Play Pretend: Hosting Thanksgiving

Hosting Thanksgiving may or may not be on the horizon for you this year. In which case, we can pretend.

The spectrum of likely events run large. Whether you are feeding ten friends and family members, or gathering as a couple in solitary confinement in your own abode, I would still wish that we celebrate this holiday in no less a jubilant fashion than the years before.

After all, giving gratitude is a pillar for living a life of intention and joy. It is central to my minimalist life, since gratitude for what I have rather than what I don’t is the fuel to my less-is-more mentality. So crucial to simple living is this practice that I spend every morning listing three things I am grateful for.

I think in 2020, we all need to spend a day listing what we are grateful for.

Regardless of how divided we are in our current life situations or political views, I hope these differences are set aside for at least one day. One day wherein we are strive for inner peace. One day to avoid fear, anxiety, and anger. One day to let go of control. I hope for one day wherein we could go on as we normally would have if it weren’t for our miseries. I hope we can pretend that we had woken up, started over, begun anew, and continued forward.

I know that over apple pie, I will be giving thanks for the possibilities our future holds.

Regardless of the current environment I’m placed in.

Regardless of what tomorrow brings.

I give thanks for hope.

On that note, let’s play pretend, and host Thanksgiving in whatever ways resounds with us. Below are my essentials for holiday hosts.

1. Dyson V8 Absolute ($150 OFF until November 7, 2020) 2. Molekule Air Pro (Use code thedebtist to save $25 off Air Mini, $32 off Air Mini+, $50 off Air, $77 off Air Pro) 3. Boll and Branch Linens (use code DEALS to get 15% off select styles from 11/2/20 – 11/8/20) 4. Aesop Room Spray 5. Jenni Kayne Hand Soap 6. Le Creuset Stockpot (on sale until November 11, 2020) 7. Notary Ceramics Candle Holders and Taper Candles 8. Kitchen Aid Mixer 9. Fog Linen Natural Linen Tablecloth

Play Pretend: Labor Day in California

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By now, we have acclimated to celebrating holidays within quarantine guidelines. Limited to the outdoors, I wager that most quaranteams will rush to the mountains, lakesides, or beaches this Labor Day, if traveling at all. Perhaps wineries and zoos will see an influx of visitors. For those staying home, I foresee backyard barbecues and pool parties. I also assume that outdoor dining at restaurants would be popular, especially during brunch hour after everyone’s gotten a full night’s sleep.

The scenario list runs long, despite COVID-19 shut downs. Personally, I dream of early morning swims off of Lake Tahoe’s pier. Of cups of coffee and pancakes in a secluded cabin in Yosemite or Redwoods. Of late morning brunches in Solvang’s best wineries. Of afternoon ice cream along Newport Beach’s boardwalk. Of pink and purple skies surrounding Joshua Tree at sunset.

I am partnering with Nisolo to showcase a few of their best shoes in some of California’s most popular Labor Day scenarios. Play pretend with me.

Cabin in the Redwoods.

Nisolo Women's Amalia All Weather Boot in dark olive — Amalia All Weather Rainboot in Dark Olive

Brunch in Palm Springs.

Women's Nisolo Isla Slide Black — Isla Slide Sandal in Bone

Wineries in Solvang.

Nisolo Women's Serena Sandal Brandy — Serena Sandal in Brandy

Ice Cream at the Santa Monica Pier.

Sunsets in Joshua Tree.

Ecuador Huarache Brandy — Ecuador Huarache Sandal in Brandy

We are staying home this Labor Day for a change, but I’d love to hear what you guys are up to!

