ISSUE THIRTY SEVEN

GIFTS FROM SKYE AND KRISTIN, ASHTRAYS AND/OR SOAP DISHES

Nov 02, 2025

I left LA with my mom and the baby on Monday at 11AM and got to Barcelona on Tuesday at 6PM, sleepless and covered in every sort of excrement possible. The driver who picked us up was in a 15 y/o Mercedes with brown interior that smelt like cigarettes. He started to drive before the car seat was clicked in. I love it here.

It’s nice to be in a place where the government, however currently flawed and historically fraught, has a basic interest in keeping their population nourished, educated and healthy. 2025 America is so brittle. I am sure you all know, as of yesterday, 42 million Americans (including 16 million children) have lost their access to food via the SNAP program. NY Mag did a nice succinct article on how to help Families loosing SNAP Benefits. Here’s a list of food banks in NYC and another list in LA.

So, before I carry on to introducing my GIFT GUIDE SERIES, I should say that the greatest gift you could give this year might be charitable. These are unprecedented times and before you go buy superfluous bullshit (that is my job to sell to you) I hope you consider how you can also help the people around you.

onto the STUFF:

I’m not really one to brag, but I give excellent gifts. This skill isn’t something I was born with, I learned it by receiving great gifts. Over the next few weeks, I will be unveiling the GIFT SHOPPE in a sexy new platform. This will be done collaboratively with the friends and family who have given me said great gifts.

We’re going to start off STRONG with a double feature: the power couple SKYE CHAMBERLAIN and KRISTIN PALMER. These two are magic makers. In their spare time, they own and curate FROLICH HOUSE- in the former home Finn Frolich, a historic 1920’s building in the style of a Venetian row house built by the artist himself. Very much worth visiting for a tour! By day Kristin is the design director of DAVID NETTO inc and Skye shows his ceramics, furniture, vessels and lighting at NICKEY KEHOE, and JACQUELINE SULLIVAN GALLERY. They also paint extremely charming murals together. HIRE THEM.

Every year they paint me or my kids a card for our birthdays. Onto their extraoridnary recs:

1. The Joint Scissors

Who doesn’t want to engage in a bit of fish butchery? I want to cut a tuna head apart with these. Or maybe just open a package of beans. These would be great in the garden too.

2. Frolich House Small Column Lamp

Our favorite lamp. Based on a small marble lamp we spotted in a store while on the east coast a few summers ago. Hand turned by me in my Alhambra, CA studio and can be ordered either with a parchment or shirred silk shade. Excellent for the bar! Or the bedroom.

3. Apulian Fish Plate

My interpretation of an Apulian fish plate ca. 340 - 320 BC, depicting three sea-perch. This platter is great for entertaining or could do equally well hung on the wall.

High fire ceramic, fired in one of two kilns in my Mom’s garage in South Pasadena, CA.

4. Brady bag

Kristin bought this in Toronto at a store called “Gravity Pope” that was right by our hotel. We are obsessed with this bag and also the name “gravity pope”. Sadly it seems they no longer sell them there.

5. Alessi Giant Grater

Introduce a bit of performance art into suppertime. I like to rain down parmesan onto my pasta e fagioli with this bad boy while Kristin shouts at me to get down off of my chair.

6. Schostal pajamas

Goddammit these pajamas look cozy. Look at this guy! Not a care in the world. We’re waiting for our next trip to Rome to buy these (what can I say I’m afraid of tariffs) - but our friends Blake and Sabine swear by them. Until then we can just imagine wearing these whilst sipping a cappuccino and reading La Gazzetta dello Sport in bed on a Sunday somewhere on Pantelleria.

7. Nest Knit socks

Dane is the man. He makes the most incredible Merino wool socks in his one man factory in the hills of North Carolina on one of two Italian sock knitting machines. I made custom socks with him a few years ago and it was one of the best collaborations I’ve ever embarked on. Absolutely bombproof and extremely cozy.

8. Sondergaard Salad Bowl

Kristin bought this from the David Mellor store in London this past April. The store is stocked with lots of craft pottery from European makers that you just can’t really find in the US. The “denim” glaze is incredibly matte and intensely saturated. Perfect for a little salad on the deck. They’re sold out online so everyone reading this should book a trip to London right now and by the time you get there it will probably be back in stock .

9. Danton scarf

Kristin gave me this scarf for Christmas last year and I love it. I wear it whenever we go to a cold clime (wearing a scarf in LA feels... wrong). She bought it from Noodle Stories which is a funky designer clothing store on Beverly that’s been around for ages. They are the ONLY west coast stockist of Danton, a great heritage French brand which is under Japanese ownership - this type of company could be the hidden theme of this gift guide... see Brady Bag. Sadly they’re sold out (it was last year after all) but you can find it here.

10. Real Mccoy’s Grizzly Bear Jacket

I tried this on once at a clothing store on the Upper East Side and I had a bit of an identity crisis. Who would I be if I owned this? I would be cozy. Cozy is the other theme of this gift guide. Handmade in Japan by true historical repro freaks. Apparently this style of jacket dates from 1910 and was originally called a “fur blouse”. I want a fur blouse.

11. Beuron Christmas Cards

Manufactum has a whole section devoted to Monastery made goods. Who doesn’t love trinkets made by monks? These cards are gorgeous and they’re from the printing office of the Benedictine Abbey of Beuron. I love the hand cream I bought from the Manufactum store in Berlin that came from the Abbaye Notre-Dame de Ganagobie. Whenever Benj comes for a visit he goes straight for the hand cream because he “loves the smell”. Support the monasteries! Capitalism for Christ!

12. Watercolor set from Kremer Pigments and Kominsky sable brushes

This is the best watercolor set I’ve ever owned. Small enough to travel with but enough paint to really go crazy. The colors are unusual because they’re earth pigments and not synthetic. And the metal case has so far proved to be indestructible. Must be used with a Kominsky sable brush. They’re worth every penny!

13. Jeremy Lee cookbook

One of our favorite cookbooks. The “Ashets & Chargers” section is so fun. Wouldn’t you like to make an enormous roast chicken salad and announce to your guests they are about to eat SALMAGUNDY? . There’s an entire section on Salsify (a most curious root vegetable). Wouldn’t you like to try that? NB: it’s delicious. Buy the book from Kitchen Arts and Letter, a great neighborhood cookbook store on the Upper East Side. Fuck Amazon!

14. Crowley Vintage Sweater

Kristin bought this sweater at Crowley over the summer and she gets more compliments on it than just about anything. We spent roughly 3 hours in the store with Tyler and Jake, browsing, trying things on, goofing around and taking pictures. Despite the fact that you have to wear a covid mask in the store, it was just about the best retail experience in recent memory. It’s like a museum of Prep where you can actually buy things. And the prices are not too insane. Go there and find the sweater of your dreams... Cozy.

love, SKYE AND KRISTIN.

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GOD MY FRIENDS ARE CUTE AS HELL.

Because I cant help myself I have also provided: