This ain't no New Year's resolution

shelter

if you're reading this—

It's because I shared my harebrained idea to start a newsletter, and you rather unwisely said, "Add me to that!" I promise to keep it short, like a good email should be.

Email is terrible. We get too much of it, and it seems to just want to sell us all the things. (Today I have 2,697 emails sitting in my inbox, mostly from retailers.)

But email is also the best. It's a direct connection between you and me. And it's a special privilege to have access to someone's inbox.

I want to reclaim a fundamentally good medium by sending occasional notes that are more like handwritten letters than junk catalogs. Each one will have a few links about travel and design. The format will evolve as it gets going (hell, I'm still debating what to name this thing).

Simply put, this is a collection of thoughts about how we live: at home and on the road.

If you enjoy something I share, just hit reply and tell me about it. But if you find it isn't your jam—and I mean this honestly—please don't hesitate to unsubscribe.

let's go.

at home

You are being lied to by Chip and Joanna Gaines (by Clare Coffey for The Outline)

Best line: "It is energy, not sledgehammers, that actually removes the walls between people.

"The better an event is, the higher the chance that at any given time two guests will want a more intimate conversation, whether amorous, professional, or polemical."

A Toronto approach to families aging in place (by Jennifer Baum Lagdameo for Dwell)

Best line: "To allow each generation autonomy, the property has been conceived as two distinct residences—each forming a separate linear bar containing the full program of a home."

on the road

Jada Yuan beat out 13,000 people to spend a year traveling for The New York Times.
Here are 7 lessons she learned about navigating the world as a single woman at 40.

Best line: "Trust has been the through-line that has emerged from it all. Trust in myself, trust in the fundamental goodness of people, trust that as a solo female traveler, I could watch my back without walling myself off from experiences."

stuff i use

Premis Smart Lock by Kwikset

What I like: I snagged this lock after too many hours of research and have been loving it since July. It supports multiple users, voice assistants like Siri and Alexa, and codes that expire for your postman, dog-walker, cleaner, and yes, even pesky house guests.

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