The Living Edit | NB.COM | Page 8 of 13

top of page

THE LIVING EDIT

The Living Edit is where we share the belief that both our spaces and our lives are never finished, only refined. Through this lens, design becomes more than aesthetic; it becomes a tool for clarity, confidence, and transformation. The Living Edit offers comprehensive guidance for architecting all areas of your life.

LIFE ARCHITECTURE:

IT'S NOT A LIFESTYLE.
IT'S LIFE'S WORK.

week of 68 SS.png

THE PRODUCTIVE ART OF F***'ING UP

ARE YOU META MINDED?

MUST READS

LIFE IN A NUTSHELL

LIFE IN A NUTSHELL

LIFE IN A NUTSHELL

FORWARD VISION

FORWARD VISION

FORWARD VISION

ONE QUARTER

ONE QUARTER

ONE QUARTER

THE MOST MEMORABLE GIFTS

THE MOST MEMORABLE GIFTS

THE MOST MEMORABLE GIFTS

CONTENT TO COMMERCE

WE'RE SOCIAL

FAILURE. MY (least) FAVORITE F WORD. Architects frame houses. I’m what I call a Life Architect. I frame life. And one thing that could use some serious reframing? Failure.

I believe in failure wholeheartedly. I believe it’s necessary, productive and, quite possibly, one of life’s greatest teachers. I also absolutely hate it (and I don’t hate much).

I’ve had enough failures, including a few rather epic ones, to know that all the wisdom in the world doesn’t make getting it wrong feel particularly good. But I also know I wouldn’t be who I am without them. Maybe that’s the deal. Not all failure is created equal, but all of it teaches us something. We don’t have to love it to respect what it can do for us.

I’m working on it. Comment “F WORD” and I’ll send you this week’s Substack on The Productive Art of F**’ing Up.*
N. B. x
-

-

-

-

[failure, fail, trying again, starting over, roadblock, success, wisdom, life advice, life architecture, Nannette Brown, resilience, persistence]

FAILURE. MY (least) FAVORITE F WORD. Architects frame houses. I’m what I call a Life Architect. I frame life. And one thing that could use some serious reframing? Failure.

I believe in failure wholeheartedly. I believe it’s necessary, productive and, quite possibly, one of life’s greatest teachers. I also absolutely hate it (and I don’t hate much).

I’ve had enough failures, including a few rather epic ones, to know that all the wisdom in the world doesn’t make getting it wrong feel particularly good. But I also know I wouldn’t be who I am without them. Maybe that’s the deal. Not all failure is created equal, but all of it teaches us something. We don’t have to love it to respect what it can do for us.

I’m working on it. Comment “F WORD” and I’ll send you this week’s Substack on The Productive Art of F**’ing Up.*
N. B. x
-

-

-

-

[failure, fail, trying again, starting over, roadblock, success, wisdom, life advice, life architecture, Nannette Brown, resilience, persistence]

THE GREATEST FAILURES OF ALL TIME.
Why Their Epic Failures Give Me Hope.

I used to think success and failure were opposites. They’re not. They’re the same road — with few off-ramps on the failure side.

Steve Jobs was fired from the company he started. Oprah was told, to her face, she wasn’t fit for television. Martha Stewart went to prison for a stock sale (a sentence that hasn’t aged well, given what people get away with today) and rebuilt an empire from the other side of it. None of them knew, while they were living their lives and building their businesses, let alone failing multiple times, how their story would end. From the outside, every one of these moments looked like proof that it was over. But not to these folks.

It wasn’t proof of anything. It was just the part of their story that never makes the highlight reel — and it’s the part that gives me the most hope.

Failure is just the tuition you pay for growth, expansion, even dreaming. That’s the thread through every name on this carousel, old and new: failure wasn’t the destination. It was just part of the journey.

So if you’re in that part right now, the part that feels like evidence against you, it’s not evidence at all. Most of us are right there with you.

This week on Substack and here, we’re talking about a very worthy topic: “The Art of F***ing Up — Epic Failures.”

Failing forward is still forward. Don’t forget the Greats that have come before you. Comment “Epic” and we’ll send you the link. NB x

-

-

-

-
[Steve Jobs, Jony Ives, Oprah Winfrey, Michael Jordan, Martha Stewart, James Dyson, Melanie Perkins, Alex Hormozi, Success, Failure, Self-Growth, Motivation, Nannette Brown, Life Architecture]

[ @apple, @oprah @oprahsbookclub @oprahdaily @oprahpodcast @marthastewart48 @marthastewart @marthastewartworld @dyson @dysonbeauty @canva @melaniecanva @hormozi @acquisition ]

THE GREATEST FAILURES OF ALL TIME.
Why Their Epic Failures Give Me Hope.

