I realize this is an ad; I still appreciate what they’re saying/acknowledging.
How was your week, guys? For once, I felt like I found that fabled work/life balance – I got a lot of work done, and found time to see out of town friends, poke around the lake, attend a friend’s outdoor screening of Lemonade, and now we’re up north, celebrating the 4th with small town parades and diners. Now if I can just replicate this every day for the rest of my life. 😉
My favorite stuff from my lovely sponsors:
Desiree is sharing her 10 favorite Summer beach reads (I’m co-signed on #5 and #9) and how she gets rid of a bad mood.
Yesss! When you have a sweet tooth, but it’s also hot: 5 no-bake desserts. #4 would be before for a picnic! Also picnic-appropriate? Anything on this list.
As I’ve probably mentioned a jillion times, I’m a former teacher. Everyone in my family works in education. I really appreciated Jennifer’s post about why she went back to teaching even though she has a successful blog.
Other links for you!
There are veeeeery few products or brands I care about (I’m typing this in a $12 sundress I bought at Walmart four years ago.) But the stuff I love? I loooooove. I made a list of the 12 things I will recommend to anyone who will listen and made it a permanent page in my menu bar titled, aptly, Obsessions.
There aren’t many email newsletters that I actually open and enjoy, but I really like Sas’s. It comes just once a month and focuses on a different mindfulness theme each month. So good!
A good reminder: Winter isn’t the only time people feel down, but it’s somehow less ‘acceptable.’ I thought Kate’s post about ‘Summertime Sadness’ was really well-written and important.
Two questions Anthony asks himself before he buys things.
A sweet post about the life and the nature of love.
If you’re in love, try not to be afraid of it. Sometimes we get scared that if we’re too excited about it, it will be taken away. Even if it is, that doesn’t matter. It’s better to love bigger and bolder and brighter than to keep a lid on your love story.
Are you ever amazed by the things you don’t know you don’t know? Opportunities you didn’t even know existed? Surround yourself with people who make you think “That’s a thing you can do?!”
Then there was that time Nicole said to me, “Your hair looks really pretty. I never bother to blow-dry and style my hair because I have two workouts per day to prepare for my ultra-marathon coming up later this year.”
Me: [mind exploding] “THAT’S A THING YOU CAN DO???”
You’re allowed to work out TWICE A DAY and just DECIDE that you’re going to become an endurance athlete? Just like that? Even if you’ve never been an athlete before?
Probably the only kind of sushi I’m ever going to eat: strawberry and asparagus black rice sushi.
Related: strawberry ravioli with balsamic and basil.
A very, very impressive workspace makeover.
If you’re a woman, you’ve probably received unsolicited pictures men’s genitalia. Such are the dangers of being a woman with a smart phone in 2016, apparently! I love how this woman responded.
Solid advice on getting out of debt. I really liked #7.
I love entertaining and I really try to be a good host. Here are five clues that your dinner host is really good at their job.
Donii sounds like an amazing organization. Tell Donii what you want to donate, and we’ll find the local charities that need it. Choose one with a mission that speaks to you!
And a few Yes & Yes posts you might have missed: 3 tips to helps you focus (that don’t involve coffee), How to love your life even if you hate your job, You’re smart. So what?
Love that commercial ! Thanks for sharing.
And the blog link about enjoying being in love? Great. I have a daughter who is in love for the first time at 33…and friends are cautioning her to be ‘careful’ and ‘you don’t know him yet’. But I’m wanting her to celebrate it ! So I loved reading someone else who agrees with me.
Great blog!
The link for obsessions isn’t working
YESSSS thank you for the Summertime Sadness link. I struggle with depression way more in the summer time. I don’t deal with heat well, and living in Alabama, it’s inescapable. The sun feels oppressive and the heat makes it hard to even breathe. But it’s summer! It’s supposed to be fun and carefree! There are so many fun outdoor activities! But to me it’s mostly pretty miserable and made even more so by the cultural expectation to Enjoy The Warm Weather and Just Have Fun.
Soooo. I think it’s time to move to a different climate.
I also enjoyed the way the woman responded to that dick pic. The part that really worried me though is his comment ‘you’re a girl, you should like it’. The fact that men like that exist is scary to me.
I remember once I received a text message with a picture of a penis that had just ejaculated, with the comment ‘thinking of you’ underneath it. No idea who it was from, as I didn’t recognise the number. Ick.