option of comfort or the older kids who do homework there. I think the six matching black chairs might have looked better, but speaking from someone who likes to be comfortable, I think that the two king chairs look good.

We replaced her big rectangular mirror for a round one, knowing that the space really needed a mirror for light over there.

We hung her sailor art, but took off the frame which felt both too big for that space, but also a little dark and dated. It brightened it up a lot. The rug made a huge difference and hopefully, the fact that it’s dark in a flat weave will be enough to stay clean under the dining table. I’m on the fence about rugs under dining tables, but it just really made this space feel so much happier and more inviting.

My team did SUCH an amazing job. We were done early and even able to take all the after photos before Liz and her family came home.

Let’s look at some side-by-sides so you can see the full impact of our small changes:

Living Room:











TV & Storage:







Desk Area:







Dining Room:

A huge thanks to Amanda, Liz and her family for letting us raid their house for the day. While, of course, they are so grateful for everything we did, it’s actually such a gift that we get to use our platform, resources and experience to help someone who needs it. I’m not saying that facetiously; imagine if what you did could easily change someone else’s lives? The kids were so happy and proud, swearing to NEVER wear shoes in their house. Liz said that she had never had people over because she was embarrassed and now she was going to throw a holiday party. House-pride is intrinsically tied in with your self-confidence and really hope that we helped give Liz and her kids the big boost in both that they deserved.

Hopefully, we can keep doing these for obvious reasons: it’s what we want, what families want and hopefully you guys enjoyed it. I know that I am always inspired by people paying it forward and it reminds me to, so that was another goal. We have this platform and “influence,” we HAVE to use it for good. If you live in LA and know of a family that deserves a surprise makeover, then please nominate them by emailing info and photos of the space to giveback@emilyhendersondesign.com. Because we like the idea of it being a surprise, if YOU personally feel like you deserve a styling boost, have a friend nominate you!

If you are into these surprise makeovers, please share it—the more viewers and readers who engage or like this will help us determine how many resources we can dedicate to these, because that’s all we really want. Feel Good Flash Makeover FOREVER.

A Puppy Update Because …. Everyone Likes Puppies?? Also, We Need Tips On Mud, Peeing, Walking, And Chewing

Seemed like a good week to talk about puppies. It’s been 4 months with these rescue pups and they are adorable but PRETTY NAUGHTY. It’s been so long since I’ve had a dog and I forget how they are truly such good family pets. These two just want to give and receive love so much (Bearcat was like that but Mimi WAS NOT). So here’s the update and some cute photos of my pups.

In the grand scheme of things, these two are VERY GOOD DOGS mostly because my definition of a good dog is not jumpy/barky and is super cuddly/sweet (I have a lot of noise sensitivity issues and can’t handle a lot of stimulation – something I didn’t know until I moved up here full time and realized how much happier I am out of a city). They bark at other dogs, of course, and can jump of course, but for the most part you really don’t notice that they are there. But they are still chewing up all my shoes, ALL MY UNDERWEAR, but honestly, I’m a bad dog mom and not even trying to prevent it or doing any tricks or tips that I know exist. So we had to bring back out the big pen thing and they sleep in it because at night we would come down to the house destroyed. And yes, we give them lots of bones but they are pups and will grow out of this chewing thing, right?

They are super gentle with the kids, but we’ve had to have A LOT of discussions with Birdie about not treating them like stuffed animals and squeezing them so hard. We even watched a bunch of youtube videos as a family on how to pet a dog and have had to ground her from them (this is surprising because she is so full of love and she’s not being rough, just likes squeezing them literally like a stuffed animal) but she’s also not learning her lesson.

We thought they were house trained and we were smugly patting ourselves on the back for that “problem solved” when we realized that one of them had been secretly peeing ALL OVER THE RUG in the guest room. Like 10 pee spots. But again, we know that it’s not their fault, it’s ours. We had friends up (safely, all tested before) and had a house full of kids and strangers (to them) and I think we weren’t walking them enough that weekend, so they relapsed. Luckily the company of that spray I linked up last week got it out (even super dried up pee). In not so shocking news, the days where they get 2-3 walks (not just running outside) we have way less accidents so we just need to be better.

photo by veronica crawford | from: new fashion on my body: the one where i dressed like a fisherwoman, wore 6 great coats, and an all star pair of boots

They are still pretty bad on a leash and pull really hard (we got harnesses which helps). When we were first walking them I was like ‘we need a professional dog walker to teach us how to do this’ and then I remembered that I WAS A PROFESSIONAL DOG WALKER. Literally, I did it for a year when I was 22 in New York on the upper east side, and have forgotten all my skills. I had 5 dogs at a time and I was honestly so good at it. I think I just had more patience. Or maybe it’s because I was being paid $20/hour. Oscar can get aggressive with other dogs – but again mostly because they aren’t socialized. He barks a lot at them, you can tell that he is STRESSED when he’s sniffing another dog so it always makes me nervous (and always makes the other dog and owner nervous (I know we aren’t supposed to say owner, right? What are we supposed to say now?)

They also STILL get in the pond then mud and then destroy our house. Charlie accidentally let them in while I was working recently and I found mud literally all over the wall, splattered on the ceiling, and then they were just laying guiltily on the sofa (see above – LOOK AT THOSE MUDDY PAWS). I don’t know what we are going to do when we move to Portland because we are likely going to have a big backyard and it rains so much. Are they just muddy every day? I even have visions/fantasies that my brother and I have talked about of a dog washing/drying station in the mudroom, like a booth that they go in and get hosed down then dried before they come into the house. Stay tuned…

When we aren’t here they do try to escape to find us when we are gone (a la homeward bound) and I felt SO BAD for Ryann and Jess who were house-sitting while we were in Portland because Butter escaped out the backyard (under the fence) twice and I can’t imagine out stressful it must have been to potentially have lost your boss’s dog. (I wouldn’t have blamed anyone, btw and we have them microchipped and they have tags). Luckily she came back after a desperate search. But it’s a GREAT excuse to get a new fence!!

photo by veronica crawford

In short, they bring so much comfort, happiness, and fun to our family, more than the nuisance and responsibility that they add. I personally think they are the cutest dogs I’ve EVER seen (we like shaggy, floppy mutts over here). Buttercup thinks that she is Brian’s mistress. They cuddle and snuggle in a way that does seem kinda romantic and when I catch them she immediately stops with a ‘nothing to see here’ look on her face. Oscar is a clumsy, floppy teenager and just wants to play fetch and do ‘show and tell’ (in the mornings when I come downstairs he has to giddily find something to give to me or show off a bone in his mouth). It’s VERY cute.

