A few weekends ago, one of my favorite children’s brands, Bonpoint, invited editors and their families to come to have a holiday portrait taken (yes, I have the best job ever). I convinced my husband to come and pose for a photo with our one and a half year old daughter, Bea. As we sat against a beautifully propped out background–complete with holiday cookies and evergreen branches, I wondered how the photographer, Philippe Reynaud, would manage to get my wiggly little girl to stop and look at the camera. And yet he did. He may indeed have unique baby whispering abilities but I asked him, nonetheless, for his pro tips. (You'll thank me later once it comes to holiday family photo time.) Read on for his four go-to techniques.

1. Make it feel like a game. Get someone to stand next to the photographer and play peekaboo, or do a silly dance. The expressions you elicit are solid gold for a snapshot.

2. Don’t worry about eye contact. In fact, says Reynaud, sometimes just catching your child doing something can look more natural and candid in the best way.

RELATED: How to Never Take a Bad Photo Again

3. Create an activity. Play ring around the rosy or even go as far as to throw rose petals. All fodder for cuteness is fair game.

4. Play music. Since most of the grownups present probably have a smartphone tucked somewhere handy, use your mobile to make the mood playful. Perhaps it's kid song you have stored. “Head Shoulders Knees and Toes” did the trick for our portrait.  Phew!

Online cards only get more beautiful every year. The choices have multiplied exponentially, making it somewhat dizzying to make a selection. So we took it upon ourselves to curate a handful that looked especially fab so you don’t have to scroll through the endless possibilities—just the ones that are InStyle-editor approved.

At InStyle, we devote months at a time to creating the very best gift guides on the planet (witness our fabulously lengthy opus in the December issue, now available on newsstands and for digital download, as well as additional picks online). So when an invitation arrived to check out Story, the ever-changing retail space in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood, to see owner and curator Rachel Shechtman’s newest “gift guide come to life" installation, I was hooked. But the biggest draw of all was this: Part of the product lineup would include jewelry from the iconic Iris Apfel’s personal accessories collection, and she’d be present to answer any questions. Having just watched the Albert Maysles documentary Iris about her colorful life, I couldn’t wait to meet her. On the day of her appearance at the shop, she sat amid the flurry of holiday shoppers, elegantly attired in a brightly patterned jacket (“It was given to me by [J. Crew designer] Jenna Lyons,” she explained). Around her neck hung multiple, oversized jet black chain link necklaces. Below, a few new things I learned about this stylish woman during our conversation.

RELATED: Iris Apfel Delivers Advice to Live By in the Trailer for Her Documentary 

She had a long, illustrious career in interior design. While today she’s utterly immersed in the worlds of beauty and fashion, Apfel spent most of her working life running her textile design firm, Old World Weavers, with her husband Carl. They traveled around the world sourcing various designs, and would work on a restoration projects for high-society types and multiple White House administrations. “Fashion and interiors are both a means of personal expression,” she said, when queried about her deep involvement in both fields. “You decorate your self, you decorate where you live. It is part of a lifestyle.”

One of her favorite designers is Ralph Rucci. “He’s a genius and an original, and he’s not trendy," she said of the Philadelphia native who relinquished the reins of his eponymous label one year ago. "I hate trendy. His craftsmanship is beyond belief. The way clothing is made today is appalling.”

She teaches college-age kids about the fashion world.“I work with fashion students every year with the purpose of showing them what goes on in the industry and how vast a field it really is. Some come to New York City with the idea that you can only become a fashion designer in order to be a part of that world, but there is a big umbrella of opportunities, from licensing and window design to styling and trend forecasting. I introduce them to my friends in those areas—at Bergdorf Goodman, The Metropolitan Museum, Swarovski."

RELATED: Iris Apfel on What's It's Like to Be the Most Stylish 93-Year-Old on the Planet

Her lipstick choices are precise."I like shocking pink or bright red. Mac’s Lady Danger is very good." (Get your hands on it, too! $17; maccosemetics.com)

Thanksgiving is over. And now it is time to (not) cook. With all of the seasoning, brining, roasting, and sprinkling of herbs performed for that pivotal feast, you don’t have to do very much to make the leftovers sing. Andrew D'Ambrosi, former Top Chef contestant who most recently helmed the kitchen at Brooklyn’s Bergen Hill and Avant Garden—and is soon to launch an eatery outside of Paris (stay tuned!)—takes a no fuss approach to the proverbial Day After. Read on for his three easy ways to enjoy it all.

