Our Top 10 Must-Haves for Our Puppies
We learned so much with our first pup Potato that has come in handy in raising, Ringo, our newest guy. We love the puppy phase and don’t mind the potty training. That said, Jackson and I made this quick list for you of our favorite products that we regularly use with our dogs.
1. Slip Rope Leash
This slip leash is perfect for puppies who are wiggly on walks. We started early with Tato and followed suit with Ringo. We dislike harnesses because they allow the dog to keep pulling without any signal that they are doing so, whereas the slip rope gently lets them know.
2. Himalayan Yak Chews
Our friend Katherine turned us on to these yak cheese chews and they’re amazing! Your dog’s breath will smell like smoked gouda and they’ll be occupied chompin’ on this for hours.
3. Poop Bags with Carrier Clips
This pack of lavender scented poop bags will last you forever (we’ve had ours for 3 years and are still going strong) and even comes with a convenient carrier case you can clip onto the loop end of your leash so you’re never without a baggie.
4. The Classic Kong
The Kong is a classic for a good reason: it’s durable and will provide your pup hours of entertainment. Fill it with peanut butter and pop in a few blueberries then stick the whole thing in the freezer for a bit before giving it to your pup as a popsicle.
5. A Comfy, Neutral Bed
This darling bed is available from Italic in several colors. We like to keep our stuff neutral, so we’d go for either the cream or blue. We have a similar one from then last year.
6. Serious Clippers
We now groom our doodle boys at home. We had enough issues bringing Potato to groomers where he’d come back with a serious gash or a horrible style. Now we use these Andis clippers to do the heavy duty shearing of his coat in the summer before we trim up with a scissor set.
7. Folding Pen
We didn’t go the doggie gate route because we prefer that our dogs don’t have the run of the house when they’re little. We love this folding pen and use it to make a space for Ringo to be in while we’re in the living room or we use it to block of the exit on the back porch.
8. Plush Toys
With our guys, plush toys don’t last too long, but they love them so much and they come in the cutest styles so I buy them occasionally. When I do, I prefer not to pay more than $6 for one and Chewy is my best bet. How cute are these!
9. Puzzle Bowl
Our Ringo guy uses this slow feeding bowl every day (otherwise he scarfs his food down too fast and gets the hiccups which are very cute but probably don’t feel fantastic for him).
10. MudBuster
Cleaning muddy puppy paws is a breeze with this handy tool. You add a little water, stick their paw inside, twist it a bit, and then dry the much cleaner paw upon removal. This is a game-changer for the winter time here.
Bonus: Nature’s Miracle
When you can’t get there in time or your pup surprises you with a puddle of pee, Nature’s Miracle is your best friend. Get the big refill bottle in addition to the spray bottle.
Hope your puppy journey goes splendidly!
xo,
em
4 Simple Syrups That Will Change Your Bartending Game
One of my favorite drinks during the summer is a strawberry mojito. A little rum, a little simple syrup, lime, a mint sprig, and YUM—sunshine in a glass.
We love a cocktail in this house. We’ve got plans drafted for a wet bar and are currently YouTubing our way to understanding how to do the plumbing and electric for said project. TBD on an end date there. For now, we up our bar game by using homemade syrups. Whenever I purchase strawberries (which is frequently since they’re my favorite food), I save the tops to use in making a strawberry syrup.
The recipe for a perfect simple syrup? A one-to-one ratio of sugar to water reduced over heat with whatever accoutrement you have in mind for flavor.
Strawberry
Requires: 10 whole strawberries or 30 strawberry tops
Good for: berry whiskey sour, strawberry black iced tea, strawberry mojito (duh!)
Ginger
Requires: 2” piece of ginger, peeled
Good for: Hot Toddy, ginger lemon drop, Moscow (or Tennessee or Kentucky) Mule
Jalapeño
Requires: one fresh jalapeño, chopped with seeds
Good for: spicy margarita, zingy Gordon’s breakfast, jalapeño gimlet
Lavender
Requires: 10 stems dried lavender
Good for: herbal gin and tonics, lavender and ginger lemonade, floral French 75
Playlist: Penny Surfing On PCH
You might be asking yourself: what the hell is penny surfing? Well, glad you asked. Penny surfing is when you roll down a window in a car moving at a decent speed (50 mph + is recommended) down a rural or back road, and you balance a penny on your pointer finger, using the wind to hold the penny to your hand. It’s pretty fantastic.
This is a little road trip entertainment trick I learned while driving houseboats for Sonshine Ministries. It’s a vibe. Enjoy some windy, weaving-down-the-Pacific-Coast-Highway kind of tunes.
(Yes, Baba O’Riley is a reference to Joe Pera).
Share this playlist with a friend!
Luxurious Bohemian Main Bedroom for under $2k
If you know me, you likely know that I strongly prefer to buy things gently used rather than new. It helps me spend less, it reduces waste, and it usually means I find pieces that are unique and charming. I love Facebook marketplace—it’s the only reason I still have any social media account. I’m also a Craigslist fan, but you do have to be a bit more careful there (we like Facebook marketplace’s built-in social accountability that other sites lack). I also scour estate sales, online emporia, yard sales, and thrift shops looking for the perfect pieces to help bring my home’s style together.
Not only do I really prefer this method of shopping, but I’m damn good at it. We’ve found incredible things over the years, some used and some new, for a fraction of the price they’d cost new or even of their value at a vintage market. Since I only have so much room in my wee house and lots of great finds, I’m sharing them with you, reader.
