Week/End

MALM MESS: Joe sent me this article entitled “Why Ikea Causes So Much Relationship Tension.” We both laughed about it, because if you’re like us, trips to Ikea have the potential to lead to bad, bad things. He’s actually so good at building Ikea furniture that in recent years, he insists I just let him do it without my “help.” We’ve found this is the key (ke?) to Ikea shopping!

OFFICIALLY FALL: Okay, so I know the first day of fall is technically in September, but there’s something about the calendar turning to October that in my mind, makes it legit. Gab shared several great tips for getting your home’s entryway fall ready. I like the scent idea — a perfect excuse to stock up on candles!

I WAS ALMOST ASLEEP WHEN…: You know how you jerk awake sometimes, right before you fall asleep? There’s a biological reason for that. Still undiscovered: why the jerking awake is so often preceded by that scary dream about falling off a cliff!

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO JOE MILLIONAIRE?: I can remember religiously watching that show in college! New York magazine interviewed him as part of their series on reality TV last week; if you love this genre, it’s worth checking out some of the content the site put together for the themed series — some fun, easy Friday reads in there for sure.

KEEPING TIME: Erin made this awesome hexagon marble wall clock that looks like it’s way more expensive (and substantial) than a simple DIY project made with paper and foam board! Pretty amazing — I think it’d look good in my office.

LET’S GET PERSONAL: Or maybe not. I really enjoyed reading this essay from Jenn about (not) getting personal online; per usual, her writing is stellar, funny, and so relatable!

BLOGGING BURNOUT: The Atlantic published a piece this week about a new, forthcoming study in the journal Social Media + Society, entitled “‘Having it All’ on Social Media: Entrepreneurial Femininity and Self-Branding Among Fashion Bloggers.” Yeah, that definitely got my attention! It’s ironic to me that there is now a formal study to basically outline what anyone who has ever seriously blogged knows — it’s a lot of work. (For a more informal essay on the topic, Annie wrote a great post about it this week.) The thing is, whether you blog or not, I think everyone can relate to the pressure that surrounds publishing things to social media. It’s a lot to keep up with all these platforms on their own, not to mention the pressure to make things (as the article puts it) “appear much more vibrant and picture-perfect than they might be in reality.” Check the article and the study out, I think they’re both pretty interesting.

A short list of links this week, as this past week in the studio was one for the books! I can definitely say I really earned my Friday — in between getting a software developer’s website ready (that big site I’ve been working on for a while!), and working on three other web design projects, it was a little cray. My family is in town as well, and it was fun to cap a couple of the nights off with a glass of bubbly and people who are really proud of you. Sometimes you get so caught up in your own life and work world mania, you forget to take a second to give yourself a pat on the back. Mom’s are good for that kind of thing, you know? I’m thankful to have a weekend off from travel, and instead plan on sleeping in, seeing family, and enjoying the cooler fall temps (finally!). Hope your October is off to a beautiful start!