10 Things We're Doing Besides Talking About What Nobody Else Will

Last week on the podcast, we finally covered an issue that’s been on everyone’s minds for awhile now: the bar soap vs. body wash debate. And, to give you some time to decompress from such a heavy topic, we followed it up this week with an episode on pimple patches, fake condiments, and other can’t-miss contributions to this newsletter.

erica’s things

• Learning of the existence of a snow-day calculator—started by a middle-schooler, of course.

• Seeing the design potential in ABC gum.

• Spending the day with a line cook—way to go, Bon App, for sharing stories like this one.

• Hoping that my nieces and nephew are as into this concept as I am…

• Scoring a hot date: Get outta here, medjools, I’m only eating this variety from now on.

claire’s things

• Letting a bunch of Lifetime movies make me weepy, but not at all in the way you’d think.

• Trying to remember the last time I fangirled out over a model the way I do with Paloma Elsesser.

• Wondering how I’m going to handle the full-length version of the upcoming RBG doc, given just how emotional the trailer made me.

• Preparing to get even lazier about checking my mailbox thanks to this handy (and free!) service that scans it and emails you pics.

• Finding a new breakfast go-to in this stuff, which is dairy-free, sure, but is mostly just extremely delicious.

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• Discovering a dry shampoo that actually makes my hair feel cleaner, not just...gunkier.

10 Things We're Doing Besides Putting a Little Spring in Your Socks

If you’re still working up the courage to get a little wild with your socks, this is the season—and this is the assortment—to make it happen. Take it from us: This trend is sticking around, and embracing it is a wildly satisfying way to feel like you put in more than just a jeans-and-tee level of effort. 

erica’s things

• Carrying my skis suitcase-style...and learning the names of various techniques during my Google journey to share this tactic with you all.

• Absorbing what delightful human Patricia Lockwood has to say about short hair (and everything, really, but in this case, short hair).

• Kvelling over these personal essays on halva, rye bread, brisket, and the 97 other most Jewish foods, presented in a very dreamy, design-y way.

• Getting juuust the right amount of daily media news with this quick-hit newsletter that always seems to land in my inbox at the right moment.

• Spooning up the story of Jeni Britton Bauer, she of Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams, a company that’s pretty impossible not to root for after you experience one of its shops.

claire’s things

• Walking back my policy on only eating sushi if it’s at Sugarfish—I’ve now added NYC’s Katsuei to the list of approved establishments.

• Letting you in on a weird secret: The Amtrak magazine, The National, has gotten really, surprisingly good (and beautiful!) lately. Worth the price of a ticket, if ya ask me.

• Owning up to my Instagram crush on this one. Her stories (and her @thetinybusinessman) are eminently dependable as my daily LOL.

• Nodding at the sheer genius of The Hunt a handy, cheeky little guidebook for navigating the world of collecting art and design objects—everything from insider terms to gallery and flea-market etiquette. Just in time for a trip to Brimfield!

• Testing out Turo—like an Airbnb for automobiles—on my next trip out West. Airport rental-car shuttle, I will not miss thee.

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• Buying into the concept of a right-hand ring only for the excuse to get myself this.

10 Things We're Doing Besides Keeping you Current on the ‘Cast

A podcast half-month in review, right this way:

• Verena von Pfetten on how and why it’s getting easier to be green.

• Us, waxing on (and on and on, really) about Palm Springs, Armie Hammer, our genetics, and our favorite drugstore mints.

erica’s things

• Losing it every time I even think of this bumper sticker.

• Tossing all my spatulas except the one that’s technically made for fish but is, in practice, better for everything. I’m sure the salmon filets are down to share.

• Diving deeper into the experience of children migrating to the U.S. with the slim, moving, and inquisitive read Tell Me How It Ends.

• Plotting a return visit to the NYC Japanese comfort-food spot Bessou—go for the scallop hotpot; stay for the design. And let me know how brunch is?

• Flagging this goodie for pregnant friends. I hear belly itch is a THING.
  

claire’s things

• Recreating the A+ vegan chorizo taco from Taco Dumbo with with the help of this Trader Joe’s win.

• Making it 12 years in NYC without ever once realizing how much I’ve been missing out by not living in a GD turret.

• Visiting a pal in Cincinnati and finding shopping and eating options on-par with anything in Brooklyn in their very hip Over-the-Rhine neighborhood, which, it turns out, has a complicated and fascinating history.

• Letting it go straight to my head when someone on Instagram complimented my running playlist...so making a new one full of sleeper hits.