Can you help me with my home?
The answer is YES. We can help you do “bougie on a budget” too! Since my sister Camille is a professional organizer and stylist and since we do commissioned in-home murals together, if you want to hire us to outfit your home, you can! Drop me a line via the contact page, let me know your budget and goals, and we can get working. For a fair hourly rate for our design and acquisition services, we’ll help make your dream home decor a reality. From painting to making sure you actually print and frame that photo, together we can turn any space into your place.
If you’re in Nashville, we will help coordinate the negotiation of prices on your marketplace items, the pick up of said items, and the installation of your pieces in your home. If you’re not located in Nashville, we’ll do a series of virtual consultation appointments where we help you learn our tips and tricks when choosing your own pieces as well as provide you with a smattering of options in your local market.
Luxurious Bohemian Main Bedroom
Here is a complete bedroom, styled and put together for under $2,000. Spoiler alert: the most expensive thing here is the brand new mattress.
Room: Main bedroom for one or two adults
Style: bohemian, retro, high texture
Colors: grey, black, tan, cream, rust, rose
Materials: iron, linen, wood, rattan, faux fur
$155 Vintage rug bench
Style with black sheets ($45) , cream duvet set ($100), queen mattress ($400), duvet insert ($30), and high quality main pillow inserts ($60).
Style by replacing the original handles with black pulls ($10) and gently refinishing the top veneers.
Style dresser with a lamp on each side and the rattan tray in the middle filled with trinkets. Center artwork over dresser across from the bed.
$180 vintage rattan chair
(from bed)
Style chair in corner of the room with mirror near it against the wall. Snag one of those Anthro pillows from the bed to accompany the two faux sheepskin shag pillows and complete the look.
The grant total: $1,940. The value of this room is estimated at $4,500. That’s a savings of nearly $2600! More than double! So now you see why you might want to give me a call.
Why It Works
Your bedroom should be an oasis of comfort, a place where you feel restfulness wash over you as soon as you cross the threshold.
I’ve paired cozy faux fur with the clean and classic linen headboard and duvet to add some softness to the bed. The iron bed frame frame provides a connection point to the black MCM dresser while adding another textural detail of the metalwork. I would paint the wall behind the bed a charcoal grey to bring some depth to the space. (You could go all grey if you wanted to really make a bold statement while still keeping your room like a cozy cave. Contrary to popular belief, a dark wall color can actually make a room feel bigger, not smaller).
The Persian style rug, Anthropologie spotted pillows, and Southwestern inspired vintage rug bench carry the dusty rose and rust colors throughout the room while each adding a unique twist on pattern. Matching patterns like this can feel risky, but it’s what gives your space a lived in, eclectic vibe.
The MCM dresser echoes the actual midcentury nightstands while they’re otherwise contrasted by color. I would swap out the original nightstand pulls for some black iron ones to match the dresser and the bed frame.
Add some fluffy pillows to your newly found vintage bamboo and rattan chair for a funky, cozy 70s vibe that ties in with the wood of the nightstands and the neutral tones of the matching lamp pair.
Feng shui suggests that we not put the mirror across from the bed, so instead I’d situate it in a corner paired with the bamboo chair. The large abstract art creates a colorful statement over the dresser.
What do you think? Could you see yourself snoozing in this room?
xo,
em
15 Prompts for When You’re Stuck in Creative Writing
Writing is about getting started. Once you’re started, the keeping going is not as hard. So much of the writing advice I’ve read, heard, and taken over the years has been about creating a daily writing practice, writing when you’re not feeling inspired, remembering to stop when you know what you want to write about next, and so on. The theme: getting over that initial hump of not knowing where to begin on the blank page. Even when I have something specific I want to write about, it often helps me to start somewhere else to get my momentum going before I, say for instance, dig into the dissertation. Here are some prompts I’ve written for you and me—some I’ve used and some I haven’t yet—to get us all going. Bon voyage!
Start with a single word. A word you really like. Begin by meditating on the word for 2 minutes in silence. Then turn to the page and write a scene that captures the meaning or application of that word.
Think about a stranger you might meet in a park. Why are you there? What can you tell about them from how they appear? What is still a mystery? How do you strike up a conversation.
Imagine you find out a family secret. What is it? What behaviors or patterns in your family does it explain? What new questions does it prompt?
Write a circular story of karma: begin with a bad deed and end with just deserts.
Write about a regret you have, something you would do differently if you could.
Tell the story of a wild day - one with lots of unexpected turns and new characters.
List four hot takes you find indefensible. Pick one and write a defense of that opinion, Jonathan Swift style.
Pretend you have found a letter in a time capsule you’ve discovered. What does it say?
You’re touring a historic home and you find a secret room: what’s inside and how did it get there?
Recall a time you tried something significantly new. What brought about the situation? Why did you take the risk? Did it pay off?
Pick a relative and imagine a conversation you want to have with them but won’t get to either because they have passed, don’t exist yet, or you wouldn’t be comfortable or able to have the conversation with them.
Write a scene where a person has a complex emotional reaction to something ordinary like toast. Reveal to your reader why the person had this response.
Identify a core characteristic about yourself and contemplate what it would be like to have an opposite trait or affinity. How would that one difference reshape you?
