Bath Shower Home Design

One of the questions I get asked the most is “how do you find time to read so much?” I have small kids, a full time job, and a writing habit that I sustain, but reading is one of those things that I need, like water and sunlight. When I stop picking up books, my mental health is affected, so I’ve had to find ways to make the time. My best trick is to bring a book with me on the elliptical machine– the exercise and chance to dive into a story both leave me feeling strong and happy. Recent Book Riot Insiders newsletters gave a peek into the day-to-day of Book Riot back office superstars , and I loved hearing how they crafted time in their schedules to read.  It made me wonder how other voracious readers feed their habit. Whether you’re looking to up your reading time or you already have a day packed with bookish goodness, this look into the time-saving tricks of other Rioters is interesting! Jamie Canaves:  I sneak reading into as many things as I can all day long: audiobook on speaker...

I’m not sure if she still does it, but Oprah used to do a thing where she picked all of her favorite things for the year and then did a show about them.  I was thinking of doing the same thing, except instead of things that millionaires love, it would just be things that make me happy that I spent an extra few dollars on.  Mostly because every time I use these things I think “Holy shit, I’m so glad I have this and I wish I could give this stuff to everyone in the world.”  I can’t though, but what I can do is tell you the stuff that I’ve been happiest about finding and you can do the same thing in the comments and then we can all find awesome cheap or free stuff that we love.  Also, this post isn’t funny.  Sorry if you were coming here for that.  But to make it up to you I’m giving away a gift certificate with enough on it to buy pretty much everything I’m going to talk about.  (As long as you live in America.  If you live somewhere that doesn’t have Amazon I’ll just paypal you the am...

Kelly & Her Home When house hunting, one of the most important things to consider is if a house has "good bones," which means it has many of the most desirable aspects that a home can offer (think: natural light, a comfortable layout, etc), even if those things are difficult to see at first. This term is particularly useful when viewing a house that is very old and run-down, needs a lot of work and is outdated. Lucky for Kelly Portnoy of The Good Story, she was able to see past the intense smells, stains and many other issues of one particular house. She says that even though it was unlivable when she first saw it, she and her family loved it and saw the potential it had. After moving into that house in 2012, she has worked hard to transform it into a dream home for her family, and the result is indeed dreamy. Without further ado, here's an intimate look at the beautiful space that Kelly, her husband and three children call home . Tell us how you came to find your hom...

If you're using the same hair tools you've stored under your bathroom sink since college, then you are missing out on a world of amazing hair tools . Many of them may seem bizarre at first but they actually work really well — and are just what your hair might need for a healthy, shiny new look.  Sure, you could get a regular old straightener to replace your new one, but these strange, Frankenstein-esque contraptions do amazing things, like combine all of your favorite hair tools into one, detangle your hair while you straighten it, or save you lots of time in your morning routine. It can be challenging to find new tools to get the styles you want, especially when you're ordering them online. We've done the work for you, assembling this list of weird hair tools that could simplify your routine , ranging from newfangled goodies to twists on the classics. For example: if you're blow drying your hair and then straightening it, there may be a faster way.  There's a...

by Carla Nappi CONJECTURES #4 For the most part, working professional historians bring to their sources a fundamentally forensic sensibility: they tend to treat their archival scraps like so many clues , which, rightly read, permit the reconstruction of events and persons. There is much to be said for this program, which works pretty well. But it does have its limits. For instance, certain old tidbits afford a queer intimacy with the past that seems to exceed their evidentiary utility. A death mask may display, trapped in white plaster, a single hair once belonging to the human whose visage we contemplate. The hair is of severely limited utility to a practicing historian, yet it rather seethes with an urgent presencing of the past — and that clearly has something to do with the work of history. So what’s to be done? In this excerpt from a larger project, the imaginative historian of Chinese science Carla Nappi permits a dreamscape to rise from four archival fragments — four obliqu...

Over the past 3 years we’ve learned a lot about what makes or breaks a trip with an infant. We’ve also learned that traveling with one baby is very different than traveling with two (shocking, I know). Let’s just say, I’ve gained a huge respect for those brave families that travel with 3 or 4 little ones. To you, I tip my hat. Last week, I received a message from a nervous mother about to take her infant on a flight for the very first time. I vividly remember feeling the same anxiety before our first few trips with Braydon (our first born). In preparation for her trip, she asked me to share my most useful baby travel tips . I sent her the link to our other blog Tips for Baby Travel  and later realized we haven’t written a detailed “ baby travel tips ” article on this site. We get asked this question quite often, so I thought it was about time we wrote a post dedicated to baby travel. We’ ve intentionally limited the amount of baby posts we publish on this site because we know a lot o...