Sandwich Formula 1
“In my opinion, leftover turkey is the forever the go-to for an awesome sandwich. One surefire approach is to make an incredible hoagie on fresh bread with a layer each of turkey, stuffing and gravy.” Put that whole ensemble, open-faced, on a baking sheet, and place a slice of American cheese on top, then melt it in the oven at 350°F for a few minutes. Pop the top of the bun on top for a final few minutes. Remove it from the oven and serve it with your choice of condiments. D’Ambrosi likes to sprinkle his hoagie with hot sauce, like Tabasco, “or A.1. sauce to take it up a notch!” he says.

RELATED: Cheers to Thanksgiving Weekend with This Baked Apple Cocktail

Sandwich Formula 2
“If you have a sandwich press like a George Foreman Grill, I’d make a pressed, Cuban-style panino,” he says. Use a simple white or wheat pullman bread. Spread on a layer of mayonnaise. Then put on one thin layer each of turkey, stuffing, green beans (if you have them, or any cooked vegetable), Swiss cheese and a thin layer of cranberry sauce. Put it in a press until it’s heated through and the bread is crisp.

RELATED: Making Your Own Baba Ghanoush Is Easy—Just Follow These 6 Steps​

Shepherd’s Pie
“You can really use every last leftover to make an amazing shepherd’s pie,” says D’Ambrosi. In a bowl, chop up the turkey and mix it with some leftover stuffing. Put the mixture in a low casserole dish. Add a layer of green beans and then some gravy. Use day-old mashed potatoes (which are easy to mold) to make a layer of crust on top. Place it in a 375°F oven for at least a half an hour, or until it’s hot all of the way through (you can check it by inserting a knife into the center of the pie and then pulling it out, and touching it to see if it is super hot). If so, well, then you are ready to enjoy Chapter 2 of your holiday meal.

It’s the day before the release of his new movie The Wannabe, which he wrote and directed (and appears in for a few all-too-brief moments), and actor Nick Sandow is in the kitchen of his Brooklyn townhouse making chicken Parmesan. Last night was the premiere of the film—a wonderfully twisted love letter to the gangster film genre—and he’s somewhat groggy. But it’s a dish that his eldest son Sasha adores and he knows that if it’s served up for dinner later that night, the thirteen year old—and his other son Sterling, who is six—will be more than a little bit excited. “It’s his thing,” explains his glamorous, Spanish-born partner, Tamara Malkin-Stuart, an artist, who sits nearby at the kitchen table, tapping away at her laptop. “There is something about the way he makes it, it’s never heavy, it’s almost light,” she says with a shrug.

Sandow, who is best known for his role as the gruff prison administrator Joe Caputo in the hit Netflix series Orange is the New Black, credits his mother, Mae, for his parm prowess. “Cooking for her family was very important to her, and this was a special occasion dish that’d she’d make for us,” he says, dropping a handful of shredded cheese, then a sprinkling of chopped parsley, onto a plate of breadcrumbs. “Once I started having kids, I got really into making all of the meals she used to make for me when I was growing up. I wanted my boys to have that experience of enjoying these family recipes. I hope they cook the same things someday.”

RELATED: Celebrate Fall with Ruth Reichl's Easy 3-Step Apple Crisp

While his Bedlington Terrier, Mingus, waits for scraps to fall at his feet, Sandow prepares the meal with the sort of ease that comes with a dish that’s become, over time, second nature. “I love cooking for my family, and at dinner we all come together. Whether we’re cooking or not, we sit down and talk about our day. We make it happen.”

Sandow likes to use a store-bought sauce called Uncle Steve’s that's made by his friend, actor and The Sopranos star Steve Schirripa, as a shortcut: “It's not sweet, and it’s very close to what my mother used to make.” And he reaches for ground white pepper rather than black “because that is what they do in the Frankie’s Spuntino cookbook, and I really like their cooking,” he says of the neighborhood restaurant he frequents, which published a book a few years ago. When it comes to breadcrumbs, he buys the already-seasoned 4C brand because “that was what my mother did, and some things you just don’t mess with.” Finally, he is emphatic about using chicken breasts that are pounded thin—he buys twelve at a time at Esposito’s, the butcher around the corner, and “I tell them to really beat them up.” The whole dish is made in a deep cast iron pan on the stovetop, which makes it all a fairly easy affair.