• Listening rapt to this interview with Sarah McBride, a transgender activist who I’m guessing is going to be a household name before long.
  

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• Feeling like we’re going to need a sign-up sheet in the office to mitigate all the inevitable instances of twinning in this dress.

10 Things We're Doing Besides Letting You in on the Sleeper Hits

If there’s anything we’ve learned from seven-plus years of retail, it’s that no matter how much you learn, you never know what’s going to be the thing that sends people into a buying frenzy. Here’s a peek into what everyone’s scooping up these days:

• Dainty, unexpected little somethings like this choker.
• Simple and inexpensive home upgrades we can’t keep in stock like these happy-making hooks.
• Easy, comfortable denim that feels dressy enough for the office (or, at least, our office).

erica’s things

• Overeating my way through Nashville. Little Octopus and Fort Louise are to blame.

• Getting a better handle on the weird ‘n wacky world of credit-card and airline points with a new newsletter that jibes with how I travel.

• Committing to this razor after one very smooooooth shave.

• Putting myself in a heart-eyed mood with an anthology (!!!) of YA meet-cute short stories.

• Showing up for all the Michael B. Jordan content, always, this included.
  

claire’s things

• Landing on a new go-to salad—one hearty enough to make for A+ leftovers in the days following, too.

• Marveling at the genius of my friends who brought fake condiments to a lunch date so their toddler wouldn’t make a mess playing with the real things.

• Splurging on a very beautiful (and, yes, very expensive) shower caddy because I look at it every dang day and it makes me happy. Don’t @ me.

• Not really expecting for the reboot of Queer Eye to have me crying and clapping at the screen, but here we are. (Pop Culture Happy Hour offers up a decent breakdown of why it works and when it sometimes doesn’t.)

• Feeling grateful to Gordon Savory for opening up a short walk from my home—their grab-and-go containers of veggies and dips are desk-lunch gold.
  

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• Letting my relationship with bar soap go to my head and using the stuff on my hair.

10 Things We're Doing Besides Trying Our Best to Answer Your Questions

Here’s what you’ve been missing if you haven’t checked in with our podcast in a minute…

• Katonya Breaux, the woman responsible for our SPF obsession, talks about cosmetics for people of color and what it’s like to go from helming a construction company to launching a beauty empire. LISTEN

• We share listener feedback on flossing (who knew y’all had so much to say on the topic?) and field a bunch of questions that we are probably not entirely qualified to be answering. LISTEN

erica’s things

• Marveling at doll hacking, the art of making-over (or -under) a Barbie or Bratz. It’s what the cool 11 year olds are up to—or at least the ones who send mail to The New Yorker.

• Learning a term for my preferred interiors aesthetic: cozy modern.

• Tearing through Gabrielle Union’s realness-packed memoir. If it’s not already at the tippy-top of your reading list, this will change that.

• Coat-checking my phone for the privilege of seeing Black Panther two days early (braggedy brag brag)...and then pondering the pros and cons of being phoneless in 2018 and the startup that’s made that its business.

• Finding a whole lotta beauty in plastic, latex, and foam.
  

claire’s things

• Keeping track of all the things I want to read, watch, visit, etc. in the so, so handy and simple Soon app, a true revelation.

• Discovering that that coffee brand you know because it has the prettiest packaging also makes the absolute best-tasting tea.

• Solving for my eternal indecision about what art to hang where with these simple, minimal ledges that make it easy to display a bunch at once and change it out as often as I want.

• Feeling extremely fancy ℅ a Farmgirl Flower subscription gifted to me by Erica. Bountiful-but-minimal blooms show up at my door once a month like magic.

• Going on a real Francis and the Lights kick (very good working music, btw!) and discovering I’m in good company—Michelle put ‘em on her V-day playlist for Barack .

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• Stocking up on these because they make an A+ alternative to a bottle of wine as a dinner-party hostess gift.

10 Things We're Doing Besides Working on Something New

It’s no secret that when we’re not serving up goodness on Of a Kind (and in this newsletter...and on our podcast!), we’re lending our supreme talents to everyone’s favorite place to go to buy one thing but leave with six things—Bed Bath & Beyond, duh. And we have a big reveal on that front that we’re pretty damn proud of: It’s called One More Thing (because clearly we’re gunning to own the “thing” universe), and it’s chock-full of stories about wonderfully designed homes, talented illustrators, tricks to improve your life, and so much more. Check it out, give it a follow, and tell us what ya think. (And, for a little BBB insider intel that’ll really make your day, take a listen to our interview with their bestiepreneur founders.)

erica’s things

• Obviously reading a book described as The Breakfast Club meets Pretty Little Liars. What do you take me for, a fool? (It very much delivers on its promise, too.)

