We’ve gone to great lengths to distance ourselves from Diet Coke, which led us to a high-volume LaCroix habit that is hard to stomach from an environmental perspective. In an attempt to elevate soda drinking to special occasions only, we’ve moved on to the pricier but more luxurious (and even healthy-ish) Olipop. It’s a soda-y tonic founded by some science-minded folks hell-bent on improving our biomes through ingesting this tasty beverage. The bevvy promotes better digestion with prebiotics, plant fiber, and botanicals. But equally important is the taste, which in the case of our preferred flavor (Orange Cream) is both complex and sweet—and it’s made with only five grams of sugar. ($36 for a case of 12 cans, olipop.com) —Ashley Baker

In 2006, when longtime English school friends Martin Ephson and Tom Helme sold Farrow & Ball—the go-to paint brand for shooting lodges and Georgian manor houses—they could have put their feet up and settled into early retirement. Instead, they started Fermoie, an equally elegant fabric brand that specializes in hand-drawn patterns printed with natural dyes and pigments mixed in the U.K. Expect classic designs with a modern twist in more than 400 colorways—ideal for curtains and upholstery. If you’re in the market for something smaller, they also sell cushions and pleated lampshades. (fermoie.com) —Bridget Arsenault

For three years, Claire Saffitz created homemade versions of name-brand junk food (Cheetos, Oreos, Snickers) on her once beloved Bon Appétit cooking show, Gourmet Makes. And then, in June 2020, there was a cancellation—not of her show but of her boss. Four months and her decision-against-renewing-her-contract later, Saffitz was a cook without a kitchen. So she turned to the one in her home. Last December, with the release of her first cookbook, Dessert Person, Saffitz started the YouTube channel Claire Saffitz x Dessert Person, to cook through the book on camera. Whereas the gimmick of Gourmet Makes grew a bit stale during its 44-episode run, Claire Saffitz x Dessert Person offers meticulous 10-to-20-minute how-tos for popular baked goods—challah bread, meringues, puff pastry. Her weekly videos do what her book could not: convince me that sometimes my butter must really be room temperature before I start baking. (youtube.com) —Jensen Davis

We’re not going to debate logo-mania today. Sorry, it’s not happening. But we can, and will, get excited about these new earrings from Balenciaga. An age-old Art Deco motif? Hardly. But we get where you’re coming from. Instead, this is a clever reworking of the brand’s “BB” logo, which was sourced from Balenciaga’s archives by its clever creative director, Demna Gvasalia. They’re made in Italy from crystals and silver-tone brass, so they’re technically of the costume variety, but they’ll hold up nicely in a sea of the real stuff. Talk about subversive—just how we like it. ($375, matchesfashion.com) —Ashley Baker

Some of us spent lockdown baking bread and drinking. Others, such as interior designer CeCe Barfield Thompson, dreamed up entirely new product lines. Holing up with her family in Virginia was a fruitful experience as her new collection—available for pre-order on Moda Operandi—is full of embroidered linens (including an adorable apron for the junior set), silver-plated brass, and a rather glorious dinnerware set. Painted entirely by freehand on Limoges porcelain, the flora-and-fauna design is so compelling that hardly anyone will notice that the toast is burned. If only our tables could have looked this good during lockdown. ($215, modaoperandi.com) —Ashley Baker

Leon Russell was many things: in-demand session musician, singer-songwriter, bandleader, label head, even a “Master of Space and Time.” But he was, foremost, a performer. Russell can be heard on some of the greatest and most star-studded concert recordings of the 1960s and 1970s, including The T.A.M.I. Show, Mad Dogs & Englishmen, The Concert for Bangladesh, and his own Leon Live—not to mention Phil Spector’s Christmas album. Yet there may be no better distillation of his gifts than The Castle Session 1971, a short, intimate set recorded at Kasteel Groeneveld, in the Netherlands, now streamable on Spotify. (spotify.com) —Ash Carter