Creativity is my job. The presentations, the books, the content, the collections, it all asks something of me creatively every single day. I’ve had stretches where it flows out of me almost faster than I can capture it. And I’ve had stretches where I sit down to work, and nothing comes.

I’ve learned that doesn’t mean the creativity is gone. Usually, it means something needs to change. These are the little tricks I’ve found helpful for hitting refresh on my brain.

Change the room

This sounds almost too simple, but it works. I love working at my desk at home. It’s where I do most of my best thinking. But sometimes what I need is to grab my laptop, walk outside and sit in a lounge chair. Or set up shop in my dining room. Working on a plane with noise-canceling headphones never hurts either.

Something about a new physical environment un-sticks my brain in a way that willpower alone can’t.

Travel

The more expensive version of changing the room, and also my absolute favorite.

Of course the architecture and interiors are inspiring to me because of what I do, so I'm always noticing those things. But I think just as much of the inspiration comes from stepping away from my routine. When I'm traveling, I'm not sitting at my computer all day; I’m walking and looking around, and generally just paying attention differently.

I’ll notice the detail on a door or the way a restaurant feels when I walk in. It almost forces a perspective shift.

Touch grass

Put down the phone. Step away from Pinterest. Go for a walk, a bike ride, or a hike. Call a friend to walk and talk. Some of my most productive creative moments have happened right after I stopped trying so hard to be creative.

Time block, and mean it

Creativity doesn’t come in the margins between meetings. I’ve learned this about myself the hard way.

When I’m working on something that requires real creative output, I need chunks of time, not slivers. Every time I’ve worked on one of my books, I’ve checked myself into a hotel for a couple of days and basically forced myself to stay in the room and focus.

It takes me a while to get going, but once I’m in it, I’m in it. I just can’t get there in 30 minutes. It takes me longer than that just to warm up.

Ask for a second set of eyes

Some of my favorite breakthroughs at Studio McGee have happened because I finally turned my computer around and said, “What do you think?”

We’re a collaborative team, and that’s by design. Sometimes you need someone you trust to look at your work with fresh eyes and tell you what they see.

Sometimes they confirm what you were already feeling, and sometimes they point out something you hadn’t considered. Either way, you leave the conversation unstuck.

Having people you trust enough to show unfinished work to is one of the most underrated creative assets.

Hit the books

For me, that’s coffee table books. I’ve collected them for years, and I mean it when I say they’re a tool, not just something pretty to put on a table.

When I’m feeling stalled creatively, I’ll sit down and go through them slowly. I keep sticky notes nearby and mark the pages that stop me, then come back to them later. It gets my brain working in a different way, and it feels like a visual treat instead of work. Win-win.

Collect without a purpose

This might be the thing that’s changed the way I approach creativity the most.

I’ve learned that the best way to get out of a creative rut actually starts before you’re in one. I’m always collecting inspiration without necessarily knowing what I’m going to use it for. I’ll save an image, notice something while traveling, or file away a feeling I want to remember. There doesn’t have to be an assignment attached to it.

Then when I do need an idea, I’m not starting from zero. I have all of these things I’ve been taking in along the way to pull from.

I really do think inspiration is almost everywhere if you’re looking for it. After doing this for so many years, I’ve trained myself always to be soaking it in.

A creative rut doesn’t mean you’ve run out of ideas. Usually, you just need to change something. Give yourself enough uninterrupted time to find your way into it, and eventually, the flow always comes back.

• A great pair of transitional flats.

• These Bose earbuds allow me to hear audiobooks and kids at the same time.

• This claw clip from Target.

• Cannot maintain sanity without my Brick.

• This hand-painted vase.

Love, Shea

I eventually went on a course of Accutane, and that dramatically transformed my skin for the better. It gave me a place to maintain instead of having to fight the battle every single day. Now, if my skin starts flaring again, I’ll do a round of doxycycline, and that usually kicks it for a few years.

The last few years, especially after having babies, I’ve been able to do a more intense regimen that really works for me. I approach skincare like a hobby. I genuinely enjoy my routine morning and night, but I’m also a very routine-oriented person in every aspect of my life.

The biggest thing I’ve learned is that you have to get really good at listening to your skin and being patient enough to change only one thing at a time. That way you actually know what’s making the difference and how your skin reacts.