So that’s the update on life with the pups. Any tips on chewing, peeing, or walking and mud please send

My Favorite Comfort EVERYTHING – From Recipes To Shows To Slippers Because All of Us Could Use A Hug On Our Insides Right Now

The election isn’t over yet, and i’m riddled with anxiety and yet we can’t do anything about it. We need a lazy boy for the soul. A collective “blankie” or stuffed animal to squeeze. I know that I personally feel like retreating, and embracing the old-fashioned comforts and mostly hugging my children. So this is my list of tried and true things that make me feel hugged on the inside. My comfort… everything.

Food & Drink



photo by sara ligorria-tramp | from: #janstewary: how soup changed my life (& body)…really

Soup: Maybe it’s a ‘feeling in control’ thing but chopping vegetables and putting them in my body brings me a lot of comfort, not to mention how it tastes. Remember, these soups aren’t weak thin diet food, they are delicious thick stews full of so much nutrition and warmth. I make this soup all the time, often adding rice instead of quinoa. I also still make this soup (we add sriracha for some heat) and this soup (I usually do ground turkey instead) or this recipe. People always ask me if I’m still on ‘that soup diet’ where I respond ‘it’s not a diet, it’s a lifestyle’. More than that, it’s my comfort food today, tomorrow, and year-round. What is yours?

Roasted Chicken (and my subsequent homemade broth): It’s not just the taste, it’s the smell – truly nothing will fill your house with a more comforting smell than Ina Garten’s roast chicken. This recipe is super easy, too.

Brian’s cookies (via The New York Times): These are too unbelievably good (the sea salt on top, omg).

Alamos Malbec: My cousin told me about this wine 5 – 6 years ago and it’s been my go-to (for something affordable and more every day) since then. At this point, it’s not just that it’s a full red wine for so cheap, but it’s become nostalgic and just so comforting.

Chamomile Tea: Sounds so basic, but it’s just so comforting and simple.

Clothes & Shoes



photo by veronica crawford | from: 8 pajama sets that i will be wearing all winter: a review

Classic Uggs: I spent so many years secretly making fun of the uggs with skirt look that dominated the early aughts, thinking I was too cool. HOW WRONG WAS I. The second I borrowed a pair from my friend I knew that I converted and while they are expensive, THEY LAST. They don’t get disgusting no matter how often I wear them (almost every day, all day). This same friend told me that the only ones to get are the classic (not the short ones and the tall ones are too hot for most seasons).

Matching Sweatsuits: Another thing I used to snicker at was the matching Juicy velour sweatsuits. Well, look at me now, opting for matching sweatsuits and even wearing them proudly in public. I feel pulled together, on-trend but VERY comfortable. My go to’s are the following:

Lou and Grey (signature soft blend is SO SOFT). Sundry. These are stretchier than just a terry sweat, and I find that they drape really GREAT. They are also splurgy (but made in LA if you are into buying local and have more of a budget). I love THIS set and this set. The Great, true they are splurgy (but however they make them look extra cool and flattering and made in LA), and Target has great affordable versions that I love like this and this.

These Yoga Pants: Soft, flattering strangely thin (but not see-through) yoga pants.

My pajamas from the Gap: These are SO SOFT and thin, loose, drape well, etc. I can sleep in them year-round (and have two pairs). They are indeed my preferred long sleeve/pant pajama set. (see my pajama review from last year for some others I really like). I’m wearing them right now.

Robe: I have many robes (remember when I did this review?) but for fall/winter I bought this robe last year that I float around in on the weekends (over those pj’s and in my uggs).

Fictional Friends – TV/Movie/Books



photo by sara ligorria-tramp | from: how we designed our super kid-friendly family room

Time to hang out with our comfort friends in the form of TV, movies, and books. And that’s ok. My go-to’s are: Felicity, Veronica Mars, and Parenthood. And for movies: The Notebook, Devil Wears Prada, and Dirty Dancing. For books, I love a series (Twilight, 50 Shades, Hunger Games, etc). l just finished the first two of The Wedding Date series (flew through them and it’s NOT PG if you know what I mean). Yay for the kindle so no one really knows what you are reading. Also, I just started the latest Nicholas Sparks book and it’s making me happy.

I haven’t read any Phillipa Gregory in 15 years so I MIGHT get back into those (only read a few and don’t worry – it’s HISTORY, so you are learning, right? :)) and if I weren’t so freshly into Outlander the TV series I would start the book series (so sad I didn’t read it before I watched it) so if you have ANY addictive book series that aren’t creepy/messed up (aka give some comfort) please leave in the comments.

Blankets/Pillows and Other “Comfort Decor”



photo by brian:) | from: all the bedding combos ehd is coveting (and some products we have and love)

We need our collective “blankie”. We’ve done lots of reviews on comfortable sofas and bedding so if you are lacking check those out, but please make sure you have a snuggly blanky right now. We have three of these blankets in our house because the kids would fight over the first one I bought (so they each have their own plus one for us). Dig into some faux fur right now, guys.

Need something more intense? Me, too. I’d love to try this weighted blanket, and Caitlin swears by her weighted comfortable and is thinking about trecking all 20 lbs of it cross country to stay with her mom for the holidays because she can’t imagine sleeping without it.

What is the grown-up version of a stuffie? I just realized there is a hole in the market. My mom got Birdie a Warmy for her birthday which you put in a microwave and it stays warm for a few hours which is WONDERFUL. Maybe there is a life-size version of that?

So what are your comfort go-to’s? More books, series, and clothes suggestions are welcome. xx

Opening Photo Credit: Photo by Veronica Crawford

The post My Favorite Comfort EVERYTHING – From Recipes To Shows To Slippers Because All of Us Could Use A Hug On Our Insides Right Now appeared first on Emily Henderson.

Day Of Election Thoughts As I Was Stranded On A Kayak …

I’m writing this before I know the outcome of the election. It’s noon on election day, November 3rd 2020, and I’ve just spent 2 hours by myself on a kayak mostly crying. Cut to 4 hours later and we are making cookies and notes for our Trump-loving neighbors.

Let’s back up. I’ve never kayaked before but I closed my office for the day (because it should be a national holiday) and I figured I’d take some time for myself to process all the fears and negative emotions I had around the election. I put on Brene Brown’s podcast and started paddling. I got ambitious and thought I’d go all the way around the lake not realizing until 1/2 way around that it was 3 miles – a real feat for a first-time kayaker. My arms were so worn out that I had to stop for an hour, stranded, and all I could do was think. A lot.

I’ve been stuck in an emotional tunnel full of anger, disbelief, and disappointment and it’s been so toxic for my insides. While many people have so many reasons to be angry and I don’t want to diminish yours, mine was this: I was so mad that so many really good people, Christian/moral people, could align themselves with Trump. That they could physically check the box saying ‘yes, this guy. He’s who I want to lead our country’. I was MAD. I know I’m not alone in this which is why I’m writing about it. There have been a lot of ‘HOW COULD…. ” questions screamed externally the last, well, four years and it has not been good for our collective mental health.

