Simone Oliver is no stranger to the practice of cold calling. In fact, she’s something of an artist when it comes to shooting off emails sans prior context, introducing herself to folks she admires, or sliding into various DMs. “I’ve noticed that young employees tend to have a lot of anxiety around hitting people up out of the blue,” she says. “And I usually tell them to just do it — but do it with intention.” And as R29’s Global Editor-In-Chief, her career advice is certainly worth heeding.

But what, exactly, does “with intention” mean? Well, according to Oliver, it requires a little more care than a quick, quippy email asking for a phone call or an informational interview. Instead, she says cold calling (or emailing or DMing) is about specificity: Know what you want, and ask for it. Be clear about why you admire the recipient of your message. Come to your phone call with three things you’re hoping to work through. And perhaps most importantly, keep in touch afterwards — not just when you need something. Reach out when a contact of yours gets a new job or shares a new project. Reach out when you want to share a project of your own. Let that relationship become larger than a transactional back-and-forth.

Landing your dream job isn’t all about networking, though. It’s about pushing the envelope, too. In fact, years ago, when Oliver worked on staff at the New York Times, she urged the paper to create its first Instagram account. She was met with plenty of hesitancy from her higher-ups, being that the platform wouldn’t directly encourage users to subscribe to the paper. But she was steadfast: “If we were going to be talking to the next generation, it was really important that we meet them where they were,” she says. “So I started [the account].”

At the time, she was terrified of losing her job as a result. But now, that very Instagram account is a central part of her story, and her career journey writ large. And it’s one she takes pride in. “You can’t let fear stop you from doing what you need to do,” she says.

Watch the video above for more advice from Oliver on securing the job of your dreams, overcoming insecurity, and fighting for what you need in the workplace.

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Okay, we’ve all wondered what we look like during sex: Am I making a weird face? Is my hair doing that staticky thing again?? When’s the last time I shaved my arm pits?! Be it a question of frank curiosity or a matter of self-consciousness, the optics around sex can absolutely make it hard to be present.

“It’s normal to feel distracted by what we look like [during sex], — what ‘sexy’ is, or what ‘sexy’ isn’t,” says Brandi Sellerz, certified doula, founder of online sex positivity forums Mothers In Color and Not So Private Parts, and mother of three. “But we have to find ways to block out that noise.”

As she sees it, improving our sex lives — and quieting some of our mental hang-ups around sex — requires candor. If we spend more time talking openly about sex, we’ll spend less time stuck in our heads while we’re…getting it on. 

That’s why, in this installment of R29’s Sex Talk — a video series devoted to advice column-style Q&As about the more taboo topics under the umbrella of intimacy — Sellerz is offering tons of answers to some of the hard-to-ask sex questions we’ve all been avoiding addressing: How do you bring up condom usage with your partner? How does Plan B One-StepⓇ emergency contraception actually work — and should you be splitting the cost? Should you keep emergency contraception on hand if you’re in a committed relationship?

Watch the video, below, for frank, digestible answers to all of the above (and more). 

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You know how sometimes, you’re dating someone but you’re not dating someone? Sure, you go on dates, you keep a toothbrush at their apartment, you co-habited during a global pandemic — but be warned: In 2021, these things do not a relationship make. 

In our current dating landscape, nobody’s your romantic partner until you say they are, goddamn it. In between a first encounter and a full-blown capital R Relationship, there are any number of other buckets you might find yourself in. And if you’re having trouble determining what in the Sam Hill is going on between you and your whatever-they-are, odds are you're in A Situationship. 

Broadly speaking, a situationship is — shockingly enough — a situational relationship. You have not yet DTR-ed (Defined The Relationship), but something is happening. With that said, the dipping-your-toes stage of intimacy doesn't exactly lend itself well to the holiday season. Do you introduce this person to your visiting family members? Are you supposed to spend New Year's together? And what on earth are you supposed to gift them?!

