The Link Up: Em’s New Beloved Summer Reads, Marlee’s Summer Sweater, And Peel & Stick Floor Tiles We Highly Recommed

Hi everyone. While we will have our regularly schedule Link Up in a minute, we can’t start this week as we normally do with fun little team updates. As half of our team is in LA and all of us Americans, we want to reiterate that we love our city, our leadership has it under control, and that these raids are deeply hurting our community. They’re kidnapping food vendors and construction workers, mothers, fathers, and children. Not criminals. We love our country and our diversity makes us stronger and more beautiful. We have to protect it.

This week’s house tour is a stunning kitchen and mudroom designed by Linda Boronka via deVOL kitchens. We were sent these photos via deVOL so we don’t have a link but how beautiful is it? That butler’s pantry is a dream!

From Emily: Watching what is happening in LA (and our country) has been EXTREMELY upsetting this week. Because I no longer live in LA and I’m deeply trying to not just get my “news” from social media (frankly I’ve barely been on social or the news all week due to our massive garage re-org – a massive privilege, obviously) so I’m really grateful that Cup of Jo wrote this post with a lot of simple breakdowns and ways to help. Yes, I also will read a lot of the typical news outlets, but really appreciate how this was broken down with a lot of resources.

Also From Emily: I recently read two books that are fantastic summer reads – Carley Fortune, One Golden Summer is a sweet, yet steamy MUST-READ that is charming, nostalgic, and 100% perfect lakeside reading. I love every single one of Carley’s books, and so happy for her publishing success (former romance editor, pivoted to be an author, and her books came out to extreme success). They are easy romance reads with great storytelling, dialogue, and 100% without anxiety. The love interest is always complicated, but nice/respectful/charming, and it’s just so easy to fall in love with her characters. I also finally finished God Of The Woods, which I really did like, but way better on vacation when you can really engage and devour on a beach. While it starts out gripping, it’s 6 different character POV and 3 timelines so you have to pay attention – it’s not a “10 minutes before bed” kind of book (it’s also a little unsettling so I mostly finished it via audio book while cleaning the house, opting for romance at night to help me go to sleep without anxiety). It’s about a summer camp where a child goes missing, then 15 years later, same camp, another one – both from the same family. I wouldn’t say it’s a thriller; it’s more of a mystery, and it’s very well done (more literary than domestic thriller), but it’s not easy to pick up and put down for a month like I did.

From Marlee: I got this sweater from Madewell recently and I will be wearing it SO much this summer. It’s super lightweight and breathable, and the shape of it is perfect. It’s got a slight boatneck, but not so much that it falls off your shoulders, and it’s a tiny bit cropped. I wouldn’t say it’s oversized, but it has a loose fit – I ordered a small and would say it’s pretty true to size. It comes in a couple additional colors too.

From Gretchen: I have been livinggg for our super sunny, very hot, basically-it’s-already-summer weekends here in Portland. And I’ve been making a conscious effort to get my butt outside and on the water as much as I can. At the end of the season last year, I caved and bought my very own paddle board after borrowing from friends for various camping excursions and day trips. But until last weekend, I hadn’t had a chance to test it out. I’m happy to report it is awesome and convenient and SO MUCH FUN! It’s an inflatable paddle board which means it’s incredibly easy to tote around–made even easier with the carrying case/backpack it comes with! Everything fits inside–the paddle, the fins, the air pump and of course, the board. The only complaint I have is using the standard hand pump to inflate it… It really takes it out of you before you even get on the water. It works–it’s not impossible–it’s just very draining. So I think I’ll go ahead and snag an electric pump to really amplify my summer game.

Also From Gretchen: Speaking of summer, I’ve got to give a shout out to the other killer purchase I made this time last year–this super simple string bikini from Old Navy. Sadly, they no longer have the bright, cobalt blue color I bought it in, but they do offer it in some other cute patterns and colors (I’m tempted to snag the red when my sizing is back in stock). This suit is nothing ground breaking, but I love the string ties for their sizing flexibility and the shirring texture for its ability to camouflage a few of my lumps and bumps. I’m usually around a size 12 and prefer a size large in the top and matching bottoms. For being a “cheap” suit, it’s held up for me quite well through many washes and water adventures, it’s one I reach for often and best paired with a laying out, tanning sesh on my paddle board.

From Mallory: I finally started my vintage-turned-landlord-special kitchen makeover and man is it going to be a thing!! The apartment was built in the 1950s so it has a ton of charm (and original vintage tile!!), but don’t worry, my landlord made sure to give it 500 coats of white paint and install linoleum flooring to really tie the whole thing together. SO to start bringing the charm back I did 2 crazy things: the first was I bought a SMEG fridge (MAN, it was expensive but worth it also know A. my apartment is rent controlled and therefore needs a lot of updating which I budgeted for and B. the place didn’t come with a fridge so I get to bring it with me and keep it throughout my whole life). I ordered it through Wayfair and signed up for the $30 yearly membership and got $185 back per Caitlin’s recommendation so that was cool! It also came in 2 weeks which was crazy (and way faster than the other retailers I was looking at) and they delivered it white glove so shoutout to them. The second big thing I did was install peel and stick tile flooring. I snagged some tiles from the Chris loves Julia x Wallpops collection and was SO impressed with the quality – super heavy and feels way closer to real stone than I was expecting. I ordered the dark grey and the beige but I think the veining on the dark grey looked a bit more realistic than the lighter color so I went with that but I was very impressed with both! Plus at $16 per box these were a good “save” after my big “splurge.” If you’re in the market for some solid floor tiles definitely check them out.

From Arlyn: It’s been a very heavy week in Los Angeles (I mean, it feels like every week is heavy recently, but onward). In times like these, when very few things feel good, I have to dig into the small little joys in my life. One of those things? Finding a product at Trader Joe’s I thought was discontinued for the last year! Late last summer, I picked up this Sea Breeze Castille Hand Soap and instantly fell in love. It smells super luxe, far more than the $3.99 price tag. My sister came to visit and couldn’t wait to go home and buy it for herself. Except that I must have caught the tale end of the season for this soap (ha) because it was no longer on shelves by the time she returned home, or when I ran out and needed a restock. I spent the last year cruising the personal care shelves at TJ’s in case it happened to pop back up and today, IT DID! I’m stoked, and looking forward to a summer of fancy smelling fingers.

From Jess: I bought a pair of Lululemon bright green shorts a couple of weeks ago and I have to say I’ve been acting like a 5 year old that doesn’t want to take them off. They are extremely cute and extremely comfortable. They aren’t cheap which really sucks but I love them and the quality feels great. Oh, and they’re lined!

Also From Jess: If you’ve been to the Rose Bowl, you may have seen artist Bradley Baumkirchner (aka Studio B) and his joyful, mostly floral, paintings. He sells a lot of large scale pieces and they are originals too! My friend almost bought this awesome striped lemon piece but it was sold once she came back. Anyways just wanted to put him on your radar:)

From Caitlin: I’ve recommended my fair share of books over the past few years, but the one I’m about to share usurps them all: The Timeless Way of Building will genuinely change your life. I thought I was buying a book about creating classic architecture; instead, I found something far more profound. I’m struggling to condense my thoughts into a blurb – that’s how deeply this book moved me; I have literally told all of my friends about it – so I’ll just say that it is a must-read, especially for this design-loving audience. (And eventually, once you get past the profundity, you will learn how to build timelessly – check out some of the buildings created using Christopher Alexander’s method here.)

Thanks for stopping by, Happy Father’s Day, and don’t be afraid to use your voice. xx

Opening Image Credits: Photo courtesy of deVOL