• Reaching for this turmeric-y bev from the #workwife brand Pop & Bottle when even the idea of more caffeine gives me the jitters.

• Seeking out the best hiking around Palm Springs—and now, NYC—with the wonderfully handy AllTrails app.

• Itching for the upcoming installments of Britt Julious’s Broadly column after reading the first about Jodie Landon, the lone black girl on Daria.

• Hailing the climate-change-combatting “Keep the North Cold” movement happening in Minnesota. Outdoor winter dinner-parties are involved!
  

claire’s things

• Whoooooaing over this video-game-meets-journalism mashup that puts you in the driver’s seat as...the owner of a shopping mall.

• Spending a cozy weekend doing absolutely nothing but reading by the fire, playing games, and eating (lots of eating) at The Debruce in Upstate NY.

• Following a really silly Twitter account called Wu Tang Financial that, every once in ten tweets, drops something that has me chuckling to myself all day...like this and this and this.

• Cheering on Stacy London for her bare-it-all honesty about going broke. A useful read and reminder.

• Reaching a new high (or low, depending on who you ask) in my Vanderpump fandom by subscribing to—you guessed it!—the Sexy Unique Podcast.

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• Convincing myself a boring sweater-and-jeans outfit is far dressier when I put either of these on.

10 Things We're Doing Besides Galentining

Galentine’s Day is upon us and, boy girl, are we prepared. We pulled together some of our most charming little gift sets yet, took to the podcast to interview a legit expert in female friendship, and even brought you the most modern take on a BFF necklace (and a BFF card) possible. Now go on and spread the love to your coven.

erica’s things

• Getting something useful out of my celebrity-content consumption. See: Oprah on carpet-cleaning and Jane Fonda on escaping handcuffs.

• Spotting the term “glow up”—which is basically an especially dramatic puberty transformation—all over the place all of a sudden.

• Revisiting my deep, deep teen-years love of collaging and magazine cut-outs.

• Urging you to 1) read Kayleen Schaefer’s wonderfully insightful book on female friendship, Text Me When You Get Home 2) distribute it to your besties 3) listen to this. Lots of to-dos, I know, but all worthwhile and satisfying ones.

• Putting what’s left of a bunch of celery to very good use.
  

claire’s things

• Rubbing (Erica’s favorite!) leather oil all over my couch (this one, if you’re curious) to keep it looking fresh.

• Feeling comforted knowing that I’m not alone in my inability to remember key details of even the best books soon after I’ve finished them.

• Having my expectations exceeded by New York City Ballet’s Art Series. Go for the balloons; stay for the costumes, the music, and the dance, all surprising and delightful.

• Still struggling to understand how these buy-in-bulk-worthy, highly addictive, cheesy tasting crackers...don’t have cheese in them.

• Treating myself to a fancy facial at Rescue Spa and immediately getting what all the fuss is about—some serious magic being performed over there.

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• Washing my hair just once a week, but always with this and this.

10 Things We're Doing Besides Getting Cracking

On this week’s podcast ‘sode, we discussed the funniest writer on the whole wide internet, the saddest egg yolk in the Sanrio universe, and a few other things that, sure, have shown up in this newsletter but really deserved a whooole talk-out.

erica’s things

• Embracing true technological innovation: the self-cleaning lint brush.

• Stumbling upon a dang pretty teeny kitchen: 26 square feet that would impress Nancy Meyers, surely.

• Next-leveling my eagle pose with a highly recommended, eco-friendly yoga mat—and improving my rolling technique while I’m at it.

• Cozying up to a perfect January meal: purposely gluten-free and accidentally vegan chili and skillet cornbread.

• Pleading for Tim Riggins Day to become an annual event—like Rex Manning Day, ya know?
  

claire’s things

• Trying out a trick to fight my phone addiction—and, hey, it actually seems to be working!

• Giving a “well, isn’t that just genius” nod to this ottoman that folds out into a guest bed.

• Eagerly anticipating the next installment of a seriously good docuseries about all the money we shell out as women—it goes way beyond the pink tax.

• Putting any playlist compiled by Frank Ocean (son of Katonya Breaux, duh) on repeat.

• Being reminded that tile does indeed make the room.
  

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• Smiling every time I catch a glimpse of this thing on the wall in our office.

