Last week just before the holidays, Hailee Steinfeld and husband Josh Allen announced the birth of their baby girl. Mazel Tov to the new family! My own family is helmed by extraordinary, fiery, hilarious Aries women, so Hailee and Josh lucked out in that combination. Sometime before Baby Girl Allen-Steinfeld made her grand debut, Hailee did an interview with Architectural Digest. It’s one of their 10 Minutes At Home With… pieces, and the title made reference to her preparing her home for baby’s arrival. With that setup, you’d think there’d be talk of the nursery, yes? No! Only a vague reference at the beginning of the article. Which is fine if they want to keep the details of such an intimate space private, I get that. I guess I just got excited since I used to design nurseries for a baby magazine (no really, I did). Anyway, Hailee was officially plugging her new gig as the face of Ashley Furniture’s new line, Ashley Luxe, and though the answers weren’t nursery-related, they were definitely thoughtful:
What is the first thing you do when you wake up in the morning?
I have been prioritizing opening my curtains and getting natural light immediately. It used to be reaching for my phone, and then that would prolong lying in bed. Even if I jump back in bed for a little while, at least I feel like I’m waking up in a more natural, slow way.What is one gadget in your home that you wouldn’t be able to live without?
My Hatch alarm sound machine. I’d been hearing about it forever. Friends love it, so I went ahead and got one, and it’s been life-changing [and] also helps with a slow morning natural wake-up that really sets the tone for your day in a different way than just an abrupt alarm.What is the most recent thing that you purchased for your home?
We just got a new coffee machine. I’m not the biggest coffee drinker, but I really do appreciate the ritual of it. There’s something about just watching my husband on a slower morning—when he has time to make himself a coffee—[partake in] that grounding, small act of care before the day begins. I love that.What is your stance on pets on the furniture?
I’m a little funny about this one. Emotionally, I say no, but realistically, they’re family. So the rule gets bent. With my dogs, they’re so little. The minute I sit down on the couch, they’re at my feet, and it’s almost impossible to resist their cuteness, and I end up picking them up. But I tend to have them freshly bathed and on a blanket.Take us through your bedtime ritual.
Dimming the lights, skin care, a shower or a bath, and then getting into bed with something calming. Sometimes that’s music, sometimes conversation, sometimes it’s just quiet.Is there an item in your house that has sentimental value?
There’s one that I am looking at right now that we’ve actually started a little collection of. It’s this porcelain, hand-painted sleeping pig that we brought home from the place we got married, and it represents prosperity and good fortune, and it’s also just so beautiful. I just love it, and we have a few of them around the house.
OK, hold on, what is this Hatch alarm clock business and why am I only hearing about it now? The world knows that getting up in the morning is the great Sisyphean struggle of my life!! I’m looking at the website… she isn’t cheap ($170!!!), but the reviews describe mythical scenarios of waking up peacefully. Is such a thing possible?! Any Hatch users in our Bitchy community? No pressure to weigh in, but this device may have the power to change the entire trajectory of my life.
All right, getting back to Hailee now… I like what she says about letting the natural light come in in the morning, even if she gets back into bed. Ideally, some Disney birds would come along and open the drapes, eliminating the need to get up in the first place. AD’s final question actually made me laugh, the way they phrased it “Is there an item” with sentimental value. Shouldn’t your home be teeming with things that have meaning? Mine is! Also, Hailee had her own odd phrasing in her answer, saying they “brought home” the porcelain pig from where they got married. Did they just swipe a tchotchke, lol? But of course, we simply must discuss the most important topic of all: dogs on the furniture. She said “Emotionally, I say no,” but I think Hailee’s actions reveal she actually says yes, emotionally! And I agree! All my floofs have always been welcome up on the couch (where I also put a blanket down) or in my bed. That’s non-negotiable for me. Unlike Jessie Buckley, I’d sooner kick out an extra human than my dog. Like Hailee, it’s because my dog is family.
Note by CB: I added an affiliate link to the Hatch clock. Kismet had already written all that and didn’t know that we could add affiliate links to it.
We don’t have a dog but the cat was raised by my grandma who only ever had dogs previously so she treated him the same and he has his spots that have a blanket down for him where he goes.
The sofa is only a two-seater and I used to regularly switch the human end (in addition to weekly flipping the base cushion) and he did not appreciate that. Lots of ‘YOU’RE IN MY SPOT” energy. My favourite is when my bf lay down on the sofa and the cat came in, sat for a bit, then climbed up and onto my bf (at the appropriate end).
Lol. Cats rule!
My dogs are definitely family. They are the children I couldn’t have (I have one child. Lost 3 after her) and the grandchildren I will never have. Said child is 40 and has no interest in kids. So yes they are on the couch and in bed with me/us. I just lost one little guy and my chihuahua has a ticking time bomb in his chest..Grief is indeed the price we pay for that amazing love.
That sounds like a philips wake up light. I once had one in an hotel room & loved it so much that I bought my own. Love waking up slowly from the light, though did turn of the bird sounds. I kept thinking my alarm was going off when I heard real birds outside!
I’ve had a sunrise simulator clock for years, and the mornings go the same way this clock says (gradually increasing light, bird sounds that start super quiet and gradually get louder), so if the bedtime sounds part isn’t important, there are options that are a lot cheaper.
I started standing outside for 10 seconds (or look outside) first thing in the morning. It does something fancy, like set your circadian rhythm. All I know, is it’s nice to hear the birds and breathe early morning air before the madness starts.
Lying in bed on my phone with my pups right now. #norules
I have a Phillips wake-up light alarm clock, but I use a sleep mask now, so it just functions like a normal alarm clock…
My husband and I let our dog on the couch. Our first pet that we had together was a cat so we kind of don’t treat the dog any differently when it comes to furniture. I bought this Pet-Pourri furniture spray that works nicely and use it before company comes over.
After being a puppy-raiser for service dog groups, the rule got drilled into me that dogs don’t get to go on furniture, since that was a hard and fast rule for them.
But I’ve since softened it for my own dogs. Only on the furniture IF they are invited, they can’t just decide to hop up on their own. And also, not on my bed – that’s a me sleeping thing, it would keep me awake. i don’t take issue if other people have different rules.
Oh and on the sleeping front, I would love to wake with natural daylight, but there are too many streetlights, neighbors all night flood lights (grrr!) that shine into my windows so I can never sleep without blackout shades or a good eye-mask.
I love when I’m vacationing somewhere without that light trespass and can keep the shades open and wake in to morning to sunlight.