Moroccan Rugs: The Link Up: Mallory’s Pool-Ready Summer Sandals, Jess’s Butter-Soft Bike Shorts, and The Best Bra Bundle On The Web

Hi all and happy JUNE! Now that Memorial Day weekend has come and gone, we’re calling it summer over here and boy are we ready for a bag of cherries and some pool action. As things are heating up, so is our lil link up so we won’t waste another second. Let’s dig right in:

From Emily: Last week at our epic garage sale weekend where we live, the kids brought around their piggy banks and made very questionable purchases (charlie bought a weird wallet with studs all over it and Birdie a glass golf trophy – both for $1). But meanwhile, we found an old card game of ‘would you rather’ that Brian bought for a buck and we’ve played it every meal since. It’s all fun/weird stuff so the kids LOVE it and we normally make one of our kids in charge of the question so like if the options are “drink a milkshake out of dog saliva” then you can ask them questions like “can i put chocolate chips in it, etc” and it gives them this sense of authority being able to say yes or no to our requests. It was SO FUN. I’m sure it will get old (and you can TOTALLY write it yourself just on paper) but if you are in need of some fun dinner conversation with younger kids, we are having a blast with this game.

This week’s home tour is one you can actually STAY IN brought to you by Remodelista. It’s the Highlander Mountain House in North Carolina. The vibe is NC meets English Countryside and is packed with some amazing House of Hackney textiles and William Morris wallpapers that we just cannot get enough of. We’re using one of these photos for inspo in an exciting announcement post coming up tomorrow, so stay tuned!

From Mallory: I’m currently on the market for a pool/beach/lake flip flop for the summer because I am personally getting tired of my $3 target flip flops that are now on the verge of breaking at any moment. I had this conversation with a friend earlier this week: are there no cute (but still waterproof/durable ish) flip flops that exist??? Like what is the shoe that I love to wear but don’t care if it gets soaking wet??? Let me share with you my findings: 1. People will not shut up about how comfortable and durable these slides are but do they check off the cute category??? I mean, they’re technically trendy but my big size 9 foot is probably not looking the cutest with this giant thing on. But also did I just buy them in yellow?? Absolutely 2. I also bought these Havianas to bring to the lake with me last weekend because they’re super classic and I love the rose gold color but all in all it’s still a rubbery flip flop (which I AGREE is kinda just what you need sometimes and I know I’ll get a lot of use out of them) BUT are they the perfect cute pool shoe??? Here’s the last option that’s more ‘fashionable’ 3. J. Crew is giving me some good pool vibes with these cute tortoise shell flip flips and also these cushy strap sandals but Madewell might be my favorite with these boardwalk sandals (that are $39 instead of $59 right now btw). Anyway, those are all the shoes I bought/am looking to buy but I’d personally love to know what kind of shoe is best. Does anyone have a one-size-fits-all-summer-occasions solution?? I’d love to know in the comments PLEASE AND THANK YOU.

From Jess: I’ve you been wanting to dapple into bike shorts like me, I found SUCH a good pair (per Ryann and Mal telling us the Abercrombie & Fitch is actually cool again). These puppies are soft like butter, not at all see-through, and not crazy expensive. Highly highly recommend!

Also From Jess: My cousin and I watched Bo Burnham’s new Netflix special, Inside, and we were kinda blown away. We were very unsure of it for the first 20 mins but then were completely taken in. If you don’t know, Bo made this piece during quarantine, filmed it all in one room, and did literally everything himself. I think that it’s impossible not to connect with him due to the vulnerability in how he was processing the total emotional and mental madness of quarantine. We were all him at some point if not in lockstep. This special funny, sad, visceral, and just a freaking trip. As one headline stated, “‘Bo Burnham: Inside’ is a brilliant, upsetting portrait of everyone'”. I know that may not sound like the “post-vax life” we wanna be living but I promise you will be moved.

From Ryann: A recently told a friend “if you don’t start watching @megsstalter’s videos I don’t know if we can be friends anymore” because that is how passionate I am about her and her comedy. She is the funniest woman alive, I love her videos so much (this and this make me laugh out loud every time) AND now she is on the new HBO show called Hacks. Have you guys seen it??? I am not only obsessed with her character but the show itself is so so good. It is definitely the best show on tv right now IMHO and Meg Stalter is an absolute treasure.

From Albie: In the past, I’ve always just bought a bra, see if it worked, and if it worked, I’d buy it in a bunch of colors till my next bra overhaul. This time I decided to haul four diff brands & one of the four that I’ve been loving this past week is Harper Wilde. I invested in their essentials bundle, with four bras, so that alone, let me test a bunch of bras at once

From Caitlin: I flew out to the east coast last week to spend the holiday with my childhood best friend (hooray!) but forgot to pack PJs (oh no!). I ended up running to H&M to grab some sweats and HOLY MOLY, I stumbled upon the best tank top of all time!!! I have never been super self-conscious about my arms but I have been pretty conscious of my like, armpit boobs (or at least that’s what I call them, please let me know if there’s a real name) and I was SHOCKED to find that this style cut in perfectly and hid my aforementioned armpit boobs so I didn’t have to do a whole “you need to get over yourself” self-love talk in the mirror. In any case, this tank is $7.99 and makes me feel like a DIME and the cut is actually just REALLY GOOD so if you’ve ever seen these and been like “oh no, I don’t think that style of top could work for me,” GIVE IT A WHIRL, BABY!!

Also From Caitlin: I know we’ve been talking a lot about our ~ bodies ~ here on the blog for a while (…see above, too, I guess) but OH MY GOSH PLEASE READ BODY TALK. I am obsessed with Katie Sturino, the founder of Megababe and maker of my all-time favorite underwear reviews (the team will confirm that I talk about her at least once a day, if not more) and this is truly just essential reading for anyone who is kinda fed up with feeling a little weird in their own skin. You can support a local bookstore by grabbing it here buuuuuut it’s also a little cheaper on a certain major retailer’s website so make your choice and READ IT. A BILLION STARS FROM ME!!!

That’s all for this week! Thanks for tuning in and we’ll see you tomorrow