Tell the story of your life from the perspective of your hair. When did you get it cut? When has it come in handy or gotten in the way?
Imagine a world where humans develop a new sensory perception. What is it? What does it allow the. To do?
Everything You Need to Know About Going to a Concert at Ascend Amphitheater
From Americana rock to jazz pop, we’ve seen it all at Ascend, one of our favorite Nashville venues.
Vance Joy. Norah Jones. Odessa.
Kimbra. Lucius. Young the Giant.
Brandi Carlile! St. Vincent!
Ascend is Nashville’s premiere outdoor venue. It’s downtown (like on the riverfront) and there’s a blend of lawn seating and actual seating. While they have just changed their bag policy (and have been truly so rude about implementing it without so much as a heads up or email via TicketMaster etc to upcoming visitors… I digress), I have generally had good experiences there. We’ve learned some things over the years of our shows at Ascend, so I’m sharing them with you!
Where to Eat and Drink
I would describe all these restaurants as $$ (not cheap, not totally spendy). That’s to be expected for the area. You’re in the heart of a city so expect to pay a little extra for your pre-show cocktail.
For a casual bite: Liberty Common
A cute French bistro meets American cafe style menu with Aperol spritzes and oysters. Their happy hour is actually excellent.
For a large group: Bakersfield
As a Californian, the town of Bakersfield does not elicit fondness or an association of authentic Mexican food, but this place does know what they’re doing. Their guac and margaritas are not messing around. If you’re going with a group of 6 or more, they do a house selections menu for $18 per person.
For a date night: Calacas
Jackson took me here recently on a date night and it was so yummy! We enjoyed the Día de los Muertos vibe. While we’d say skip the ceviche, definitely try the pork pibil tomale and the chingon carnitas.
For Southern cuisine: Martin’s
If you’re from out of town and hungering for some genuine Southern barbecue, we recommend Martin’s. It’s a solid joint with a few different offerings, though you can’t go wrong with pulled pork, fried pickle chips, or a half rack of ribs.
What to Wear
When people from home (California) ask me about the weather at home (Nashville) in the summer, I have come to terms with describing it as “similar to what I imagine it feels like to be inside a giant mouth.” Ew. But TRUE. The humidity. Feeling that outdoors is giving you a shower after you already showered and put on make up and dry clothes. Peeling your thighs off of plastic chairs and carrying their indent with you for an hour. It’s a mess. But it’s non-optional, so we deal with it. K? K.
That said, if you’re seeing a show any time between May and September, prepare to sweat. Ascend’s dress code is casual. I like wearing something long and flowy (protection from the itchy grass, breeze, comfort) or something short and strappy (limited fabric, breathing room for my arms). That bug spray in your friend. Wear comfy sandals so that you can pop them off once you’re to your lawn seats. Remember that you’ll want to be comfortable sitting on the ground, so wear something you can move around in decently.
What to Bring (and NOT Bring)
Ascend has joined many other arenas in implementing a clear bag policy. It helps speed up the entrance line and makes safety checks easier (so I get it, but next time you implement a policy, at least alert people: ugh). While you technically can still bring in a tiny clutch, I find it’s best just to set up a clear back and leave it in the closet so it’s always ready to go. Camille and I split this two pack from Amazon and spent $9 each on a bag dedicated for outings like this.
Here’s what you can put in there:
Cell phone - duh.
Credit and/or debit card - inside Ascend is cashless—which I think should be illegal and is discriminatory, but I’ll save that rant for another day. For now, you’ve been warned.
Mini deodorant - you’ll thank me when you want an extra swipe because the Outside Mouth is too sweltering.
Empty Water Bottle - you can bring in one full and sealed plastic water bottle (sure, but the environment, ja feel?) or an empty aluminum or plastic water bottle to fill up near the bathrooms once you’re inside. If you want to get specific, you’re allowed “up to 1 gallon in a factory sealed or empty reusable water bottle. All reusable water bottles must be plastic or aluminum, no glass allowed, or ones with a camel-back straw.”
Food - you can bring your own food with you! This is amazing and so rare. Pack your picnic, making sure that you remove any branded packaging and everything is in a clear container. The deets: food must be “in a clear plastic container or 1-gallon ziplock bag. No food with any bones or that would need the use of utensils. No commercial branding names/ branding so please put any food into a separate clear bag/container to store your food.”
Deck of Cards - if you’re waiting between sets or you get there early to stake out a good lawn spot, having a little game with you is handy.
Handkerchief - we keep these handy for when you need a last minute tissue, napkin, or sweat absorber.
Old Quilt - this doesn’t have to fit in the bag (thank goodness). We find that a large old quilt is the comfiest to sit on, gives you large surface area, and can easily be doubled in case the grass is wet without losing much seating space. If you don’t have one, swing by Good Will and wash one you find thoroughly.
Do NOT bring:
Umbrella - it will get confiscated and you will be sad. Not that I know that from personal experience…
Aerosols - bug spray, hair spray, dry shampoo: leave them at home. Bug spray your legs and arms before you leave home or bring one with a pump-style top.
Lawn chairs - you can rent them there for $10!
Any outside beverage that isn’t water. Sorry.
Animals (except service animals) - leave your pets at home. This is not the time and place.