I used to think success and failure were opposites. They’re not. They’re the same road — with few off-ramps on the failure side.

Steve Jobs was fired from the company he started. Oprah was told, to her face, she wasn’t fit for television. Martha Stewart went to prison for a stock sale (a sentence that hasn’t aged well, given what people get away with today) and rebuilt an empire from the other side of it. None of them knew, while they were living their lives and building their businesses, let alone failing multiple times, how their story would end. From the outside, every one of these moments looked like proof that it was over. But not to these folks.

It wasn’t proof of anything. It was just the part of their story that never makes the highlight reel — and it’s the part that gives me the most hope.

Failure is just the tuition you pay for growth, expansion, even dreaming. That’s the thread through every name on this carousel, old and new: failure wasn’t the destination. It was just part of the journey.

So if you’re in that part right now, the part that feels like evidence against you, it’s not evidence at all. Most of us are right there with you.

This week on Substack and here, we’re talking about a very worthy topic: “The Art of F***ing Up — Epic Failures.”

Failing forward is still forward. Don’t forget the Greats that have come before you. Comment “Epic” and we’ll send you the link. NB x

-

-

-

-
[Steve Jobs, Jony Ives, Oprah Winfrey, Michael Jordan, Martha Stewart, James Dyson, Melanie Perkins, Alex Hormozi, Success, Failure, Self-Growth, Motivation, Nannette Brown, Life Architecture]

[ @apple, @oprah @oprahsbookclub @oprahdaily @oprahpodcast @marthastewart48 @marthastewart @marthastewartworld @dyson @dysonbeauty @canva @melaniecanva @hormozi @acquisition ]

I made a promise I didn’t keep. I said people don’t talk enough about failure. The truth is, failure is easy to admire from the other side of it. While we’re in it? Not so much.

Maybe that’s because success becomes part of our identity, while failure can feel like an indictment of it. But a life without failures would probably be a life without much risk, growth or reinvention either. So why are we still so afraid of getting it wrong?

We’re exploring just that this week. FAIL FORWARD is a step in the right direction, not the wrong one. N. B. x

-

-

-

-

[success, failure, failingforward, selfgrowth, lifearchitecture, fallforward, grit, growthmindset]

I made a promise I didn’t keep. I said people don’t talk enough about failure. The truth is, failure is easy to admire from the other side of it. While we’re in it? Not so much.

Maybe that’s because success becomes part of our identity, while failure can feel like an indictment of it. But a life without failures would probably be a life without much risk, growth or reinvention either. So why are we still so afraid of getting it wrong?

We’re exploring just that this week. FAIL FORWARD is a step in the right direction, not the wrong one. N. B. x

-

-

-

-

[success, failure, failingforward, selfgrowth, lifearchitecture, fallforward, grit, growthmindset]

FAIL FORWARD. A positive spin on failure is easier said than done. You know why? Because failure looks different in hindsight.

Once someone has made it, all the wrong turns, rejections, and failures, big and small, become part of a great success story. But when you’re living through them, with no guarantee that you win in the end, it’s harder to see them this way.

Some roads to success take a few years. Others take a lifetime. The point isn’t to get through life without failing. It’s to keep going and growing. Again, easier said than done perhaps, but we’re doing it.

This week, we’re talking about what it really means to FALL FORWARD. Follow along here and on Substack.

N. B. x

-

-

-

[failure, growth, self improvement, starting over, food for thought, Nannette brown, life architecture, success, resilience, thought]

FAIL FORWARD. A positive spin on failure is easier said than done. You know why? Because failure looks different in hindsight.

Once someone has made it, all the wrong turns, rejections, and failures, big and small, become part of a great success story. But when you’re living through them, with no guarantee that you win in the end, it’s harder to see them this way.

Some roads to success take a few years. Others take a lifetime. The point isn’t to get through life without failing. It’s to keep going and growing. Again, easier said than done perhaps, but we’re doing it.

This week, we’re talking about what it really means to FALL FORWARD. Follow along here and on Substack.

N. B. x

-

-

-

[failure, growth, self improvement, starting over, food for thought, Nannette brown, life architecture, success, resilience, thought]

Self-awareness comes in different levels and stages, and says a lot about how well you truly know yourself. For the uber-aware, it can mean knowing yourself so well that you understand your thoughts in real time. For the oblivious, it can mean the total opposite, being completely out of touch. Most of us exist somewhere in between, moving through life at different stages and various levels.

