Candles in the Bedroom: Cozy Habit or Bad Idea?
Fran was staying over for a conference at Brown, sleeping in my spare room, which in a hundred and thirty year old triple-decker means sleeping approximately four feet from whatever…
Vinted Wardrobe Spotlight: Paying for Attention
My phone buzzed while I was mid scroll through my own Vinted closet, seeing what needed reshuffling before the weekend. My friend Marnie, who’d come round to drop off a…
Regular Cement in a Fire Pit: Fine Until It Is Not
I own fourteen fire pits at this point, which is a number I only know because I actually sat down one night and counted them off my phone, scrolling back…
Headphones With the Ear Pads Missing
The reputation headphones with missing ear pads have is pretty simple: they’re done. Trash. Toss them, buy new ones, don’t even think about wearing a pair with the cushions gone…
Water in a Clay Vase: Sweat Marks and Surprises
I was doing the most boring possible Sunday chore, wiping down the shelf above my radiator with a Clorox wipe because dust in this apartment is genuinely a personality trait…
Cushioned Vinyl Over Old Tile: The Grout Line Problem
I was on my knees in the half bath on a Sunday morning, scrubbing grout with an old electric toothbrush because apparently that’s a thing now, apparently that’s what qualifies…
A Floating TV Stand, Meet the Floor
I own six floating TV stands. Not six television sets, not six living rooms that need filling, six actual console units built or marketed under that particular name, and three…
Washing Couch Cushion Covers Without Shrinking Them
I ruined a cushion cover so badly that my wife walked into the living room, looked at the couch, and said “did we get a cat that likes to nest…
Fire Pits on Porcelain Tiles: Tough, but Not Invincible
I torched a two hundred dollar paver with a forty dollar fire bowl, and the worst part is I stood there and watched it happen like it was somebody else’s…
One Night Out or a Whole Summer? Patio Cushions and Bad Habits
Okay so picture this. It’s a Tuesday, not even a nice occasion, just a random Tuesday where my roommate Casey decided we were “doing a little grill situation” on the…