Choosing the Floor & the Faucet
On Bookstore Nostalgia and Faucets
I found myself in the magazine aisle yesterday. Chasing inspiration, maybe. Or just a hit of dopamine with a hint of nostalgia.
Fourteen dollars for what is mostly ads felt steep, so I was just taking mental photos. Flipping fast, absorbing what I could before I had to be somewhere else. But the real inspiration wasn’t on the pages. It was the man next to me.
He was in his late seventies, and he had simply plopped, I am talking criss-cross applesauce, right there on the floor with a giant stack of magazines he’d gathered from the top shelf. He was settled in as if he had absolutely nowhere else to be, radiating a kind of pure happiness I haven’t seen from a stranger in a long time.
My first thought was: I hope I can still plop like that at 75…
My second was quieter. There is an 8-year-old living somewhere deep inside all of us, begging us to please slow down. To do the unexpected thing. To choose the floor over the hurry. He didn’t know he was teaching me anything, which is probably why it landed.
I’ll admit, I’ve been in a bit of a feral mood lately. Between the man on the floor, the four-leaf clover my son brought me, and seeing this publication land on the Substack “Rising in Design” list thanks to all of you, it was a very loud sign to get over myself. To stop sitting in the doom and gloom and just be happy for another day here.
To celebrate all the new faces here, I spent the rest of the evening channeled into something one of you requested: “Buy Once” Faucet Recommendations. I got a little carried away and turned it into a full guide.
But first, a few things to start your week, because we're going to have an amazing week.
I’m writing it in black and white:
You. And. I. Are. Going. To. Have. The. Very. Best. Week!
Currently Into:
Foton. A female-founded brand that lets me turn all my favorite vintage containers into candles.
Lands’ End Sateen Sheets: currently on my bed. A genuine threat to my productivity.
Easter Basket Favorites: not your typical easter basket fillers.
Pienza 10 oz Tumblers: the only glass I want in my hand all summer.
Cayla Gray Fragrance: The Velvet Perfume. Consider me obsessed.
Stay Tuned: A deep dive on Vanities is coming later this week!
The Hyperfixation: Lemon Pasta
Add lemon peel to the water before boiling angel hair. Toss with French butter, good olive oil, lemon zest, heavy parmesan, and a little salt and pepper. It’s spring in a bowl.
The Faucet Guide
I went too far down this rabbit hole, so you don’t have to.
Here is something the plumbing industry would rather you not know.