I’m also not someone who’s very into the trending skincare products at Sephora. I want science-backed products recommended by my esthetician and dermatologist. Sticking with that and not getting pulled into trends has been really important for my skin health.

Current Product Lineup

I know what works for me right now, so I stick to it. If I notice something that needs a little tweak, I’ll do some research, talk to my esthetician, and swap one thing in or out rather than changing everything at once. Some products stay, some go, but this is exactly what I’m using right now.

Read more

This was back when I was designing houses on my own and daydreaming about being the shop around the corner, a la Meg Ryan in You've Got Mail. Instead, we sold our house, moved to Utah, and poured everything we had into building the design firm, then e-commerce. It was the safer path, and one I would choose again. Those years gave us the design expertise, manufacturing relationships, and ability to develop our own products.

The idea of a store came back in 2018 in the most accidental way. Syd was in Costa Mesa buying a surfboard, and I wandered across the street into a small home boutique and struck up a conversation with the owner. A few months after I left, she messaged me to say she was closing the shop: Would we want to take over her lease for a couple of years and find out whether we actually liked retail? We did, and we loved it, though we also learned very quickly that 600 square feet is not a furniture store.

So we started looking for something bigger, found it, and were a couple of weeks from signing when the dreaded March of 2020 arrived. We stepped back and decided to wait for the right time instead of forcing the wrong one.

That wait ended up lasting a few years and bringing more clarity along with it. We knew the flagship store had to be in Salt Lake City, near our headquarters, in the community that has supported us from the very beginning. And we knew it had to be big enough to work as a true showroom, with furniture you can actually sit on and a design studio with consultants on the floor. Doing it right meant finding the right building and, despite all its growth, Salt Lake doesn't have an endless supply of those. I had my eye on Trolley Square, a historic shopping center downtown, but I had no idea how we'd ever end up there.

Then a door opened through a business partnership we’d been building over the last eight years. It is the clearest proof I have that if you do good work and take care of the people you work with, things tend to work out better than you could ever plan on your own.

The space itself had been a Hard Rock Cafe and then a comedy club, with black film covering every window. It was hard to look at. But on the floor plan, I could see a beautiful rectangle hiding underneath it all. And I knew exactly what those arched windows would do for a corner like that once the film and awnings came down. It took a lot of squinting.

I got nervous as we finalized the contract, mostly because of how much work was ahead of us. But I have a long track record of willing things into existence, and I could already see this one when I closed my eyes at night.

I wrote a few weeks ago about this being the year I stopped waiting on the things I want, which is true. But this store felt like the one thing where waiting was the point. Plenty of designers and brands have opened stores much faster than we have, and I won't pretend that didn't get to my competitive streak now and then. In the end, though, I think the timeline was getting us ready rather than holding us back.

We open at the end of September, and last week was the first time I felt genuinely excited because it finally started to look like a store. The lights are going in, the cabinetry is getting installed, and better than all of that, it's starting to feel like a home. That's always the goal for us, commercial space or not.

It still feels risky, and I don’t want to pretend otherwise, because the leases are long, the overhead is high, and some part of me still wonders whether anyone will show up. But Syd and I have been making decisions this size together for twelve years now, and we've finally built the team this store deserves. We probably could have forced a flagship opening five years ago. I'm just not sure it would've been one this good with these people, feeling this confident.

Which is why it doesn’t feel like a finish line at all. We are already looking at the next locations, and I think we’re just getting warmed up.

• Halloween is trickling in at McGee & Co. (I love this witch portrait)

• Want every color in our Sabre silverware.

• This dress I’m also wearing in the photo above.

• Living in these shorts lately.

• Can’t resist a good Texas tee.

Love, Shea

Twelve years ago this week, Syd and I left our home here in Orange County and moved to Utah, using the money from that first house to bootstrap the business that would become Studio McGee. We didn’t have much of a blueprint. Just the two of us, a lot of excitement, and a willingness to bet on ourselves.

I’m still learning every day, but these are a few things I know now that I didn’t then.

Read more

These are the things making my favorite month even better.

1. Bloom energy drinks. Juicy Orange is my fave.

2. These long denim shorts.

3. I purchased this in Florence and was so excited when I found it online. It packs completely flat in a suitcase, holds everything, and comes with me everywhere.

