Is the Myers-Briggs Personality Test Bunk?
I read a funny tweet the other day that said, “Myers-Briggs is just astrology for people who went to business school.”
Made me laugh! And yes, I’ve totally taken Myers-Briggs tests. In fact, more than once over the years. I seem to waffle between ENFJ and INFJ, and I confess, I never remember my score, so if it comes up in conversation, I have to look it up in this earlier blog post. Hah! …Myers-Briggs is just astrology for people who went to business school
— Drew “No Nazis” 4484? (@Drew4484) January 1, 2018
Living With Kids: Rebecca Muz
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I love how every home seems to reflect the personality of its owners. Some are serious and calming. Some seem warm and cozy like a really great hug. And some, like this week’s Living With Kids home tour, are fun, playful and full of life. Please say hello to Rebecca and her family who reside in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Mark is a musician and an artist, and Rebecca is a designer. They have three teenage kids and their home totally reflects that. Poppy, bright and fun are the words that keep coming to mind. It’s the perfect antidote to a cold winter’s day. Welcome, Rebecca!
… Random Thoughts – New Year’s Edition
Hello, Friends. Happy New Year!! How are you? I’m feeling a big dose of hope, and woke up today with a really positive outlook for the year. I love the fresh start, blank slate feel that comes with January 1st.
I thought I’d start the year with a Random Thoughts post. There has been so much on my mind over the holiday break and I’m dying to discuss everything with you. So here goes.
– We’re on our way to Palm Springs for a few days. In fact, I’m typing this from the car. I’m the only member of the family who has ever been to Palm Springs, but Ben Blair and the kids hear me talk about it often because I host a conference there. (For those of you who don’t know, I’m the head of Altitude Design Summit and our flagship event currently takes place in Palm Springs.)
So I thought it would be fun to take the whole family and stay at The Saguaro, the same place where Alt Summit takes place, so that the kids can picture the whole event, and feel a connection to it, even if they don’t attend.
… Do You Have A Favorite Christmas Carol?
Christmas music! What’s your take? Do you have a favorite Christmas Carol or a Christmas album? Do you listen to the holiday station on the radio? Do you start playing Christmas songs on Thanksgiving Day and keep the music going till New Year’s Day? And if you don’t celebrate Christmas, what is it like having every almost every shop and restaurant in the country play seasonal music all month long?
As you can guess, I woke up today thinking about Christmas Carols. My very favorite of the Christmas hymns is Oh Come All Ye Faithful. I like that it’s an invitation, and I love the line about “Oh come let us adore Him.” That’s how I feel about new babies in general — my instinct is to visit a new baby just so we can oooh and aaah over her. (Wow! A brand new human! A new life! It’s endlessly miraculous!). I guess the lyrics just resonate with my life experience.
… How Often Do You Add New Family Holiday Traditions?
Like your family, we have traditional things we do every holiday season. There’s the particular dip we only eat on Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Eve. Or choosing out a new ornament for the tree. Or lighting candles and reading books from our stack of holiday titles instead of the usual bedtime stories. Or how the kids open new pajamas the night before Christmas.
And then, there are other family holiday traditions that only make an appearance every few years. Sometimes we love attending a Messiah Sing-a-long, or a performance of the Nutcracker. Some years we like to give a 12 Days of Christmas series of gifts to an elderly neighbor. Once in a while we get a craving to cut our own Christmas tree.
We also like to try something new and different each year — thinking of it as a potential new family holiday tradition. This year, we thought for something new, we’d visit the Oakland Zoo lights. Back in our New York days, I remember taking the kids to see the holiday lights at the Bronx Zoo — but it’s been so many years! And we’ve never tried it here. So last Monday night for Family Home Evening, we decided the Zoo lights was the perfect outing.
…How Often Do You Add New Family Holiday Traditions?Read More »
Living With Kids: Caryn Schafer
If you’ve been reading Design Mom for a while, you might recognize Caryn. We featured her and her adorable NYC apartment on Living With Kids a couple of years ago. Caryn reached out about doing a revisit now that she is really settled into her life in the city, and her girls are a bit older. And I couldn’t help but want to take a peek at what raising 2 kids in less than 500 square feet of living space is like!
Caryn’s home is small but feels very livable with every inch utilized to the max. And her thoughts about why she loves city living have got me itching to pack my bags and find my own tiny apartment. Welcome, Caryn!
… DIY: Print & Fold House Gift Boxes — Free Printable!
This post is sponsored by HI-CHEW. Fill your stockings with HI-CHEWS this year!
How adorable are these mini house boxes? They make the sweetest little holiday gift boxes ever, right? And they are super easy to make. Just print (free downloads below), trim, and fold. Then fill them with whatever you like. Speaking of which, I fully recommend HI-CHEWS to fill these holiday gift boxes!
