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The Weekender: Gift Guide Master List, Color of the Year, Your Favorite Books and Going Dark(er!) In the Bedroom

Kim and CC sitting on our front porch, with garland on the railings and a wreath on the door | Yellow Brick Home holiday home
wreath (similar) | bells | outdoor sconces | boots

Chicago has been feeling a string of warm(ish) weather this week – warm, as in, it’s been in the 40s! The sun has been shining, the skies have been mostly blue, and I’m feeling good. With Christmas less than 3 weeks away, we’d like to take advantage of the mild temps and catch the lights at the zoo, see the big trees downtown and pick up the last few gifts on our list. Speaking of, all of our gift guides live! Well, almost all – more on that in a second. In the meantime, here they are in one place:

Gifts under $25 | Gifts for Him + Her | Gifts for Young(er) + Old(er) | Small Business Gifts | Gifts that Give Back | Gifts for Home + DIY Lovers

Next week, we’re sharing the last minute gifts you can still squeak under the tree in time – just barely. Because some of us like to wait until the final hour (the adrenaline, the thrill!), and that’s okay! We gotcha.

Other Things This Week:

I shared my excitement for Kacey’s holiday special last week, but did anyone watch it? I smiled the whole way through! Her duet with Leon Bridges was my absolute favorite. Love. Her. If only every Christmas special was so adorably awesome.

Don’t worry so much, Mom.

Do you agree with Pantone’s 2020 Color of the Year?

Drop the apostrophe. Drop the apostrophe!

During our Stories Q+A over the weekend, I asked you if you’ve read anything good lately (particularly thrillers and engaging nonfiction), and I now have a list of recommendations a mile long. Thank you, friends! Many of you asked if I could share, and I’m happy to. These were the titles mentioned over and over again:

The bunk bed of my childhood dreams. Sarah, you’ve done it again!

Daniel’s green-on-green kitchen (and that pink window!) steals my heart. Daniel, teach me your ways!

The other day, Scott and I realized that our master bedroom is one of the only places in our home that we haven’t touched since renovating it years ago. We love the black walls, we love the laundry room nearby and we still very much love that massive half-circle headboard! But!, we thought, what if we swapped out all the bedding to something dark, too? No more white. Maybe tone-on-tone. Maybe we’ll start with these pinstripe sheets and go from there! (Are you Team White Bedding or Team Gimme All the Color?)

How to paint anything! A painting guide to walls, furniture and everything else // via Yellow Brick Home
sconce | cream bedding

Do you have fun plans this weekend? We’re spending all of tomorrow in the suburbs, a tradition we do once a year around Christmastime! I know it might sound silly, but we browse IKEA, drink our annual Frappuccino and wander aimlessly around the mall with no agenda. We look forward to it every year! (Do any other city dwellers do this?) Whatever you’re up to, we’re wishing you a great one!

PS: Holiday Sales Are Still Going Strong!


  • Crate & Barrel: Up to 55% off cookware sets
  • GAP: up to 50% off everything (plus redeem your GapCash!)
  • J. Crew | seen below: up to 40% off your purchase with promo code SPLURGE




  • Old Navy: Up to 50% off site wide
  • Rejuvenation | seen below: 20% off all lighting, home updates and gifts!


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  • Cristin12.6.19 - 5:37 AM

    We recently finished our master bedroom suite renovation and did exactly what you’re not supposed to do, picked up a couple gallons of paint and just started painting – no swatches or anything – based solely on your bedroom and we LOVE the result! Raccoon fur forever! Also, don’t read When Breath Becomes Air anywhere you wouldn’t be comfortable sobbing (an airplane, for instance). Utterly devastating and wonderful book and I ugly cried all the way through it. ReplyCancel

    • Kim12.6.19 - 8:05 AM

      Raccoon fur is just the BEST! And thanks for that tip, haha.ReplyCancel

  • Lindsey12.6.19 - 12:58 PM

    We love dark or saturated colored bedding, feels like a cozy nest. But we also have a black dog and dark gray tabby cat, and we try to coordinate with their coloring a bit so it doesn’t look as filthy immediately as white bedding would. ????????ReplyCancel

    • Kim12.6.19 - 1:35 PM

      Haha, fair point.ReplyCancel

    • Megan12.10.19 - 10:44 AM

      Same!  My dog is blonde, so white bedding works best!ReplyCancel

  • Laurna12.6.19 - 5:13 PM

    Painting the bedroom dark is something I’m considering.  Do you have source of the picture on your website?  I would love see the whole space.  ReplyCancel

  • Jill12.6.19 - 5:33 PM

    I’ve read four of those listed (including Scott’s fav), great suggestions, I will check out the others! Did I ever tell u about Just Kids by Patti Smith?! Love, love, love….this year one of my favs was Small Fry, Steve Jobs’ daughter’s memoir. Oh & another fav of mine was The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio. ReplyCancel

  • Jen T.12.7.19 - 10:01 AM

    The audiobooks for “Born a Crime” and “Catch and Kill” were both great- I love it when personal/memoir type books are narrated by the author! Although I did get a little tired of some of Ronan Farrow’s accents…

    My mom would also really recommend “When Breath Becomes Air”. She and several nurses she works with have a book club with a medical slant to it, and they said the book brought a wonderful perspective. 

    Thanks for sharing your list- I still need to read “Bad Blood” based on how much everyone seems to like it!ReplyCancel

    • Kim12.7.19 - 12:35 PM

      There were parts of Bad Blood that I felt dragged on, but the story is still so outrageous!ReplyCancel

  • Julie Rossman12.9.19 - 2:18 PM

    I also cried reading When Breath Becomes Air, it’s such a beautiful story!ReplyCancel

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