We recently realized we've never shared the full story on how we first met. Here it is, plus some funny photos...
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by Claire Star & Nicole JordanHere are a few gift ideas to celebrate the holiday season with your best friend. An air popper, $18, and a jar of popcorn kernels to make movie nights more festive. A handknitted hat, $37 for supplies, (and a promise to teach her how to knit the next time you see each other in person or on your next Skype chat). A travel mug from your favorite coffee shop, $14, so she can keep her drinks warm on freezing walks through the city. Brownie points for adding a bag of coffee beans (prices vary). A pair of pretty gold earrings she can wear every day, $96. Bonus if you have matching ones, so you can be twins across the country. Witty pins to jazz up an otherwise plain winter coat, $9-20, each. (pho, wine, whale, coffee, toast, cookies) A travel guidebook, $10, and an invitation to a shared Pinterest board to plan your future trip. A tin of recipe cards, $38, including a batch of your favorite cookies, to kick off a DIY monthly cookie exchange. A book you've recently loved, like The Girl Who Saved the King of Sweden or The Interestings, so you're bestie isn't missing out (prices vary). Better yet, form your own book club. A map print of the city you love to explore together to go on the wall, starting at $24. (Other cities available, too!) A phone case, $36, to protect that precious piece of technology you use for keeping in touch via calls, texts, emails, Pinterest, Instagram, Snapchat, Slack, and Todoist. (Wait: not everyone maintains a running conversation in eight places?! We must like each other...) Custom key tag from Various Projects, $20. (Cue the inside jokes!) A linen utensil case, $30, for bringing lunch in style (and without waste). Or, if you're handy with a sewing machine, you could make your own.
For more gift ideas that we wholeheartedly recommend, see some of our past posts: + for the home: photography prints, handmade linen napkins, candles, fancy soap + in the kitchen: our favorite coffee gear, ecclectic kitchenwares + to wear: gold earrings, winter nail polish, natural skincare + to read: 3 audiobooks, 5 of Nicole's picks Plus last year's gift guide (everything's under $30!). Happy holidays! Tags: by Claire, by Nicole, Art, Design, Food, Gift Guide, Life, Style, Travel by Claire Star & Nicole JordanToday, on election day, we are incredibly grateful for the strong women who fought courageously and selflessly to win us the right to vote. As you vote today, we hope you’ll think of them. - Claire and Nicole P.S. Iron Jawed Angels is a powerful and gripping movie about women’s suffrage, if you haven’t seen it.
// Photos via Mashable, The New York Times photo archive, Buzzfeed, and Live Your Dream Tags: by Claire, by Nicole, Life by Nicole JordanHave you heard of this style of journaling? You may have seen the beautifully designed planners on trending social media accounts, such as this one or this one, or read one of buzzfeed’s many articles. If you aren't familiar, the bullet journal is a planner that you make, all by yourself*, that enables you to have an organized running tab for your endless to do lists, random thoughts/notes, and calendar events. You can read more about the concept here to understand just how simple and adaptable it is. The bullet journal founder created a framework for keeping the planner that serves as a customizeable jumping off point. Simply use (or modify) the foundation for organizing your bullet journal, or develop your own system. After much consideration, I decided to give it a try, thinking I would create an artistic, Instagram-worthy planner that all my art enthusiast friends would envy. That is not what happened! My thin Moleskine notebook, peeling at the edges from wear and tear, is a jumbled list of notes, cross outs, and check marks with glaringly bright post its and highlighter marks to keep track of my life. Keeping up this simple system proved to be more difficult and time consuming than I thought. I found that planning for future events was difficult since I had to manually create the monthly/weekly pages in advance, which resulted in a varied and confusing tempo of daily, monthly, and weekly pages. This made it all the more difficult to track what I had accomplished in the past. That being said, the experiment in bullet journaling has enabled me to figure out what features of a planner