This post is written in partnership with Nisolo, my favorite ethical shoe company of all time. Currently, they are hosting an End of Season Sale until the August 31, 2020, which you can access here. The sale includes Factory Seconds which has traditionally been an in-store warehouse sale but due to COVID 19, they have made it available online for the first time. If you fancy a pair that happens to be full price, use the code NEWSEASON15 to get 15% off. I have personally owned more than ten of their styles and am a big fan of their high-quality leather and comfortable fits. As always, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Play Pretend: Last Weekend of Summer

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Just daydreaming of a summer that’s back to normal, one where children don’t suffocate playing in masks and parents have back-to-school to look forward to; where salad lunches can be enjoyed indoors out of sweltering heat and where we could travel and roam carefree, where sharing watermelon at baby showers and blowing candles at birthday parties in the park weren’t causes for concern.

I visited my mom and sister today, both working for schools – one in California and the other in Europe – both ending their summers. I asked if my mother has dined out since COVID started, and she has not, foregoing her usual girl dates with fellow work colleagues. I asked my sister if she’s figured out the VISA thing yet what with the consulate being closed and all. She has not, despite having shipped all of her stuff to Spain for the upcoming school year.

Time flew in stillness. We blinked and the break is gone, but the virus remains. I wonder if this really is our new forever.

Hand-in-hand with my day-dreaming are the following few things that exude everything summer represented in my youth, as well as the things I miss dearly about my favorite season of the year.

An inflatable swimming pool set up on backyard concrete and front-lawn grass.
Swimwear that’s a bit retro, and a lot of sustainability.
A pair of sunnies for brighter days.
Striped beach towels for lounging on the strand.
Insurance against sun damage.
A beach umbrella to collect friends under.
A fisherman’s hat, for gathering hair as well as seashells.

Must-Have Products You Will Actually Use for Bread Baking

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To say that I live in a bakery is kind of an understatement. Even though the operations of Aero have gone from our home, we still churn out sourdough loaves, baguettes, cookies, scones and teacakes weekly – if only for ourselves, friends, and family. I have easily baked a thousand loaves in the last three hundred and sixty five days. On top of bread and pastries, discarded starter has gone into pancakes and breakfast items. This is why I wanted to take a moment and share our top, must-have products that you actually use for bread baking!

Even now, as I sit and type this post, I am getting up every thirty minutes to do bread turns. Mike stands behind me making flour tortillas from scratch and I can hear the squeaking of our tortilla press. He’s even wearing a linen baker’s apron! He has gone down a different path from bread, experimenting with ramens, noodles, and tortillas. Still, these are things that I can get behind.

I may have let go of the bakery but the bakery never let go of me.

Far from getting tired of our kitchen floors being covered in flour dust, what we have as a unit (roommate included) is an equal appreciation of jam, butter, and avocado toast, which we connect over cups of coffee in the mornings. We share the justification of munching on teacakes by going on group runs. Japanese ramen and Mexican dishes run rampant on our weekly menus.

There was a time when we were the only ones dishing out gluten products from scratch. But during these troubling months, I’ve seen more and more people turn to bread baking and I can’t help but rejoice on the inside. Visiting the grocery shelves these last few months has shown me that people are hanging onto bread flour and active yeast lately. Hopeful me is standing by the sidelines with jubilee cheering on a healthier reformation around carbohydrates. For those who haven’t jumped on the bandwagon, here’s a bit of pretend. Or for those thinking of starting, a worthy wish list to consider.

Must Have Products That You Will Actually Use for Bread Baking

+ A mill to get the freshest quality flour.

+ A Cast Iron Combo Cooker that’s affordable but also quality stuff.

+ A reliable rolling pin to ease the process (if you know, you know).

+ A linen apron, so that you can do turns right before work.

+ A Kitchen Aid Mixer, a.k.a. a baker’s best friend.

+ A tough bread knife that can cut day old sourdough (arguably the best kind).

+ A decent cutting board.

+ A bread box, for those who don’t freeze their bread (we do).

+ A marble pastry slab to keep dough cool while rolling.

And of course, jam, decent butter, and market avocados.

Any questions regarding bread baking, I’d love to help. Say hi on my Instagram.

