Pottery Barn Teens & the Best Cereal from Costco
A Sunday Collection 8.27.23
When I was twelve, my life’s purpose was to recreate the Pottery Barn Teen catalog in my own bedroom, without the help of a Pottery Barn budget. As an introverted pre-teen, I craved a boldly decorated oasis with beaded curtains, vibrant bedding, and colorful walls. My mom did let me (ahem, my dad) paint my bedroom bright green with hot pink trim, and I did indeed have a beaded curtain in front of my closet door—but I don’t remember where my bedding came from (not Pottery Barn).
If anything was better than flipping through the Pottery Barn catalog, it was watching Disney Channel (a la Lizzie McGuire) and spying pieces FROM the catalog on set. Pottery Barn rooms obviously exuded main character energy—and I desperately wanted that for myself.
Almost 20 years later (*chokes*) I still enjoy puttering around Pinterest, rearranging my furniture, and acting like my life will change if I just move the pieces around a bit. I am still an interior design girly. So, imagine my utter delight when I saw my current Anthropologie sheets on TV! And, get this, I saw them on a Disney show (I do love a good bit of ironic nostalgia).
I unashamedly enjoy High School Musical: The Musical: The Series on Disney+. It’s witty, self-referential, and goofy. In Season Four, Episode One, the main girl character whose name I don’t remember sits upon a tufted, pretty bed made up with MY SHEETS. “I know those sheets!” I told my son—but he will never appreciate this weird, specific millennial girlhood joy.
We watched a little more TV than usual this week as the heat index topped out at 120, but our local libraries and Theo’s new play kitchen truly saved us.
Another lifesaver: no-cook dinners like my favorite blueberry almond crunch cereal from Costco.
Prior to the heat wave, I baked these sourdough blueberry muffins (I added a splash of whole milk to the recipe) and Starbucks-inspired gruyere and bacon egg bites. I’ll return to both grab-and-go breakfast recipes in a few weeks when I crave Sunday baking sessions again.
I finished Tom Lake by Ann Pachett even though I wanted to keep reading it forever and slowed down as much as I could. I loved it.
Speaking of Tom Lake,
and I recorded a conversation on the buzzy books we both read this summer, an annual Novel Pairings tradition I adore. Because we are who we are, we couldn’t help but discuss what “buzz” even means anymore, what patterns we’re seeing in the summer publishing schedule, and fall’s upcoming literary fiction trends. You can also listen to a free public episode on last year’s buzzy books in your favorite podcast app.
If you were a Pottery Barn Teen super fan like me, I’d love to know which specific item you desperately wanted—or which TV home you’d most like to live in.
Chelsey
PS: Don’t miss our upcoming
season!
I had one sham cover of the ribbon bedding and it made me feel like the coolest person in the world.
Wow, yes! The nostalgia of wanting Lizzy McGuire's bedding so much. That brings me back 😂 I also had a bead curtain in my room and thought it was the height of interior design in middle school!