are necessary for me to stay organized. I like the idea of using different bullet points to signify different tasks and I appreciate the flexibility of having collections or free pages to doodle on. Now I can take that data and apply it to my search for a new pre-made planner. *Clearly, I learned the all by yourself part the hard way. From Claire: I, too, tried the bullet journaling idea this summer, and similarly stopped after a few months. While it was great to have to do lists, blog post ideas, and my calendar in the same place, the work required up front to plan events months down the road was challenging. What’s more, I often found myself forgetting elements of the system that was supposed to be revolutionizing my life. Was I to use a bullet for scheduling an appointment, or a dash? Did it even matter? In the end, I think bullet journaling is an invaluable tool for some (and there are nice articles evidencing how dozens of people use the system on Bullet Journal’s blog), it just isn’t right for me. On to the next thing! Would you give bullet journaling a try or are digital apps for productivity more your thing? // Photos via Creative Pineapple, Classic Sidewalk, @rozmakesplans, @thebujette
Tags: by Nicole, Design, Life, Office by Nicole JordanDo you ever take yourself out on a date? I certainly do. In fact, I do this quite regularly. I’ll walk out of my way to my favorite coffee shop and read, see the latest art exhibit at a museum, or even have a meal on my own. Breakfast, lunch, or dinner, I’m not afraid to dine alone.
I think that this level of comfort that I have with myself stems from being an only child. I learned how to have fun on my own when friends and family were too busy to hang out with me, which wasn’t often. Yet I discovered that when my independence leads me to discover or learn something new, I feel a greater sense of gratification than I do when I’m with others. Maybe that’s related to the fact that I’m more of an introvert or maybe it’s because I have a sense of dispositional gratitude* that makes me more present-minded and susceptible to appreciation over the little things in life. I haven’t figured that one out. Regardless, my desire to have one on one time with myself to enjoy the city I live in has many benefits beyond a greater sense of gratification and discovery. One of the many benefits being my propensity to share those experiences with the people in my life, such as Claire and you guys, the readers of our blog. But what happens when say, I have a cold or painful cramps or I just feel lazy? How can I treat myself? That was the question I have been turning over in my head this week and I think I found the solution in candles. They create a nice aromatherapeutic ambiance that can be rather calming. These past few days, I’ve been burning a mix of warm comforting scents, like balsa wood and cedar, and fresh, clean ones, such as french lavender and vanilla, to make an ordinary day feel a bit special. What’s your favorite candle to burn? I’m currently looking for a new one to add to my collection. The candle pictured above is a Prosperity Candle, which is a social enterprise that invests in women entrepreneurs who have recently resettled from refugee camps in the United States. All the candles are made with natural ingredients, including American grown soy, and are vegan and kosher certified. It is available for purchase from The Little Market. P.S. Here's an interesting article that discusses the idea of dispositional gratitude. // Photo via The Little Market Tags: by Nicole, Happiness, Home, Life by Claire Star & Nicole JordanBookCourt | friendly independent bookshop
Brooklyn Botanic Garden | flowers galore Brooklyn Bridge | the iconic bridge from Manhattan to Brooklyn Brooklyn Bridge Park |views of the Manhattan skyline Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory | ice cream near Brooklyn Bridge Brooklyn Museum Brooklyn Public Library Buffalo Exchange | second hand clothes Cafe Colette | outdoor garden seating Catbird | locally designed jewelry and gifts Court Pastry Shop | Italian bakery that smells like Nicole’s grandmother’s house East River Park Harvest Market | great grocery store Jane’s Carousel | old fashioned carousel along the East River Juliette Restaurant | French bistro and bar Le Petit Cafe | neighborhood restaurant with pretty garden seating Lizzmonade | crazy good fresh lemonade Main Street Park Marquet Patisserie | cookies, croissants, and coffee Mociun | unique New York