Well, we can’t answer even a single one of your lingering questions about the nature of your not-quite-counterpart, but on the gifting front, we can offer our services. 'Tis the season for showing love (or the potential for love) with treats, trinkets, and acts of kindness. And you need not gift your person a sports car just to show them that you care. That's why we partnered with Target to help you navigate the joyful, awkward nuances of holiday gifting when you're dating someone new. Ahead, shop the absolute best, appropriately non-committal (but still affectionate!) gifts on the market. 

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Sure, there was probably a time when donning a tailored “power suit” indicated that you were either a business exec or a presidential candidate — but we’ve long since abandoned that notion. These days, a proper suit also makes for perfectly acceptable attire for a wedding, or a dinner party, or, hell, a trip to the supermarket. It’s everyday wear — a buttoned-up answer to athleisure. And more than ever before, high-end designers and fast-fashion brands alike are churning out suit options that cater to every personality.

“For me, wearing bold and colorful suits in a courtroom is my opportunity to express myself — in a space that’s male-dominated and needless to say, pretty static in terms of clothing,” says New York-based immigration lawyer, Elaisa Rubio. “As a young woman and a person of color, I already stand out in the courtroom...so the thing that makes me feel most confident is a vibrant power suit. It’s my way of bringing personality and power into my aesthetic. And there’s no shortage of attorneys in simple black suits.”

We’re seeing that version of emboldened, sartorially spirited suiting across runways, in offices, and in popular television shows. In fact, BET+’s latest series Sacrifice centers around an entertainment lawyer who, like Rubio, spends a great deal of time juggling professionalism and personal expression — in some decidedly memorable suits. 

So, in time with the show’s release (November 4) — and the emergence of layering season — we’re rounding up the best, most ground-breaking, era-defining power suits on the market right now. Shop for your next dress-code-enforced engagement, ahead.

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Maybe you know Paula Patton for her early role in Hitch opposite Will Smith. Perhaps you were a fan of the background vocals she laid for Usher in the mid-2000s. Decades ago, maybe you saw her in a high school performance of The Crucible. But surely, with the release of BET+’s Sacrifice this November, your Patton association will take a new shape — as Daniella Hernandez, the quick-witted entertainment lawyer at the center of the much-anticipated series. 

The show is a continuation of BET+’s 2019 feature film of the same title. And the original legal thriller — which also starred Patton — revolves around Hernandez’s experience navigating high-society Hollywood as a legal aid to the rich and famous. In short, she’s an asset to the stars, but not a star herself, which, as you can imagine, creates some social…complications.

The television continuation takes a similar course: Throughout the series, the show aims to dig deep into the psyche of a woman who struggles with addiction, romantic commitment, and the questionable ethics that come with defending debauchery on behalf of her clients. And for Patton, who has now spent years inhabiting Hernandez’s brain onscreen, the role is about as personal as it gets. “I’ve always connected with Daniella’s drive and strength,” she says. “She’s consumed with her career and she’s a total force. She always rises to the task at hand.”

So, in anticipation of the new show — which will stream on BET+ starting November 4 — we sat down with Patton to discuss her own experience navigating A-list Hollywood crowds, what she admires most about her onscreen character, and her advice to anyone looking to break into the industry. Ahead, take a look at her experience tackling the role before you start streaming. 

What parts of Daniella Hernandez do you personally identify with most?

“Daniella’s spirit is a flame. She has a great combination of fire and passion, but she also has a truly compassionate side. She cares deeply about the people around her. In the show, you can tell she’s starting to really look at her life and question things. She’s exploring how she can live a better life — one where she can be proud to look in the mirror.”

Which parts of Daniella’s character are most difficult for you to access? 

“The most difficult thing for me to connect with is her ruthlessness and her willingness to turn a blind eye to wrongdoing in order to achieve her goals. Unlike me, Daniella has an ability to turn off her feelings. It’s often difficult to play someone who can harden her heart like that. I’m all heart — so it was challenging for me.”

What are the characteristics you admire most about Daniella?

