01/26/2021

Ultimate Guide to Eco-Dining

Sensible dining isn’t only about eating the sprouts on your fancy salad, being eco-conscious is part of a healthy outlook. In the age of doing your part we wear masks, travel fuel-efficiently and eat with reusable pieces. This doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice convenience or style, it’s simply a matter of tweaking everyday routines. By using sustainable dinnerware, you’re reducing your carbon imprint and the environment will breathe a little better because of it.

The last straw you’ll ever need.

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01/20/2021

Healthy Benefits of a Plant-Based Diet

Keto, paleo, raw: The evolving spectrum of on-trend diets can make you feel like a teen navigating handbag shapes. Though the plant-based movement, dare we say revolution, is gaining recognition because limiting animal-derived foods is not only good for you, it’s good for the environment. Plant-based foods are less taxing on our natural resources, thereby reducing your carbon footprint, saving water and animal life.

Following a plant-based diet is not only good for you, it’s good for the environment.

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01/13/2021

Winter We’ve Got This: How to Beat the Cold Weather Blahs

Those alpine scenes of snow-capped mountains and frolicking reindeer commonly portrayed on ugly Christmas sweaters doesn’t effectively correspond to the winter seen outside my window. Grey skies spiderwebbed with bare trees, anxious squirrels gathering provisions, is the more accurate portrayal.

Being active outdoors, with a favorite pet in a beautiful location, is a great remedy for the winter blahs.

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01/07/2021

How the Home Has Evolved After Shelter-In-Place

After living in shelter-in-place, we have our own takeaways like the war-era granny who maximized the lifecycle of soap. 2020 has become the most challenged year in most people’s lifetime but there were positives from a year of adversity (without undermining the loss of life).

Lessons from an Efficient Quarantine Home:
  1. Respectfully connect with the household while also giving members their space.
  2. Resilience and not being so entitled in a cancel culture due to limited external activity.
  3. Uptick in leisure activities:  Cooking, games, reading and music.
  4. More quality time with pets.
  5. Learning how to do basic tasks like mending clothes, household repairs, haircuts (though our kids may disagree).
  6. Editing our belongings: Pairing down to essentials and an attention to quality.
  7. Learning the art of being thrifty: To not waste provisions, the importance of effectively storing food and creating an efficient pantry.
  8. Creating valued spaces in the home like an office, renovated basement, home gym and outdoor area.
  9. Translating the best in boutique hotel living to the home: Homing in on simple luxury needs.

Skills that value resources and increase an awareness of consideration will have longterm effects that will promote good living. Please tune in to the Happy Healthy Home’s podcast on the positive home trends learned from quarantine.

Happy Health Home: Home Trends After Shelter In Place

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12/29/2020

Is French Style the Most Interesting Expression of Design? I’d Have to Say Absolutely

There’s a tragic quality to the growing number of tear downs in my Connecticut neighborhood. New homes are quickly erected, blocks of white structures accented with black steel-framed windows. The interiors are so new Wipe-Its must be readily available to remove damaging smudge prints. The thought of living in such a home can be alluring in that wearing new clothes kind of sensation. However I have too many things to ever make such a home work, from past down belongings to sentimental acquisitions, parting with them would be a breach in loyalty. This is why I return to the sensibility of my Parisian family. Their style is not influenced by Pinterest boards but what is rich in quality, provenance, and furnishings that can’t be described in a paragraph of copy beneath a shopping cart icon.

Every space in my cousin’s Paris home spotlights an important assembly of fine pieces, as seen from this view to the office.

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12/22/2020

Happy Healthy Home New Podcast with ducks goose and Wellness Coach Whitney Ross: How to Incorporate Wellness into the Holidays

Any holiday that conflates egg nog with beef tenderloin can be a setback to the wellness regimen, which is why ducks goose chose this time to team with Whitney Ross, Integrative Health Coach of Whit & Well, and created its premier podcast on Happy Healthy Home. Between cooler weather in the northern region to impede outdoor activity and a lot of eating, wayward wellness is a common approach till the gamble of New Year’s resolutions. As says Whitney in the Happy Healthy Holiday podcast, choose fitness, which is the cornerstone to a healthy lifestyle. If you exercise each day, ideally in the morning so not to put it off and boost your metabolism, it will translate to all areas of good living.

Once you choose healthy options, like seasonal fresh fruit, your body will crave nutritionally-dense foods.

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12/15/2020

ducks goose Holiday Gift Picks for 2020

From wearing a scarf that’s plush toy soft to basic kitchen needs in modern designs, we’re looking at gifts that relate to the year ahead. 2021 will continue the trend of being nurtured at home with feel-good luxuries.

 Holiday Gift Ideas

 

Resources:
  1. Oversized Hoodie: The Kit 2. Apron: Maison d’Hermine 3. Geo Travel Mug: Leif Shop 4. Chasseur Baking Set: Maisie and Claire 5. Round Beach Throw: Maison d’Hermine 6. Prowling Ocelot & Cosmo + Echo Mask: Echo 7. Denim Apron: Khanekura on Etsy 8. Faux Fur Scarf: Echo 9. Sock Set: Monrow 10. Cashmere Wool Throw: LinenMe 11. Serving Bowl: Danish Design Store 12. Tee Shirt: Cinq a Sept 13. AvA Headband: Ala von Auersperg 14. Vegan Lipstick: Color the World 15. Pink Sweatpants: A.L.C. 16. Rose Gold Cami: ASTARS 17. Alana Tie Dye Tongue Pants: Lauren Moshi 18. Bed Socks: Johnston of Elgin
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12/09/2020

The Year without a Flashy Christmas: Decorating for a Classic Holiday

Don’t let the title fool you, this is a happy holiday story. Imagine a Christmas without installing so many outdoor lights power outages occur. Or losing your house keys in the clutter of decorative fa la la. It was our goal to seek the positives that came from 2020 and we are continuing the stress-free agenda till the year ends, notably for the the final and richest holiday. While Christmas delights the maximalist in us, this holiday a lighter approach to the decor will reduce anxiety so you can enjoy the simple beauty found in the season.

Buy a basic wreath and tie a ribbon bow. This year we chose pink as our holiday accent color.

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12/01/2020

The Queen’s Gambit Ultimate Style Guide: Make the Move to Get the Look

It’s a depressing moment when you finish “The Queen’s Gambit” series but the best of its late 50’s to 60s style can live on. We’re of the belief that anything done well endures. From heroine Beth Harmon’s Lexington, Kentucky, bungalow to the glamour of international chess tournaments in Paris and Moscow—her look captivates.

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11/23/2020

Make More Room In the Kitchen With a Simple Addition: the Countertop Overlay

It’s like found money, creating additional kitchen space when square footage is compromised. When we designed our kitchen that had limited room, we considered knocking down a wall to usurp the adjoining office. (This was pre-quarantine so we’re especially thankful we didn’t go this route.) A smart use of the area was to not install a cumbersome island but add on a few inches of countertop to create an overlay. It’s simple, not too costly, and now there’s an added place for dining.

A kitchen overlay creates additional seating without infringing on too much valued space.

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