We non-Trump voters have to figure this out to survive mentally and as a nation. BUT HOW? For me, I had to find what we have in common in order to get past this, and after a lot of searching I realized what we all have in common is fear. It’s always fear. Fear is the worst. What I’ve learned is that most (white people) who voted for Trump did so to preserve their way of life, and another way you can put it (very simply, boiled down) is fear of change. I know it’s more nuanced than that, but that if you had to simplify it, that. is. it. I think. Things are changing really fast and It can be scary. The power structure that has been so comfortable for so many for so long is being challenged. What I want to say to everyone is that there is enough power for all of us (thank you again, Brene Brown for teaching me this). There is a big fear of socialism, but I promise that 98% of Democrats just want some basic human needs like affordable health care, good education, racial equality and policy that prevents poverty and gives people more opportunity. We just want more fairness and equity and for things to be better, but that doesn’t mean that you will have less. You are scared of anarchy and are wanting more law and order and I get that – we all want law and order, just a more compassionate version and policy to help reform police and prisons, and more importantly to help prevent the problems in the first place. We need new systems that don’t make compassion and accountability mutually exclusive. Fear has been so weaponized and there has been so much disinformation, lies and polarization, but I’m trying to understand while i disagree.

But listen, I see you. I don’t agree, but I hear your fears. I’m scared, too in a million ways about Trump staying in power and I want to listen so I can help teach.

Once I framed it more as ‘we are all just really scared’ regardless of having very different fears and even seeing a lot of hypocrisy in some of them, I could start to have empathy. If I thought my way of life was going to change drastically I would be scared, too. If I thought that I was living in a country where people didn’t value human life and no one got punished for it, I would be scared too. If I thought that we were headed to socialism and anarchy, geez, I would be scared, too. I see you now and I want to say ‘We just want things to be better, more fair, more equal, I promise.‘ But when you want things to stay the same or even go back in time to when things were simpler for you, I understand how even ‘better’ or ‘progress’ can seem scary.

Now I know it’s more than that, and I don’t want to condescend to anyone or oversimplify, I promise, but I think if you ask yourself honestly the reason you checked that box it’s not his policy, it’s to preserve a way of life that is comfortable.

So this is where I’m at, literally 3 hours ago out in the middle of a lake when I started coming through the emotional tunnel, realizing I’ve been pretty close-minded and very very angry. Getting on the other side of the anger, while not even knowing who wins this election, was an unexpected election day breakthrough. Listening to Biden and Brene Brown talk about power and unity inspired me and made me feel ashamed for letting myself get so polarized, judgmental, and angry. While I will continue to abhore the racism in this country, and do my best to be anti-racist every day. Full Stop. But we simply don’t communicate deeply enough with each other in regards to complicated emotions and politics to find out what is driving the choices, mostly fear, so how can we find empathy? We all just watch the news and then scream into our own echo chambers. We are secretly so ugly in our private time towards each other. Maybe some votes could have been shifted as we popped our bubbles, and opened up the conversation earlier. I blame myself for that. I was too scared to talk about it and too scared of how I would react.

So what did I do? Well, first I had to get home from the other side of the lake. Instead of going around the outside, inside the buoy line which would have taken another hour, I bee-lined as fast I could, paddling maniacally across the lake (which is illegal and normally very dangerous but there was only one boat on the lake – the security boat, and they were far away but surely have ticketed me if they saw me). I paddled so hard and fast and finally made it, sweating, endorphins high. I biked home very excited about my idea.

I had a great idea: We would make cookies for our Trump-loving neighbors. When I proposed this, breathless from biking, the kids immediately said ‘why would we do that for them?’ and that’s when I realized how wrong I’ve been. I’m making things worse and have actually been such a big part of this polarization. While we likely will never agree on many many things, let me be clear, we can’t just keep ourselves in our bubble. Its not working. Trump supporters are not Trump, himself. I think we are all so angry at him that we take it out on those who voted for him. And listen, with the racism of Trump and many of his supporters I want to scream at people to not vote for him for no other reason than that he will continue to incite racism and violence and its terrifying for all of our BIPOC brothers and sisters. Then I get angry again and all empathy goes out the window……

Then I remind myself that he is pinning us against each other in order to divide and retain power….. its text book strategy. He then weaponizes with fear and we all lose when he does this. All of us.

We have 4 neighbors on our street that are ENTHUSIASTICALLY supporting Trump with multiple signs, etc. We’ve never really talked to them maybe partly because of this. They saw our BLM signs, we saw their Trump signs and kinda called it quits on any future friendship. Every time I ride my bike past the one that has a massive ‘KEEP AMERICA GREAT’ sign over the garage I would internally scream, “FOR WHO??? FOR F***ING WHO???? FOR YOU!!!!!! It wasn’t healthy, but it was my reaction.

When the kids would see the signs they would yell “MAMA! THEY LIKE Trump!!! WHY??” And while we would generally shelter them from our disgust, we genuinely didn’t know how to explain the fandom to our kids. They know that he’s a bully and that he’s not kind, but since we didn’t understand why anyone would be an enthusiastic supporter of Trump we couldn’t even explain it to them. There were times when they would see a sign and start chanting ‘Boo Trump, Boo Trump’, and Brian and I would stop them (after a few rounds) but not after proverbially patting ourselves on the back with a decent amount of pride and smugness. Oh good job, Emily, you’ve convinced your 4 and 6-year-old children to align with their own parents and despise someone. How impressive! Despite sheltering them from the bulk of the ugliness, I still knew that letting our kids judge others based on a sign in their yard was bad parenting but I didn’t know how to stop it and frankly I felt so vulnerable and scared myself that I kinda even wanted my kids on my team. Seriously. I’m just realizing this now as I write – I’m so scared of the world right now that I needed my own small children to be anti-Trump to help comfort me and re-affirm my own beliefs. (In case you are wondering this isn’t about politics and we typically encourage them to think for themselves – Trump is different, it’s about morals).

So yes. I had messed up and we had to make cookies for our enthusiastic Trump supporters in our neighborhood. I needed them and our kids to know that we won’t let a sign cut off our community. While we likely won’t share the same ideals, surely we have some of the same values. While we likely won’t ever be close friends, the fact is that we are neighbors. And I guess that’s my whole point. We are all neighbors. We are all human beings, imperfect and so fearful for ourselves and our family living next to each other without communicating those fears. And while I don’t want to self-help away all the truly ugly things out there that Trump and some supporters have said, done, and believe, I also personally have to get to a place of empathy in order to not only keep moving but also to create a much-needed bridge in my own life… In my own neighborhood and in my own family.