“What I admire most about Daniella is her tenacity. She truly never loses sight of her goals. And in spite of plentiful obstacles and challenges, she never falls down. Yes, she may wobble — but still, she never falls. Instead, she keeps persevering and working toward her goals. What I’ve tried to take away from that ethos in my own life is a sense of empowerment and the belief that you can absolutely accomplish anything if you really focus. In order to succeed, you have to have unwavering faith and determination.”

In many ways, the show exposes the dark underbelly of the Hollywood social scene. How does Sacrifice speak to your personal experience?

“My experience in Hollywood has been both good and bad. In some ways, Sacrifice touches on the things that are good, exciting, and joyful about this creative business. But at the same time, it also deals with the corrupt and ugly parts of this industry whereby people can be deceitful, greedy, and manipulative. 

“I, personally, have experienced both of those sides of Hollywood life. There was a time when those challenging parts of the business deeply impacted me. But now, I work hard to focus on the good parts — and as a result, [being a part of this scene] has become a more enjoyable experience for me. I absolutely love acting, and I feel so blessed to be able to do what I do — so that’s the only part I focus on now.” 

What are some ways you cope or step back when you need to reset? 

“During this project, the best coping mechanism for me was to remind myself to be present in the moment and acknowledge my gratitude — through yoga, meditation, bike rides, hiking. Always, I make a point to listen to music every day, and to laugh with my coworkers. Plus, dancing gives me an amazing endorphin rush.”

What social advice might you give young actors or musicians entering the entertainment industry?

“I would tell the younger generation that their behavior will be remembered. When socializing, be aware of your integrity — and be mindful that, in Hollywood, often you’re dealing in business and not friendship.” 

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"Dinner Party" may conjure any number of vivid images for you: the 12 apostles gathered 'round a table of Biblical length, a gaggle of friends dispensing birthday cake on a park blanket, Thanksgiving in all its Chaotic Good. The very nature of the thing is famously wide-ranging — and yet, across the board, the general recipe remains fixed: You'll need people, conversation, and, well, dinner.

Looking back a few centuries, a dinner party likely involved suits of armor and outsized legs of mutton. In more recent history, folks took a decidedly elevated approach (think: paper invitations, dessert forks, palate cleansers). And at present, it would seem we've landed somewhere else entirely: now, "dinner party" makes fewer demands. We need not offer separate spoons for soup nor are we required to joust for our poultry. Which is to say, it’s your party and you can cry if you want to...or, you can simply host however you damn well please.

So, while you go ahead and mood-board your forthcoming soiree, we’re taking care of the easy part. Ahead, we've compiled the most fun, original tablescape necessities on the market. From clever candles and artisanal serving bowls to washable table cloths and coasters, these are the goods that’ll cement your status as host of the century.

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R29 is proud to partner with Cricut, to explore the ways independent entrepreneurs are transforming modes of creativity into thriving small businesses.

Back in prehistoric times, when thrifting was relegated to brick-and-mortar venues only, the very act of second-hand shopping was marked by serendipity. It was a “stumble upon” economy whereby some of us were eternally luckier than others. In the present tense, though — when “thrifting” implies Poshmark search terms, Depop “influencers,” and certificates of authentication from The RealReal — the whole project of resale is an indisputably calculated affair. And for veteran thrift dealer Lucy Bergstrom, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. 

“When I was young, thrifting wasn’t cool,” she says. “I remember being so embarrassed about the fact that I purchased all my clothes second-hand. But in recent years, it feels like we’ve totally turned that notion on its head — and in a big way, we have social media to thank.”

In spite of her young reticence, Bergstrom grew to love the process of combing through thrifted garments. And by the time she went to college to study fashion merchandising — and familiarized herself with the looming evils of fast fashion — she was firmly devoted to the project of opening a vintage shop of her own with sustainability at the heart of its mission. And thus, Moby Thrift was born: a roving thrift store housed in an airstream trailer in Utah, helmed by Bergstrom and her husband Drew.