jewelry designer we wrote about here Nitehawk Cinema | eat dinner while watching a movie Papagena | coffee with imported European sweets Papel New York | paper goods and gifts Smorgasburg | Brooklyn’s weekend food festival, look for The Good Batch Use our Google map for all our NYC Guide locations in one place, including their websites and addresses. What should we explore on our next trip to Brooklyn? Comment below! P.S. Here's part one, a guide to Upper Manhattan and Midtown, and part two, covering Lower Manhattan, in case you missed them. // photos by Claire Star Tags: by Claire, by Nicole, Left Coast Other Left NYC Guide, New York, Travel by Nicole JordanOver the summer, Claire and I considered buying a sea salt spray hair spray that would make our gorgeous, wavy hair dreams come true. We took our pin-straight hair to the nearest beauty counter, only to discover that the average all-natural hair texturizing spray costs between $20-$35. Our jaws dropped in further shock when we saw the ingredient list: water, salt, and essential oils. “No thank you! We can DIY it,” we said on our way out the door. So, a week later, we made our own version using water, salt, and lavender oil for moisture, shine, and a light fragrance. It was a fraction of the price we saw in stores, supplies and spray bottle included. Although it smelled amazing, it didn’t leave our hair as wavy as seen in dreamy Pinterest pictures. Recently, I got my hands on a bottle of Shea Moisture Zanzibar Marine Complex Age-Defy & Color Protect Sea Salt Texture Spray (yes, that’s the whole name of it). It’s got a lot going on. There’s kelp, red algae, black pearl protein, and sea buckthorn oil to strengthen and moisturize your hair. Among other things, there are no sulfates, phthalates, and parabens. My hair became noticeably curly after spraying a few mists and rolling my hair into a bun for a few minutes. The texture remained soft and supple and the light, sweet scent of the added shea butter was a bonus. However, my hair didn’t retain the curls for more than 30 minutes. Final verdict: I think that my hair is naturally too straight. I’m sure if I tweaked my DIY salt spray, I would have seen better results. Maybe if I left my hair in a bun longer, the curls would have lasted longer. Regardless, I think you can save your money and make your own version of a salt spray (or just curl your hair with a damn curling iron). If you’re up for some experimentation, here a few DIY salt spray recipes: + For beachy waves, try this. + To condition your hair and add waves, this one’s for you. + If you want something guaranteed to work, try the original John Masters Organics product we loved. Fingers crossed we’ll get our straight hair to look like this one day: Have you tried a salt spray? How do you create your best wavy hairstyle?
// Top photo via Expect Miracles. Other photos via Bakimlikadin, Beauty Health Tips, Harper and Harley, Sugar Scape, Sheer Luxe, and The Classy Issue. Graphic design by Nicole. Tags: by Nicole, Beauty, Our Uniform, Style by Claire Star & Nicole JordanBag | pretty leather goods
Birch Coffee | good coffee, a couple locations Casey’s Rubber Stamps | incredible hole in the wall custom stamp store City Hall Park | right by the Brooklyn Bridge Davey’s Ice Cream | locally made ice cream with friendly staff Elizabeth Street Garden | a place to rest, with pretty statues Ellis Island | incredible immigration museum Liberty Island | home of Lady Liberty Margaret O’Leary | gorgeous sweaters Monk Vintage Thrift Shop | cool thrifting near Washington Square Park People’s Pops | incredible popsicles on the High Line Strand Bookstore | biggest bookstore in NYC with really knowledgable staff Steven Alan | locally designed clothes, jewelry, and shoes Stromboli Pizza | our favorite NYC pizza The High Line | subway tracks turned into a elevated urban park Upright Citizen’s Brigade | famous comedy club (started by Amy Poehler!) with $10 tickets Washington Square Park | classic park with street musicians near NYU 456 Shanghai Cuisine | get the soup dumplings Use our Google map for all our NYC Guide locations in one place, including their websites and addresses. What do you like to do in Lower Manhattan? Let us know and we'll update the guide! P.S. Here's part one, a guide to Upper Manhattan and Midtown, if you missed it. // photos by Claire Star Tags: by Claire, by Nicole, Left Coast Other Left NYC Guide, New York, Travel |
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