So despite who you voted for I want you to know that I see you, I hear you and you are welcome here if you are kind and respectful towards all Americans – more importantly, let’s start talking. Consider this me giving you some cookies with a note that says, “No matter who wins tonight or tomorrow, and no matter who you voted for, we are still neighbors. And if you ever need anything please know that the Hendersons are here for you. We are all Americans”. While I won’t give you my number to text as we did them. I mean it, too for you. And a week ago I would not have been able to say it and certainly not have meant it. We need more unity, more community, to find more in common ground and yes to put ourselves in other’s shoes and try to understand ‘why’ in order to empathize, move past and truly make more universal and meaningful change. We have to stop shaming and alienating people for voting for Trump or not using the right Politically correct language, it just shoves them further away and metastasizes their contempt for “progress” and “progressives”. Because if Trump shaming, purity politics, and cancel culture is part of “progress’ then I would be scared, too.

I could obviously write for hours about this, but I just got back from delivering cookies, and now it’s time to watch the election. Going from anger to empathy wasn’t easy and I’m not saying that you should feel the same way that I do or that I won’t have angry/negative relapses. I seriously don’t want to negate anybody’s emotions – please know that. This administration has inflamed, divided, and incited violence in ways that no cookies can ever ever ever apologize for. Be angry if you are angry. And yes I will likely relapse at some point and be angry, too.

But for now, I feel in a way better place than I have in months, and even dropping cookies off at our Covid neighbor with a note saying ‘regardless of who you vote for we are your neighbors and are all Americans’ felt GOOD. I’m settling in to watch the election with more empathy in my heart for every citizen in this flawed and incredible country than I have in the last four years, likely blinded by hope. We are all Americans. It’s time to become a community, a collective neighborhood who empathizes our way to getting better, together. Let’s make America Better. Full Stop.

**Also since my team is off for the day voting/self-caring no one edited this because it was a last-minute post, so excuse the grammatical mistakes. Also, I’m monitoring comments and anything that is negative or triggering to others won’t be published. I want to build a bridge today, not create more division or make this blog feel unsafe in any way, for anyone. I know I’ve said a million things wrong, or not quite right, or oversimplified or not recognized the extreme harm and pain he’s caused. I know that giving cookies to Trump lovers right now feels like I’m betraying my party. I know all of that. But I’m publishing this anyway without overthinking it because I want us to all find a way to unite despite this incredible division and, heck, maybe we really should start to not only “love thy neighbor” but “love thy enemies”. Or so I’ve heard. Let’s try that, shall we?

Y’all, WE CAN’T LET HIM PIT US AGAINST EACH OTHER ANY LONGER and that is exactly what is happening if we bash each other for being empathetic and trying to see the other side. We can’t let him win. We need to unite towards progress, against him, not cannibalize each other for showing empathy. The left does this far more than the right. Let’s NOT do that. xx

The post Day Of Election Thoughts As I Was Stranded On A Kayak … appeared first on Emily Henderson.

Day Of Election Thoughts As I Was Stranded On A Kayak, And Why We Later Made Our Trump Supporting Neighbors Cookies …

I’m writing this before I know the outcome of the election. It’s noon on election day, November 3rd 2020, and I’ve just spent 2 hours by myself on a kayak mostly crying. Cut to 4 hours later and we are making cookies and notes for our Trump-loving neighbors.

Let’s back up. I’ve never kayaked before but I closed my office for the day (because it should be a national holiday) and I figured I’d take some time for myself to process all the fears and negative emotions I had around the election. I put on Brene Brown’s podcast and started paddling. I got ambitious and thought I’d go all the way around the lake not realizing until 1/2 way around that it was 3 miles – a real feat for a first-time kayaker. My arms were so worn out that I had to stop for an hour, stranded, and all I could do was think. A lot.

I’ve been stuck in an emotional tunnel full of anger, disbelief, and disappointment and it’s been so toxic for my insides. While many people have so many reasons to be angry and I don’t want to diminish yours, mine was this: I was so mad that so many really good people, Christian/moral people, could align themselves with Trump. That they could physically check the box saying ‘yes, this guy. He’s who I want to lead our country’. I was MAD. I know I’m not alone in this which is why I’m writing about it. There have been a lot of ‘HOW COULD…. ” questions screamed externally the last, well, four years and it has not been good for our collective mental health.

We non-Trump voters have to figure this out to survive mentally and as a nation. BUT HOW? For me, I had to find what we have in common in order to get past this, and after a lot of searching I realized what we all have in common is fear. It’s always fear. Fear is the worst. What I’ve learned is that most who voted for Trump did so to preserve their way of life, and another way you can put it (very simply, boiled down) is fear of change. I know it’s more nuanced than that, but that if you had to simplify it, that. is. it. I think. And I get that. Things are changing really fast and It can be scary. The power structure that has been so comfortable for so long is being challenged. What I want to say to everyone is that there is enough power for all of us. There is a big fear of socialism, but I promise that 98% of Democrats just want some basic human needs like affordable health care, good education, and policy that prevents poverty. We just want more fairness and equity and for things to be better, but that doesn’t mean that you will have less. You are scared of anarchy and are wanting more law and order and I get that – we all want law and order, just a more compassionate version and policy to help prevent the problems in the first place. We need new systems that don’t make compassion and accountability mutually exclusive. Actually writing this I think we have more in common than we think. But I get the fears, I do. Fear has been so weaponized and there has been so much disinformation, lies and polarization, but I still really, truly now get it.

I see you. I hear your fears. I’m scared, too.

Once I framed it more as ‘we are all just really scared’ regardless of having very different fears and even seeing a lot of hypocrisy in some of them, I could start to have empathy. If I thought my way of life was going to change drastically I would be scared too. If I thought that I was living in a country where people didn’t value human life and no one got punished for it, I would be scared too. If I thought that we were headed to socialism and anarchy, geez, I would be scared, too. I see you now and I want to just give you a big collective hug and say ‘We just want things to be better, that’s all, I promise.‘ But when you want things to stay the same or even go back in time to when things were simpler for you, I understand how even ‘better’ or ‘progress’ can seem scary.

Now I know it’s more than that, and I don’t want to condescend to anyone or oversimplify, I promise, but I think if you ask yourself honestly the reason you checked that box it’s not his policy, it’s to preserve a way of life that is comfortable and I get that. Truly.

So this is where I’m at, literally 3 hours ago out in the middle of a lake when I started coming through the emotional tunnel, realizing I’ve been pretty close-minded. Getting on the other side of the anger, while not even knowing who wins this election, was an unexpected election day breakthrough. Listening to Biden and Brene Brown talk about power and unity inspired me and made me feel so ashamed for letting myself get so polarized, judgmental, and angry. We simply don’t communicate deeply enough with each other in regards to complicated emotions and politics to find out what is driving the choices, mostly fear, so how can we find empathy? We all just watch the news and then scream into our own echo chambers. We are secretly so ugly in our private time towards each other. Maybe some votes could have been shifted as we popped our bubbles, and opened up the conversation earlier. I blame myself for that. I was too scared to talk about it and too scared of how I would react.