10 Things We're Doing Besides Yoga-ing with the Cool Kids

Any yoga spot that claims a jumbo stuffed giraffe as its mascot is one we’re interested in knowing more about. This week’s podcast ep features Sky Ting co-founder Krissy Jones, who, along with her #workwife Chloe Kernaghan, runs the show at a pair of NYC studios that attract all the hippest and limberest yogis around—including one Ms. Erica Cerulo, the coolest and stretchiest of them all. (Says Claire, who is wrong, says Erica, who is flattered.) There’s also an infrared sauna involved, and we’ll wager you’re going to want to know more about that. 

erica’s things

• Atoning for our collective sin of over-plucking the shit out of our eyebrows with this very satisfying IG account.

• Trading an end-of-day glass of wine for a pot of this tea—at least some evenings—and feeling soooooothed all the same.

• Tracking the build of Mandy Moore’s gorgeous new house very closely...and following everything that this one and this one do now as a result.

• Shredding some tofu—which, turns out, is shorthand for “making a quick, healthy, comfort-food-y dinner.” I didn’t know!

• Trying to approach winter more like this sledding dog (15 seconds in if you can’t hold your horses).
  

claire’s things

• Embarking on my 300th attempt to become someone who flosses daily and enlisting this guy as my accountability partner. He’s fun.

• Slacking Erica, like, twelve different quotes from a fist-pumpingly honest piece by Ellen Pompeo about how she became the highest-paid actress on primetime.

• Stocking up on these things so my wonderful, laundry-doing husband will stop dyeing all of my underwear blue-gray.

• Making miles on the dreadmill infinitely more bearable by doubling up on distractions: playlist in my ears, closed-captioned Suits on the iPad. More workout-ready TV shows (from the experts) here. 

• Feeling truly mystified by the fact that it took me this long to get an auto-refill Metrocard—missing a train while standing in line for a semi-functioning machine is no way to start a day.

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• Celebrating the fact that the CBD rub I swear by now comes in a subtler—lavender!—scent that still offers up plenty of migraine-soothing wonder.

10 Things We're Doing Besides Talking About the Best Things

Happy MLK Day, guys. Have you seen the premiere of David Letterman’s new show on Netflix? There are some poignant and moving moments of reflection with John Lewis and Barack Obama on civil rights and how far we have and haven’t come. Elsewhere on the internet—specifically on this week’s episode of our podcast—we discussed things we have strong feelings about but that are perhaps just too obvious to put in this newsletter. Among them: Michael Jackson’s most underappreciated single, the most beautiful boarding pass in the entire airport, and the second coming of Bratz dolls.

erica’s things

• Reading up on an aspirational-as-all-hell job I’d never considered for a minute: ski-map designer.

• Getting a shiver down my spine every time I think about the dark, sorta mystical short stories of Her Body and Other Parties. If you really feel like falling for its author, listen to her here.

• Appreciating this education in black women and traumatic birth experiences, sparked by Serena Williams’s openness about hers.

• Marketing this cocktail to myself as suuuper healthy, what with its ACV and all. It’s like a wintertime whisky sour (esp. if you go significantly lighter on the maple syrup).

• Trying out Ellevest, a platform that is working to help close the gender investment gap with an approach that feels welcoming and never condescending.
  

claire’s things

• Remembering how easy and cozy and fun it is to just make your own damn pizza sometimes (hey, snow-day activity), helped along by this v. v. v. good jarred sauce.

• Making a case (with the help of Janet Mock) that the most fascinating Jenner is actually Kris.

• Deeming the wait times at L.A.’s Kang Hodong Baekjeong well worth it...and I say that as someone who used to think I didn’t even like Korean BBQ. (I imagine their NYC spot is deserving of the same praise.)

• Making a promise to you that whenever a great interview with Terry Gross gets published, I’ll always make sure it shows up here.

• Being surprised by just how much joy an Instagram account called @90smovieclips could bring me—this is no amateur internet nostalgia.

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• Swooning over this whenever my husband wears it. (Is that a creepy thing to say? So be it.)

10 Things We're Doing Besides Resolving to Keep Podcasting

We get that you’re trying to leave a lot of shit behind in 2017, but our podcast definitely deserves a spot in the “keep” pile. There’s so much good stuff happening for the year of the dog, starting with this you’re-definitely-gonna-love-it ep featuring the amazing Jen Gotch. And if you were too busy doing, ya know, holiday stuff in December, catch up on our thoughts on charities, curries, pilates, and parties.

erica’s things

• Resurfacing this workplace-sexism romp that came out during my movie-consuming heyday but that I managed to miss.