4. The prettiest summery shade of strawberry blush.

5. The number-one most-requested item in my DMs right now.

6. My favorite gardening gloves aren’t going to show up on any Pinterest boards, but they are the best.

7. These wrap sandals (wearing above) carried me through our Italy trip and beyond.

8. The shorts I put on every day after work to hang in the backyard with the kids.

9. This self-tanner has been my go-to lately.

10. I recently switched to this face sunscreen and have been so impressed. It’s super hydrating, and it seems to be helping with hyperpigmentation by the way.

11. My favorite book of the summer has been Dolly All The Time by Annabel Monaghan. It’s the perfect beach read.

I hope you’re all staying cool and enjoying the summer!

Love, Shea

Read more

My thirties were wonderful, but they were also a grind. I was building a business from the ground up while having babies, trying to have babies, recovering from having babies, and trying to keep all the plates spinning at once. I ran on adrenaline and not nearly enough sleep, and my body kept showing up simply because it had to.

I don’t regret a single one of those years. But I was depleted in a way that took me a long time to name.

Now I have more energy than I’ve had in years. Some of that is just the cumulative effect of taking care of myself. More protein, better sleep habits, discovering Pilates, and walking consistently. Nothing about it is exactly groundbreaking or dramatic. It was just the little things, repeated every day, until they added up and became a part of my life.

The bigger shift, though, has been in my mind. Somewhere over the last couple of years, I started caring far less about what other people think and far more about what actually matters to me.

I’ve been able to cut the extras. I know who I am now in a way I didn’t at thirty. As a mother, a creative, as Syd’s partner in life and in this thing we’ve built. I don't spend nearly as much time circling decisions anymore. More often than not, I find myself just jumping in.

I won’t pretend the forties have been all ease. This has been a year of aging parents, a child with oft debilitating health challenges, hard phone calls, and the kind of news you brace yourself for. I’ve felt every bit of it.

Oddly enough, though, I think all of that has changed me in good ways. Ways that have bent me toward the light, not away from it.

It’s all made me softer. More easily moved, more empathetic (perimenopause is surely part of this too, welcome to forty!) I don't feel like I have life figured out. In fact, I feel the opposite. But I've lived long enough now to understand that everyone is carrying something, and I find myself feeling with people in a way I don't think I could have ten years ago.

The other thing is that it lit a fire under me. For years I’ve said I’ll take that trip, plan that adventure, do that thing I’ve been dreaming about, all when the timing is right. This year, though, I finally understood there may never be a “right” time, so we are making time now while we have it. It was, frankly, an expensive twelve months. We traveled more than we ever have. We booked the big family trip I’ve been talking about forever but kept filing away for later.

Because at some point you start doing the math on how many summers your kids are still under your roof, and “later” stops sounding like a plan and starts sounding like a gamble.

When Syd and I sat down years ago to dream about the life we wanted, it was just the two of us, our laptops, and a wildly fluctuating amount of confidence. We had no idea what the next ten years would hold. Some of those goals we've reached. Others feel closer than ever. But now I finally get to walk toward all of it feeling steadier, healthier, and more like myself than I ever have.

If forty was the doorway, forty-one is the year I finally stopped standing in it.

• The hottest week of the year demanded a good pair of shorts and cute tee.

• Recommitting to my LED mask.

• Still one of my favorite pairs of earrings.

• How darling is this bowl?! (A perfect complement to these.)

• And one last summer treat for ya.

Love,
Shea

A quick note before I begin. Italy, of course, has no shortage of beautiful storefronts and designer brands. You could spend an entire trip hopping between all the major fashion houses. But I found myself much more interested in the little family-owned shops tucked away on side streets, especially in Florence. People say it’s the kind of city with a little surprise around every corner, and I didn’t really believe that until we went and I saw it for myself.

But first, Rome.

Rome

We spent more of our time sightseeing in Rome than shopping, so this list leans heavily toward food.

Roscioli Salumeria con Cucina was our most delicious dinner in the city, and we saved it for our last night. We ended up in the basement surrounded by wine racks, which meant I spent a good portion of the meal fearing for our lives that the kids would knock into one.

Ginori Caffè was connected to our hotel, so we landed there for lunch right when we arrived. The easiest possible first meal.

Forno Campo de’ Fiori is one of the oldest pizza shops in Rome, and it was my favorite. The pastries looked excellent, too, and all the wood inside was beautiful.