RELATED: Done! Our 9 Favorite Holiday Cards of the Season

You can follow Sandow’s beyond-delicious Chicken Parmesan recipe below, which makes enough for four hungry people, plus leftovers for the next day (the video right after the ingredients list also gives you the step-by-step in one minute). Our advice? Make it before going see The Wannabe, which opens tonight in theaters and can also be viewed on video-on-demand.

Nick Sandow’s Chicken Parmesan

¼ cup olive oil

3 cups store-bought breadcrumbs

½ cup Italian flat parsley, chopped (plus more for garnish)

1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

3 eggs

sea salt

ground white pepper

12 chicken cutlets, pounded thin

2 25 oz jars tomato sauce (he uses about a jar and a half)

1 medium sized fresh mozzarella cheese, sliced thin.

1. On a plate, combine the breadcrumbs, fresh parsley and shredded Parmesan cheese. Toss to integrate the ingredients; set aside.

2. In a medium sized bowl, whisk the eggs.

3. Dip each of the chicken breasts in the egg mixture and then place on the plate of breadcrumbs, pressing each side so that they are well coated. Transfer each coated breast to a plate until all twelve are covered in breadcrumbs.

4. Heat olive oil in a large cast iron skillet over medium heat. Working in batches so as not to crowd the pan, place 3 or 4 cutlets into the pan and sprinkle with salt and pepper (the cutlets should be about halfway submerged in the oil, so add a bit more if necessary to get the right ratio). Lower the heat to medium and gently fry the cutlets until they are golden brown on each side, about 3 to 4 minutes per side. After each cutlet is cooked through, place it on a plate or baking sheet lined with a paper towel to absorb any excess oil.

5 .When all of the cutlets are cooked, remove the pan from the flame; use a paper towel to wipe most of the oil out of the pan.

6. Put the pan on a low flame; drizzle a thin layer of tomato sauce into the pan. Then place about 3-4 cutlets down; layer 4 or 5 thin slices of cheese on top. Drizzle again with tomato sauce. Continue to create layers of chicken, cheese and sauce, ending with a layer of cheese on top.

7 .Cover with a lid and let it cook on a low simmer for about 20-30 minutes. Remove from heat and serve, sprinkling each cutlet with a bit of chopped parsley.

Fans of the Japanese lifestyle store, Muji, are not generally half-hearted about their brand loyalty. They will only furnish their home offices, for example, with clear Muji binders and magazine files, perfect craft paper notebooks, and whimsical paperclips. Their kitchens are filled with a stack of the brand’s simple white plates and low glass tumblers. And the diehard Muji-lover’s sock drawer? Replete with their just-right, striped knee-highs and anklets, of course. So, if you relate to any of these descriptions then you may want to reach for your smelling salts: the mother of all Muji stores has just opened on Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue, across from the New York Public Library. The sprawling 11,650 square foot space feels minimal but still warm, and is stocked with a much deeper selection of items than ever before carried in their North American stores. A few highlights include an essential oils counter called “Aroma Labo” where customers can create their own blends to use as home fragrances (above).

RELATED: Don't Know What to Get Everyone on Your List? Check Out Our Gift Guide

There is also an embroidery machine which can embellish a range of products, from tote bags to tee shirts, with your choice of designs (above) for just $3 per embroidery.

Another counter features industrial rubber stamps and colorful ink pads (above) where you can go into arts and crafts mode and cover Muji notepads with scores of funny icons and logos (like an eye, or a nose, or the Empire State Building).

Prepare for some serious retail therapy when you visit—and please don’t say we didn’t warn you.

I am a serious Johnny Miller fan. And not just because he is an incredible lifestyle photographer (he happens to shoot most of the entertaining stories that we run in the pages of InStyle, like John Besh's white squash and shrimp soup pictured below). Working on set together month after month, contemplating whether an iced layer cake should be shot from above or at a 45-degree angle, or if a pink napkin looks better placed under or over a dinner plate, the conversation inevitably leads to cooking: what we are making for dinner that night, or what we baked over the weekend.