At the time, in 2005, IRL thrift shopping was simply the standard. There was no Facebook Marketplace, there were no “Depop Girls” — and while vintage stores were using Instagram as a marketing tool, on the whole, they weren’t using their social media platforms to actually sell their products. But Bergstrom noted that this felt like a missed opportunity. “The point of being mobile as a store was to reach as many people as possible, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized how many more people we could reach online — so we started selling on Instagram,” she says. “Our home essentially became a shipping locker. You couldn’t see an inch of it under all the vintage clothes.”

As a mode of guerilla marketing, in the hopes of getting eyes on their Instagram shop, Bergstrom and her husband partnered with a number of local influencers who were vying to sell their clothes, and offered to take over the project. In exchange for promotion on the influencers’ feeds, Moby Thrift would sell, package, and ship their clothes for them. “We’ve never paid for an ad, but those influencers alone earned us tens of thousands of followers right at the get-go — and we realized we really could run a thrift store on Instagram.”

At present, the shop’s modes of operation have shifted slightly. Beyond Instagram sales (which are still thriving), you can also shop Moby Thrift’s goods in a dedicated brick-and-mortar location in Provo, Utah — one of the first vintage retail venues in the state. And while they’ve run out of time (and space) to hawk influencer’s clothing, they have added some new features to their inventory: Beyond second-hand goods, they’ve also been customizing vintage T-shirts and adding creative detailing to repurposed garments through the use of their trusty, beloved Cricut smart cutting machine.

As if that’s not enough, in 2020, Bergstrom also found the time to launch a second business on the side: Retroflect. Born out of the same sustainability mission, the newly formed venture is all about turning vintage mirrors into works of art. Using her own handmade Cricut stencils, Bergstrom paints, draws, or illustrates on said mirrors, repurposing the antique goods as custom works of art. And in the vein of marketing, she’s found a new digital platform to boost sales: “TikTok has been a major help with Retroflect,” she says. “When we were getting started, I posted a video about my process — and it instantly went viral. It drove so many sales. So, now I’m just trying to keep that momentum going.”

In the meanwhile, as our social media landscape continues to shapeshift — and in turn, so too do our modes of buying and selling vintage garb — we sat down with Bergstrom to chat about the future of thrifting. Ahead, learn more about customized vintage, TikTok marketing, and the ins and outs of a social media thrift economy.

Where do you source the items you sell? 

“We started off just buying in bulk from other thrift vendors — in person, or on Craigslist, or on eBay. We’d purchase these huge bundles of stuff, and we’d spend hours and hours every day digging through giant stores, trying to find the pieces we thought our customers would be interested in. We probably did that for about a year before we started accepting large portions of our inventory from influencers. 

“Now, since Drew is doing most of the buying for Moby Thrift, he’s really become part of a thrifting community. He makes trades with other re-sellers, or he sources through vintage-forward communities on Facebook Marketplace. We attend the occasional estate sale. And then, we customize some pieces of our own.”

What kinds of custom pieces are you making?

“Of late, we’ve started recreating vintage style T-shirts. Last year, we came out with a vintage-style Princess Diana shirt by silk screening second-hand tees — and it was so popular, it sold out several times. But for the most part, we’re adding our own custom tags to garments with our Cricut machine, designing labels on baseball cards, and adding little personal bits of stitching or color on pieces we’re feeling excited about. That part of the business is what feels really special: Thanks to Cricut, we get to add such a unique, individualized touch to everything we make. We leave our mark.

“Then, in the home goods realm, I’m taking vintage mirrors and other used home goods and painting or drawing onto them with homemade Cricut stencils, I recently made a pair of these twin, giant ‘70s-style mirrors with rainbows stretching across, and I totally love how they turned out. It’s just been such a fun process because we get to exercise all this creativity without going against our sustainability mission. We just love bringing that individuality to people’s homes and wardrobes while also taking care of the planet.

“That said, it’s really, really hard to scale something on a custom level when you’re as small of an operation as we are. So, often, we’ll have these ideas, but we just won’t have the means to produce enough quantity to keep up with demand. But regardless of what happens on the custom end, we don’t want to lose the vintage feel. We still want to bring things back from the dead — but we also want to add some little personal flair. So…we’re still in the trial-and-error phase of executing that.”