Pizza Florida is a favorite quick bite of pizza al taglio.

A few more places I’d send you:

Manufactus for beautiful paper and leather notebooks made in Italy.

Del Teatro for interesting gelato flavors.

Despite being a chain, Venchi is still a top favorite gelato stop.

Tuscany

We stayed at Castiglion del Bosco and mostly ate at the restaurants on property, which were exceptional. A few nights they would even send a chef to cook for us right in our villa (!), which felt like a dream come true.

Osteria La Canonica was a highlight, as well as the Rosewood’s Michelin restaurant Ristorante Campo del Drago.

If you make the drive into Montalcino like we did, leave yourself time to wander around a bit. Walk around the town, admire all the ceramics, and stuff a few into your suitcase. Every store I went into ships to the US.

Florence

This is where we did the most local shopping. We had a little more time to wander here, and I think that’s exactly why I loved it the way I did. Ducking inside any shop or restaurant that caught my eye.

The food first.

Vini e Vecchi Sapori was delicious with a real no-nonsense vibe.

Regina Bistecca is set in an old converted library and made for a really great last meal in the city.

La Giostra go for the pear ravioli, stay for the ambiance.

Gusta Pizza was a very long line to get in. So our crowd, not being a waiting crowd, ordered to go and ate on the sidewalk. It was SO good. Soft, supple crust, and the pesto burrata was our favorite.

For gelato, Vivoli always has a line, but it is so creamy and so worth it.

Now the shopping, which is really why I’m here.

Il Papiro for marble paper goods, such a charming little store.

Sbigoli for ceramics, where we took a class and absolutely loved it.

Aquaflor is a scent and home store. The perfumes are beautiful, but I enjoyed the home side the most. The whole store is gorgeous.

Santa Maria Novella is a beautiful building, and the scent experience inside is incredible.

And then Loretta Caponi, which I can’t stop thinking about. Cotton and silk with so much detail. I got some pajamas there that I am genuinely obsessed with. Like wear, wash, repeat.

For the pantry, Pegna is a specialty food store I’d happily get lost in.

And finally, not a storefront, but one of my favorite things about Florence was all the painters throughout the city. I came home with quite a few pieces.

I left Italy with a suitcase that barely closed and a few packages still making their way across the ocean. Part one was the itinerary of a lifetime. This part is what I’ll be pulling inspiration from and replaying in my mind for a long time.

• I’m home now but still dressing like I’m on an Italian vacation in bermudas and this top.

• The best cheek stick in shade Petal.

• This spa robe.

• Outdoor dining is also on my mind; love our melamine platters.

Love, Shea

We’ve never taken a trip longer than a week, and this was ten days in Italy plus two travel days on either end. Traveling with kids isn’t exactly a vacation; it’s a trip. But somewhere in those ten days, between the site-seeing, and the gelato and the very long, very hot afternoons, we got the thing we’d been craving most: uninterrupted time together. I came home recharged and full of inspiration, already looking back on all of it knowing it was an experience we’ll never forget.

One note before we start: we planned the whole thing with Eli at Wagner Bespoke Travel. I use her for all of our big trips, and I’ll even book the smaller hotels through her because the perks are worth it.

This is part one — the itinerary. Next week I’ll be back with part two: where I shopped and where we ate, which deserve a post all their own.

Subscribe now

Days 1-3: Rome

We took the overnight flight in and checked into Rocco Forte’s Hotel de la Ville. Our rooms opened onto a big balcony facing a quiet courtyard. It’s a rare pocket of calm in a city that doesn’t have many, and still close to everything. We dropped our bags and hit the ground running with a golf-cart tour, which I’d never done before and now can’t recommend enough. We’ve been to Rome a few times, but this was the kids’ first, and there was something about taking it all in with the breeze in our faces — stopping for pizza, snapping photos, gloriously jet-lagged — that made it the perfect, easy first day.

Rome was hot. I try not to overschedule our days anyway, so we left room to wander, and one of our favorite mornings was at Villa Borghese, renting one of those six-person pedal carriages and laughing our way through the gardens under the shade of the trees. It is very cheesy. We loved every second. We did the big things, too — the Trevi Fountain (just a quick look on our way through, and we skipped the line) and a tour of the Colosseum and Roman Forum that nearly melted us but was worth every degree.