Have you ever had HI-CHEWS? My friend Audrey introduced them me to about 5 years ago when we were living in France. She had just made a trip to Japan and was coming to stay with us, and she brought HI-CHEWS for the family. Holy moly they are good. The flavors, the texture, the perfect amount of chewiness. I adore them.
Happily, they’ve become more widely available in the U.S. over the last few years — in fact you can even find them at Target. There were even a few HI-CHEWS in our kids’ Halloween trick-or-treating stash this year! And yes, I think I ate all of them — but especially the Green Apple and Strawberry flavors. Put out a bowl of HI-CHEWS over the holidays and wow your family and friends. Everyone loves to be introduced to a new sweet treat!
Ready to make those gift boxes now? Let’s do it! Oh, and for extra fun, you can even cut out the windows!
…DIY: Print & Fold House Gift Boxes — Free Printable!Read More »
Random Thoughts
What an unusual December this has been. How is everyone doing? I just wanted to check in. I feel a bit disconnected and would love to hear what’s on your mind this week. Here’s some of the random stuff I’m thinking of:
– Hanukkah. It started yesterday. Do you celebrate? Or do your relatives or friends celebrate? If you’re curious about the holiday — or mistakenly think of it as “Jewish Christmas” — you might find this short video interesting.
– The fires in Southern California. So many buildings destroyed and so many people evacuated. There are schools that closed last week that won’t reopen until the new year. And a huge number of people will be displaced for the holidays. It’s hard to comprehend the amount of damage.
A reader commented on my most recent Few Things post that she was surprised I hadn’t mentioned the fires. When I read her comment, I thought: It’s true, the fires have barely been on my mind; am I heartless? I suppose it’s because it seems like I’m barely seeing any news coverage. I feel like I saw more updates when the Napa Fires were burning. Is it just because I live near Napa? What about you? Are you seeing lots of coverage of the fires? Do you have friends and relatives that have been personally affected and evacuated?
… Living With Kids: Abby Burba
I am so excited for you all to meet Abby today. She is a interior designer raising her two adorable daughters in lovely North Carolina. And her home is really a stunner. I love when a place really looks collected and curated, you know? Like it doesn’t look like you just bought one whole page out of the Pottery Barn catalogue and plugged it in. : ) It’s neat to see pieces that were found and gathered over time and have a great story to tell.
Well, Abby’s house has that in spades. And she has some really lovely things to say about motherhood that will make you think about the stories in your own life. Come say hello.
… 8 Best Christmas Crafts & How-Tos
Right about this time every December, I start feeling crafty. My tree is up, my decorations are set, most of my shopping for the kids is done — and I get the craving for a project. This year, I really want to paint a set of dessert plates with some sort of holiday theme. Will it happen? Who knows. Hah!
If you’re feeling the same way, I’ve collected the best Christmas crafts and how-tos that will be sure to inspire your own ideas.
… Living With Kids: Hayley Pannekoecke
Ladies, have I got an amazing house for you this week! Hayley, her firefighter husband, and their three kids live on the coast of Australia just outside of Melbourne, in a house that is absolutely breathtaking. Bright light in every room, just like you would want a costal home to have, and the most gorgeous color palette — every picture I clicked on made me want to repaint my own home.
Welcome, Hayley!
… 11 Pieces of Practical Advice For Your Teen Daughter
This post is sponsored by OLLY — here to help make nutrition easy, foolproof and delicious. Shop the full line.
I’m working with OLLY on a 2-part series about advice we would give our former teenage self, and our current teenage daughters. In the first post, I shared my own advice to teens. For this second post, I interviewed Ben Blair and 3 of our kids, Maude (18), Olive (16) and Oscar (12). They have the BEST advice!
We’re such OLLY fans at the Blair house. They are the only vitamins I’ve come across that my kids (and myself) gladly take with no complaints. They’re delicious and chewy and a happy pleasure we’ve added to our routine. OLLY Girl is a recent addition to the OLLY lineup. It’s a multivitamin that’s made for girls age 12-17. OLLY Girl is packed with 15 essential vitamins and minerals to support strong bodies and bones, including brilliant B vitamins to boost energy, and biotin to help with hair and nail growth. Plus it works from inside to support clear, healthy skin. Our 16-year-old, Olive, takes two a day, every day.
Now back to that advice, here are 11 practical tidbits from Ben, Maude, Olive and Oscar (number 7 might be my favorite!):
…11 Pieces of Practical Advice For Your Teen DaughterRead More »
Living With Kids: Maya Babiszewska-Boyle
When Maya reached out to me, one of the things she told me that felt totally charming was that because she is a painter and an artist, she is always using the walls of her home as mini galleries and is always changing out the prints that are hanging on the walls. I love that. And she’s lived a really exciting life to boot — born in communist Poland and now living in sunny California where she is raising her daughter. I’m so excited for you to get to know Maya. Welcome!