What was the process of opening your brick-and-mortar store like? 

“We actually opened in the midst of the pandemic — this past December. Of course, we were nervous about it — but we knew we’d follow precautions, and we’d been making a steady income throughout the whole quarantine period since we’d always been a social media-first vendor. And we kind of felt like it could be a nice soft start — we could see how it went having the brick-and-mortar space without getting too overwhelmed, since we’d only been online for years. 

“That said, it’s something we had wanted for a really long time. Over the past few years, we’ve done a ton of pop-up shops — almost monthly. And that’s where a huge quantity of our sales were coming from. The problem was, our entire house was just full of inventory. So it was kind of nice to take our time moving our full inventory into this new space. But we don’t want to be open all the time — we kind of want to treat this space like a more formal pop-up. We want to be open around two days a week to still preserve that special, pop-up feel. And last October, when we stumbled upon this perfect space, we felt like we had to take it. Even though it was during the pandemic, and we weren’t making as much money as we were used to, we just couldn’t let this opportunity pass us by.”

Do you still sell on Instagram in addition to your brick-and-mortar shop? 

“We do use Instagram to sell, still — and it’s still where most of our sales are coming from. We have a website as well, and we sell plenty of things in stores, but we can just reach so many more people online. Around once a week, we’ll do an IG story sale where we’ll just throw a bunch of clothes up on our story, and people message us if they want to purchase.  Then, our website is mostly for rarer, more expensive collector’s items. Things that we don’t expect to casually sell in stores or on Instagram. And this applies both to our clothing and our home goods. It’s just kind of a fully combined enterprise.”

Can you tell me about your experience using TikTok as a marketing tool, in addition to Instagram?

“It’s been a journey, and I’m totally still learning. It definitely has its ups and downs. The first Retroflect TikTok post I made blew up, and I got 6,000 followers instantly, and that drove so many sales. But then, I felt like I couldn’t quite keep up! It’s hard to churn out TikTok content the way you would on a different platform. 

I still haven’t totally matched that initial video, but it was this great reminder for me that people like this content, they like this concept, they like what I’m doing. That particular video was all about walking through my DIY method, from the initial Cricut processes through the final product, so I know that works. Then, in the broader sense, I’ve really re-focused myself on video. I’m spending way more time making Reels or giving IGTV a shot because I think video, as a format, is the future of social media — so we’re going to have to get on board if we’re going to keep up. It’s just so much trial and error. but like, if you go viral, it could literally change your life. But I will say, making TikToks feels like it could be a whole, full-time job. It’s crazy. I’m so admiring of the folks who make it look so easy to make great stuff.”

Do you think this pivot to social media thrifting is a good thing in the long run? Is it changing the landscape of vintage shopping for the better? 

“It’s funny, in a way, I feel like thrifting in its current mode has developed the opposite stigma it had while I was growing up. It used to be sort of uncool and inaccessible, and now, there’s this narrative that resale is actually becoming too privileged. Often, I’ll see girls on Instagram showing off their ‘thrift hauls’ — and sometimes they’ll resell from there. Sure, there are definitely parts of that that aren’t ideal. Of course, influencers shouldn’t be sourcing from spaces that are meant for low income families, but at the same time, the world will literally never run out of clothing. The fast fashion industry has made that entirely impossible. So the more people who can recycle and who can resell, the better. I just love the idea of slowing things down — and anybody who resells is, in a way, contributing to slowing down the fashion market. 

“Of course, there are things that should change. We should absolutely be responsible about where we’re sourcing from. And I do think people get a little bit crazy with their prices — your standard, second-hand shirt doesn’t need to cost $50. But on the whole, I think that this whole realm of social media has done so much incredible work to destigmatize buying your clothing second-hand, and extending the lifecycle of a garment, and in the long run, I think it’s really the best offense against fast fashion that we have.”

Is there anything you wish the social media thrifting landscape did differently?

