My Collection of Things
Bang & Olufsen Beolit 15 and Beoplay A1
Doesn’t everyone have at least one bluetooth speaker in their lives at this point? I’ve been on my bluetooth speaker game since 2011 when I got the first Jambox. And here’s the thing: Bluetooth is the worst technology ever invented. Seriously it’s horrible, but it’s also convenient when it works, so hey whatever.
Breville Stand Mixer
I actually got the Breville Stand Mixer for free, using United MileagePlus points, 💸 but I did pick it out and so I do recommend it. Here are some things I like about it:
Candlefish Library Candles
I love these candles. Admittedly, it’s better to go into the Candlefish store in Charleston, South Carolina if you can and sniff like a million candles (ok there are only 100 scents in their library… but 100!!), but also they’re all generally great-smelling candles, so just go with your gut and choose a scent that sounds good. Since they’re Candlefish’s own collection, I think they try to keep the cost as low as possible. I think 22 bucks for a nice, relatively large, candle is pretty good. Also the design of the label isn’t dumb, it has gold ink 🤤 an embossed gold logo (designed by Fuzzco, where I used to work), and the volume checkbox is hand-ticked, which is a nice touch.
ChefLand Measuring Cups
Ok I still don’t know which ones to recommend 😣 (sorry). But I’ll settle on these. I really like them because they are very simple. They’re the simplest measuring cups I have (In a quest to find the best ones, I ended up with three sets). Unfortunately it’s a bit difficult to read the volume measurements on the inside, but if you’re a little clever, you can memorize which one is which volume.
Chef’s Knife
2021 UPDATE:For my birthday this year my friends all pitched in to buy me a really nice Japanese chef knife which I love. I still use this knife though because it’s o comfortable to hold and has such a nice size.
Cocktail Glass
I know there are a multitude of various good glassware 🍹 🍸 🍷 🥃 🥂 you can find, but I found these nice and simple. I fell in love with this style of cocktail glass (a coupe) when I started going to cocktail bars in San Francisco. They are nice and compact, less prone to splashing 💦 than martini glasses, and make any drink feel like a little 💎 precious thing. Turns out they’re just old-style champagne glasses. I’m sometimes tempted by vintage glassware, and I might try to find some at some point, but for now these are a great, simple styled coupe glass. I like to pour any drink served “up” into these.
Comme des Garçons Zip-around Wallet
I first saw this wallet when one of my friends pulled it out years ago and it’s been on my wishlist since. I thought it was so great that it’s so compact, still fits in my pocket but makes room for lots of storage. 🗄️ Finally I got it for my birthday. 🎁 What I really love about this one is that has a super low profile from the outside, but the inside is bright blue. 🖤💙 Also nice that it zips completely closed, so you can just stuff stuff inside of it and zip it closed and it won’t fall out. It’s exactly the size of a passport too 🛂 so even though it’s not meant for it, you can just barely fit a passport inside of it and zip it closed.
Cork Pops Cocktail Picks
TBQH why not have a little fun with cocktail picks? (Just a little, we’re not trashy are we) I like these swords. 🤺 They are swords. They are actually quite heavy, don’t feel cheap, and the picker is thick. Overall it feels fun while also feeling like a quality addition to a Martini or Manhattan.
Couto Toothpaste
Ok I don’t know if designer toothpaste is too much for you but stick with me, okay? Like I have said, things do not need to look bad in your life. You deserve the best. There are approximately 836150729 brands of toothpaste, and they all basically look like this: ✨🌟💫 (like in a bad way?). But there doesn’t need to be an eyesore that you have to use and look at every day in your bathroom! So get you some good looking toothpaste. Also I would never recommend toothpaste that didn’t taste and feel right, so that’s a given—it’s fresh.
Cuisinart Food Processor
This is one of the first things I thought to buy when I first started getting serious about kitchen appliances. 👨🍳 It’s right after getting the Kitchen-Aid mixer when you get out of college. This is the appliance that every mom says you need 💁♀️ because they all bought one in the 70s or 80s and have been using it since then. It’s a beast of an appliance. It’s very good at what it does. 👌
Dille & Camille Dish Drying Rack
I never could find a dish drying rack I liked. They always seem so cheap and flimsy. Occasionally I see one 🔎 online 💻 that’s really designery and simple, but things like that are always hard to actually buy IRL.