• Obsessing over two New Mexico café-slash-shop thingies: Modern General in Santa Fe and Manzanita Market in Taos.

• Struggling to put into words exactly what I found to be so downright charming about How to Behave in a Crowd, about the youngest sibling in a family of overachieving French intellectuals and the only one who cares about people more than books.

• Doubling down on pears for dinner. With salmon! With brussels sprouts!

• Relying on something called a pimple patch when a zituation gets really gnarly. I hear they’re pretty fantastic no matter what brand you go with, but I can only vouch for the gunk-absorbing powers of these ones.
  

claire’s things

• Cutting out alcohol for January but downing so much hot fudge in its place—specifically this Nancy Silverton recipe. (Sans the coffee bit, but you do you—the only thing I insist on is Häagen-Dazs Vanilla Bean as a base.)

• Remembering what it feels like to never want to leave a bookstore thanks to Arcana in Culver City, California.

• Answering the question of WTF to wear over your shorts for the five-minute, five-degree walk to the gym. Key character trait: no shoe removal required to put ‘em on or take ‘em off.

• Going deep on Tiffany Haddish because she makes me happy. I endorse: her book, her NYTimes interview, and especially this acceptance speech.

• Wishing it hadn’t taken the occasion of her death for me to learn about Zubaida Tariq, aka the Martha Stewart of Pakistan.

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• Taking this beauty with me on my holiday travels and vowing to never vacation with anything other than a crossbody bag again—it makes everything immeasurably easier.

10 Things We're Doing Besides Shopping our Major Sale

Time to put reading this email on pause for a minute and to bang out a quick command-T because our semi-annual 30% off sale is raging on, and things are selling out fast. Use the code YEAROUT at checkout—oh, and don’t forget to explore the markdown section, too. 

erica’s things

• Wondering when these are going to be available in adult sizes—asking for a friend

• Clicking so hard, so fast on the headline “The Best Stories by Women in 2017” and feeling very satisfied with what awaited me there.

• Taking my pilates show on the road with the aid of this guide and one o’ those remarkably packable resistance bands.

• Throwing back extra shots of espresso/Nespresso to power through the holidays—and doing so in the cutest way possible, if ya ask me.

• Revisiting my heart of Illinois high-school days. GO EAGLES.
  

claire’s things

• Planning to spend less time struggling over how to pen the perfect thank-you note this holiday season by following this totally straightforward formula.

• Asking myself every single time I use a frying pan how anyone manages not to splatter the contents of it all over their countertops...and thinking I finally may have found the answer.

• Celebrating the fact that Brooklyn finally got a nail salon that makes the boredom of sitting through a manicure a little prettier.

• Telling fidget spinners to move over—splat balls are way more satisfying, IMHO.

• Curling up with the wonderfully weird and funny Made for Love, perhaps the closest I’ve ever gotten to enjoying something sci-fi(-ish).

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• Surviving -5℉ temps—and having this wonder pretty much entirely to thank.

10 Things We're Doing Besides Wrapping Things Up

Guys, it’s time. Time for you to close out the rest of your holiday shopping, and time for us to hit our Q4 revenue goals. So let’s just take care of this thing right here, right now. Your impossible-to-please brother is definitely not going to turn his nose up at this thing. That niece of yours who already thinks you’re the coolest is going to lose it when she unwraps this box. Maybe 2017 can be the year you finally top what your BFF gives you with this instant favorite. And you might want to stock up on a couple extra of these, just in case your mom forgot to tell you about how she invited your step-cousins over for dinner on the 24th? 

erica’s things

• Running all of my holiday movie viewing through Rotten Apples—luckily, Love Actually and Elf are watchable still.

• Pining for a pepper mill.

• Wondering if Gudetama, a seemingly exhausted and downtrodden egg yolk, is the Sanrio character we deserve right now. Either way, it’s cracking (heh) me up.

• Degunking my coffee grinder—something I, uh, quite possibly have never done before?—in two minutes flat.

• Considering hopping on this idea for a side business.

claire’s things

• Making a donation to Higher Heights, an org that supports black women running for office and is working to harness their collective economic and voting power, too.

• Patching up a leak in my winter boots with the magic of Aquaseal.

• Very much digging this real-life realization of one of my fave concepts and books, The Power of a Positive No.

• Wasting a lot of time (and, um, money) ogling beautiful Shaker design pieces all over the internet—everything from chairs to kitchens to random objects.