But awareness isn’t fixed. The more we learn to observe ourselves, the more opportunity we have to move along the scale, becoming less reactive, more intentional, and ultimately more in control of how we show up in our own lives and the lives of others.

So, how self-aware are you? And perhaps the better question: how self-aware would you like to become?

N. B. x

-

-

-

[self awareness, metacognition, thinking, thought, oblivion, nannette brown, psychology, self growth, lifearchitecture, behavioral psychology]

Self-awareness comes in different levels and stages, and says a lot about how well you truly know yourself. For the uber-aware, it can mean knowing yourself so well that you understand your thoughts in real time. For the oblivious, it can mean the total opposite, being completely out of touch. Most of us exist somewhere in between, moving through life at different stages and various levels.

But awareness isn’t fixed. The more we learn to observe ourselves, the more opportunity we have to move along the scale, becoming less reactive, more intentional, and ultimately more in control of how we show up in our own lives and the lives of others.

So, how self-aware are you? And perhaps the better question: how self-aware would you like to become?

N. B. x

-

-

-

[self awareness, metacognition, thinking, thought, oblivion, nannette brown, psychology, self growth, lifearchitecture, behavioral psychology]

Meet the country club of Manhattan grocers.

Long before social media discovered Butterfield Market, Upper East Siders were in the know. Families have been coming here for generations. Founded in 1915, Butterfield has long been celebrated for its old-school service, house accounts (sadly no more), home delivery, and some of the city’s finest prepared foods.

FIELD NOTES:
Worth the trip?  Absolutely—but think destination market unless you’re in the neighborhood and you’re rich. It’s not your everyday grocery run.

Prices: $$$$

Standouts: Pan-Fried Chicken Dumplings Peanut Butter Green Goodness Smoothie, still my fave after all these years Mediterranean Salad French Cruller, go early—they sell out
Mac & Cheese

Viral:  Their Dot Cake is a social sensation. It was sold out when we visited, and I’m a little suspicious of cake in a cup, so I’m reserving judgment until I finally try it!

Best For: Anyone who appreciates an old-school New York institution with a glow-up—and who isn’t price-sensitive. This is the place for specialty shopping, exceptional prepared foods, and treating yourself. Not necessarily your weekly grocery run, but definitely a Manhattan mainstay that’s more than worthy of the hype.

Stay tuned for the next stop in the Nannette’s New York series as we continue exploring Manhattan’s most iconic, viral, and everyday food shops.
N. B. x

[viralgrocers, nycfood, viralfood, worththehype, nycgrocers, foodshops, specialtyfood, nycfoodshops, butterfieldmarket, dotcake, crueller, uppereastside]

Meet the country club of Manhattan grocers.

Long before social media discovered Butterfield Market, Upper East Siders were in the know. Families have been coming here for generations. Founded in 1915, Butterfield has long been celebrated for its old-school service, house accounts (sadly no more), home delivery, and some of the city’s finest prepared foods.

FIELD NOTES:
Worth the trip?  Absolutely—but think destination market unless you’re in the neighborhood and you’re rich. It’s not your everyday grocery run.

Prices: $$$$

Standouts: Pan-Fried Chicken Dumplings Peanut Butter Green Goodness Smoothie, still my fave after all these years Mediterranean Salad French Cruller, go early—they sell out
Mac & Cheese

Viral:  Their Dot Cake is a social sensation. It was sold out when we visited, and I’m a little suspicious of cake in a cup, so I’m reserving judgment until I finally try it!

Best For: Anyone who appreciates an old-school New York institution with a glow-up—and who isn’t price-sensitive. This is the place for specialty shopping, exceptional prepared foods, and treating yourself. Not necessarily your weekly grocery run, but definitely a Manhattan mainstay that’s more than worthy of the hype.

Stay tuned for the next stop in the Nannette’s New York series as we continue exploring Manhattan’s most iconic, viral, and everyday food shops.
N. B. x

[viralgrocers, nycfood, viralfood, worththehype, nycgrocers, foodshops, specialtyfood, nycfoodshops, butterfieldmarket, dotcake, crueller, uppereastside]

.pro-gallery-wix-wrapper {display: block !important;} .pro-gallery-wix-wrapper .gallery-item-container {opacity: 1 !important; display: block !important;}

BUILD YOUR
LIFE ARCHITECTURE

SEE US ON SUBSTACK

bottom of page