Johnny cooks for his wife and two young sons, and his obsession is chicken soup (this is where my fandom of him escalates). So when I am staring down a raw chicken in my own kitchen at home and wondering how to make it into the world’s most reassuring, warming soup for my husband and daughter, I try to remember how Johnny makes it. He is not just any guy making a soup, however. He was formerly an on-staff photographer at Martha Stewart Living for six years, and gleaned much information from the kitchen pros around him on the subject.

RELATED: This Spiced Chestnut Soup Will Warm You Up

Finally—and perhaps as an end-of-the-year marker—I asked him to jot down his chicken soup epiphanies over his many years of research. I may need it over the holiday break, after all. Here they are for you to learn from, too, straight from Johnny:

My colleagues at Martha Stewart who worked in the test kitchen taught me how to cook. I wish I could say it was my mom or grandmother, but it was not. If you were employed by Martha from the years of 2006 and 2012, then I'm sure I probably asked you if you preferred to leave the chicken whole or to cut it up to make stock. (For the record, when I make my soup I leave the chicken whole with the skin on—and I probably put too much water in the pot—but my kids eat it so I don’t really want to do anything differently!)

RELATED: A Matzo Ball Soup Recipe You'll Want to Make All Winter Long

It all started with this recipe for basic chicken soup, and this is how I have adjusted it over the years:

1. I use extra garlic and onions. (I am always trying to boost everyone’s immune systems!)
2. I first cook the chicken, carrots, onions, and celery (30 minutes or so) to make the stock, then discard carrots, celery, onions and remove the chicken.
3. I add fresh carrots, celery, onions, and garlic and the chicken meat, then cook for another 10-15 min. I turn off the heat, let the soup set and then skim off the fat.
4. To make it more robust, I add a cup of rice and maybe some hot sauce.

The perfect white shirt. The world’s best snap-front sweatshirt. The black stovepipe pants that still look chic decades later. These are just a few of the items that the iconic French fashion brand agnès b. easily conjures. Well now, you can add the ultimate lemon tart to that list. In honor of the Fall 2016 runway shows, the Paris designer—and mother of five and grandmother to 17!—has opened her family recipe box to share the secrets to the divine confection that her own mother used to make for her. It’s on the menu through the end of February at Tribeca’s charming Maman bakery and restaurant (a.k.a Francophile heaven), where recipes concocted by the owners’ beloved mothers and grandmothers are the bedrock of the place (and where the wait staff also happens to wear agnès b. T-shirts designed especially for them). 

“My mother was great at making what we called the ‘Bonne Douce,’ a nickname taken from a Romain Gary book,” explains the designer (born Agnès Andrée Marguerite Trouble). “She would cover the crust with beans so that it wouldn’t curl and put in the oven until golden and crunchy. She then added the filling, a mixture of egg yolks, sugar, lemon, and flour. She cooked it 15 minutes and added the beaten egg whites on top. She also added zest to give it acidity and enhance the taste of the lemon. It's a recipe that all the women in my family—my sisters, my daughters, my nieces—pass on.”

RELATED: A Healthy Pancake Recipe That Is as Guilt-Free as It Is Delicious
 
Join the fashion flock and stop by for a café creme and one of the mini tarts—fellow Parisian and shoe designer Roger Vivier will be hosting a presentation there next month, so it does have a sort of Paris-in-New-York vibe to it these days. If you simply cannot make it downtown, the designer has offered up the prized family recipe, below, so that you can can make it at home for your loved ones.

Tarte au citron (Lemon Tart)

Ingredients

For the dough

1 1/2 cup flour
1 pinch of salt
1 1/2 sticks of very cold butter
1/2 cup lukewarm water

RELATED: How to Make a Classic Margherita Pizza at Home

For the filling

3 tbsp melted butter
3 tsp flour
1 1/4 cup of sugar
Zest from one lemon
Juice from two lemons
2 eggs (plus one egg white)
​1 tbsp powdered sugar

Directions 

For the dough

1. Mix the flour, salt, butter and knead swiftly by hand, add water, and roll into a ball.
2. Refrigerate for an hour.
3. Roll chilled dough until thin; place in a pie pan.
4. Once in the pan, prick holes in the dough with a fork and cover with dried beans to keep from rising.
5. Put in the oven for 20-25 minutes at around 400ºF.