Days 4-7: Tuscany

We hired a car to take us north, and on the way we stopped in Orvieto, a hilltop town so charming I didn’t leave empty-handed. I picked up a few ceramics and shipped them home, and then we drove on through the Tuscan countryside. I could feel my nervous system resetting with every mile. After the crowds and stimulation of Rome, the quiet was exactly what we needed.

Then we arrived at Rosewood Castiglion del Bosco, and I have never had a hotel experience like it. The Ferragamo family bought a medieval village and restored it with such reverence for its history, and Rosewood runs it now. We rented a villa, which meant our own pool and someone arriving each morning to make us breakfast. The kids caught lizards. We swam and hiked and wandered, had some dinners cooked for us in the villa and others out at the property’s restaurants. Every single detail was so thoughtful that walking in and looking out at that landscape brought me to tears in the very best way. We were all reluctant to leave.

One day we drove over to Montalcino, climbed around a medieval fortress, did a little shopping, and took in views that went on for miles.

Days 7-10: Florence

Here’s the thing I was nervous about: how does any city follow that? I worried Florence would be a letdown. Instead, it became one of our favorite cities, ever.

Yes it was hot, but the streets are narrow so you can duck into the shade and stay there. It’s wonderfully walkable, romantic even with the tourists, and everywhere you look there are artists and little surprises around every corner — perfumeries, linens, silk, leather, flea markets, art. My kids love to paint, so we chatted with the artists and collected a few pieces of our own.

We stayed at the Four Seasons Firenze, which was the ultimate way to end a trip. It’s fancy and somehow still completely family-friendly. We climbed the Duomo, saw the David at the Accademia, and then did what you do in that heat: went straight to the pool. We spent our days wandering the little shops (never the big ones), and on our last day we took a ceramics-painting class at Sbigoli (think Color Me Mine, but in Florence). The late afternoons were for the pool. It was, in a word, perfect.

I did a mix of shipping things home and stuffing my suitcase — ceramics, handmade soaps, artwork, dinnerware — and I’m currently crossing every finger that all of it arrives in one piece.

I left Florence completely enraptured. The art, the terracotta, the ceramics, the whole feeling of the city. What struck me most was how dressy and how approachable it managed to be at the same time, which is exactly how I love to design. I came home inspired in a way I haven’t been in a long time.

Next week: where we shopped and where we ate. Subscribe so you don’t miss it because part two is the good stuff.

Subscribe now

Currently Loving

• The roomy travel tote I brought with compartments for everything.

• I linked all of my outfits from the trip here.

• The hero sandals of the trip.

• These terracotta planters from McGee & Co. remind me of our trip.

Love, Shea

From the very first conversations, I wanted this home to be deeply personal. A legacy home to be passed down for generations.

So we started with age. The fastest way to give a new room a soul is to put something genuinely old in it — something that predates the house by a century and isn’t the least bit shy about it. Reclaimed Italian stone floors in the entry, antique armoires, 18th-century tapestries, found copper pots, tiny sailboat paintings, and the list goes on.

Set against crisp new millwork, a piece with patina does the work. It tells your eye that time has passed here, even when it hasn’t yet.

Then we chose materials that are allowed to change. The most beautiful homes are the ones that get better as they’re used, and you can build that in from day one. Unlacquered brass that goes warm and mottled with every fingerprint. Stone with real movement in it. Wood that has a rough hand instead of a smooth factory finish.

And then the part that matters most: the personal. What makes it a home is the layer that could only belong to this family. In our Oxford Rd. project, every art piece holds sentimental value, as does much of the decor. But it’s the space plan, the flow, the upholstery selections — the choices that aren’t as obvious — that are just as much a reflection of the people who live there. A home should be built for the everyday: the dropped bags, the full table, the ordinary happy mess of people who love being there. You build the soul in, and then you let the family spend the next decades proving you right.

A few of the pieces I reach for when I want something new to feel like it already has a history:

• An unlacquered brass piece that’s meant to patina — it only looks better the more it’s touched.

• A hand-knotted wool rug with the kind of worn-in, faded color that usually takes years to earn.

• A ceramic art piece to remind you of your childhood lemonade stand or favorite summer trip.

• The counter stools from this home were based on antique flea market find.

  Love, Shea

P.S. — the full Oxford Road tour is starting to roll out on YouTube. Here is the first tease of the series.