So what did I do? Well, first I had to get home from the other side of the lake. Instead of going around the outside, inside the buoy line which would have taken another hour, I bee-lined as fast I could, paddling maniacally across the lake (which is illegal and normally very dangerous but there was only one boat on the lake – the security boat, and they were far away but surely have ticketed me if they saw me). I paddled so hard and fast and finally made it, sweating, endorphins high. I biked home very excited about my idea.

I had a great idea: We would make cookies for our Trump-loving neighbors. When I proposed this, breathless from biking, the kids immediately said ‘why would we do that for them?’ and that’s when I realized how wrong I’ve been. I’m making things worse and have actually been such a big part of this polarization. Trump supporters are not Trump, himself. I think we are all so angry at him that we take it out on those who voted for him.

We have 4 neighbors on our street that are ENTHUSIASTICALLY supporting Trump with multiple signs, etc. We’ve never really talked to them maybe partly because of this. They saw our BLM signs, we saw their Trump signs and kinda called it quits on any future friendship. Every time I ride my bike past the one that has a massive ‘KEEP AMERICA GREAT’ sign over the garage I would internally scream, “FOR WHO??? FOR F***ING WHO???? FOR YOU!!!!!! It wasn’t healthy, but it was my reaction.

When the kids would see the signs they would yell “MAMA! THEY LIKE Trump!!! WHY??” And while we would generally shelter them from our disgust, we genuinely didn’t know how to explain the fandom to our kids. They know that he’s a bully and that he’s not kind, but since we didn’t understand why anyone would be an enthusiastic supporter of Trump we couldn’t even explain it to them. There were times when they would see a sign and start chanting ‘Boo Trump, Boo Trump’, and Brian and I would stop them (after a few rounds) but not after proverbially patting ourselves on the back with a decent amount of pride and smugness. Oh good job, Emily, you’ve convinced your 4 and 6-year-old children to align with their own parents and despise someone. How impressive! Despite sheltering them from the bulk of the ugliness, I still knew that letting our kids judge others based on a sign in their yard was bad parenting but I didn’t know how to stop it and frankly I felt so vulnerable and scared myself that I kinda even wanted my kids on my team. Seriously. I’m just realizing this now as I write – I’m so scared of the world right now that I needed my own small children to be anti-Trump to help comfort me and re-affirm my own beliefs. (In case you are wondering this isn’t about politics and we typically encourage them to think for themselves – Trump is different, it’s about morals).

So yes. I had messed up and we had to make cookies for our enthusiastic Trump supporters in our neighborhood. I needed them and our kids to know that we won’t let a sign cut off our community. While we likely won’t share the same ideals, surely we have some of the same values. While we likely won’t ever be close friends, the fact is that we are neighbors. And I guess that’s my whole point. We are all neighbors. We are all human beings, imperfect and so fearful for ourselves and our family living next to each other without communicating those fears. And while I don’t want to self-help away all the truly ugly things out there that Trump and some supporters have said, done, and believe, I also personally have to get to a place of empathy in order to not only keep moving but also to create a much-needed bridge in my own life… In my own neighborhood and in my own family.

So despite who you voted for I want you to know that I see you, I hear you and you are welcome here if you are kind and respectful towards all Americans – more importantly, let’s start talking. Consider this me giving you some cookies with a note that says, “No matter who wins tonight or tomorrow, and no matter who you voted for, we are still neighbors. And if you ever need anything please know that the Hendersons are here for you. We are all Americans”. While I won’t give you my number to text as we did them. I mean it, too for you. And a week ago I would not have been able to say it and certainly not have meant it. We need more unity, more community, to find more in common ground and yes to put ourselves in other’s shoes and try to understand ‘why’ in order to empathize, move past and truly make more universal and meaningful change. We have to stop shaming and alienating people for voting for Trump or not using the right Politically correct language, it just shoves them further away and metastasizes their contempt for “progress” and “progressives”. Because if Trump shaming, purity politics, and cancel culture is part of “progress’ then I would be scared, too.

I could obviously write for hours about this, but I just got back from delivering cookies, and now it’s time to watch the election. Going from anger to empathy wasn’t easy and I’m not saying that you should feel the same way that I do or that I won’t have angry/negative relapses. I seriously don’t want to negate anybody’s emotions – please know that. This administration has inflamed, divided, and incited violence in ways that no cookies can ever ever ever apologize for. Be angry if you are angry. And yes I will likely relapse at some point and be angry, too.

But for now, I feel in a way better place than I have in months, and even dropping cookies off at our Covid neighbor with a note saying ‘regardless of who you vote for we are your neighbors and are all Americans’ felt GOOD. I’m settling in to watch the election with more empathy in my heart for every citizen in this flawed and incredible country than I have in the last four years, likely blinded by hope. We are all Americans. It’s time to become a community, a collective neighborhood who empathizes our way to getting better, together. Let’s make America Better. Full Stop.

**Also since my team is off for the day voting/self-caring no one edited this because it was a last-minute post, so excuse the grammatical mistakes. Also, I’m monitoring comments and anything that is negative or triggering to others won’t be published. I want to build a bridge today, not create more division or make this blog feel unsafe in any way, for anyone. I know I’ve said a million things wrong, or not quite right, or oversimplified or not recognized the extreme harm and pain he’s caused. I know that giving cookies to Trump lovers right now feels like I’m betraying my party. I know all of that. But I’m publishing this anyway without overthinking it because I want us to all find a way to unite despite this incredible division and, heck, maybe we really should start to not only “love thy neighbor” but “love thy enemies”. Or so I’ve heard. Let’s try that, shall we?

Y’all, WE CAN’T LET HIM PIT US AGAINST EACH OTHER ANY LONGER and that is exactly what is happening if we bash each other for being empathetic and trying to see the other side. We can’t let him win. We need to unite towards progress, against him, not cannibalize each other for showing empathy. The left does this far more than the right. Let’s NOT do that. xx

The post Day Of Election Thoughts As I Was Stranded On A Kayak, And Why We Later Made Our Trump Supporting Neighbors Cookies … appeared first on Emily Henderson.

Dealing with Election Day Anxiety: My Therapeutic Kitchen Drawer Before/After Organization (AKA my Attempt To Feel Control Over Something…)

What do you post on such a nationally important and yet highly emotional day in our history????? Listen, it’s out of our hands at this point (once you vote). We can’t control the results but you know what we can control? THE INSIDES OF OUR COLLECTIVE JUNK DRAWERS. So, all weekend and continuing into this week I have been reorganizing every single drawer, cabinet, and closet in my house and today I am giving you the before/after. You know what they say: when you feel powerless, show your pantry who is boss.

I’m also a big proponent of leaning into my anxieties and naming my shame (I listen to a lot of Brene Brown) and so here we go: Clutter makes me anxious, AND yet I’m very messy and disorganized and carry a lot of shame over that. I do this to myself, I realize. I am my own disheveled nightmare. Well, it was time to do something about it, while also managing my election anxiety (and listening to podcasts).

