Spring refresh
The beginning of spring, delightful milk bread and a home fragrance brand.
That spring feeling
What I love most about the weather during this time of year is how the air holds the promise of spring. When there’s birdsong, the kind of sunlight you haven’t seen in ages, and you just know that the barren branches will soon be bursting with life. It has this magical, restorative quality that has made my cold and grumpy walks feel more hopeful. We don’t always get to enjoy proper spring weather here in Canada, but here’s hoping that spring gets to stretch its limbs a little more this year.
Side note: this meme made me laugh because well, it’s basically me right now.
You’ve got buns, hun
One of the best things to grace my Instagram feed is Eric Kim’s Maple Milk Bread, also fondly known as the butt bread. He wrote about it in the New York Times and you can also find the recipe in his new cookbook, Korean American: Food That Tastes Like Home. The dough, when it’s placed side to side, resembles a butt and what is more joyful than that?? In the cookbook, Kim writes, “It never stops sparking joy to come back after 60 minutes to find that my butt bread has doubled in size.” Baking butt bread is officially on my to-do list.
A new home fragrance brand
Luvo, a Montreal-based home fragrance brand, was one of my favourite discoveries at the One Of A Kind show this year. I was immediately drawn to the moody, forest green bottles on display. Plus, the kiosk smelled really good. Like what really excellent hotel lobbies smell like. If you're a Le Labo-wearing type, there’s plenty to choose from, like fig and birch bark (my favourite), wild vetiver and suede, and honey and bourbon. The scents are available as candles, room sprays, diffusers and even wax melts and scented medallions. The brand smells luxe, but at the fraction of the price, making it a total steal.
What brings you joy, Madelyn Chung?
Madelyn Chung is a freelance writer and the founder of the RepresentASIAN Project.
“One thing that brings me joy lately is Spice Girl Eats' Chai Concentrate. I've never been the biggest fan of chai, but there's something about founder Becca Pereira's mix that I am obsessed with. The concentrate makes drinks easy to make, and I truly look forward to my daily (or twice daily) chai, whether over ice with oat milk, or a hot ‘dirty’ version with a couple shots of espresso. The aroma of the spices remind me to take a mindful moment to appreciate all that is around me.”
From my bookmarks:
J.Crew does Liberty prints for its home collection
24 hours of spicy ramen and sunset beach views with Lana Condor
Tacos for iftar during Ramadan
Bridgerton set decorator shares her moodboard secrets
A German airline’s stripey new look