If you’re following along on social, you know we’re designing a client’s home that will be open for touring in the Utah Valley Parade of Homes. It is, by a wide margin, the most ambitious project we’ve ever taken on at Studio McGee. The most detail, the most product sourced from around the world, and the strictest deadline I’ve ever worked against.

Read more

I was genuinely devastated, which sounds dramatic for a houseplant until you’ve spent years looking at and caring for the family tree. I searched every nursery in Utah and came up empty — nothing close to the right size, the right shape, the right anything. Then I was in California for our summer shoot and spotted one in the front window of a shop, almost by accident. The only catch was figuring out how to get it home, and our McGee & Co. moving truck was already full. So I called a friend who lives nearby, gave her a couple of Triby chairs to clear the space (a fair trade, in my opinion), and we drove the tree back to Utah.

It dropped almost every leaf within two weeks. I panicked, did the kind of late-night research only someone emotionally invested in a tree would do, and ordered this ugly grow light on Amazon. It was not cute, but it worked. New leaves started coming in within a few weeks, and I realized that between our grey Utah winters and the corner of the room being a touch too far from a window, the new tree was going to need more light to thrive in our home.

Here’s the solution I’m quite proud of:

Read more

1. The Gold French Hair Pin. Niche hair accessories are my favorite gift category — zero size risk, and she’ll love trying something new. Mother's Day gifting is something I want to get exactly right. Every item on this list is something I own, love, and reach for constantly — so I can tell you with full confidence she will too. A few of them also pair beautifully together if you want to bundle (a robe and a body cream, a vase and a garden basket — you get the idea).

2. The Robe. I stay in this until the very last second I have to change for the day. Cozy in a way that feels like a small act of self-care.

3. The IYKYK Brush. A fancy little brush with a twisted handle — small enough to live in your bag, pretty enough that you’ll actually want to pull it out.

4. The Leather Clutch. Pairs with black, brown, summer, winter, jeans, a dress — basically everything. Bonus: it’s from a small Etsy shop.

5. Something Personalized. Anything monogrammed goes the extra mile. It says you thought about her specifically.

6. The Signet Ring. The one I wear every single day (mine is the one without diamonds). It’s become a part of how I get dressed.

7. The Body Cream. One of my most-worn scents in a refillable, beautiful jar — and it lasts for hours. (Pair with the robe and you’re golden.)

8. The Vase. Gift it with a homemade arrangement from your garden or the grocery store, and I promise she’ll swoon.

9. The Wicker Garden Basket. Mother’s Day marks the start of planting season where I live, and this is the basket I wear on my arm walking out to the raised beds. (Pair with the vase — she’ll be cutting and arranging all summer.) [link]

10. Around the Table, Target Exclusive Edition. With a bonus small bites chapter you won’t find anywhere else. I’m a little partial, but I think it makes a beautiful gift.

Love, Shea

I spent the first half of the week in New York City in heels under bright lights and a canopy of cherry blossoms, and the second at home in Utah wearing sweatpants and tennis shoes running to the park and carpool.

People ask me all the time what it’s like to juggle running a business and motherhood.

I don’t love the question. Not because it’s a bad one — it’s a fair one — but because I never really know how to answer it. Every day looks a little different, and also kind of always the same. One minute I’m traveling for a book launch. The next I’m picking up groceries and asking if someone needs a snack. Those two halves of my schedule are very different, and yet both are my life.

Read more

We’re headed to New York for what is shaping up to be one of the most exciting (and nerve-wracking) weeks I can remember. My book, Around the Table, launches on April 14th, and I have a packed schedule of signings, events, and a few things I still can’t quite believe are real.

But first—Syd and I are taking a day in the city together before everything kicks off. The Frick Collection is on the list, and so is a slice of pizza (from L’industrie, our all-time favorite slice). And since I’m with Syd, it will definitely be more than one. Maybe some shopping. It’s the kind of day I really savor before the whirlwind starts.

I’m also filming the Kelly Clarkson Show this week—a sit-down interview, which is new for me. I’m usually the one with my hands moving, arranging a room or demonstrating something. Sitting still and just talking is a whole different thing. I’ll be doing a food segment too, which feels much more like home. It’s pre-recorded and won’t air until May, so you’ll have to wait on that one.