Before I tackled the drawers and closets I am about to show you, we looked like we had been robbed (aka it was a MESS). It was hard to find ANYTHING and I was so embarrassed because while we keep the visual parts of our house looking really pretty (my level of house pride is so high) I literally just shove ‘junk’ and garbage into the closest drawer to keep the rest of the house pretty. It’s gross and childish and people are always SHOCKED when they come over and open a drawer.

photo by sara ligorria-tramp | from: inside all our (super organized) drawers & cabinets in the mountain house kitchen

When we first designed the kitchen we worked with an organizing company, The Neat Method, and it truly did set us up for more success than I ever would have been able to do without the systems they put in place and the products they recommended and installed. So I’m not starting from ground zero in here, just from “super messy, but with a system”.

The Junk Drawer



photo by sara ligorria-tramp | from: inside all our (super organized) drawers & cabinets in the mountain house kitchen

That photo almost makes me laugh. Look at the batteries all lined up in a cute little row as if I’m not going to throw used batteries in there too and never know which is which! I knew that this wasn’t going to last, not in this family.

Here’s a cautionary tale for you – two creative, left-brained people get married and their house is forever a challenge to keep organized. It’s a bummer, and we both literally feel like all we do is clean, and yet what you are about to see is not abnormal for us – it’s extreme, yes, but not rare.

Now to be fair this is the ‘catchall near the door’ and we do need easy access to a lot: sunscreen, daily allergy meds, hair ties, keys, masks, sanitizer, and 17 pairs of sunglasses. We moved any and all ‘daily hardware’ to the toolbox in the garage and most of the office stuff to the credenza upstairs. We also went ahead and put that rogue sock, you know, NOT IN THE JUNK DRAWER (in the pantry where it belongs, duh).

To start, I had to pull everything out to get my bearings… I put on Armchair Expert and Brene Brown and got to work (we have an agreement with the kids on Sundays that they can either clean quietly or play quietly because we need quiet cleaning adult time and so they generally just stay out of our hair and play in the attic knowing that if they don’t they’ll get put to work – funny how that works).

It took about 45 minutes and felt SO GOOD.

Now I know that that doesn’t look super impressive and it’s not the ‘org porn’ that we are all used to, more like a low budget ‘org indie movie’. But that’s where we are at now… Those lucite containers really do help, though (they are hard to see, but they keep everything divided).

So here’s the before and after, left and right (I like how I have to spell it out because it’s not THAT obvious). But trust me, in person it’s a world of difference. We couldn’t even open it before.

The Cooking Utensil Drawer



photo by sara ligorria-tramp | from: inside all our (super organized) drawers & cabinets in the mountain house kitchen

Two years ago… This one also makes me laugh. I’m so glad I had so many brown paper bags for… uh…??? We actually did make a ton of puppets out of them but certainly didn’t need them here.

As of last week, it looked like this:

It was driving me NUTS and yet it was my mess as I cook the most. It’s so hard to be your own pet peeve…

Listen. It’s clean. It’s organized. I know what we have and now that we live here full time we have way more tools.

The Pantry



photo by sara ligorria-tramp | from: inside all our (super organized) drawers & cabinets in the mountain house kitchen

Two years ago this pantry was set up REALLY GREAT, actually. I highly recommend reading the post on what products we used to keep everything organized (but namely, these baskets and the clear food containers are GAME CHANGERS). Big fan over here. So yes, it was messy but I’m so grateful I had it set up to actually reference these photos as I organized it.

Here’s what it looked like last week.

It was out of control and I couldn’t find ANYTHING, including our ‘vacation chips’ (Cool Ranch Doritos) that somehow have become ‘Pandemic Chips’ thanks to Brian’s wonderful rationalization skills. But good news! We had 2 bags of spirulina powder (??) and not one, not two, but FOUR bags of almond flour up top, with 2 that had spilled over.

Here she is after I organized on Sunday.

Don’t be jealous of my iPhone photo skills. This is 2020 content amiright? I just ordered 3 more of those white baskets for all my flours/sugars up top that are just floating around and falling over. And I ordered 4 more canisters to decant even more. Knowing what you have and where it is does make you feel in control. It’s like a closet colonic. Shoot, Caitlin, we need to trademark that… Closet Colonic TM.

The Baking Drawer



photo by sara ligorria-tramp | from: inside all our (super organized) drawers & cabinets in the mountain house kitchen



photo by sara ligorria-tramp | from: inside all our (super organized) drawers & cabinets in the mountain house kitchen

This drawer has maintained its purpose which I appreciate – all things baking/mixing and it was pretty easy to reorganize.

Here it was on Friday:

A quick 15 minutes later she looked like this:

Those mixing bowls (that are only $8!!) are still GREAT by the way as they have a spout and they kinda ‘stick’ to the counter (because they are rubber).

Tupperware Drawer



photo by sara ligorria-tramp | from: inside all our (super organized) drawers & cabinets in the mountain house kitchen

The tupperware drawer will always be messy unless you pair the lids with the dishes on a daily basis and even though Brian has his Masters degree and I run a successful business, I think we know the daily ‘tupperware pairing’ task is beyond our skill levels. Could this be a hole in the market? Do we need to hire someone to come and daily pop lids onto plastic? Could they also do this with “socks” as that is its own baffling beast of a puzzle beyond our abilities?

Two years later, on Saturday here’s what it looked like:

It looks like the inside of my soul last week, really. But a quick 15-minute organization and wipe down made my insides feel so much better.

Take that!! Tupperware drawer!! Emily Henderson is IN CONTROL OF YOU (for now). Who’s your Daddy!!!!! (???)

Spice Rack

Now, this was OUT OF CONTROL. Part of it was that I brought a lot of the spices from LA up here so we had doubles of a many. But Brian would overhear me muttering ‘where the heck is my garam masala?’ way too often. I’ve become such a cook where I need things like garam masala and star anise! Look at me!!! Look at that disgusting floor!!!

So I pulled everything out….

In case you are wondering what is happening in the background… I forgot that underneath all those upholstered bench seats in the dining room is flip-up storage. So as I was going through closets I started storing a lot in there (like our kitchen appliances – mixers and food processors we rarely use, halloween decor, etc).

And here is the beautiful after. Ahhh, what a relief.

Election Day Anxiety Hack: My Therapeutic Weekend “Before And After Kitchen Drawer Organization” To Attempt To Feel Control Over Something…

What do you post on such a nationally important and yet highly emotional day in our history????? Listen, it’s out of our hands at this point (once you vote). We can’t control the results but you know what we can control? THE INSIDES OF OUR COLLECTIVE JUNK DRAWERS. So, all weekend and continuing into this week I have been reorganizing every single drawer, cabinet, and closet in my house and today I am giving you the before/after. You know what they say: when you feel powerless, show your pantry who is boss.