What to Eat and Drink Once Inside
Ascend has a pretty fair selection of food.For local food, you’ve got Daddy’s Dogs, Ben & Jerry’s, and different food trucks each show. They also have in-house entree offerings from cheeseburgers, hot dogs, chicken tenders, hot chicken, Impossible meat cheesesteaks as well as side snacks like nachos, pretzels, candy, and popcorn.
For drinks, expect to find canned wine (red, white, and pink), a couple different beers, and some cocktails. Drinks are ungodly expensive IMHO. Jackson paid $32 for a large seltzer and a tall boy of beer. YIKES. We say pregame and just pretend it’s a college throwback vibe.
Are you the designated driver for your group? I have good news for you! You get free fountain sodas. Just go to the Guest Services tent right inside the main gate and someone will get you a voucher.
Where to Park
Option 1: Don’t drive in the first place. Take a Lyft! This is what we do pretty much every time we come downtown. When we come with friends, they drive to our place in East and we take one ride share together. (It was actually a factor in choosing the location of our house). We recently had a horrible experience with Uber and have always loved Lyft as well as have some friends who have had good experiences working for Lyft. There are designated drop off and pick up zones for ride shares so check your app to know where those are. We always order the Lyft ride 2 songs before we think it’s the end of the show. We typically don’t mind missing the last bit of the encore unless it’s someone we are huge fans of (read: Brandi Carlile). Beating the rush a little bit helps. But it’s also for sure the time to pay that extra surge charge or the up-fee for having your car come directly to you. Trust us.
Option 2: Reasonably priced garages. I used to work downtown and can attest that you’ll rarely get the $11 parking ticket for an expired meter so I never pay them. If you can find a street spot, this is for sure your best move. If you’re heading downtown—I was about to say “on a weekend” but really every day is some tourist’s weekend in Nashville—then it’s worth knowing a few of the best garages to park in.
Library Garage: 151 6th Ave N, Nashville, TN 37219
Their hourly rate is $6 BUT their daily max rate is $20. If you park after 5 pm or on weekends, then it’s a $10 max for up to 12 hours. If you’re a Nashvillian with a library card, you can park for free for 90 minutes any time and then it’s just $3 per half hour after that.
Metro Courthouse / Public Square Park Garage: 101 James Robertson Pkwy, Nashville, TN
Their hourly rate is $8 BUT their daily max rate is $20. If you park after 5 pm or on weekends, then it’s just $5. Find yourself downtown frequently for work or live somewhere downtown where parking is tough? Night-only parking is $100/month.
4th and Commerce Garage: 147 4th Ave N, Nashville, TN 37219
Their hourly rate is $10 BUT their daily max rate is only $25. If you park after 4 pm, the max rate is $15 and if you park after 6 pm or on a weekend, then it’s just $10! Truly a steal.
Bonus: Getting Great Tickets for Cheap
Ok this really feels like sharing some insider secrets. We have seen many shows at Ascend for free. Yep. We’ve been gifted tickets here or there by loving friends.
But our number one trick? DoMore615.
Register for an account and pay only $3 to cover your first 3 months of membership. If you like it after that, they’ll charge you just $5 a month. What does membership get you, you ask? At least one pair of free tickets to an upcoming Nashville event (live music, sports, plays, and more) each month. You’ll get an email asking if you want to keep the tickets, release them back to others in the pool, or gift them to a friend. Typically, tickets get your name on the list somewhere or stash a pair for you at will call. It’s a great way to have what my family calls “planned spontaneity” because the events on offer are between one week and 2 months out and you can opt in rather than having to search from scratch by yourself. Then, just plan a fun date night or GNO around the event you got tickets to! We’ve been to the Ryman, Ascend, writer’s rounds, and Bridgestone through the DoMore615 program.
Don’t forget to take at least as many silly photos as you do cute ones. Blessings upon your Ascend-sion!
xo,
em
August Finds
Stay cool and keep some extra cash in your wallet.
Cute and Comfy Sneakers
I put many kilometers on the old model of these walking through Europe. Love.
Knit Weighted Blanket
If you’re like me and don’t want to shell out $250 for a Bearby napper, this one’s for you.
Ribbed Bodycon Dress
This classic style comes in a nice ribbed fabric and I dig this seafoam green color.
Flamingo Floatie
Milk this last month of hot summer fun by cooling down in a pool with this darling float.
Checkered Oven Mitt
It’s got a new classic kind of vibe with the checker and it’s $9 from Anthro. I mean, how could you not?
Le Pilage Tote
This is a serious discount on these bags! I’ve had the red and the grey and both have lasted years.
Rainbow Eye Earrings
They’re probably a little heavy but perfect for wearing to an event with all eyes on you ;)
Body Gua Sha
Add this to your dry brush and shower routine and get that lymphatic drainage going!
Daisy Ceramic Mug
How darling is this mug?! Handmade ceramic adds such a coziness to my mornings.
xo
em
Simple and Stunning Steak and Mushrooms
In our household, we mostly eat vegetables and protein. We try to limit our simple carbs but really enjoy them when we do eat them. We keep sugar generally low, have cut out dairy except occasional butter, and try to get our 1 ounce of dark chocolate and 5 ounces of red wine most days. We love how our diet reflects what we value, what our families have passed on to us, what we’ve learned about the foods that make us feel good or remind us of wonderful things. For us, a perfect medium rare steak is a food that hits the protein goal, is a fun occasional indulgence in red meat, and brings a little fancy to our home cooking for a much lower price than ordering a steak out.