• Feeling like I have two new smart and in-the-know British BFFs thanks to the extremely bingeable podcast The High Low.

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• Planning to keep my nephews occupied during long holiday dinners by whipping out these truly delightful one-step-up-from-a-coloring-book art projects.

10 Things We're Doing Besides Tricking Out Our Sale Section

Checked out our sale section lately? It just got some new goods, and it’s looking fresh.

erica’s things

• Having the hots for a a menorah.

• Urging ya to rush out to see School Girls; or, the African Mean Girls Play if you get the chance. (Related: Loving a production without an intermission.)

• Preparing to road-air-test these tips for sleeping on a plane a bunch in the coming weeks.

• Falling for every single person mentioned in this article and Tonya Harding most of all.

• Using poor judgment and spreading the word about MeMe’s Diner, the exceptionally pleasant, comfort-food-y spot a stone’s throw from my apartment where I probably won’t be able to get a table in a couple of months.

claire’s things

• Delighting in so many moments of genius from TabloidArtHistory.

• Sharing big news: I’m finally winning the toilet-scrubber war. (Background on this historic conflict can be found here.)

• Enthusiastically co-signing Erica’s endorsement of this tinted SPF—feels great, looks great, is great.

• Running into conversations about the latest New Yorker short story in every corner of my life, and with good reason—it’s a fantastic piece of writing that is remarkably, chillingly familiar. (Call me a narcissist, but I googled the author to try to figure out if she’d dated one of my exes.)

• Applauding The Cut on a truly genius concept for a column and spending way too much time pondering what my take would be—I’m thinking “How Borderline Deranged Zoobilee Zoo Was, Especially for a Children's Show.”

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• Buying presents that don’t even need to be wrapped.

10 Things We're Doing Besides Putting All the Deals on the ‘Gram

Are you not following us on Instagram? First of all: We accept your apology. And, second of all: Get your thumbs ready—we’re rolling out IG-only discounts for five straight days. Don’t miss ‘em. 

erica’s things

• Imagining life with a stuffed-animal chair.

• Making my way through this year’s National Book Award champs, starting with the impossible-to-put-down YA winner Far From the Tree.

• Rewatching a remarkably memorable PBS documentary about (wait for it) hardcore ferret enthusiasts.

• Making a donation to Salad Bars to Schools. Access to fruits and veggies for every kid in this country—let’s go.

• Planning a ski trip to Taos, New Mexico—send your tips, pleeease!—and hoping to work in a visit to the winery responsible for what’s been dubbed the best made-in-America sparkling (that, hey, goes for under $20 a bottle, too).

claire’s things

• Ticking one of these off my shopping bucket list—best of the best.

• Getting a lot of guff for trying to convince people at the office that owning a box cutter is a legitimately life-changing thing in this era of too many ecomm shipments...but putting it in 10 Things anyway. Try it. You’ll see.

• Thinking I wasn’t the fancy-romance-y, lacey underwear type until I tried on some stuff from Simone Perele that managed to change my mind right quick.

• Perfecting a recipe that is the embodiment of all my favorite things about Asian flavors—brought to life in a single, simple sauce.

• Knowing I already told you once but now telling you again: Do not sleep on R. Eric Thomas.

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• Finding myself wearing this thing upwards of twice a week—never was there ever a more perfect top for layering under sweaters.

10 Things We're Doing Besides Taking 15% off the Greatest Gift Sets on Earth

Sometimes even the best people on your gifting list are a pain in the ass to buy for. Not because you don’t know ‘em well enough and not because they don’t mean enough to you—but just because they’re tough to pin down. We created our gifts sets for those people. (And, okay, we also created them for your cousin-in-law, who, frankly, you don’t know well enough and doesn’t mean enough to you.) Use the code GETSET to take 15% off any of these perfectly put-together presents—but hurry because that offer ends tonight at 11:59 P.M. ET, and we promise you this: A more fitting gift is not going to suddenly reveal itself on December 23rd.

erica’s things

• Stocking up on the cold-season vitamin C supplement that all of the health nuts swear by.

• Seeking out good recs for kids’ books, always. Two recent sources: a list culled from DonorsChoose requests by teachers and a service that does the picking and choosing for you.

• Taking possibly too much joy in just how good these mini bouquets looked on table for 15 (and just how freaking long they lasted after).

• Missing my subway stop while totally absorbed in A Kind of Freedom, a gripping debut novel that traces a New Orleans family across three generations.

