Grapefruit With a Friend
Some things just stick in our memory, like why I cut a grapefruit the way that I do.
Whole 30: Why I Do This Heavily Restrictive Program
Whole30 is not for the faint of heart, but here's why I do it.
Project 365
Where do I even start? I’m not one for resolutions. That’s not to say I haven’t made any ever, I just know myself. I do a crap job of ever sticking to, well…anything. I have garbage discipline, which is likely why I never established a fitness routine, why I eat whatever I want for the most part (for better or for worse), why I always say I’m going to take up yoga—which I actually enjoy—and then before I know it, it’s been hours of me in bed on my phone, yoga intentions well forgotten. #NotProud. But anyway, this is not what this post is about really. Since I started Arlyn Says back in April, first as a newsletter, then later as this website in July, I’ve struggled a bit with what it is. Is it a design website? A lifestyle site? It’s kind of always been this limbo of interests of mine but there was always something in particular that I felt best about, and that’s when I just wrote. Essays, thoughts, feelings. You guys liked it, too. Lately, I’ve felt a tug at my heart to just write, and I’ve pushed it away because I’m what I not-so-endearingly refer,...
In Support of Buying Yourself Presents/What I Bought Myself During Black Friday
This is not a gift guide...well, at least not really.
Turns Out, We Have No Traditions (!!!)
This was the first year, in all our nearly 15 years together, that Charles and I spent Thanksgiving alone, just the two of us. In the last three years that we’ve lived in LA, we’ve broken bread (yeast rolls to be exact) with friends, and before that with my family. There’s something interesting that happens when you peel back everyone and everything: you see things you hadn’t before. Let me explain. As Charles and I sat in our dining room, chewing on the (burnt…whoops!) stuffing and contemplating whether my turkey breast was actually cooked enough, we got to chatting about traditions. “What are ours?” one of us asked. It might have been me, but that beautiful thing happened where you end up losing sight of who said what because your conversation spirals in the best way and it all becomes a blur of feelings. “We don’t have any.” That last bit was 100% Charles, and he was right. Don’t get me wrong. We have traditions, particularly around the holidays, but they all revolve around our extended family. When I used to spend practically every holiday at my sister’s house—our family hub for celebrations when we were all in Florida—our holiday,...