We often sous vide our meats because you truly cannot mess it up and everything stays moist and delicious and perfectly cooked, so duh. Still, sometimes we like to use the cast iron and live for the thrill of trying to get the grill just right without a timer, just on instinct.
Here’s the “recipe" for my favorite version: Go to Trader Joe’s and get one package of cremini mushrooms, one package of shiitake mushrooms, butter, a package of rosemary, and two grass-fed organic ribeye steaks for around $30 in total. Put half a stick of butter in your cast iron as it heats up to medium heat. Tear up the mushrooms with your hands and add them directly to the cast iron as you go. Use a spatula to coat the mushrooms evenly in the butter. Once mushrooms are softening, push them to the outside edge of the cast iron and arrange the rosemary sprigs whole on top of them. Place the ribeye in the center of the cast iron, charring on one side for 3-4 minutes. Flip and do the other side for approximately the same amount for medium rare. Voi là!
Jackie Shane Pride Celebration
As a graduate student, I’ve had the chance to work with a lot of neat organizations, my favorite of which has been a partnership with Jefferson Street Sound Museum (JSSM). Lorenzo Washington, their founder, was friends with legendary Jackie Shane leading up to her passing and we wanted to collaborate to do something really fantastic for Pride to honor her life.
Another part of graduate life has been fellowships and scholarships. I was fortunate to be a Curb Public Scholar at Vanderbilt, which comes with a $2,000 budget to implement some kind of public-facing piece of scholarship. I was able to leverage this budget to equip JSSM to host the first annual Jackie Shane Pride Celebration.
This was an absolute blast to plan and host and, most importantly, could not have happened without the generosity of volunteers, friends, and our planning committee.
As I wrap up my time in academia, it is fulfilling to get to put on an event that raises awareness for such a fantastic artist (read more about Jackie Shane’s story in this post), work with an awesome local museum, and create a space for queer folks to unite and celebrate during Pride.
Gemstone Color Palette
Summer brings saturation. Heat pushes us indoors or to water, tomatoes burst with ripeness, and we squeeze the last few drops of extra free time out of our summer schedules before autumn sets in, school returns, and the holidays are upon us.
Summertime in Seattle
If you’ve been to—or even just heard of—Seattle, you’ve probably gotten an earful about the weather. Drizzly and grey. Yes yes yes. It’s all true. But the other weather fact? Seattle in the summer is a playground of sunshine and water. It’s the place to be: temperate, bright, relatively bug-free. It is a common refrain that Seattlites don’t travel during the summer because it’s the season they really moved to Seattle for.
After my mom’s wedding in late May, we were able to head north to Seattle for a few days (and then to Portland, but more on that later) to visit our friends Kata and Barrett. Kata and I have been friends as long as we’ve been alive. Her mom Marit was my mom Courtney’s resident advisor at Seattle Pacific University back in the ‘80s and they became close friends. I was born in Seattle and got to spend my first few years near Kata and her family, growing together.
When my family moved to California, I was too little to remember much of the transition. But I do remember being away from Kata. We visited often then and throughout the years. Kata and I became official pen pals in elementary school (you know, after we could actually write) and we’ve exchanged letters regularly since then. We would fly to visit one another in high school and college times—and now we get to make it a priority since we’re adults. Kata is pure joy, an infusion of oxygen into my life, equal parts sassy, brilliant, and compassionate. She is a rare find.
Kata married Barrett on a crisp fall day in 2017. Their love is awesome and we’ve learned so much getting to be in our own marriage alongside them. What a gift it is to journey with friends through such meaningful experiences. Barrett and Jackson became friends by default, but really would have hit it off on their own, without any of our help. They’re both zany engineering types who love cats, traveling, games, beer—I mean, the list really does go on.
We were delighted to catch both Kata and Barrett this time (covid and work has made it difficult to wrangle all four of our schedules). We got to stay in their darling new home with a water view on one side and forest on the other. Jackson fell in love with Spicy Cat (see the beast below). We played games. We grilled salmon (as one does in the PNW) and enjoyed Paper Planes (the current Karrett signature cocktail). We sat out on their giant deck and chipped away at the summer daylight with conversation and laughter.
Barrett even took time to teach Jackson how to drive stick shift! J did pretty well: no grinding of the clutch, no stalling, and he handled a crowded intersection and a sharp turn with ease. And Barrett didn’t dig a panic hole into the floorboards with his feet like my mom always seemed to be doing when I was first learning to drive.
This visit, we didn’t do many classically Seattle things in the tourist sense. But we did experience our best version of Seattle: visiting dear friends and enjoying grilled veggies with a side of curious questions. Till next time, Karrett!
xo,
em
How To Design a Scientific Poster, Part 1
In this 4-part series, I’m going to be dishing out the design details on how to take scientific ideas and communicate them in a poster without committing egregious visual sins.
There are SO many posters at so many conferences around the world that suffer from confusing colors, lack of structure, too much text, spacing problems, oversharing. I could go on. And I will.
I’ll be walking through several redesigns of a scientific poster that my cohort friends made in 2019 and we redesigned together. We’ll look at the pros and cons of their initial drafts and then examine the changes that we made together to get to the final poster.
By the end of all 4 parts, you should have a grasp on what to consider when you’re first laying out your poster and how to troubleshoot some issues that may arise as you start to add your information. In part 4, I’ll give all my best tips and include a Google Slides with some basic templates.
