A Non-Influencer’s Week in Paris
What if you’re just a normal person and this is your vacation for the year, and you’d like to have a really special, slightly splurge-y time without feeling like you’re working through a FOMO checklist that doesn’t leave you with more than 10 minutes of downtime a day?
In that case, you might be in the right spot.
How to Host a Produce Party
Produce Parties are my answer to seasonal nostalgia: a gathering of friends to celebrate seasons as they come to a close, an annual feast with food as the focus. It started with Summer, and on that magical first evening, I realized I wanted to do this every year forever; all traditions start somewhere, and you can simply decide on yours and proceed as though it’s a given.
Apple & Caramelized Onion Galette
I typically think of apples and onions as cozy-season food, but they appear at the markets in early September, which is very much summer here in Alabama. Nevertheless, I expect I’ll make this long into fall, because the tangle of onions and chunks of apples create a nest of savory magic, and the sharpness of the cheddar makes everything sing.
Lazy Girl Quiche
This recipe is an abomination, I’ll admit that. But it’s also… kind of incredible? I introduced it on social media as “An Idiot’s Quiche” but after several followers replied that it sounded kind of genius, I’ve switched to “lazy” instead. This is a perfect recipe for two hearty servings of a quiche-like breakfast that can be on your table in under an hour using ingredients that are probably lurking in the back of your refrigerator.
Corn Fritters
I’ve found myself reaching for some of my favorite corn recipes to use it while it’s fresh, and in doing so I’ve remembered that fresh, local corn is deserving of its rank in the summer veggie pantheon. Made in one bowl and so simple that you will only need to measure your ingredients the first time, I hope these make it into regular rotation in your home, too.
Ask a Designer: How do I buy light bulbs?
No one has ever taught anyone anything about lighting, and the technology shift only made it worse. Very few people understand what they’re looking at when they read a light bulb package, and I’m going to fix that. Class is in session.
Beautiful Moments: 2024
I started this because of what I like to call “future nostalgia,” an annoying thing my brain does where I mourn the ending of beautiful things while I’m still living them. Memory is unreliable, and we forget so much of our lives — not just the mundane, but the wonderful as well. These posts have been my attempt to hold on, to know that in the future I can return to small portions of my life.
Gift Guide: Beloved by the Hakansons
This year, I’m keeping it simple: this list is just a bunch of stuff we love and have treated ourselves to over the years.
10 Actually Easy Dinners
I have a few dishes in regular rotation that I lean on in moments of desperation or when life gets too busy. Meals that feel like a relief: “wow, we’re fed, and that was so easy.” My criteria for inclusion here is simply: would I want to make this and clean it up by myself after I get home from work? If no, I didn’t include it. (Mostly, this means the list has a lot of soups and stews.)
Beautiful Moments: 2023
This is my fourth year writing an annual review of my most special memories. Every year, the collections have gotten longer; I’m getting getting better at living life with my eyes open for the moments I want to keep forever… Memory is fickle, and we lose so much of our lives — not just the mundane, but the truly sublime as well. These posts are my attempts to hold on.
Perfect Pumpkin Cookies
These are my perfect pumpkin cookie: soft but not a muffin top, heavy on the fall spices, and finally (classic me): made in one bowl with no mixer. They’re heavily studded with chocolate chunks and caramel sea salt chips.
Strawberry Pretzel Jello
A pretzel crust is perfect to layer a sweet mixture of cream cheese and Cool Whip on, and the whole thing is topped with a pound of strawberries and strawberry Jell-O.
One Week in Mexico City
We went to Mexico City on a whim. Desirous of a new adventure but lacking the planning bandwidth or enough stored-up vacation time to take an anniversary + birthday trip to France, I mentioned one night that we should head down to the city where all the coolest people I know seem to have been jaunting off to for the last few years: Mexico City. Friends, it knocked my socks off.
We’re finally renovating the kitchen!
For the last two months, Joey and I have been in the thick of a kitchen remodel. This has been on our project list since the day we moved in, and I have to say: I’m glad it took us 3 years to get to it. We’ve picked up so many skills over the last few years of homeownership, and it was all leading here.
2023: Connect
I’ve been thinking about how Joey and I can build a life here, so far away from the place we began. About how it will continue to feel a little bit impossible with shallow roots… I’m beginning to wonder if I need to make it all a bit more explicit: “I’m choosing you. I want to show up for you. I want to be inconvenienced for you. I would love for that to be mutual. Can I count on you? Can I love you?”
Beautiful Moments: 2022
Maybe more than any other year, this was the one that made me wish I could keep all the memories. But that’s not how memory works. Memory selects the shiny, the sublime, the emotionally intense; and, as always, this exercise for myself is about the beautiful.
Gift Guide: For the Bookworm
This year, I’m pretend-shopping for three portions of my personality and sharing a few things I’ve loved and a few things I would love. Next up: the bookworm.
Gift Guide: For the Homebody
This year, I’m pretend-shopping for three portions of my personality and sharing a few things I’ve loved and a few things I would love. First up: the homebody, the lover of a quiet night in, the curator of cozy.
How I Grow Ranunculus
Most resources online are directed toward flower farmers, so I want to share what I’ve learned as a hobbyist, a backyard flower-grower with a day job and supplies purchased from the hardware store.
All the Desks I Considered for Our Study
I saved too many beautiful options along the way to keep them all to myself. In the past few years, companies have really stepped up their game to outfit the home offices of those of us who work from home, and there has never been a better time to find truly beautiful and functional pieces for a home office.