I’ve been studying my own book on the plane to prepare (hence the heavy suitcase—I packed actual copies). Around the Table is organized by season, and within each season there are complete menus and tablescapes designed to go together—so you don’t have to be the one figuring out what pairs with what. You can follow a menu start to finish, or just pull the one recipe you’re craving. It’s flexible in the best way. And while it is a cookbook, it’s also a book about the way a meal can shape a memory—many of the menus are inspired by our own family traditions, and I hope they’ll become part of yours.

This is my third book, and I’ve learned something new every single time. With The Art of Home, I learned the hard way that you can’t just start writing and figure out the format later—a lot had to get cut or added. So this time, I went back to elementary school basics and started with an outline. I designed the entire book with placeholders first, then filled in the blanks. It made all the difference. We also shot seasonally, which meant this book took longer, but I wanted the light and the mood of each scene to feel like you were right there with me in that moment. I think you’ll feel it when you see it.

If you’ve ever thought about writing a book—a cookbook, a design book, anything—my biggest advice is this: you have to show up regularly. Block out real hours. It doesn’t happen when you open your laptop for twenty minutes between meetings. You have to get into a flow state, the same way I do with design, but even more so with writing. I was doing this on nights and weekends, after full days of running the business. It was a labor of love in the most literal sense.

But here’s what I didn’t expect: the process of making this book did for my family exactly what I hope it does for yours. My girls were in the kitchen with me the entire time—taste-testing, participating, sometimes retrying things reluctantly and sometimes with so much enthusiasm I had to shoo them away from the counter. That’s the whole point of this book, really. It’s not about perfection. It’s about pulling up a chair.

So here I am—somewhere between excited and nervous and deeply proud, with a week ahead that I know I’ll remember for a long time. Multiple book signings, launch events, a talk show, and a day wandering through the city with Syd. I plan to enjoy every single second of it.

Iconic sunglasses—Instant it-factor every single time. I carried these with me from spring break in California to NYC.

A ruffled linen tablecloth—ahhh, is there anything better than the drape of a good linen? If you’re hosting anything this spring, this is the one.

The lip —The Sephora sale is on and I have this in at least two pouches and floating somewhere at the bottom of a purse. Color is 44b.

The only curling iron I use—the humidity in NYC isn’t my friend, but this helps.

Around the Table—obviously.

P.S. If you’re coming to one of the signings this week, I want to hear what you’re cooking!

xo, Shea

As I mentioned in my last post, April is a travel month for me. When I’m living out of a suitcase, I become hyper-aware of what I actually reach for and the things that make being home feel extra special (besides my family, of course). The products that survive being tossed in a carry-on. The things that I enjoy when I’m home. The stuff I’d grab if I could only bring ten things — except I could never bring only ten things, so here are fifteen.

1. The Rimowa Essential Cabin.

Not the silver with cute buckles. The one that zips. I know the silver is iconic, but here’s the thing — you can’t smash it closed and zip. The essential style has a more flexible material and a zipper closure, which means I can overpack it (I will) and force it shut (I do). Form and function.

2. A silk contoured sleep mask.

I used to think contoured sleep masks were only for people with lash extensions. Turns out they’re just more comfortable — nothing pressing on your eyes, total blackout. I wear one on every night at home and every hotel stay now.

3. Cat Clyde’s latest album.

I don’t know how to describe her sound other than it feels like driving through somewhere eerily beautiful with the windows down. If you haven’t listened, start from the top and just let it play.

4. My Yeti cup. Everywhere.

I am a toddler with a sippy cup and I’ve accepted it. There’s something about having my own cup with me — in the car, on set, at the airport — that makes me feel grounded. It’s a small, dumb thing, but it works.

6. Emma Grede’s podcast — the AI episode with Allie K Miller.

Syd and I are hyper-focused on AI implementation in our business and this episode is the perfect start for those dabbling, but can’t move beyond the chat feature. No jargon, no fear-mongering — just a really smart conversation between two women who get it.

8. Trader Joe’s lilacs.

The whole house smells like spring. I’ve been buying a few bunches a week and I’ll keep doing it until they’re gone for the season.

9. Chanel Hand Cream.

A fresh floral scent in chic packaging. Softens my hands from the airplane air and makes an excellent gift.