Instructions I gave my cohort before we started the process:
Pick a color palette. Use the hex code (a 6-digit code that starts with a #) to ensure that the colors match and are consistent throughout. You can use a color picker extension with your browser (for those who use Google Chrome) and select colors from a favorite Pinterest image of a color palette. If you need some inspiration, head over here. You will use the colors to consistently and meaningfully signal related concepts throughout your poster.
Use the central space for your findings. We’ll get deeper into why your poster shouldn’t necessarily follow the flow of a paper, but for now it suffices to say that the middle part of your poster is what will catch most people’s eye first. Put the information you want folks to walk away with there.
Add a QR code. I’ve never seen a poster with too little text. But with the classic problem of too much text, you can get away with off-loading extra documents (e.g. a handout you used for the design that you want to show to poster-viewers) into a Google Folder attached to a QR code. The reason I say Google Folder is that once you’ve made a QR code with a free QR code generator, if you want to change what it links to, a drive folder is your best bet. You can use a cloud host of your choosing, but trust me when I say this solved so many potential headaches as people made edits.
Give your audience a visual representation of your data and/or findings to look at. It can be an image you have permission to use from your research footage or a cartoon-style strip where you reimagine the scene illustrated. It could be a large chart or flow. Whatever it is, it should more immediately communicate the idea of your poster to your audience than the text.
Laura’s First Draft Poster
Let’s start off with what’s great here:
Laura followed my instructions regarding choosing a color palette and putting her findings in the middle. She also has a QR code in the top right corner and has chosen to represent a scene of dramatic improvisation from the research study in stick-figure cartoon fashion for her viewers. Yay! All of these are good things.
Laura color-coded her text as it relates to the colors of the key concepts she flagged (“variation”, “(non)rational subjectivities”, and so on).
Laura’s references are in a small font, since only folks who really want to know the source will be reading that section, and she used endnote numbers to indicate that the text is citing a source.
Can you guess what we focused on changing?
Laura has too much text here. She said as much when she sent it. Most often, when I work with researchers and students who are developing a poster or presentation, the text stays in draft form in a Google Doc until about a week before the product or presentation is due. This helps us make any last minute changes without having to restructure the poster (she can update it live and I can see any changes and make those in Photoshop or InDesign accordingly). Laura wanted some help paring down what she had to know what I felt as a reader was the most important for getting her point across.
The images of the actors are inconsistent in style. Laura told me that this was actually intentional! We ended up keeping this in the final design as the movement from stick figure to outlined cartoon person was representative of the increasing complexity of character development throughout the scenes.
The research questions are currently in two places. We only need to see them when they’re about to be answered.
Paragraph forms of text are intimidating to readers who just walk up to your poster and want to know the gist of the research. Bullet pointing that can reduce the scary factor and invite more folks to read your poster.
Laura’s Edited Poster
You’ll probably notice that this poster immediately feels different. That’s because we created more white space and used blue-grey boxes to delineate that space. We rolled with these cute, simple speech bubbles for the headers because the resonated with the rest of the theme of the research: improvisation and speech.
We avoided outlines at all costs. They’re just boxes that want to be filled in.
We gave ample space between each of the elements. White space is your friend. Too much white space is overkill, but honestly I’d take that over crowded text any day.
We stuck to columns that are about newspaper width. Your brain thinks its reading much faster when it gets to move down lines quicker; hence a newspaper doesn’t print a story straight across the full width of the page, but breaks it up into little columns to make your brain happy!
We used the drop shadow effect and different opacities to add depth to the poster. Your brain remembers what it reads on paper better than it does in digital form. Whether you’re presenting digitally or physically, adding some depth and 3D-ness to your image will make it more legible and memorable.
We moved the research questions to be directly over the findings that corresponded. Duh!
We used the bottom margin of the poster’s white space to squeeze in the references. They didn’t need to be their own squared off section and putting them on the white space makes them feel more backgrounded.
We used all caps for headings to direct the eye. We switched the body text to a serif to add some contrast and complexity to the poster without making it any more crowded.
Clever readers will catch that in this draft, the arrow for “Multiverse/Pluriverse” still needs to be made green to match its box. You’ll also notice that the cartoons were not yet added into this version because Laura was playing around with a few of the figures in a separate storyboarding program before she sent them to me for the final version.
How would you rate the readability of this poster?
Personally, I’d say it went from about a 3 to at least a 7 or 8. Some of the text lines are a little bulky, but in a way that we were ok with when we went to print. You can’t win ‘em all, especially when the words you’re using are super long or you have to explain in-depth a gnarly theoretical concept.
xo,
em
So I Went to A Hardcore Concert
A bit of backstory: Jackson (my husband) met his best friend Drew when they were randomly assigned as roommates freshman year at Vanderbilt in 2011. They are somehow very different and very similar at the exact same time. We’ve spent countless hours together over the years and we love Drew very much. A few years ago, Drew moved to Atlanta to work in the film industry. While there, he connected with a really rad girl named Allyson. Now they’re married! They came to town for the Coheed and Cambria concert and invited us to join them since it was Drew’s 29th birthday. They knew full well that it wasn’t our typical music, but also could count on us to be down for a new experience and to get to see a bit of their world as they’re both fans and this was their third time seeing the band live.