“As folks with public-facing fashion platforms, I think we need to find ways of becoming more democractic. Of course there will always be vendors of rare or designer goods, but I think social media provides a really cool opportunity for us to reach all different demographics with curated thrift. That’s one of the cool things about being a rare breed of thrift store in Utah — I feel like we’re drawing in a unique crowd. But in the future, I’m really hoping that Instagram initiates something similar to Facebook marketplace, where you don’t need to have a following or be ‘in the know’ to buy and sell exciting used goods. For most of Gen Z, it seems like Facebook or Craigslist are kind of lost relics, so I feel like we need that kind of service on Instagram.

“In addition to that, though, I would love for us all to spend more time on education. There’s so much false information disseminated so quickly by all kinds of brands, and I think we’d all be more conscious consumers if we really understood what was happening around us in the fast fashion industry. And this goes beyond fashion — it applies to your mattress, your appliances, your utensils, and so on. And if people really understood how easily they could purchase everything second-hand, I think they’d be doing it way more.”

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In theory, there are few spaces quite so antithetical to inner peace as the interior of a subway car. But for group meditation guide Jackie Cantwell, meditating in transit is a matter of practicality. As she sees it, even New York’s most certifiably Zen patrons still have places to be and F trains to catch — so why not kill two birds with one MetroCard? “Learning to meditate in Manhattan is a little like being thrown into the deep end of a pool,” she says. “But once you stop fighting it — once you settle into the idea of beeping car horns and moving ground, it all stops feeling like it’s working against you. It becomes part of what peace sounds like.”

For Cantwell, the relationship between sound and meditation goes deeper than the loud, ambient noise of New York. In fact, sonic curation is a major part of her day-to-day. As a musical facilitator for breath and meditation ceremonies working closely with major meditation hubs like Medi Club and The Big Quiet, she composes and performs music meant to elicit a feeling of Zen, using sound bowls (Tibetan bell-like instruments that create droning, harmonic waves of sound). And she’s no novice: When New York’s lockdown commenced, she’d just completed a major tour circuit with Oprah (yes, that Oprah) playing sound bowls at guided meditation ceremonies all over the country.

That said, for all of Cantwell’s hard-won serenity, quarantine still hit with brutal force. Just before venturing on tour, she’d moved into a new apartment — so, after months of nomadic living, she was welcomed back home with a shelter-in-place mandate, supremely white walls, and a Tetris array of stacked cardboard boxes. Feeling something like a stranger in her own space, she struggled. “I went from twice-daily meditation being a no-brainer to having to drag myself to the mat — even after three years of consistent practice,” she says. “I know everyone was experiencing extreme levels of anxiety and I was right there with them. I was lonely and tired and worried all the time.”

According to Cantwell, what she needed from her environs was something deeper and more complex than a dwelling-place. She needed a respite. So, in the interest of personal restoration, she set out to configure her apartment into a bonafide oasis: The sort of space that could elicit stillness — even amongst the disorderly, hackneyed motion of New York.

Fortunately, Cantwell is no stranger to the ins and outs of curation. In fact, her career in meditation burgeoned from of the art world to begin with. Growing up in Virginia with parents who worked as both art teachers and practicing artists, creative shop talk was all but second nature to her as a child. “I could discuss color and composition with my dad and his dinner guests basically by the time I could walk,” she jokes. And as she got older, her affection for visual art only strengthened: She studied painting as an undergrad in Virginia, before heading to Pratt in New York for a studio art and cultural management program — after which, she opened a notably successful Bed-Stuy gallery as a part of her thesis project. “I was doing everything I’d always wanted — I was curating and manning this buzzy gallery space and I was living this artist’s life in NYC; but things were certainly not easy,” she says. “Rent was so high and the business was so tough, I started renting my apartment out on Airbnb and sleeping in the gallery to make ends meet. I was really burned out.”

That was around the time she stumbled upon Medi Club — a rotating meditation community for New Yorkers seeking out space to participate in guided meditations, strengthen their own practices, and connect with other folks in the realms of wellness and spirituality. Almost immediately, she had the sense that this was precisely what she’d been missing. “After that, I left my boyfriend, our apartment together, the art world, and started focusing on my practice,” she says. “I plowed through self-help books, joined conversation groups, worked with local experts in my search for a better sense of self.”

