THE AMBER DEA LUX JOURNAL

Your house doesn't need to be perfect. It just needs to stop yelling at you. There are days when I swear I can't concentrate because there's a pile of crap sitting on the kitchen counter. It's not doing anything. It's just sitting there. Mail. Sunglasses. A receipt I apparently believe I'll need someday. A charger that belongs to God knows what. Three things that need to go upstairs and have been patiently waiting for someone to take them there. Technically, none of this shou

Because we can't stop time—but we can stop wasting money pretending we can. The quest for youth has made billions for companies that know exactly how to sell us one very profitable idea: Looking older is a problem that needs to be fixed. Wrinkle cream. Firming cream. Lifting serum. Brightening serum. Eye cream. Neck cream. Some mysterious little bottle containing approximately six drops of something that costs more than dinner. Enough. I'm not anti-skincare. I love taking car

Every year it starts the same way. "This is the year." The year I lose the weight. The year I get toned. The year I fit into the clothes hanging in the back of my closet. The year I finally feel comfortable in a bathing suit. The year I become the version of myself I've been promising for years. Then life happens. Work gets busy. Stress shows up. Someone gets sick. Money gets tight. Motivation disappears. Menopause decides to choose violence. The months pass. And suddenly it'