Dyson Hand Vacuum
I LOVE THIS VACUUM. It’s very “shiny plastic spaceship” 🚀 and since it stays stored in the bathroom and only comes out when I use it, I don’t mind that. But also it’s kinda pretty… it’s Dyson after all. It also legit sounds like an airplane when you turn it on—it is so powerful. Yes it’s pricy, but friggin who cares it’s a spaceship.
e+m Clutch Pencil
This is the tool I do all my pencil illustrations with. 👨🏻🎨 The lead is super thick, so there’s a lot of flexibility in line weight depending on how much you sharpen it or wear it down. ✍️ I also love the mechanism for how the lead is held in the pencil. It’s a standard clutch pencil but I just really love the thickness of this one. It’s really squat and wide, so it feels nice to hold and use.
Fat Daddio’s Dough Cutter
Honestly I just wanted one of these. I haven’t used it yet, but it’s definitely the best one I’ve found. I assume around 🎄 Christmas Cookie Season 🍪 I'll give it a good amount of use. It can also be used to generally scrape up your workstation and keep things clean.
Gefu Chef’s Tongs
If you wanna feel hella fancy 👩🍳 while you cook, you need chef’s tongs. I use these for all kinds of cooking and grilling. If you haven’t cooked with tongs before, try it. It’s great to be able to turn, move, and flip things with precision.
Google Home Mini
I have a Google Home House. 🤓 In my tiny apartment, I’ve insisted that we have three Google Home Minis and one Google Home Hub. One in each room, that’s how it’s supposed to work, right? 💁♂️ These little devices, while obviously not the best sound quality, are just so cute and so useful to have around the house. I of course made sure to buy one in each color. The coral one is in the living room (stylish), the charcoal one is in the kitchen (utilitarian, matches the kitchen appliances), and the grey one in the bedroom (the last color left).
Google Nest Home Hub
This is a nice little device to have if you’re a Google Home house. It doesn’t have a camera (the new one does) which is the only weird thing about it. Otherwise the materials and color are really nice, the sound 📻 is pretty good, and the display is great for the price. Another cool thing about the display is that it has pretty amazing auto-dimming functionality that makes the screen always match the ambient light 💡 of the room. So in the dark of the night, the screen is barely on. I have the screensaver set to show pictures of my cats (Google Photos automatically finds these and adds them to a cats album, so it’s always current 😻).
Hario Coffee Dripper
There are lots of choices for a pour over coffee dripper. I like to keep my coffee-making stuff in the family, so I went with with Hario for my dripper. And WHO KNEW they had a metal 🏗 version. I actually have the black metal version 🤘 but honestly if you’re outfitting everything in stainless steel, this one is the way to go (I fell for the black on black treatment).
Hario Kettle
Sure, this is like the most 💁♂️ popular kettle, and everyone has it… but hey maybe some people don’t. Actually I kind of just bought this because I always saw baristas ☕️ using it in good coffee shops. Of course it’s the industry standard (I think?) but also I’m sure there are a lot of other great-looking ones. As with many things I like, this one feels industrial in some way, utilitarian and standard, while also leaving room for some weirdoness (why are the sides bubbly??? who cares???).
Hiware Cocktail Stirring Spoon
I don’t think the world of cocktail stirring spoons is that bad, but I used to have one, it felt cheap, so I bought this one. This one is better. So I think there is room for a recommendation!
Ikea Glass Bottles
Stay hydrated! 💦 I keep a few of these in the fridge at all times. I get ticked off if there’s not cold water available at all times. These are also convenient when entertaining. It’s easy to just pull out a bottle or two for the table.
IKEA Glass Food Storage Containers
When it comes to casual food storage, it really seems like no one cares. Like somehow everyone has the cheapest most plastic, 🕯 meltable containers in their kitchen. I have three sizes: a tiny (sauces, small leftovers), a medium (lunch at work), and a large (big leftovers, baking, casseroles). I prefer the square ones ◽️ ◻️ ⬜️ because they take up more efficient space in the fridge and they hold more volume. These ones also can be used to bake in, 🍞 which is pretty cool. I once cooked the majority of Thanksgiving in these. ✨
iRobot Roomba
Is it douchey to have a vacuum robot? I don’t really care, I bought it for convenience. 💁♂️ There are probably better vacuum robots at this point, but this one will do the job. Yes, it’s heckin pricy, but if you’re looking for one, this one is good.
Kitzini Baking Mats
Baking mats are great because you never have to grease a baking sheet literally ever. There’s a really popular brand (Silpat) that honestly I think looks a little too Home Depot for me, so I went looking for a better looking alternative. I found Kitzini, which has a nice logo typeset in Futura, and comes with two nice versions of red and blue. So besides these being IMO integral to baking (please don't buy parchment paper, what a waste 🙄) I also think they are very nice looking.
Koh-I-NOOR Soft Eraser
That classic eraser we been out here using since 1896. 📜 Love the elephant 🐘 love the type. It’s a good eraser too — sold in art stores in the drafting section. 📝 It’s nice having around since it’s pretty, but also I do need a standalone eraser because I use a pencil that doesn’t have an eraser on the end.
Lifx Smart Bulbs
Ok, now we’re getting gratuitous. But I did say my tastes skew a bit techy, which means I sometimes spend a lot of money to make cool stuff happen in my home. They work with Google Home, Alexa, Nest, and SmartThings, if you wanna turn them on and off with your dumb 🗣 voice.
Lodge Cast Iron Skillet
Happy to have received something out of my Wishlist for my birthday. 😊 Lodge is the default for cast iron. I know there are some nice-looking Cast Iron Grills out there (love the simplicity of this one) but I feel like Lodge is the one you’re supposed to get. I kinda like the ugly logo on there too 🤷♂️ whatever.
Lodge Splatter Screen
This is one of those things you don’t think about purchasing but you actually could really use it. If you’ve ever deep-fried 🍗 or even normal-fried anything, this helps reduce the amount of oil shooting onto your arms, cooktop, and anywhere else 🔥 that might suck to have 365°F oil.
Lucky Peach Cookbook
You know, I’m not a huge fan of cookbooks. 🤷♂️ I can be very into cooking at times, and love my NYT Cooking 👨🏻🍳 subscription, but cookbooks are honestly more of a visual thing for me (but please read on…).
Nintendo Switch
I am not a gamer. 🎮 I’m sorry. But also, I love the Nintendo Switch. Yes, Zelda Breath of the Wild is also the best game ever made and that influences my opinion… but honestly I really love the concept of this console. I love that you can take it anywhere, 🏃 that it’s super modular and portable, and also a full sit-on-the-couch-for-hours gaming console. It’s awesome. Basically it’s like an iPhone that plays big girl games and can also plug into a TV. 📺
Nordic Ware Baking Sheets
These baking pans are the ones that most sites recommend. 🍪 I like them because they have a cool logo etched into the metal (etched viking head) and they’re quite sturdy while remaining light (heavy baking pans can be annoying to handle). I have dented one of them, so they’re not like indestructible like some I’ve seen, but I think since they’re aluminum (best for baking), that’s bound to happen. They have high walls around the edge which is practical for avoiding slosh 🌊 but also makes it look more industrial which I like.
Nordstjerne Catch-all Tray
If you don’t have a catch-all tray by your front door, ya gotta get one. Keys, wallet, phone, 🔑 💶 📱 you know. Marble is very in right now so get on this while it’s still hot … or not, it comes in various materials.I’m really into this company Nordstjerne. All their products are super beautiful and exceptionally simple. Their eye for materials is on point—suede, marble, brass 🔮 very pretty. To top it off, it’s actually affordable stuff.
OXO Jigger
I know… it’s OXO. 🙄 But this one’s the best, while remaining all stainless steel (they really could have given this the OXO spin with a gross rubber black bottom). The utility of the interior-measurement 📏 labels is unparalleled. A friend who taught me to make cocktails years ago taught me with a precise measuring device like this (rather than something chic like this) and it was a really important moment in my cocktail-making game. Typical jiggers are weird.
OXO Large Flipper Spatula
Generally, I hate OXO products. I know they’re really ergonomic and comfy to use, but I just don't like them. They seem so pedestrian. The logo is nice (or… simple?) but the forms are so blegh. But this spatula was the best big ol’ pancake 🥞 flipper I could find when I did my search. If you know of a better one, let me know. Needs to bend easily and be as big as a pancake.
Philips Automatic Espresso Machine
2021 UPDATE:I bought the Breville Espresso Machine. It’s way better and looks so much nicer.
Plastic Cutting Board
2022 UPDATE: I found this to get a bit old and stained after a while. It is still super sturdy, and it doesn’t get all torn up like cheapo ones, but I now use a these cool recycled plastic confetti cutting boards. Got one from Fredericks and Mae and another from Mykilos. They are SO FUN and basically the same product. Only thing is that they could be thicker.
Rollcart Drink Cart
This one is very near to my heart. I love cocktails, special spirits, nice gins and bourbons, and also entertaining people. Unfortunately most drink carts are very small and not suited for a large collection. I like to display my collection, as well as make it easy to grab martini fixings 🍸 while cooking dinner. So I figured out that the perfect drink cart is actually just a restaurant serving wagon (like for dim sum). I’m really delighted with this one. It’s extremely simple, has bars around the sides to prevent bottles from falling off, and has only two levels (many have three, which just isn’t enough room on the bottom, and is overall a more complex silhouette. My only gripe with this one is that there's a butt-ugly logo on the handles—I hardly notice it though.
