Living
Some things feel good. Some things work. They are not the same.
What holds up. What doesn’t. And how to tell the difference.
Buy the Bundles
A fresh arrangement of flowers changes a room more than it should. The room is the same. The light is the same. You walked in a minute ago and walked out and walked back in and the air is different. The math doesn't quite work. That's the whole point.
Ditch the coffee machine. Get an espresso machine.
There's a point where you stop tolerating bad coffee.
Stop buying plush blankets. Use cotton.
There's a difference between something that feels good for five minutes and something that actually works.
Stop using fabric softener.
Most people are washing their clothes correctly.
Stop using overhead lights after sunset.
A room can be clean, the furniture can be right, the art can be hung correctly — and the room can still feel cheap.
Ten Minutes Late
Being a good guest is a form of attention. The host has been preparing for hours, sometimes days, and most of that work is invisible by the time the door opens. The least you can do is move through the evening without adding friction to it. Most people don't even hit that bar.
The 10-minute reset.
Your evenings don't reset because of how you feel.
The one chair.
Most people buy chairs for rooms.
The one pot that does everything.
If I had to cook with one piece of cookware for the rest of my life, it would be a Dutch oven.
Why most kitchens are set up wrong.
Most kitchens aren't lacking tools.
Why Tucson is the best town in the Southwest.
Most of the American Southwest has been made cute.
Why you don't cook more.
Cooking more isn't about discipline.
You're not bad with plants.
There's a story people tell themselves about plants: some people have a green thumb, and the rest are doomed.