RELATED: InStyle Checks Out: Missy Robbins's New Italian Restaurant, Lilia

To make the tart

1. In a bowl, mix all of the ingredients well, pour over baked pastry, return to the oven for about 10-15 minutes.
2. For an extra glossy surface, whisk one egg white with powdered sugar and drizzle over the top of the finished tart.

Leave it to Issey Miyake to reinvent objects that we’ve been staring at forever. With his first-ever tabletop collaboration (which has been in the works for four years), the famed Japanese fashion designer launches a 30-piece collection of textiles, ceramics, and glass with the Finnish home brand Iittala, which will be sold exclusively through the month of May at the MoMA Design Store.

In his hands, the humble linen napkin becomes a piece of origami that opens and closes like a blossom, and when not in use, may be fastened into a sleek, triangle-shaped parcel. A fabric coaster unfolds like petals around a central axis. There are tote bags that, when empty and laying flat, resemble neatly graphic zig-zags, like a ruler gone rogue. Naturally, the textiles bear Miyake’s signature crisp pleats, ironed by hand to create sharp, sculptural edges. Each item has an element of surprise and exploration—and any one of them, in our estimation, will be the hostess gift of the spring and summer season. Keep scrolling to view our standout picks.

RELATED: 19 Pieces We're Coveting from the NY NOW Home and Gift Show

Talk about a very happy marriage. The Swedish design brains behind IKEA took a trip to São Paulo, Brazil, and came home with a bushel of inspiration, leading to a new and super exuberant collection of textiles, small home accessories and furniture that will make you want to crank up the samba music in your life. The limited-edition group of TILLFÄLLE items can only be purchased in the furniture retailer’s stores starting today, and will be available while supplies last.

We’ve chosen a few of our favorites here—the graphic tabletop products, gorgeous textiles and sleek furniture (like the stool above) will send you sprinting to your nearest IKEA outpost. Once you go, you may want to buy a few plates for your BFF too, and start planning a spring dinner party together with caipirinhas a-go-go. Saúde!

RELATED: How to Make a Healthy Caipirinha Cocktail

“This is just another chapter in the book—this is our L.A. story,” explains home decorator and father of seven, Robert Novogratz in a new renovation series on People.com called The Castle Next Door—The Novogratz Family Takes Hollywood. Binge watch all 10 episodes and see him get to work with his wife Cortney and their brood of ultra-creative kids to transform a 1920s-era castle in the Hollywood Hills.

RELATED: This Home Office Makeover Will Leave You Breathless

Garden dig-a-thons and excursions to L.A.’s hippest purveyors of lounge furniture give this previously New York City-based family a taste of the Left Coast and all that it has to offer.  And at the very least, viewers may find themselves tempted to repaint their master bedrooms and replant their flower beds for spring.

Having a new baby is a turning point in most women’s lives, and fashion designer Erin Fetherston is no exception. While she and her husband, musician Gabe Saporta, have lived in N.Y.C. (where her ready-to-wear business is based) for many years, once they knew that a baby was on the way, they decided to go bi-coastal and establish a home in Los Angeles. “I’m originally from California, and I wanted to take my maternity leave here so that I could be close to my family,” she explains.

Fetherston tapped online home décor retailer One Kings Lane to help furnish the living room of her 1920s-era Hollywood Hills home, taking advantage of their free decorating program called The Studio, in which on-staff interior designers consult with customers on room plans and furniture suggestions. “In the past, I’d worked with the company, designing a beach towel and even wrapping paper, so I had a great relationship with them,” she says. “With this house, we wanted to experience another way of life and to create a family friendly place,” she says. “The goal was to create a serene, elegant environment and a sort of oasis.” The Studio’s lead designer, Alex Reid, scooped up the project, and within a few weeks the room was complete.

RELATED: Tour Jennifer Fisher's Spectacular N.Y.C. Loft

Click through, above, to get a peek at Fetherston’s tranquil space, where she can now lounge quite happily with her husband and one-month-old son.

I first met the interior designers Rafael Kalichstein and Joshua Rose of the firm FORM Los Angeles while editing a story several years ago for InStyle about a home they’d designed for the comedian and actress Sarah Silverman. Filled with color and whimsy, the place was built to express Silverman’s passions and pastimes.

So upon learning that Kalichstein and Rose were collaborating with the Old World letterpress stationer Dempsey and Carroll on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, I was eager to see the results. The super minimalist products are now available for purchase, including these two elegant notecard styles which are part of their Brussels Collection, inspired by a journey the pair took to the European capital.