The show was at Municipal Auditorium, which I must say was incredibly well air conditioned for hosting over a thousand people in the dead of July heat in the South. (We usually describe outside in the summer here as feeling like being inside of a mouth. Ew. But accurate).
We snagged dinner at the new 5th and Broadway project’s Assembly Food Hall, which I can happily recommend even as a Nashvillian whose relationship status with downtown is “It’s Complicated.” We walked from there to the show and prepared our ears for blasting. Pro tip: if you forget your earplugs on the counter like I did ( * face palm *) then you can always stuff some toilet paper in your ears. It ain’t glamorous but it’ll get the job done and your cilia will thank you later.
If you’ve been to a live show with me, you might know that I tend to write during shows. Yep. I don’t know why, but the muse has inconvenient timing.
While I haven’t written any song pieces yet (which is what I usually do), I was very inspired by the experience of being out of my musical element and thinking about what it meant to listen in this arena. Here are my (hot) take aways:
This is a rock opera. Serious classical structure underlies much of hardcore and metal instrumentation. Walk the Moon is just the poppy end of this spectrum. They’re somehow vocally similar to the lead singer of Band of Horses. But also see: Phil Collins? The lead guitarist and singer has some of the most beautiful hair I’ve seen. Very fitting for his industry / genre. The audience parts sounded like me trying to hum the anthem of Game of Thrones from memory (it would be a mostly accurate struggle). We then sonically took a hard left into Beach-Boys-covered-by-Fall-Out-Boy territory. For aforementioned hair and opera reasons, I recommend Coheed and Cambria to fans of Les Mis.
The whole experience reminded me of youth group. Jackson described it as being similar to going to Catholic mass for the first time and not knowing the words to songs or what to expect from the rituals. The average person here is Drew, who I know went to youth group. There were songs that swayed in 6/8. There was more in-time clapping than the Baptist center down the street on any Sunday. Really giving mega churches’ Easter Sunday production a run for their money. The house lights were still up, the floor is linoleum, everyone here is a nerd (that’s a compliment): Like, was a school assembly in there. Again like CCM, the songs are organized around a central narrative and have unnecessary Nth repetitions of a chorus or refrain just so its followers can experience the joy of singing along.
There was an alien balloon that I have a suspicious theory about: the same company that must do most of the balloons for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade must have had a turkey body leftover whenever the production designer for Coheed and Cambria. Balloon person was like “Yeah we totally have an alien for you” and then promptly added some tentacles to the turkey body and recolored it. I mean, props. But it if you’d seen the show, you would 100% be on board with my theory. Side note: They paid a lot for CGI. But also, not enough.
This is true at all shows: There’s nothing like the face of the panicked stage hand who is running up between songs to secure a microphone stand.
We had a great time and I would definitely go back. It might not be the kind of music I listen to on a day-to-day basis, but the show was nothing short of fantastic and a true culturally immersive experience.
How have you gotten out of your musical comfort zone lately?
xo,
em
5 Essentials to Include in Every Service Quote (plus a free download!)
When I started freelancing in college, I had zero idea what I was doing. I mean, c’est la vie, no? That’s how most of us digital folks start out. But I’ve learned a lot in the last decade or so about the dos and don’ts of running your own business and providing digital services and products. I’ve always loved getting started on new projects and turning around quotes to clients, working to find a timeline that suits us both. Here are five things that you must include in your quote as a professional designer. Plus, scroll down to find a services quote template I created just for you.
1. Your contact hours
Having your contact information and theirs on a quote is pretty standard stuff. But adding indicating your preferred contact methods and including your hours of availability? This is clutch! Just because you’re a freelancer or a small business does not mean that you are on call. You’re not in emergency medicine. You do not wear a pager (your cell phone is not an appendage). Put your work hours on your quote and indicate how long you take to respond to inquiries. It’s called boundaries.
2. Separate line items for taxes
While you’re itemizing all of your services and associated costs, it’s important to clarify how taxes come into play. Make sure you create a subtotal for all service items, then add a line item for your state taxes that apply to sale of goods and services (in Tennessee, it’s a whopping 9.25% so it’s especially important to be up front about the cost this adds). This way, your client knows that you’re not up-charging them randomly and you’ve got your taxes covered rather than having to take them out of your overall income.
3. Payment schedule and options
Life happens. People forget that they were supposed to put that check in the mail or that the project is nearly done and it’s time to pay up to receive the goods. My solution? Include a payment schedule with your quote. I tend to ask for a 25% deposit upon signing of the quote, then 25% upon delivery; the middle 50% can be split up however you like. If you have a client who needs a payment plan, this is the place to work that out. Clear payment schedules help you and your client be on the same page and avoid any awkwardness around the exchange.
4. Terms and conditions of delivery
If you don’t stipulate (aka plan ahead), you’ll be stuck wishing you had. I’ve been here. Learn from my mistakes! Include something about when your payments are due and what happens if they’re late. Include something about your right to revise the quote if the project exceeds the original scope of work (this tends to be—and should be—an ongoing conversation with the client). Then don’t forget a piece about termination of work (if it doesn’t work out). You might also consider including who owns the rights to templates, images, or photos used or produced as a part of the work. You could even put something in there about your editing policy. Personally, I find folks notice a misspelled name, need to add one more team biography, or want to adjust the color of something within a week of delivery.
5. A space for both parties to sign
This is an essential component that I didn’t start including until I ran into issues with the above sections (really, payment and scope of work, but those are war stories for another time). Sign on the line, baby! It’s a helpful tool to have even if it’s a formality. Plus, we like when everything is official.