10. Packing ankle weights in a carry-on.

Is it extra? Yes. Is it four more pounds in an already-full bag? Also yes. But I can do a full body workout in a hotel room with ankle weights and nothing else, and that’s worth the trade-off. I am refusing to let these travel weeks derail my routine.

11. Disneyland silhouettes of the girls.

If you’ve ever been to Disneyland, you know the little silhouette artists on Main Street. We finally did them for all three girls and I’m slightly obsessed. I still need to find the perfect oval frames and spot in our home, but they’re the sweetest keepsake. Here’s a great option from an artist on Etsy.

12. Tilbury Hand-painted Terracotta Vase.

Easily one of my favorite new releases from our new summer collection. Here I am holding it up for a favorite things video we shot on set.

13. Oribe Dry Heat Protectant.

I’ve tried a lot of heat protectants and this one doesn’t weigh my hair down or leave any residue. It’s the kind of product you don’t think about until you switch to something else and immediately notice the difference.

14. My current skin and body lineup.

Okay, this is technically two things but they work together so I’m counting it as one. Prescription-strength azaelaic acid for my face (game-changing for acne, texture and tone) and the CurrentBody LED multi-light LED mask that allows me to toggle between blue light for acne and red light for wrinkles.

15. True Lemon Energy Packets — pomegranate flavor.

I’m always looking for something that gives me a little boost without making me feel wired. These dissolve in water, taste great, and they’re small enough to toss in any bag. The pomegranate flavor is the one.

Bonus: My current nail combo.

A layer of OPI Coastal Sandtuary topped with a layer of Bare My Soul. It’s the perfect warm neutral — not too pink, not too beige. I’ve been getting compliments on it all month.

That’s my April. Honestly, it’s the small things that are the biggest pick-me-ups — a good cup, a great album, a seven-dollar bunch of flowers.

What’s getting you through this month? I’d love to hear.

Love, Shea

Last week I flew to New York for less than 24 hours for a live segment on the Today Show to talk Easter entertaining and the cookbook, which still doesn’t feel like a real sentence I get to say. I got home Friday night, walked through the door, unzipped everything, and immediately started re-zipping. Saturday morning we were at the airport headed to Southern California for Easter and spring break — and to spend time with Syd’s dad, who’s been in rehabilitation after a major health setback.

Read more

The Moodboard

For the Closet

For the Home

Pale pink everything — I’m fully committed. Happy spring.

Love, Shea

After everyone went to bed, after the emails and the calls and the chaos of building something with no blueprint — that’s when I’d finally sit down and work. Late nights were where my creativity lived. The house was quiet, no one needed anything from me, and I could actually think. I don’t look back on those years with regret. Honestly, I think they were necessary. Those late nights laid the foundation for Studio McGee, and I wouldn’t trade that, even knowing what I know now about sleep.

But they were hard on me. I was starting a business, filming a TV show, having babies, waking up for feedings, running on stress and adrenaline and not nearly enough rest. After Margot was born — my third and last — something shifted. I looked at my life and thought, this is a chance to start something new. I wanted to prioritize myself, maybe for the first time in years.

Syd has always been a natural morning person. He doesn’t even need an alarm. He just... wakes up. As he started getting more intentional about his mornings, something about it was genuinely inspiring to me. Not in a pressured way. In a I want that way.

So I tried. And I failed. And tried again. Here’s what actually worked — because it wasn’t one thing, it was a collection of small things that built on each other over time.

Read more

A French garden will do that to you. Suddenly I'm thinking about what I'm wearing, what's on my table, and what the house feels like when the windows are finally open. These are the pieces I've been ordering to refresh my closet and home for the season.

For The Table

Let the outdoor dining recommence!

• Our new Islington Wine Glasses are so good in person.

• Also grabbing the linen Cranbrook Napkins.

• These outdoor Hollingbury Dinner Plates are melamine!

• And the Belmont Brass Vase for whatever I manage to clip from the garden.

For Outside

• The outdoor photo in the mood board is from our 2026 McGee & Co. outdoor collection. I love the Glenwood Outdoor Dining Chairs.

For The Closet

• This fun clutch for spring.

• A sunny pair of sunnies.

• A fresh pair of ballet flats.

• Stripes and more stripes!

• And this gardenia brooch to shift the mood of just about any outfit.

What’s on your spring mood board!? I’d love to hear about it.

Love, Shea