Play Pretend: Memorial Day Weekend Staycation

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I once posted a guide to staycations less than a year ago and I find that post to be excruciatingly relevant as Memorial Day Weekend nears. I doubt many of us will be jet-setting across the globe with our families, but at the same time I would gander that many of us are tired of hunkering down at home. The trick to any staycation, of course, is to rid the self of routine. Anything that you would do on a normal weekend should be shoved under a rug, if only for the holiday weekend.

Now staycations don’t just marvelously appear out of thin air. The most successful ones require meticulous planning, should a simple chore meander its way to make a ruinous weekend. I like to plan a few activities throughout. Not so many that we can’t remain fluid, but enough to avoid the sinking feeling that all this is was a wasted holiday.

Everything you need to create a delicious weekend – as if you haven’t had enough practice this quarantine season – below.

A few tips, if I may.

Get dressed for the occasion. Even if it means you will be in your home all day long, I really do feel that getting dressed will make this time more special. Put on some earrings and shoes. Wear a nice dress if weather permits. Remember the days when you were a child playing dress-up? It’s the first step to playing pretend.
Start the day setting the tone at home. Draw back the curtains, fling open the windows, light a candle. Make the bed by straightening the sheets and fluffing the pillows. These are the first few things I do to make the home feel like someplace I want to be.
Plan time outdoors. I know this may seem a bit anti-staycation but in all honesty, cooping up all day isn’t the best thing for any of us these days. Even if it means stepping out on your tiny-home balcony in order to breathe fresh air and get some sunshine. I like to wear my bathing suit and lay out on fake grass. You may prefer to sit in a swing and drink white wine.
Set the table. Let’s face it. We are all probably eating at home. But instead of cooking up Top Ramen like we always do, why not spruce up the event? Perhaps a cheese board of your creation in the afternoon. A farmer’s market fruit bowl. Freshly baked scones for tea time. Support a local restaurant that you’ve been wanting to try for AGES. Order delivery and set the table. Pull out all the stops. Linens, your best china, and candlesticks. Set the mood for something more special than TV dinners.
Add a spa-like quality to rest. Some vacations are for adventure. Others are meant for reset. Since the former is inaccessible to many of us at the moment, I’d like to propose a relaxing staycation for all. Forget the flower petals on the bed. That will only result in more clean-up. Keep it simple. Put on silky pajamas, soak feet in herbal water, crank up the essential oil diffuser. Turn on slow jams and dim the lights.

Play Pretend: Living Room Remodel

The timing of finding a sustainable couch option earlier this month and the sudden transformation of said couch into a work space has caused me to infatuate about an entirely brand new living room. Part of the plan for finding a used Ikea Soderhamn sectional on Craigslist was to revamp what we found to be a sustainable option into something that was aesthetically pleasing as well. After ordering a Bemz linen cover in silver grey and natural wood legs, which I felt would give it a Scandinavian mid-century modern vibe, I started to wonder about what other improvements in the room I could do.

Hence, large bits of my free time have been sullied into scrolling social media for inspiration as I fall down a digital rabbit hole on my way to remodel wonderland. And while I sit here pining away at wood based decor, ethically-sourced rugs, and modern cat furniture (yes, we went down that rabbit hole as well), I can’t get myself to pull any triggers. Because on the flip-side, I am also itching at the thought of paying down my student loans aggressively. At 0% interest rate, it would behoove us to pinch pennies and funnel what we can into a metaphorical envelope for the day when we return back to working-like-normal. At which time we would pay all of the money we’ve saved to dramatically decrease my student loan debt before the interest rate returns back to normal again on the last day of September.