Additional Items to Include:
I’ll detail more about these in a future post, but here are some options that I’ve included depending on the project:
Change of leadership clause: if you’re working with a client on an on-going basis and the company structure changes significantly on their side, it’s important to have an opportunity to reassess the relationship and know with whom you’d be working as a contractor or freelancer.
Timeline: If it’s a larger project (50+ hours), I include a timeline of when we’ll have meetings or check-in points along the way, what I expect to be done when, and when their “homework” (photos from a staff page shoot, etc.) are due to me so that I can work with them.
Artwork release: Who owns what is always important! Protect yourself and your client in copyright terms by clarifying who can use what images are produced as a part of the project and for what future uses.
Design draft fee: No good designer works on spec (speculation). Creative work isn’t free! If you’re a client thinking of hiring a designer for a larger project and you want to see a draft of what they could concoct for you, expect to agree to pay a design draft fee (anywhere from $50 for t-shirts to $500 for murals) before you sign the quote. This is like the Costco sample situation: the samples are provided after you’ve paid the Costco membership, but before you purchase the official item.
Discounts and referrals: I love being able to provide my services at a discount to nonprofits and ministries that typically have a limited budget. They get high quality work at a price they can afford and I get to offer in-kind discount services as a part of my tax-deductible donation. My discount rates are pro-rated depending on the size of the project. You can also include a referral discount (if another client sends this one your way) or a first-time client discount (on smaller projects, I do 10% off which nicely offsets the tax rate for them, but still leaves me with a fair price for the value of my work).
Is this a lot of information? Looking for somewhere to start?
Lucky you! I’ve made you a template!
Nordstrom Anniversary Sale: My Top 10 Picks
I confess: I love Nordstrom. It’s where my mom would take us shopping as children, where we’d pick out a first day of school outfit, where I became enchanted with the color and sound and motion of a crowded shoe section. I miss the days of the live pianists, the pink cookies, the cafe.
To me, Nordstrom will always represent the highest quality of customer service. And, of course, it is my preferred shop given their free shipping and returns and price-matching. Unrivaled! Their anniversary sale lasts through Sunday, July 31st, so hurry on down to the store or over to the website and see if there’s something you’ve wanted or needed finally on sale.
Here are ten of my favorite things from the sale, focusing on pieces that are steeply discounted, well reviewed, long lasting, and classic.
by BERNARDO
$200 $120
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more flattering design for a packable puffer. Ditch the straight across lines and go with the butterfly quilting!
The Perfect Vintage Straight Leg Jeans
by MADEWELL
$129 $75
Look, I have some beef with Madewell’s non-inclusive sizing and sales tactics. AND these jeans are great. Both can be true.
by FRENCH CONNECTION
$138 $80
The LBD hero we’ve been waiting for. She’s flirty, she’s formal-ish, she’s fun.
by COLE HAAN
$195 $135
Jackson owns a pair of these and I’m obviously jealous. They’re unisex IMHO and bring a little polish and pizzazz to any outfit.
by AVEC LES FILLES
$290 $160
You know I can’t leave a good pink coat behind. This combines a classic line with a bold color.
by HALOGEN
$39 $25
Where wouldn’t you wear this?! Halogen really nails it when it comes to basics. This is a wardrobe staple throughout fall and winter.
by BLANKNYC
$98 $60
I didn’t think I’d ever want “faux leather culottes” but here we are. These are fabulous and chic.
by BAREFOOT DREAMS
$120 $80
Every Barefoot Dreams piece I own is a dream come true. Amazingly comfortable and durable thanks to bamboo fabric.
by HANKY PANKY
$22 $17
I only wear these underwear. No joke. And a sale is hard to come by on these. You will not regret the purchase.
by GOODLIFE
$125 $50
This is Jackson’s favorite sweatshirt. A hundred bucks is steep for a sweatshirt, but snag it at less than half the price!
Ice Cream Social
I turned 29 on Cinco de Emma this past year. To celebrate my “first annual 29th birthday” as Jackson and I have jokingly called it, we invited lots of friends and family over to build themselves an ice cream sundae. I ordered some fun little pink ice cream cups online, found matching spoons at a local party store, and gathered toppings and bases. Most importantly, I rush ordered a used banana split dog costume off of eBay (the seller was very supportive of its purpose and helped me get it in time for the party).
For the ice cream, we offered Blue Bell chocolate and vanilla (if it ain’t broke…) and a Trader Joe’s vanilla soy that was truly impressive for our dairy-free and vegan folks. Then, I made several custard-style ice creams: lemon mascarpone, dulce de leche, and birthday cake! Each had recommended sundae pairings, obviously.
For the lemon mascarpone, I had a gluten-free lemon poppy seed coffee cake crumble and lemon lavender sauce to top.
For the birthday cake, we had rainbow sprinkles, brownie pieces, and hot fudge.
For the dulce de leche, I added a caramel sauce and chocolate sprinkles.
We had a blast and it was a great way to see some folks and have people drop in on a Sunday afternoon without taking up the whole day or having to feed 30+ people a full meal. Would you ever host an ice cream social?
xo,
em
Goodbye, wallpaper. Hello, paint!
When wallpaper is too expensive but you still want a pop of color and pattern in a space, painting is the way to go.