Room Fan
Fans are so ugly, man. Like, whoever usually designs fans really doesn’t get it. Anyway I found this simple, cheap, all-metal one. I like it, It’s the right size for a big room, but not so big to be a big ugly feature in the room (standing fans are an eye-sore in my opinion).
Rösle Dish Scrubber
As I’m sure we all have, I’ve used a ton of dish scrubbers in my life. (If you’re into sponges 🤢 ur gross and please move along.) Most dish scrubbers that I have bought end up being a gross wrangled mess of bristles. The whole brush head is just flat after a month of use. This one however, I’ve owned for almost six months, and the bristles haven’t bent at all. It’s a larger-than-usual dish scrubber that feels very sturdy. I bought a replacement brush head that I’m not sure I’ll ever actually use because these bristles are so strong.
Simplehuman Trash Can
I’ve struggled with trash cans in my life. 😐 I don’t think I ever had a good one until this year when I got this one. But this one is great! At first I sort of didn’t like the big foot pedal, but now I actually think it looks kind of industrial crank-turn-ish. Also everything about this is super solid and I’m pretty sure it will never break. I avoided simplehuman for a long time because 1) they’re friggin expensive and 2) it just felt extremely bland? Kind of like OXO? But this one has proved to be very good and I think it looks quite nice. Also it has this feature where you can rest the inner container on a little lip inside while you change the bag out 👌 which is actually very very helpful.
Storage Container
This is my favorite kind of product. You know, the kind you find at a hardware store, the kind where the design hasn’t changed since it was first made in 1950 or something, and it’s painted in some very basic bright color. This is in the same style as the blue workbench I have, because they’re both from Bauhaus, a chain of 🛠 hardware stores in Germany. I use it as a storage box for art supplies and various materials, but also as a coffee table in the studio—it has a 100x55cm footprint.
The Art of French Baking
Basically I buy books that look good 📖 that I hope also have great content. There is mostly a correlation, I’ve found. But I mean really we all get our recipes from the internet 💻 so recipe books are just nice to have around the house, and they might as well look good.
The Bad
2021 UPDATE:I mainly use an iPhone 12 Mini now, and iOS is really nice in a lot of ways. That said, I still carry around my Pixel 3 sometimes because I consistently get much better photos with it.
Tojiro Kitchen Shears
Ok, most kitchen shears are pretty simple and not bad-looking. Black handles, thick profile—normal stuff. But THESE, first, are Japanese 🎎 which makes them much better than another thing made out of steel that cuts. They also are totally stainless steel ⚒ and made from just two pieces. They also separate quick and easy for cleaning which is super convenient after cutting down something gnarly like a chicken. And of course, they look great!
UEETEK Litter Scooper
Litter scoopers are disgusting. 🤮 And usually they’re this really flimsy plastic. This is a thing you use almost every day that should do a really good job every time. Why not buy a good metal one? I love the size of this thing. It’s pretty big, and really solid. Easy to clean and looks good as new after it’s clean. ✨
Vintage Cocktails
This is my go-to cocktail book. The photos are really wonderful, there’s no graphic design (I mean someone laid it out, but literally the book is hand-written).
WMF Immersion Blender
I love blendy things. 🌀 I always knew I needed the Cuisinart food processor in my kitchen. Learned that from every mom ever. But what I never really knew I NEEDED in my kitchen was a simple immersion blender. These things are a fraction of the price of a food processor or a blender, and they’re super versatile. I use mine almost every day to make purées. It’s nice to use an immersion blender because you just stick it in whatever pot, pan, or bowl your food is in. With blenders and food processors you got a whole army of parts to wash afterwards.
Wood Cutting Board
This thing is very large. I really like it because it’s super duper thick and also has a nice logo in metal set on the front (hey I like a logo if it’s not God-awful and especially if it’s cast out of friggin ⚔️ metal).
Zendure A5 Portable Charger
Alright, so I’m kind of obsessed with having portable batteries with me. I carry this one in a black string backpack with me everywhere. I have offered a charging cord to so many people in a club at 4 in the morning—it’s very handy. I highly recommend my always-charged 🔋 lifestyle. It’s also nice to always be able to leave the house without worrying if my phone is charged. This thing holds about 4 or 5 full phone charges, so I have rarely been in a situation where it doesn’t last long enough for one outing (or trip through multiple airports, a 3-day festival, a picnic). Also it looks like a Rimowa suitcase so yeah…