RELATED: Our Favorite InStyle x Paperless Post Invitations for Your Spring Holiday Luncheon

“We were so moved by what we saw on our trip and the relationships we made with the artisans we met there,” explains Kalichstein. “It made a mark on us and changed us as designers.” A black mark—a foil printed “brushstroke” of paint—on one card (above) is a visual representation of that experience. (“I love tucking this gem into a good book I am gifting with, ‘best wishes’ to the recipient,” says Leo Mascotte, Dempsey’s creative director.)

RELATED: How to Create a Kyoto Garden-Inspired Tablescape in 3 Easy Steps

The other design (above) shows the outline of a rock crystal. “We are mineral junkies in our office and are interested in their beauty and also their metaphysical qualities,” says Rose. “On our Belgium trip we saw so many beautiful ones.” Mascotte helped develop a pattern on the inside of the envelope that abstracts the crystal outline, extending the lines to create an asymmetry that feels modern and unexpected.

Printed on Dempsey’s printing presses that date back to 1905, the cards are a stark example of what ensues creatively when old and new influences collide. After all, we desperately need more reasons to put pen to paper.

In Gwyneth Paltrow's household, a festive, lady-centric gathering is not just a May occasion. "One of the biggest surprise blessings in my life has been my school-mom friends–I don't need much of an incentive to get those mothers and daughters together," says the actress and lifestyle connoisseur. Paltrow's informal approach to entertaining reflects her travels (Provençale socca pancakes piled high with delicious vegetables, anyone?) along with a healthy dash of silliness (a place-card game with pictures of baby animals described below, is "a fun and immediate icebreaker"). In the end, her philosophy for a successful party brims with warmth and elegance. "I like to balance some old-school proper vibes with a lot of relaxed casualness," she concludes. Adopt her easygoing yet memorable formula, plucked from the pages of her new cookbook It's All Easy ($20; amazon.com), for your own Mother's Day fête (May 8!).

“When I sat down to start this book, I had been polling my friends and colleagues on what sort of cookbook they were looking for,” writes Gwyneth Paltrow in her new release, It’s All Easy ($20; amazon.com), which comes out today. “These friends all seemed to have a common culinary yearning: they wanted a collection of recipes that they could prepare easily. They wanted to find themselves in the kitchen at the end of their overextended day and be able to prepare something delicious and quick.” With this apt description, we recognize ourselves. If you do too, we highly suggest you pick up a copy of the book.

Here is a highlight, below—a recipe for Singapore Rice Noodles—along with Paltrow’s commentary. And be sure to check out the May issue of InStyle, where we map out a brunch menu for Mother’s Day (May 8!), featuring a handful of dishes from the book that are light, delicious, and super-easy to prepare.

Singapore Rice Noodles

Vegetarian, Gluten-free, Under 30 minutes

Serves: 4

These pan-fried noodles are gluten-free, full of veggies, and kid-approved (my kids inhale this). The prep does take some time, but once you’re cooking, the dish comes together quickly, so be ready with all the ingredients. Add chicken, shrimp, or beef for a little extra protein, and if you don’t have a wok or a really big nonstick pan, use two smaller pans—these noodles don’t like to be crowded. Pan-frying noodles is not an exact science, so trust your instincts and add a couple more glugs of oil if things are looking dry or starting to stick.

Ingredients:

3½ oz. thin rice noodles (such as Eden Foods bifun noodles)
4 tbsp peanut oil
2 tbsp toasted sesame oil
1 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced
½ cup finely chopped broccoli
½ cup chopped green beans (½-inch pieces)
½ cup fresh or frozen peas
7 oz. firm tofu, cut into ½-inch pieces
1 tsp madras curry powder, or more to taste
1 large egg
¼ cup tamari
2 scallions, thinly sliced
¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro
Salt, if desired

RELATED: 14 Times Celebrities Fed Their Kids the Cutest Food Possible

Directions:

1. Soak the rice noodles in hot water for 10 minutes or according to the package instructions.

2. Meanwhile, heat a wok or large nonstick sauté pan over medium-high heat and add 1 tbsp each of the peanut and sesame oils. When the oils are hot but not smoking, add the onion and cook, untouched, for 1 minute to sear. Reduce the heat to medium and sauté, stirring occasionally, for 4 minutes more. Transfer the onion to a bowl.

