Ordinary life is better together. Our series, Family Habits, introduces creative parents and families, what they've learned about play, and their tips for appreciating the present moment with loved ones. In our latest installment, we hear from Ordinary Habit’s own Echo and Teresa Hopkins.
This time of year always reminds us to embrace heartfelt habits—especially with loved ones. No one understands this idea quite like our own Teresa and Echo Hopkins. You may know them as the co-founders of Ordinary Habit, but beyond the brand, Echo and Teresa share a bond that transcends any other job title: mother and daughter.
Naturally, the duo’s continued commitment to intentional living is evidenced in every aspect of their shared work and lives. And with the holiday season in full swing, they’re cultivating even more space for familial habits that inspire, delight, and encourage thoughtful attention. As Echo put it: “I've noticed that this time of year doesn't create closeness so much as it illuminates what's already there. The relationships that feel most like family are the ones where presence doesn't require performance. Where you can sit together doing separate things—puzzling, reading, just existing in the same room—and that's enough.”
Ahead, Teresa and Echo share more about what it means to be present—and the ordinary habits that have shaped their holiday plans and memories.
What ordinary habit best describes each of you at this current moment?
Echo: I'm Echo, one half of the mother-daughter duo behind Ordinary Habit. Lately, as the temperature drops, I've been drawn to the ritual of preparing loose leaf tea. What initially felt fussy and exacting has revealed itself to be a quiet invitation to pause—a small ceremony of slowing down that I've come to cherish.
Tre: I'm Tre, Echo's mom and business partner. I actually bookend my days with small rituals—mornings start with tea and puzzling, just a few pieces to focus my mind before diving in. Then after long work days, I shift into cooking mode. It's my way of slowing down again, creating something nourishing, especially this time of year when I can fill our table with friends and family.
As the co-founders of Ordinary Habit, creating tools and rituals that inspire presence is always top of mind. This is a question we've asked past participants of this series, and we'd love to know your perspective: What are your thoughts on the narrative around "being present?" What were you told about staying present, and how have you embraced (or challenged!) that idea?
Echo: I think the narrative around "being present" has become so aspirational that it's almost intimidating—like there's this perfect state of mindfulness we're all supposed to achieve. We are told that being present means clearing your mind, sitting still, and meditating in the traditional sense. And honestly? That's never worked for us.
What we've come to embrace instead is the idea that presence doesn't have to be silent or still. For us, it's about finding your way in, whether that's through the tactile ritual of fitting puzzle pieces together or the act of writing a single prompted line in a journal. It's less about emptying your mind and more about filling your hands.
“Presence doesn’t have to be silent or still...”
I think we've challenged the idea that presence requires a certain posture or practice. It's not one-size-fits-all. Sometimes being present looks like play. Sometimes it's repetitive and meditative. Sometimes it's messy. The through-line is just choosing to engage with something tangible, at your own pace, in your own way—no pressure to achieve some enlightened state, just permission to be wherever you are.
With the holidays around the corner, tell us more about how this time of year reinforces the idea of family—both given and chosen. What unexpected memories have you made during this time?
Echo: The holidays have this way of making you acutely aware of who shows up and how. I think what's struck me most over the years is that family, in the fullest sense, reveals itself through small, repeated gestures rather than grand occasions.
Some of my most cherished holiday memories aren't from the big gatherings, but from the quiet in-between moments. Or the friends who've become tradition-keepers in their own right—the ones you always make sure you have a drink with ahead of everything kicking off because they know how to make you feel festive simply with their presence.
I've noticed that this time of year doesn't create closeness so much as it illuminates what's already there. The relationships that feel most like family are the ones where presence doesn't require performance. Where you can sit together doing separate things—puzzling, reading, just existing in the same room—and that's enough.
“I’ve noticed that this time of year doesn’t create closeness so much as it illuminates what’s already there.”
I think that's what we're trying to honor with Ordinary Habit: the idea that connection doesn't always announce itself. Sometimes it's just the comfort of a shared ritual, the ease of not having to explain yourself, the knowledge that someone will be there when you look up from whatever small thing is absorbing you. That's family—given or chosen. Not perfect, just reliably, quietly present.
Speaking of spending time with loved ones, what's a new ordinary habit you hope to cultivate together this holiday season?
For us, so many of our traditions are formed in the kitchen: endless mountains of cookies, making more pies than there are people, testing out recipes from new cookbooks you’ve received as gifts. Having had quite an intense year, we’re looking forward to coming together over making delicious food we get to share with loved ones.
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Family Habits with Echo and Teresa Hopkins
A habit that inspires your family's creativity:
Cooking for sure. But honestly, it's the quiet moments we spend together paging through art books and design magazines. We'll pass one back and forth, pointing out a color story or an interesting layout, and suddenly we're riffing on ideas for puzzles, packaging, all of it. That shared visual language has become its own creative habit.
A habit your family taught you to build:
Tre: Keeping the door open. Growing up, we always had exchange students staying with us, people from all over the world cycling through our home alongside a big family. There was always room for one more at the table—that habit of welcoming people in, making space, and creating warmth.
A habit your family taught you to break:
Tre: The tendency to overdo everything. Classic example: cooking for an army when a squad is coming to dinner. Breaking that habit means trusting that what I offer is enough.
A habit that makes you feel more present with each other:
The quick check-ins throughout the day. A text about inventory, a random idea, nothing momentous—but those small threads of connection keep us present with each other even when we're not in the same room.
A puzzle you'd like to assemble alongside family:
Magic of the Season! This one has so many small details to enjoy and delightful moments to explore. Every corner has a surprise to discover.
A journaling prompt you'd like to give to the Ordinary Habit community related to family, play, or presence:
What small ritual have you borrowed from someone you love?
Think about the everyday habits you've absorbed from the people around you—the way your grandmother folds dish towels, your best friend's method for making coffee, how your partner always pauses at a certain spot on your walk. Sometimes we inherit these gestures without realizing it, and they become quiet ways of carrying someone with us. Write about one you've noticed yourself doing, and what it means to repeat it.