At the time, Medi Club maintained a practice called “circles,” whereby members of the club could host small, intimate meditation groups in their own spaces, using helpful guidelines drawn up by the organization. After hosting a “circles” meet up of her own inside of her gallery space, Cantwell knew it was time to pursue meditation more holistically. Hence: sound bowls, the meditative soundtrack she’d grown accustomed to in her time with Medi Club. 

Now, as a full-time sound bowl musician, an up-and-coming TikTok celeb in the online meditation community, and the acting director of Medi Club (among numerous other creative side hustles), Cantwell says she’s found that the deeper she gets into this new career, the more she’s made aware that her early work in the art world informed everything that came afterwards. “Even as a kid, all my favorite works of art were experiential or installation-based — where the viewer was invited to engage, or listen, or respond,” she says. “In my older years, most of the artwork I made was installation-based, too — and at bottom, that’s not so different from communal meditation. Both practices are about digging in deep, and responding to what’s happening around you in a way that feels honest and revelatory.”

As Cantwell began to pour energy into repurposing this new space, she wanted to keep that ethos in mind: the notion that design can be both visual and healing. And having come of age in a home that was anything but minimalist, she knew she wanted color at the forefront of her household aesthetic. “I was using a color palette from a painting my dad made as a guiding light for the space — lots of loud, vibrant oranges, and sexy, warm reds,” she says. “I really wanted this space to ignite creativity in a time when I was feeling deeply uninspired.”

In lieu of a home office, being that Cantwell wasn’t exactly working a traditional 9-to-5 pre-pandemic, she keeps a meditation room. In an old-school railroad apartment, it’s centrally-located — almost like a heart. Here, she guides Zoom meditations for Medi Club and for her own personal followers. She records and facilitates sound for various clients and meditations groups. She films TikTok videos, waxing poetic about mental health and breathwork. She’s even set up a Ring video doorbell outside that connects directly to her phone, so she can accept packages or buzz in guests without halting guided meditation sessions, or interrupting her flow state when she’s reached Peak Creative Energy.

Having that dedicated space for work whilst shut in at home has certainly been a blessing in disguise. “Figuring out how to move everything I was doing in person online was certainly not easy, but I’m so wildly grateful that I’ve had the space and the time to feel it out,” she says. “The amount of screen time in my life is nuts. There are days when my eyes burn — and it can be really hard to find balance. So when I need a break from video-recording and editing, or I just need to sit and answer emails, I make sure I give myself a change of scenery.”

Typically, for Cantwell, that’s the kitchen — which is bright and warm. When designing the house, she says this room was essential. As nice as it is to have a dedicated meditation space, she explains, there’s also merit to allowing yourself to settle in and find serenity elsewhere. And she’s always felt the kitchen, in particular, operates as a powerful place to check in with yourself — to access some sense of calm. “As a kid, I loved anything with ceremony, which explains why I loved experiential art so much,” she says. “But I especially loved the ceremony of watching my mom prepare coffee in the morning. The intentionality and the artistry to it. I wanted to have space to do that same thing in my own kitchen.” And so, she has. The kitchen is far and above the brightest room in the apartment, with natural light pouring in from twin, towering windows. And in all that splashed sunlight, a square kitchen table has become her most productive space for non-meditative or recorded work. “Whether I’m answering emails with a glass of wine, or cooking and dancing to soul music, I really find that this is a space that’s full of life and motion. And that’s something that’s so important to have right now,” she says. And thanks to her Ring video doorbell, she jokes, she has the freedom to entirely lose herself in a James Brown song or a red sauce recipe without missing guests or important arrivals.

Speaking of company: Cantwell boasts that this is her first apartment spacious enough for full-scale hosting in a post-quarantine world — and it’s been designed as such. “I dream of the day I can fill this place with people,” she says. “I’ve configured every room around the idea that folks will be able to come in and experience this atmosphere with me.”

