Two whole month's worth of grueling test runs means these products are practically Favorite List Elites. Franklin desk riser Let me start by forewarning you: these come with giant ass labels on them that are fairly excruciating to take off. However, (and that's a big however) I am still favoriting them. Why? Shelf risers that are shrimpy-size are a dime a dozen. But a riser that's likely as long as the width of a cupboard ...

I could have sworn I wasn’t a spa person. Before last week, I’d had two massages and two facials in my life, and my general feeling was that while they were--sure they were--nice, they weren’t any sort of top-life activity for me. I would rather run errands than lay there doing nothing while some uniformed strong-woman worked out my kinks and perfected my pores. Anyhow, I don’t have any real issues that warrant spa treatments, ...

This time of year has a way of accentuating societal norms to an intensely gleeful degree. That whole appeal-to-the-masses, play-up-the-pretty dynamic that prevails in social and print media during the rest of the year is, from Halloween through to the new year, injected with a hearty dose of steroids. It seems one cannot help but to be bombarded by images of the Perfectly Normal. And every year, on cue, the signifiers of my typicalness (white, ...

In the who's who of interior bloggers, Erin Gates reigns among the supremest. She's been at it for Years with a capital Y, with her blog Elements Of Style, for one, and for two, which is to say "for me," her candidness garners her respect. While other big time bloggers are content to remain unobjectionable first and foremost, Erin isn't afraid to speak her mind. She does so regularly on such vital matters as red ...

Last year, you might have done that whole last minute squirreling away of your countertop mess into some adjacent, albeit not entirely appropriate, cupboard or drawer in preparation for your holiday guests. This year, perhaps, you will heed my entreaty to please, PLEASE avoid the mad-dash-stash at all costs. Fancy hearing that hands-in-prayer-pose request, plus other holiday hosting topics (including the houseguest essentials kit pictured here)? Head on over to New Day Northwest, Seattle's morning ...