Simone Kitchens Reveals the Lamp that Works in Every Home
The Midwestern journalist talks to us about gentle TV and the best travel shoes. Plus, her 1920s house and how to make friends as an adult.
Hello! How’s your week going? Today, we’re excited to feature journalist Simone Kitchens, who lives in Cleveland, Ohio, with her husband, Aaron, and one-year-old daughter, Ramona.
“Finding things on the internet is a specialty of mine,” says Simone, a senior editor at New York. “I co-write the newsletter Secret Strategist about rabbit holes we’ll go down. We include a mix of high and low. I wrote about these new-but-look-vintage Wranglers five years ago, and I still hear from people telling me they love these jeans.”
Here, Simone shares 13 things that bring her joy — plus, photos of her 1920s home and a trick for making friends…
Travel destination: I grew up camping in New Mexico with my mom and stepdad. My husband and I got married there, and now I’m really excited to take my daughter. You can stay at Taos Inn, see the gardens at the Mabel Dodge Luhan House, drive around the Taos Earthships, and eat dinner at the Love Apple. Less than two hours from Taos, we like hiking at Bandelier National Monument and visiting Georgia O’Keeffe’s Ghost Ranch.
Wedding: We got married beside the Rio Grande. It was during Covid, and we were just doing it for ourselves. The only other people were our officiant and two photographers, and I’d found my dress two days earlier at Santa Fe Vintage (my shoes are Emme Parsons). There’s nothing perfect about this particular photo — I mean, our eyes are closed! — but it’s my favorite.
Wildflowers: Before our wedding, we were driving, and I was like, oh, I don’t have a bouquet. And Aaron was like, don’t worry, and we pulled over and he picked wildflowers. It’s the only time we’ve ever done that, of course! The dried bouquet now hangs in our living room.
Home decor: You can’t go wrong with a Noguchi light. Our home was built in the 1920s, with lots of natural wood, and these lamps just work for the house. But, they work in every house. That’s the point.
Tabletop: We set out these beautiful HAY jugs, filled with water, whenever we host dinner parties.