And in that sense, the apartment does accomplish its mission: it operates as an installation of its own — an environment configured, carefully, to inspire interaction amongst guests. A space that emanates warmth; that brings patrons further into themselves.

Naturally, curating a home in the midst of a city-wide lockdown has not been easy. But as someone with plenty of practice when it comes to setting intentions, Cantwell says it’s become a remarkable act of self-care — and even a meditative experience unto itself. It’s one more way in which the two most formative preoccupations in her life — visual artistry and the practice of meditation — merge. “It’s ridiculous how much time I’ve spent standing in different corners of each room to make sure the vibe feels totally correct from every angle,” she says. “But I truly love this whole place. Curating this apartment feels like one of my most extreme acts of self love to date, and I’m re-inspired by it every day.” 

Editor’s Note: While Jackie Cantwell had long thought that doorbells were a fixture of suburban houses (designed with old school doorbell wiring), she was delighted to learn that Ring’s battery-powered doorbell was an easy addition to her NYC apartment. So easy, in fact, that she set hers up in 30 minutes (without the aid of an instructional YouTube video, mind you). Learn more here if you’re interested in installing a video doorbell of your own.

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In Refinery29’s Sweet Digs, we take a look inside the sometimes small, sometimes spacious homes of millennial women and their families. This week, we tour DIY influencer Danielle Guerrero’s 1,800-square foot, self-renovated oasis in Corona, California.

Danielle Guerrero knows her way around a power saw. As far as home influencers go, her clout comes not from pristine curation or an encyclopedic knowledge of deep-cut decor brands; instead, it comes from her handiwork. She’s the queen of at-home DIY — and we’re not talking plate storage Pinterest hacks. We’re talking full-on carpentry. “I fell in love with this $5,000 coffee table, but there was no way I was going to pay that kind of money,” she says of her living room’s centerpiece. “So instead, I bought the materials, and built a similar one for $75.”

The rest of her home follows suit: You’ll find personally laid floors, a garage workshop, a homemade TV frame, the list goes on. But Guerrero’s DIY impulse is not just about aesthetics. About two years ago, just before purchasing her home, she lost her sister. And the process of building up her home — independently, with her own hands — became a means of coping.

“[DIY] made me feel in control. I felt strong,” says Guerrero. “It brought me the joy and creative release that I was missing after I lost my sister and I don’t think I would be where I am today without it. I love that I can make something out of nothing and look at that and say, ‘I DID THAT!’”

Still, as a first-time homeowner, her space continues to be a work in progress. That’s why, in this installment of Sweet Digs, we catch up with Guerrero while she renovates her backyard in real time with the help of the Home Depot app — which offers a supremely helpful product locator (complete with image search capabilities), an endless roster of available tutorials, and next-day delivery capabilities on all of the essentials (think: deck varnish and 2X4s).

Watch the video above for a BTS look at the DIY transformation (yes, there are power tools involved).

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While we're sure you've enjoyed baking sourdough and foraging for mushrooms in your bloomers, we regret to inform you that the summer (and fall) of cottagecore has come to an end (our condolences). The chilly and icy days of winter have arrived, ushering in a new core-style movement for us to obsess over. Cast aside your Little House on the Prairie frocks and get ready to embrace this season's trending aesthetic, cabincore. It's exactly what you'd imagine it to be: starting with carabiners, fire, farmhouse tables, 50 shades of flannel, and not stopping at that one ex with the four pairs of Carhartt coveralls.

Regardless of whether or not you plan to take up pipe-smoking or taxidermy, all the warm woods and rustic midcentury decor pieces that define the "I hike" aesthetic will still be having their moment. And, to help break the ice chop the log, we've pulled together a roster of market picks that best encapsulate cabincore. Pull-on your handknit pair of 100% wool socks, cast your bespoke fishing line, and shop them all ahead.

At Refinery29, we’re here to help you navigate this overwhelming world of stuff. All of our market picks are independently selected and curated by the editorial team. All product details reflect the price and availability at the time of publication. If you buy something we link to on our site, Refinery29 may earn commission.

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