So as I sit on my “new” couch awaiting its pretty covers, I do nothing else but daydream of Saharan hues and of buying my financial freedom instead of a new room. The couch has been, for years, the only thing this room needed. Having practiced making-do, I don’t exactly lament the lack of a remodel. If anything, it’s been quite a stressor considering all the possibilities. Rather, I perceive it as an opportunity to appreciate our newest addition to its fullest, without any distractions. I find that adding too much can detract from what you already own. If I rode this wave and bought a side table in the form of a stump, artwork in the form of pillows, and a rug for the cat to scratch, well, I’d sit here put-putting around worrying about spending enough time and attention on those things without being able to just sit on the couch. Whether that be reading a book, watching a movie, writing this blog or doing nothing, the new things would rob me of a simple enjoyment. So I’ll choose to do nothing.

In this journey, I’ve found that making a house a home is a process of learning who you are. After years of gate-keeping, I have found that this is, in fact, who I am.

But a girl can still day-dream of a desert-themed living space. As an ode to what I’ve been up to:

+ A neutral rug as a haven from cold cement floors.
+ Art in the form of pillows.
+ Tree tables for ceramic vessels.
+ A rattan chair to remind me of home.
+ Comforting touches for aforementioned tables and chair.
+ Space for a Feline.

Play Pretend: Hunkering Down

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Hunkering down in our homes isn’t really much of a game of pretend. Hopefully, you’ve settled quite nicely into a rhythm that works for you. Now that you have a routine for the kids, and a feel for separating work from home (if you are so lucky), I guess it’s time to accept the idea that staying at home will become the new norm. Who knows what will happen when this is all over? Perhaps companies will find work-from-home more efficient or productive. Perhaps mothers will decide that home-schooling has its benefits over private school. Perhaps those who are jobless create a niche for themselves as a small business owner. Perhaps we may remain, forevermore, at home.

I’ve been spending my own time reflecting on the functions of my home. I have been put-putting around the house reclaiming our space and making it the zen oasis that my lifestyle needs. A home is more than the house itself. It is a recluse from the outside world, a reflection of our personal self, and as such, should not be neglected or taken lightly. Therefore, my days have been spent remodeling our sustainable couch (more on that in a future post), and clearing the air of clutter and negative energy.

With the realization that parks and beaches may not be accessible to us in the near future, possibly even as far as the summer months, I have also decided to finally focus on our small city balcony. I will be remodeling that into a relaxing outdoor space that we can escape to, when sunlight basking and fresh air are what we need. I am a person who needs to have natural sunlight, be surrounded by nature, and breath in fresh air. Last summer, we religiously parked our bottoms on beach sand every single weekend, and it pains me to hear that beaches and parks are closing in response to COVID-19. In response to the response, I will be creating our own outdoors in this tiny home. I will also share that remodel in the coming months as we document it.

For now though, I traverse the dangerous road of having too much time on my hands. Making our house a home, a thing I haven’t had much time for since we made our measly renovations when we first bought the place, could lead to spending money in excess. I wrote previously about how property ownership does not have to be a dream home at the get-go and I am one who likes to take all things slow, including making purchasing decisions for creating a space dedicated to hunkering down.

I don’t have any rules persay as to the number of hours or days that I have to mull over a potential purchase, but I do prefer to wait. I like to absorb all the feelings, consider all the motives, peruse the alternatives occasionally if space in my heart allows. Sometimes, you just love a thing too much, you know? So in these cases where I feel a burning desire to tackle a project of reformation, I try to simply list my wants and play pretend. Let the fire simmer down, if you will, until my brain has had time to catch up with my heart.

Here, a few finds made to create a space for comfort. These are things that I think would help turn a home into an oasis worth settling in, from companies that I would love to support and see survive past this small-business drought. And with these items, a small anecdote on how I envision them in my own life.

+ A pair of Kygries slippers or these lighter linen alternatives from Fog Linen for walking around cool, clean cement floors while providing a cushion for the feet.

+ Kinto day-off tumbler or Kinto tea pots in the name of staying healthy and hydrated.

+ Fog Linen socks for lounging around on the couch or in bed, whether your space be in home-mode or work-mode.

+ Vitruvi Humidifier for refreshing the air cooped up at home.

+ The Beauty of Everyday Things for reminding us that maybe we already have all that we need.