3. Add the broccoli, green beans, peas, tofu, and another tbsp of peanut oil to the pan. Sauté over high heat until the veggies are just cooked through and the tofu is beginning to brown (about 2 minutes); transfer the veggies and tofu to the bowl with the onion.

4. Add 1 tbsp of the peanut oil, the remaining 1 tbsp of sesame oil, the soaked and drained noodles, curry powder, and 2 tbsp water to the pan and stir to combine.

5. Make a hole in the middle of the noodles, add the remaining 1 tbsp peanut oil, and crack in the egg. Stir vigorously with a wooden spoon and let scramble until almost cooked through, then mix in with the noodles.

6. Add the tamari, scallions, and cilantro and stir everything to combine. Taste for seasoning, add salt if necessary, and serve.

It was a breezy spring day early this week, and Drew Barrymore held court in a midtown Manhattan restaurant to present the latest addition to her portfolio of Barrymore Wines—a well-priced, refreshing rosé that got us very excited for summer dinner parties and general lounging with friends.

“This wine is fruit-forward, creamy and citrusy and not too sweet,” she said, addressing a hodgepodge of New York City’s top wine merchants. Dressed in a white floral printed dress and a pair of appropriately pale pink suede pumps, Barrymore lifted a glass, toasting the group and adding that she and winemaker Kris Kato intended to “just make people happy” with this yummy new entry. One sip later, it was a fait accompli. See for yourself by picking up a bottle for $18 at carmelroad.com. 

It was a recent spring night in the Hollywood Hills and actor Kyle MacLachlan was throwing a party at his home. This was not your average sit down, however. It was a dinner for the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (aka LACMA) to celebrate its Collector’s Committee—and the theme of the event was Shakespeare. The concept is not a random choice for a thespian who owns a vineyard producing a wine called Pursued by a Bear (the name references a Shakespearean stage direction in the play A Winter’s Tale). And beyond that, 2016 marks 400 years since Shakespeare lived. The stars aligned for an evening of tributes to The Bard, and a number of visual flourishes that you might want to borrow for your own impromptu evening of celebration between now and the end of the year when the anniversary still applies.

Click through the gallery of photos above and steal a few of the clever, super visual ideas dreamed up by MacLachlan himself, who happens to have a distinct talent for witty entertaining. Some secret weapons appear on the photo above, namely a guest with star power like Amanda Seyfried (she is MacLachlan's co-star in the upcoming reboot of Twin Peaks, premiering in 2017), and two of Los Angeles’s top chefs, Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo of the hotspot restaurant Animal.

RELATED: 20 Best Party-Throwing Tips Ever

When we managed to buy the place next door and connect our one-bedroom with the adjacent one-bedroom, my fantasy was that we (and that means my husband, Josh, and 2-year-old daughter, Bea, and I) could stay in one half of the apartment while the other half was being demolished. Our architect, Simon Arnold, looked at us as if we’d lost our minds, or, as he might say in his British accent, gone mad. No such luck.

Instead, we had to pack every last book and bauble and get it off the premises. The odd thing with this move is that we didn’t need to haul our stuff from New York to California, as one might with a traditional change of location. Instead, we just needed to get our belongings out, and then back again. One of my colleagues here at InStyle had just written about a new service called MakeSpace that ended up being the ideal solution for our situation.

For the unfamiliar, MakeSpace is a storage company with branches in N.Y.C., Chicago, D.C. and L.A. that drops off stacks of shiny green plastic bins at your door, and then retrieves them, so you never have to roam the creepy halls of a storage facility, rattling your keys and hoping that you will someday live to see daylight again. Once your bins get to MakeSpace’s HQ, the company photographs them opened up and posts numbered snapshots of each one to your private page on their website that you can easily access for reference.

They also store furniture and even drop stuff you want to donate to Goodwill. It costs a fraction of what a mainstream moving and storage company would charge, too. I know others who use the service to hold onto their skis and Christmas decorations off-season, but for us it was a handy way to hack our move.

How do you join two one-bedroom apartments and have it feel like one continuous space? In our 1926 building, the rooms are charming and somewhat eccentric. Our architect, Simon Arnold of Arnold Architecture, showed us three different layouts and one was clearly the winner. With the plan we’ve ended up going with, only a single wall would have to be removed. The space that was our living room for so many years would become a master bedroom, and the adjoining kitchen would be transformed into a master bathroom. Our new kitchen would be in the recently acquired space, and expanded greatly from what was already there. And the bathrooms? Well now there would be three. Yep, I was living the dream.