… Living with Kids: Annie Bacon
Have you even gone through a big “downsizing” phase? Looking for ways to make your life simpler and less complex, and often, making them fit into a smaller space? I just did a huge downsizing in my own life recently and I think that’s why this weeks Living With Kids home tour really spoke to me. I’m excited to introduce you to Annie — an artist by passion and a graphic designer by trade, who left her day job and seriously downsized her house so she could be a stay-at-home-mom. And the house is just as clean and bright and charming as could be.
… What Would You Tell Your High School Self?
This post is sponsored by OLLY — here to help make nutrition easy, foolproof and delicious. Shop the full line.
As your kids get older, do you ever think about high school and make mental lists of advice you want to give them? What you loved? What you would have changed? What you didn’t understand yet as a teen, but wish you had? I’m working with OLLY on a 2-part series about advice we would give our former teenage self, and our current teenage daughters.
… Living With Kids: Marianne Brown
Bright white walls, big windows, and carefully chosen art, furniture and accessories. There really isn’t anything NOT to love about today’s Living With Kids home. Marianne is an interior designer and a talented one at that. I can’t wait for you to peek around the home and see Marianne’s thoughtfully curated collections. Welcome, Marianne!
… Yep, I’m Still Angry. How about you?
A year has passed since the election. I’ve been reading lots of think pieces about it this week. I can tell you I’m still mad. I still believe the election was corrupted, and I find it quite impossible to recognize Trump as a legitimate president. I understand he’s the president, I just don’t think he’s legitimate. A few of the articles related to the election that stood out to me this week:
I’ve been speaking with white surpremacists. This one. Woah. The fear. Where does it come from? It’s similar to the protecting-your-family discussion we had a few weeks ago. There’s no data or facts behind the fear. Just fear.
One year on, Donald Trump is still an illegitimate president.
Brave enough to be angry. (NYT)
The Glorious Anger of Female Voters, One Year Later.
The Democratic Party owes black female voters a big ‘thank you.’
My travels in white America – a land of anxiety, division and pockets of pain. A line from this one: “Increasingly, for many white Americans, their racial privilege resides not in positive benefits of work and security but in the sole fact that it could be worse – they could be black or Latino. In other words, their whiteness is all they have left.”
When I think about why I am still angry, it probably boils down to the realization that a Trump presidency has turned out so much worse than I had imagined. With Trump at the helm, America has become more entrenched in our racism, more fearful of refugees, immigrants and anyone we can “other,” and more violent in very real ways.
A year ago today, I wrote this post and made a lot of people mad. I just re-read it and gotta say: I still stand by it. I still believe when I see support for Trump from people I know — people who have good jobs, good community systems, and stable lives — it’s support for racism, division and hate, no matter how unintentional it might be.
… Living With Kids: Hannah Olague
I’m so excited for you to meet my friend Hannah today. Not only is her taste next-level awesome, I’m also obsessed with her style — it feels minimal and clean but is still curated and beautiful. Hannah is a designer, her husband is a fabricator and a metal worker, and their home is a really amazing fixer-upper they’ve reinvented in smart ways. Hannah’s also got some really beautiful things to say about our daily rituals and the way we live that I am excited for you to hear. Welcome, Hannah!
… Are Your Habits & Hobbies Determined by Your House?
I own a gorgeous bike. It’s a pretty aqua blue, with a charming basket and leather details. It’s high quality — very well made by Public Bikes, which is a local Bay Area company. And I live in place that has ideal bike riding weather practically the whole year round.
But I almost never ride my bike.
And I know why. It’s because I live at the bottom of a longish hill. Just to get the bike out of our driveway and on to the street feels like an uphill battle (because it is!). My kids rarely ride their bikes for the same reason. It’s so much work to just get to a place where we can comfortably start riding, and so we rarely do. In fact, our youngest, Flora June, hasn’t learned to ride a bike yet. A fact that I can hardly believe.
We love our house and wouldn’t trade it, but when I see our bikes in the shed getting dusty, it’s a reminder to me that where you live really does affect your life in ways big and small. Ways that you might not have thought of or considered before you moved in. Know what I mean? We can lose interest or gain interest in something based simply on our house and its location.
…Are Your Habits & Hobbies Determined by Your House?Read More »
An Overdue Conversation on Church Vs. Religion
A couple of months ago, a long-time reader named Cynthia asked a question in the comments of a Friday blog post: What would it take for you to leave the Mormon church?
I found myself surprised by the question. I interpreted it as very heavy and personal and wasn’t sure what to make of it being posed so casually. I tried to give a thoughtful, brief response, but she was not happy with what I wrote and commented angrily. I was upset by the angry response, and took it down before people started fighting with her. I emailed her explaining why, then I got on a plane.
When I got off the plane, the conversation had continued without me and the new comments (several were very wise!) gave me a different perspective. I realized that Cynthia and I had been talking past each other. Her question wasn’t intended to be personal or intrusive, and my response to her wasn’t intended to provoke anger. I concluded we were talking about two different things.
She was talking about church, and I was talking about religion.
…