• Contemplating sending a whole slew of holiday cards if only for the opportunity to have them carried by dogsled.

claire’s things

• Convincing even the most aggressive orange-wine-skeptics at the dinner table to order this stuff by the bottle once they’d had a sip of it.

• Inching closer to to a cell-phone-free bedroom by pulling the trigger on a good-looking alarm clock.  

• Trying to remember the last time I went on vacation without Bananagrams in tow.

• Listening to a lot of Longform these days ‘cause they’re really on a roll featuring a roster of badass women with incredible stories to tell, including Kara Swisher, Jodi Kantor, and Maggie Haberman.

• Taking my newfound sneaker enthusiasm one step further with a seriously beautiful (but also legit fascinating!) book that helps make the whole realm feel a little less frivolous thanks to first-person deep-dives into the business and design details of the classics.

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• Declaring this the wackiest face wash I’ve ever massaged into my pores. (Its bizarreness also makes it a very good gift, by the by.)

10 Things We're Doing Besides Asking 2018 to Hurry It up Already

Oh, 2017, you’ve really known how to push our buttons—especially when it comes to our sanity and sense of calm. So, it is with a healthy mix of anticipation and trepidation that we march forward towards 2018, armed with, if nothing else, a goddamn great-looking wall calendar. That’s right, friends, the Of a Kind 2018 wall calendar has landed, and, like each one before it, it is even better than last year’s. Chock-full of original prints from Of a Kind designers, it makes the perfect gift for the person for whom there is no perfect gift—your office secret santa, your next-door neighbor, your bodega guy. Oh, and you’ll want one for yourself, too. Obviously.

erica’s things

• Getting so much out of this podcast interview with Ina Garten that I recapped the bulk of it to Claire live. (She’s welcome??)

• Raving about something called a delicata squash burrito bowl that doesn’t seem like it could possibly be as delicious as it is.

• Witnessing many a new baby contraption over a wedding weekend and coming home especially impressed with these, which seemed to make dancing to “Summer of ‘69” a lot more enjoyable for a three-month-old.

• Getting a real kick outta this one and this one, who need to be followed on IG as a pair.

• Convincing myself that I can put a third food-related item in 10 Things this week because this is really, actually about America (and Thanksgiving, but mostly America).

claire’s things

• Keeping this tab open on my browser all week long because it requires, like, ten tries to take it all in.

• Appreciating the beauty of this simple reminder.  

• Steering clear of most Instagram accounts that fall into the category of oddly satisfying (see: pimple-popping, back-waxing, or, um, bread-facing)...but getting a reeeal rush of excitement whenever Elle beauty editor Emily Dougherty posts a new lipstick-smashing vid.

• Taking a moment to appreciate the golden era of newsletters we’re living in, as exemplified by Racked, which, in addition to their regular (really good) routine, is also offering a four-week series just on closet-cleaning. Genius!

• Hoping to have an opportunity to use the line “These are not $2 billion shoes” sometime soon.turn it up to 11 - from claire

• Wanting this real badly for myself—still!—after giving it as a gift years ago.

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• Swearing up, down, left, right, and center that this hydrating goodness is worth every penny—it was the only thing that worked to salvage my aggressively dry skin after an overdose of retinol, and it’s been keeping me fresh-faced every day since.

10 Things We're Doing Besides Bringing Our Professional Enthusiasm to Sweater Weather

In case the news didn’t make its way to you yet: Professional Enthusiasm got a whole lot cozier last week with the release of our hand-embroidered cashmere sweater, made in partnership with the geniuses over at Lingua Franca, a line with a hell of a backstory. All proceeds from this puppy go straight to Her Justice, an org we love that provides legal support to women living in poverty in NYC—many of whom are survivors of intimate partner violence. Lingua Franca founder Rachelle Hruska came on the ‘cast to talk to us about her socially conscious line that’s straight-up exploded over the last year.

erica’s things

• Rooting for women chefs every damn day.

• Easing into “please don’t make me leave this hot shower” season with the aid of this fluffy robe, which is exactly what I want it to be but, TBQH, does not make me want to put on real clothes ever.

• Switching my SPF loyalties—and I have Frank Ocean’s mom to thank.

• Working this move into my been-sitting-on-a-couch-too-long, get-off-dat-butt repertoire.

• Searching the 200,000 design objects in the online archives of one of my favorite museums, the Cooper Hewitt. And doing so by color, even! (Plenty of results for “millennial pink,” if you were concerned.)

claire’s things

• Coming to rely pretty heavily on this this hair stuff, which does double-duty as heat protectant and humidity shield.