I’m also a big proponent of leaning into my anxieties and naming my shame (I listen to a lot of Brene Brown) and so here we go: Clutter makes me anxious, AND yet I’m very messy and disorganized and carry a lot of shame over that. I do this to myself, I realize. I am my own disheveled nightmare. Well, it was time to do something about it, while also managing my election anxiety (and listening to podcasts).

Before I tackled the drawers and closets I am about to show you, we looked like we had been robbed (aka it was a MESS). It was hard to find ANYTHING and I was so embarrassed because while we keep the visual parts of our house looking really pretty (my level of house pride is so high) I literally just shove ‘junk’ and garbage into the closest drawer to keep the rest of the house pretty. It’s gross and childish and people are always SHOCKED when they come over and open a drawer.

photo by sara ligorria-tramp | from: inside all our (super organized) drawers & cabinets in the mountain house kitchen

When we first designed the kitchen we worked with an organizing company, The Neat Method, and it truly did set us up for more success than I ever would have been able to do without the systems they put in place and the products they recommended and installed. So I’m not starting from ground zero in here, just from “super messy, but with a system”.

The Junk Drawer



photo by sara ligorria-tramp | from: inside all our (super organized) drawers & cabinets in the mountain house kitchen

That photo almost makes me laugh. Look at the batteries all lined up in a cute little row as if I’m not going to throw used batteries in there too and never know which is which! I knew that this wasn’t going to last, not in this family.

Here’s a cautionary tale for you – two creative, left-brained people get married and their house is forever a challenge to keep organized. It’s a bummer, and we both literally feel like all we do is clean, and yet what you are about to see is not abnormal for us – it’s extreme, yes, but not rare.

Now to be fair this is the ‘catchall near the door’ and we do need easy access to a lot: sunscreen, daily allergy meds, hair ties, keys, masks, sanitizer, and 17 pairs of sunglasses. We moved any and all ‘daily hardware’ to the toolbox in the garage and most of the office stuff to the credenza upstairs. We also went ahead and put that rogue sock, you know, NOT IN THE JUNK DRAWER (in the pantry where it belongs, duh).

To start, I had to pull everything out to get my bearings… I put on Armchair Expert and Brene Brown and got to work (we have an agreement with the kids on Sundays that they can either clean quietly or play quietly because we need quiet cleaning adult time and so they generally just stay out of our hair and play in the attic knowing that if they don’t they’ll get put to work – funny how that works).

It took about 45 minutes and felt SO GOOD.

Now I know that that doesn’t look super impressive and it’s not the ‘org porn’ that we are all used to, more like a low budget ‘org indie movie’. But that’s where we are at now… Those lucite containers really do help, though (they are hard to see, but they keep everything divided).

So here’s the before and after, left and right (I like how I have to spell it out because it’s not THAT obvious). But trust me, in person it’s a world of difference. We couldn’t even open it before.

The Cooking Utensil Drawer



photo by sara ligorria-tramp | from: inside all our (super organized) drawers & cabinets in the mountain house kitchen

Two years ago… This one also makes me laugh. I’m so glad I had so many brown paper bags for… uh…??? We actually did make a ton of puppets out of them but certainly didn’t need them here.

As of last week, it looked like this:

It was driving me NUTS and yet it was my mess as I cook the most. It’s so hard to be your own pet peeve…

Listen. It’s clean. It’s organized. I know what we have and now that we live here full time we have way more tools.

The Pantry



photo by sara ligorria-tramp | from: inside all our (super organized) drawers & cabinets in the mountain house kitchen

Two years ago this pantry was set up REALLY GREAT, actually. I highly recommend reading the post on what products we used to keep everything organized (but namely, these baskets and the clear food containers are GAME CHANGERS). Big fan over here. So yes, it was messy but I’m so grateful I had it set up to actually reference these photos as I organized it.

Here’s what it looked like last week.

It was out of control and I couldn’t find ANYTHING, including our ‘vacation chips’ (Cool Ranch Doritos) that somehow have become ‘Pandemic Chips’ thanks to Brian’s wonderful rationalization skills. But good news! We had 2 bags of spirulina powder (??) and not one, not two, but FOUR bags of almond flour up top, with 2 that had spilled over.

Here she is after I organized on Sunday.

Don’t be jealous of my iPhone photo skills. This is 2020 content amiright? I just ordered 3 more of those white baskets for all my flours/sugars up top that are just floating around and falling over. And I ordered 4 more canisters to decant even more. Knowing what you have and where it is does make you feel in control. It’s like a closet colonic. Shoot, Caitlin, we need to trademark that… Closet Colonic TM.

The Baking Drawer



photo by sara ligorria-tramp | from: inside all our (super organized) drawers & cabinets in the mountain house kitchen



photo by sara ligorria-tramp | from: inside all our (super organized) drawers & cabinets in the mountain house kitchen

This drawer has maintained its purpose which I appreciate – all things baking/mixing and it was pretty easy to reorganize.

Here it was on Friday:

A quick 15 minutes later she looked like this:

Those mixing bowls (that are only $8!!) are still GREAT by the way as they have a spout and they kinda ‘stick’ to the counter (because they are rubber).

Tupperware Drawer



photo by sara ligorria-tramp | from: inside all our (super organized) drawers & cabinets in the mountain house kitchen

The tupperware drawer will always be messy unless you pair the lids with the dishes on a daily basis and even though Brian has his Masters degree and I run a successful business, I think we know the daily ‘tupperware pairing’ task is beyond our skill levels. Could this be a hole in the market? Do we need to hire someone to come and daily pop lids onto plastic? Could they also do this with “socks” as that is its own baffling beast of a puzzle beyond our abilities?

Two years later, on Saturday here’s what it looked like:

It looks like the inside of my soul last week, really. But a quick 15-minute organization and wipe down made my insides feel so much better.

Take that!! Tupperware drawer!! Emily Henderson is IN CONTROL OF YOU (for now). Who’s your Daddy!!!!! (???)

Spice Rack

Now, this was OUT OF CONTROL. Part of it was that I brought a lot of the spices from LA up here so we had doubles of a many. But Brian would overhear me muttering ‘where the heck is my garam masala?’ way too often. I’ve become such a cook where I need things like garam masala and star anise! Look at me!!! Look at that disgusting floor!!!

So I pulled everything out….

In case you are wondering what is happening in the background… I forgot that underneath all those upholstered bench seats in the dining room is flip-up storage. So as I was going through closets I started storing a lot in there (like our kitchen appliances – mixers and food processors we rarely use, halloween decor, etc).

And here is the beautiful after. Ahhh, what a relief.

The Unexpected Things My Entire Family Loves Equally – Because Collectively Agreeing On Things Is Something We Can All Celebrate Right Now, RIGHT?

