How was your week, friends? I picnicked with friends in the park, attended a belated house-warming, and had my first brunch at Betty Danger’s Country Club. I think we can all agree, taco brunch = the best brunch.
My husband and his boys are in Yellowstone next week and I’m quietly thrilled to engage in Secret Single Behavior.
My SSBs aren’t particularly exciting but they include:
1. Eating an entire bag of pizza rolls for dinner while binge watching Kimmy Schmidt. (Yes, I’m late to the party.)
2. Staying up too late and working too much.
3. Buying all the best ‘treats’ and not having to worry I’m going to open the fridge and discover THAT SOMEONE ELSE HAS EATEN THEM.
Some of the best stuff on the internet which also happens to come from my sponsors:
You know when you finish an amaaaaazing book and you’re sad you can’t read it again for the first time? These journaling prompts are for you. Also fascinating: the secrets of book cover design!
Does autumn have a different energy than summer? I think so! I loved this post on making the most of the energy of each season and this post on slowing down enough to even notice the changes of each season.
More links for you!
If it feels like your life is overwhelming or you’re spending all your time meeting other people’s needs, here are 10 edits to get your life back.
Let’s make almond butter brown rice crispy treats and pumpkin blender cookies!
Such sweet murals!
Potentially awkward product rec: I finally listened to all my girlfriends and bought one of these and it lives up to the hype. It takes a bit of getting used to but now I’m a total convert!
If you’re afraid of being judged (we all are) this is a great analogy.
Some women love the color pink—pink, pink, pink everything!—and some women vomit at the thought. (“I’d rather kill myself.”) But neither opinion changes the color itself. It simply is what it is. It doesn’t try to become more purple the minute a forty year old woman approaches and snubs its nose, saying that pink is “too juvenile.” Or “too girlie.” Or “too cutesy.” Similarly, it doesn’t become more hot pink anytime someone loves it so. It just is what it is. And opinions abut the color are completely independent from the merits of the color itself.
Four words to add to your email that everyone will appreciate.
A better way to think about your career: skills over titles.
Your career is defined by your skills and how you’ve used them, not by any external measure of your progress.
Potentially unpopular opinion: I don’t find it cute or endearing when adult women disclose fraidy-cat or incompetent behavior and couch in terms of #keepingitreal. We shouldn’t teach girls it’s cute to be scared.
One study focused on, coincidentally, a playground fire pole, is particularly revealing. It was published in The Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology and showed that parents cautioned their daughters about the dangers of the fire pole significantly more than they did their sons and were much more likely to assist them. But both moms and dads directed their sons to face their fears, with instruction on how to complete the task on their own.
Related: I haaaaate it when people ask “Aren’t you scared?!”
I’m a total weirdo about wasting food. It brings me a totally disproportionate amount of joy to cook something with those about-to-go-bad tomatoes. So I loved Elise’s post on ways to avoid food waste. Carrot top pesto, ahoy!
What produce is in season in September? And what should you cook with it? Kate tells us!
Depressing but true: Walking while female can be a radical act.
Whaaaa? This space used to be a …. garage?
To be bookmarked: 19 incredibly useful websites you wish you knew earlier.
And a few Yes & Yes posts you might have missed: True Story: I’m a Furry, 7 cheap, easy ways to update your space, 13 ways to feel cuter + more confident.
Yes, yes, yes to the Diva Cup!!!
Another hooray for the Diva Cup! I’ve used one for many years and love it, although I will relate two cautionary tales.
1. I was staying with a friend who had a new puppy. She warned me to shut the door to the room, otherwise the dog would chew my stuff. I forgot, and her husband fished a half-eaten Diva Cup out of the dog’s mouth. I did not tell him what it was. So watch out for dogs.
2. Two years ago I was in an accident while on my period. Sometime after breaking 22 bones, collapsing my lung, and incurring a brain injury, I mentioned to somebody that they should take my Diva Cup out. I don’t remember how long after the accident this was or what I said, due to the aforementioned brain injury. I do remember asking the nurse if she was going to wear gloves (of course she was, sheesh!), and my husband said he heard the nurse exclaim, “Whoa, that’s full!” My sister and mom told me that none of the nurses had heard of a reusable menstrual cup, despite working in a hospital in Portland, Oregon, that is literally walking distance from a grocery store that sells them next to the tampons. So the moral of that story is, even people you’d expect to know about these things might not. (That’s not really a moral, is it?)
Whoooooa! So glad you’re okay! I’ll have to make sure to keep my Diva Cup hidden away – that’s definitely something my cat would do 😉