+ Citizenry Linen Throw Pillow Covers + Parachute Throw Pillows for sinking deeper into that couch or bed or floor, what-have-ye.

+ Notary Ceramics tray, reminiscent of TV dinners during childhood, to hold teapots and mugs of coffee on preferred soft surfaces.

+ Cleaning supplies, for a bout of spring cleaning.

Play Pretend: A New Bathroom

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As thirty days of escrow continue to creep on by, I can’t help but daydream about all the fun we are going to have in our new place. Off course, not all at once and definitely not right away. Buying a home doesn’t completely absolve us of all other responsibilities! No, we’ll be making the home feel more like OUR home at a s-l-o-w pace, as if that wasn’t already expected. No need to rush in, all foolhardy. But for now, a girl can dream.

Currently, the obsession lies with the bathroom, specifically the one upstairs. It will likely be the first room that we plan a renovation for, with the hopes of tackling it sometime next year. Why not right away? Because we believe in YNAB budgeting and maintaining a healthy balance between student loans and property ownership. Because we recognize that renovating any space is a WANT and not a NEED. Because sometimes, you just have to live with the selections of the previous homeowner, and still be grateful there’s a roof over your head, you know? Not in dire need of anything at all, the reno can wait, but my thoughts have a mind of their own. In an effort to source things ethically, here are a few products that I am playing pretend with. All products are either Fair Trade Certified, organically made, solutions for sustainable living, or have a social impact in third world countries. Some of them check off more than one box, too.

+ For clean butts and minimalist styles – Tushy Bidet – I’ve written about a history of not using toilet paper until I was in my teens, here. Plus, friends rave about bidet living and I am pretty much ready to go back to a zero toilet paper life. For now, Who Gives A Crap has my back. But I still dream of a bidet for the sake of reducing my carbon buttprint. The US spends $6 billion on toilet paper alone. That crap is unsustainable. Additionally, in an effort to fight the Global Sanitation Crisis, Tushy has partnered with Samagra and has helped provide clean latrines for over 10,000 families. If you’re interested too, get 25% OFF all original Tushy bidets here! Plus, get Tushy towels for ONLY $5 with the purchase of any bidet. Ends 9/30.

+ For drying off after five-minute showers – Coyuchi Towels – Fair Trade Certified and GOTS certified, these are loomed in India using organic cotton. For a no frills towel, I am looking at these guys, specifically in the slate color.

+ For keeping puddles off the floor – Coyuchi Rug – A matching mosaic canyon bath rug, off course! Organic cotton and hand-woven, also in Slate. Why this infatuation with Coyuchi? Let me count the ways…

+ For vanity above the vanities – The Citizenry Provdencia Mirror – Two matching mirrors over the vanity sinks. You’ve likely heard about The Citizenry by now, but these mirrors hold a special place in my heart. These mirrors were designed by Cristobal and Valentine, a husband and wife duo that lives in Santiago, Chile, and did you know that I, too, lived in Santiago, Chile for a bit? Citizenry gives people access to a market that they wouldn’t have otherwise, and in a fair trade working environment, these mirrors brought together multiple artisans from multiple backgrounds, such as glass, stone-cutting, and wood working. I want to support people from the city I once lived.

+ For the clothes that served us – The Citizenry Hamper – Hand–crafted from locally sourced palm leaves by master artisans in Guerrero, Mexico. Each basket takes three days to complete, from start to finish in a fair trade working environment.

+ To cover up – Ty Shower Curtain – A simple recyclable shower curtain made of #2 plastic material. Unlike other vinyl showers, it does not off-gas and it breathes, making it less likely to grow mildew or mold. Ty is made of 100% HDPE, one of the most common recyclable plastics and is PVC free. At the end of Ty’s life, you may recycle it locally or send it back to Grain to do the recycling. For the artistic, they also sell a customizable version here.

How about you? Any sustainable bathroom faves?