In a quest for positivity headed into this week, I want to focus on, well, what we can all agree upon (in my family at least). It shouldn’t be remarkable to have things in common as a family, but when every single person wants to do the exact same thing at the same time, over and over, with no arguing, no negotiating, no complaining (!!) it is worth celebrating (and shouting/writing about). I’m not talking about milkshakes or bike riding (but sure, those too). I am talking more so some unexpected things…

A fun fact is that Brian and I don’t actually like to do the same things. We have the same lifestyle (and are strangely always on the same page, mood-wise) but different interests. For instance when we go on vacation (remember those?) I like to shop and he likes to golf, but we found early on in our relationship that we both love to bike so that’s what we do mostly on vacation – we rent bikes and explore. We even watch different movies and TV shows (for the most part) every night. Charlie and Birdie are very different, too. She likes art, unicorns and helping me cook and he likes science, building and turning anything into a weapon or setting traps. They BOTH love legos and marble racers and can play those for hours.

So for us four to want to do the same thing, watch the same thing, and play the same thing is something we relish and celebrate. Here goes…

GAMES & ACTIVITIES



Julia Donaldson + Axel Sheffler Children’s Books

We LOVE reading these books to our kids and our kids LOVE them just as much. They are funny and whimsical, unexpected and rhyme, almost like a musical. Our favorites are (but we love them all) Room On A Broom, Highway Rat, Tabby McTat, Stick Man, The Snail On The Whale, The Spiffiest Giant In Town, Tiddler, The Gruffalo… I mean ALL of them are great. We’ve been reading these to our kids for 5 years (discovered in Australia) and even Charlie, almost 7, still loves them (and is starting to read then to US). I heard this day would come and my heart sings with joy when he’s reading to us all in bed together.

The Questioneers Picture Book Series

I LOVE reading these books. They are smart, funny, illustrated so well, and have great messages for kids. They also rhyme, making it just way more fun to read. They are great for ages 1 – 8 (maybe even older–I don’t know). Our kids love these books too because they are entertaining (and long) and they are very empowering and inspiring to them.

The Secret Door & Outfoxed

These are THANKS TO YOU. I did this board game post early on and you guys suggested these in the comments for our kid’s ages. I didn’t know about ‘collaborative games’ before (where you work together as a team) and these two are SO much fun and feel like a positive fun night (unlike them screaming over money via Monopoly). If you guys have more collaborative game suggestions please let me know. We also love Guess Who?, Sleeping Queens, and Uno, but it’s just way more fun to be on a team with them.

Scavenger Hunts



photo by jason frank rothenberg for rachael ray every day | from: 6 quick & easy tricks for a fun 4th of july party (that look like you tried)

Oh, you’ve seen us doing them on the blog and on social (the photo above was for a photoshoot obviously). We are scavenger hunt people. They started in LA in the backyard and inside, with clues that rhyme and a lot of squealing. Then up here since our house backs up to acres of mountain they became pretty epic, with the kids sprinting with maps. I will say they take a decent amount of work for 20 minutes (max) of squeals, but we all enjoy it SO MUCH. We used to have one on July 4th, and New Year’s day with all the kids we could collect, this year was different obviously but still do it with our kids and they always do one for me for Mother’s Day around the house.

Cooking Matty Matheson’s Shepherds Pie



from: how i fell in love with cooking, and a man named matty matheson + four of his recipes reviewed

We made this early on in quarantine and it was DELICIOUS in every way and so much fun for us to make. We typically don’t eat the same foods because on an average day I eat mostly vegetables (with some meat and no, I don’t really like meat substitutes) and our kids will eat vegetables but not a full plate of them like me. But this meal is one that we all agree on. You wouldn’t think that this is “healthy” but it falls into the healthy category for me because it’s just good old fashion (pasture-raised if you can) meat and veggies, nothing processed. Sure, with a LOT of butter. They beg for this dish and it’s one that Brian and I really like to cook together. The kids have already asked for it for our Christmas meal and we are on board. By the way, I just bought his new cookbook for Brian and it’s a doozy… If you like cooking lamb shoulder and pigs feet it might be for you.

MOVIES



Hamilton

Oh, how lucky are we that our kids are obsessed with this magical piece of performance art. Brian and I saw the original cast on broadway (obstructed view but it didn’t matter) and are true, obsessive fans (oh right, we both love theater). We put the soundtrack on for the kids the last couple of years, walked them through the plot enough so when it dropped on Disney+ they were READY. We’ve now watched it close to 15 times and it’s such an incredible piece of art that you don’t get sick of it – I learn new things or catch a new amazing lyric each time. Charlie and Elliot know almost every single word and we even dressed up as the cast for Halloween yesterday. I wish that every era of history was taught via a Lin Manuel musical because our kids know the American Revolution, about the founding fathers and constitution better than I did before Hamiton. Lin Manuel is Shakespeare.

The Biggest Little Farm

If you are needing to feel some hope in the world, this documentary about a family leaving LA to build a sustainable farm is so beautiful (and entertaining). Sounds boring, but it’s absolutely not (and I’ve been channeling them to manifest a similar situation). Our kids don’t beg for this movie, but every time we watch it they love it and it gets them very excited for our move to Oregon. The reason I cry every time is that there is a real spiritual aspect to nature and mother earth that they embrace and nurture. You can witness what happens if all of our food was grown like this. It’s absolutely inspiring (not depressing at all).

Disney Nature Documentaries

These are narrated by actors and are so beautifully shot and entertaining. Our favorites thus far are the Chimpanzee one and Bears.

Current Disney Classics

Moana, Onward, and Frozen 1 and 2. I don’t need to convince you of these I’m sure, but it felt weird finishing this list without listing our favorite animated movies (and for an extensive list of over 50 of our favorite movies, we did a post about it here). I cry watching Moana and Onward almost every single time, and we secretly love Frozen 2 more than Frozen 1. We started watching the ‘Making of Frozen 2‘ series and the kids even love that and it’s opened their eyes to some professions they didn’t know existed.

TV SHOWS

Nailed it, Magic For Humans, and now Haute Dog (ok fine, Minute To Win It, too). Finding common ground on TV has been harder for sure. We started quarantine with Nailed it and we laugh out loud every episode (it’s a baking show for amateur bakers trying to replicate crazy complicated baked goods but its HILARIOUS). There are 8 seasons (skip the first, IMHO). Magic for Humans is Justin Willem’s incredibly funny and at times sweetly emotional magic TV show. Yes, the magic is incredible but it’s more that he is so relatable and charming and very self-deprecating. Haute Dog is the Nailed It’ for dog grooming (except they are expert groomers). It’s pretty darn funny, as they all have these wild challenges to do grand things to poodles.

So heading into this week, on the eve of this historic election let’s talk about things that we can all agree upon. I’d love to hear what you guys collectively love to get more ideas – any other no-fail family games, activities, or book series that you can recommend? xx

Opening Photo Credits: Photo by Sara Ligorria-Tramp | From: Mountain House Reveal: Our Light-Filled Neutral & Textural Living Room

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