• Stocking up on simple little stacking stools because there are never enough convo corners at a party, and these solve for that in the easiest way possible. (And, okay, also double as ottoman, plant stand, place to perch your coffee cup, and god knows what else.) 

• Putting my money on Gossamer, a smart, timely, woman-led media company nailing the lifestyle and sensibility at the center of cannabis culture.

• Admitting that somehow this, more than most things, makes me want to eat more fruits and veggies.

• Still riding high on post-marathon vibes (but you knew that, right?), aided in part by the realization that Shalane Flanagan is a GD case study in Shine Theory.

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• Encouraging Claire to buy one of these for herself because 1) they’re so beautiful and 2) if she did, she’d have to stop making fun of my alpaca stuffed animals, surely.

10 Things We're Doing Besides Remembering Air Bud

The list of things we’ve toyed with including in this newsletter on a slow week run the gamut from Moana to piña coladas to well-publicized Apple products and a TV show that the whole country is already watching. More on those last two on this week’s podcast! Listen to us wax enthusiastic about things you already know about—but somehow still might not be sold on—here. 

erica’s things

• Sharing some news you can use: this guide to streaming all of the nineties teevee comedies. Because some “not the mama” would certainly make us all feel a little better, yah?

• Looking for more excuses to make posters after using these smooooooth and weirdly satisfying tempera paint sticks. I guess Claire will just have to do another marathon…

• Tracking five women running for political office by way of the very good video series “She’s the Ticket” from the very good site Topic.

• Consuming a whole lotta crappy candy—but some good stuff, too. Salted mango lassi taffy, anyone?

• Scrolling through this gorgeousness on IG instead of getting sucked into stories for, like, the ninth time today.

claire’s things

• Realizing I’d totally forgotten about the time Brandy was Cinderella and Whitney Houston was her fairy godmother, the oral history of which is a seriously fantastic read.

• Wondering if I’m allowed to describe an exercise mat as “chic.” What if it is not the requisite ugly shade of royal blue, folds up neatly for storage, and has a really classic logo on it? 

• Climbing aboard the emotional rollercoaster that is this creepily accurate, full-of-surprises, personalized musical time capsule.

• Taking a few minutes to drag all my favorite newsletters to my primary inbox so I won’t miss them in the mess that my promotions tab has become. (Don’t you wanna do that with 10 Things? And, hey: Add info@ofakind.com to your contacts list while you’re at it—think of it as an altruistic move ‘cause it’ll help make sure others get it front and center, too. Your good deed for the day is almost done.)

• Thinking that dumpling-making really oughta be the new fondue—i.e., a participatory, hard-to-screw-up dinner-party activity that feels like the perfect answer for entertaining even the motliest crew of guests.

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• Wondering if it’s going overboard to get all three of these but feeling like I have enough coffee stains that need covering to justify doing so.

10 Things We're Doing Besides Reading the Room

hat odd sense you have that reading has somehow become all the rage lately? It’s real. And you have Lisa Lucas, executive director of the National Book Foundation and bona fide cool girl, to thank. We snagged her on the podcast just as she was getting ready to throw the literary world’s most important party of the year. Best thing short of an invite, right this way. 

erica’s things

• Keeping tabs on the (potential) Marfa of Maine.

• Filing Alison Roman’s new cookbook Dining In under “Everything I Want to Eat Right Now.” Also worth noting: The design by Elizabeth Spiridakis Olson is dream city.

• Supplementing a viewing of Hocus Pocus with a reading of this article about why that movie feels especially everywhere this Halloween season.

• Waiting for Imperfect Produce to come to Brooklyn (and relishing in their fruitful use of googly eyes in the meantime).

• Really connecting with Katie Couric.
  

claire’s things

• Applauding the team over at The Ripped Bodice for dealing with the diversity issue in their own industry. (More on America’s favorite-slash-only romance-novel bookstore here.)

• Aggressively bingeing season two of Dissect, a podcast that takes both itself and Kanye just a bit too seriously, but is engrossing nonetheless. 

• Scratching an itch for bentwood furniture with these minimalist beauties.

• Feeling a little better about one of my guiltiest musical pleasures. (If “Thunder” is not on your running mix…)

• Begrudgingly reversing my stance that stretching is boring and overrated. May be too soon to tell, but I think this one move has changed my life.

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• Jazzing up any outfit in one step (or two, depending on how you do your math?).