One way of connecting the spaces was through color. Now, if you count European home magazines as one of your guilty, undeniable pleasures, then you have probably heard of the English paint company Farrow and Ball. I’ve been writing about them for years, and the depth and nuance of their palettes are truly special. When you walk into a room and immediately wonder, what is this divine color? well then you have probably entered a Farrow and Ball-painted space. My fantasy with this apartment was to be adventuresome with the choice of hues, but still have the rooms hang together as one. I knew that dark greens and deep blues would be the anchoring tones—they make me and my husband happiest, and to be honest, he was willing to let me take some risks, and for this I am forever grateful. The main living and dining areas would be fairly neutral, an interplay of varying shades of white.

The kitchen cabinets and entryway a deep, almost-black navy called Hague Blue. In the bathrooms, greens would dominate, and one in particular called Chappell Green (except in my daughter’s area, where a pale rosy tone called Pink Ground was the theme). With all of these ideas in mind, I invited a color consultant, Erica Silberman, who works out of Farrow and Ball’s Flatiron showroom to come with her book of color swatches and assess my basic choices, then help me select the exact paints that would work best in each space.

She was incredibly knowledgeable, reeling off the pigment names in each of the whites I was considering, assessing the light (northern throughout) and generally helping to make the best choices. I would highly suggest building the oh-so-worth-it expense of a visit from a knowledgeable color consultant into your budget if you can. It helps avoid mistakes down the road which are far more costly. Another option is to get your hands on their newest book called How to Decorate ($26; amazon.com) which is a veritable handbook on how to make color decisions for your home. I was riveted, and found it extremely helpful.

I’ve interviewed many decorating gurus, and there is one truth that arises in conversation time and again: you can really have some fun in the bathroom. For me, the excitement begins with the choice of tile. I happened upon a fabulous Moroccan tile resource that was akin to a constant romp through a candy store—a storefront in Manhattan’s Flatiron area called Mosaic House. Over the past few months, my husband, Josh, daughter, Bea, and I have been stopping into the place more times than I’d like to admit. For Bea it is an opportunity to play with gorgeous, colorful square mosaic pieces that look like jewels.

For Josh and me, it is a time to dream about color, pattern, and travel (he is a photographer and a director, so between the two of us, Mosaic House is playing to a rapt audience). I would have loved to have gone crazy with actual mosaics, but they were more than our budget would allow.

We have been working with a woman there named Lola (pictured above), who is like having a cool artist girlfriend with incredible taste and a vast knowledge of tile. She also oversees the Pinterest account for the store (along with her own, @lolamakesnyc), which ended up being an endless source of inspiration. She had suggestions of ways to emulate intricate tile patterns without the expense, like this idea below courtesy of the French photographer Garance Doré, comprised of various cut pieces of cement tile. It is the same color scheme that I’d imagined for Bea’s bedroom and bath so it was of great interest.

We played around with this collage idea using various super saturated pieces of tile for Bea’s bathroom, and in the end it didn’t look quite right with the proportions of the room. In the end, we’ve opted for these cement tiles with a gray and milk-white striped pattern, which would offset pale pink walls (stay tuned for the final results!)

For another bathroom (which also serves as a laundry room), I fell in love with a black and green tile that felt like a stolen glimpse into an Italian villa. With this tile I knew that doing the laundry would be more than a pleasure. Lola showed me a photo of the floor in the restaurant Republique in L.A. that they’d also worked with, using a similar tile. It looks so graphic and chic, I was doubly sold.

For the master bathroom, Josh and I had always fantasized about painting the walls a shiny black. We’d once stayed at Blakes in London, an Anouska Hempel triumph, where the bathrooms are painted ebony, and the effect is super dramatic. This was our big chance to give it a go back home in N.Y.C. We found a shiny bottle green tile to offset the darkness and reflect the natural light through the windows. It also spoke to the color palette of the geometric tile in the laundry room, so the choice would make the overall picture cohesive.

Our contractors are laying the tile as I write this, and I cannot wait to post the final results. The verdict? It is most definitely a stupendous idea to freely explore your design dreams in the loo.