10 Things That Delighted Us Last Week: From the Ninja Swirl to Going-Out Flats

When Ninja launched the Ninja Swirl, an upgrade to its popular ice-cream maker, the Ninja Creami, our senior writer Lauren Ro wanted to see if she could re-create 16 Handles’ Euro Tart — her favorite frozen-yogurt flavor — at home. She was very pleased with the results: “Just four ingredients … most of them whole: yogurt, buttermilk, lemon juice, and sugar. It tasted like Euro Tart,” she says. “I was gobsmacked.”

Ever since singer-songwriter Richard Marx got his hips replaced, he dings whenever he goes through TSA. That means that in order to get through security as quickly as possible, he needs to wear clothing without metal and snaps, like these hardware-free joggers that he calls the “coziest, softest, best plane wear.”

“No matter your height, heels can come with a nasty list of side effects: blisters, squeezed toes, throbbing heels, limited choreography, and, of course, falling,” writes Strategist contributor Abigail Gray. To avoid these pitfalls, she wears going-out flats, which offer the dressiness of a pointy-toed heel with all the comfort of a ballet flat. Among the pairs she’s eyeing are these slingbacks, which have insole padding. While Gray is partial to a now-sold-out green version, these brown ones are also nice (and look a lot like they could be from Toteme).

This week saw the debut of Reformation’s first pajama collection, an assortment of “loungewear slash sleepwear” — two-pieces and floaty nightgowns that Strategist writer Rachael Griffiths would gladly wear out of the house. “When prices start at $120, perhaps that’s the point,” she adds.

If it feels like you’re seeing butter yellow everywhere right now, you’re not alone. In fact, Strategist writer Brenley Goertzen has amassed quite the collection of “soft and inviting yet striking” Kerrygold-colored items herself. In this week’s “Strategist Brain” series, she gave us a peek at the assortment, which includes a microbial set from Set Active’s latest drop and this structured, Best in Class beach bag from Bogg.

Since “spoon rests both serve a utilitarian purpose and provide an opportunity to prioritize the look of something that sits out on your counter or stovetop at all times,” Strategist senior kitchen and dining writer Emma Wartzman believes they shouldn’t be an afterthought. Accordingly, she scoured the internet for a variety of bright, neutral, and sculptural options that you can keep on your counter, like this minimalistic one that’s made in Maine and comes in four neutral tones: brown, charcoal, white, and speckled gray.

“Personalized Mother’s Day gifts require a little extra planning and effort, but they’re a great way to make the mom(s) in your life feel extra special,” says our senior writer Liza Corsillo. Ahead of the big day — which is on May 11 this year, by the way — she gathered an assortment of delightful and personalized Mother’s Day gifts, including this travel jewelry case that can be debossed or painted with up to three characters for an extra $15. A word of warning, though: These gifts take time to make, so if you’d like your present to arrive before Mother’s Day, it’s now or never.

About a year ago, Strategist junior writer Bella Druckman’s mom started seeing more and more people recommending Taos sneakers in her working-moms Facebook group. “The white leather sneakers could be easily mistaken for pairs from, say, Tom’s, Sam Edelman, or even Ralph Lauren and Common Projects,” writes Druckman. But when she asked the moms what made the shoes different, she heard one answer again and again: the arch support. It’s so good, in fact, that among the eight women she spoke to, each one either had an entire collection of Taos or was in the process of picking out a second pair.

“For as long as the Strategist has covered travel gear, we’ve praised the unusual, scarflike Trtl travel pillow,” reports Strategist writer Katherine Gillespie. In recent months, though, she’s noticed a crop of new, “rather Trtl-y travel pillows” come to market. As our travel writer, it was only right that she put all of them to the test, including the “the egregiously expensive Pluto Pod [that] fastens tightly around the neck, with a 360-degree padded brace that allows you to lean back or to the side.” It’s so effective that when she used the drop-down blackout eye mask attached to the hood, she compared it to “a personal sensory-deprivation chamber.”

In the wise words of OK Go front man Damian Kulash, “You don’t want to have to go get toilet paper, and you really don’t want to be without toilet paper.” Following this logic, Kulash keeps his toilet paper out of sight and out of mind by subscribing to this aesthetically pleasing and sustainable toilet-paper brand. “They come in all paper instead of plastic, which is nice, and they have very pretty designs on them, so it’s okay to leave them just sitting out,” he adds.