Web Time Wasters

Happy Memorial weekend, fellow Americans! This week, I (along with 90% of Minneapolis, apparently) attended Beyonce’s concert – severe weather evacuation and all. The rest of the week was devoted to walking around the lake with friends, grilling everything ever, sending a friend off to her new life in The Netherlands and lots of kubb! And what I mean when I say that is “friends played kubb in my vicinity while I ate elote salad and cuddled a toy poodle.”

Links for yoouuuu!

Sarah Jensen is wonderful and I’m not just saying that because we’re name twins. I was on her podcast earlier this week talking about mistakes that just about everyone is making online, how to max out traffic spikes, and how to network in non-gross ways!

Do you guys remember Nora’s True Story interview: My husband died of a braid tumor at 36? Her book is out now, to raaaaave reviews. Go buy it and read it!

I love everything about this program. Digital Nomads Lesvos is a program that’s combining co-working, island living, and social involvement. Location-independent types can choose accommodation that costs between $335 – 720 a month, co-work with fellow creates, put their tourism dollars to good use, and take part in programs that benefit Greek locals and the arriving Syrian refugees. You can help gather and upcycle the material that’s been left behind by the refugee boats, help brainstorm new types of tourism or uses for vacant buildings, or work to preserve landscape. I’m seriously considering doing this next spring!

Let’s make mint pea pesto for dinner and eat banana toffee tart for dessert.

Two DIYs I’m really into: floating window shelves + a typography light box.

Are you listening to The Hood Internet? Mashups of your favorite indie artists with your favorite hip hop artists? Like DRAKE vs GIRAFFAGE & SLOW MAGIC?

My friends Amber and Ryan gave a tour of their amazing loft on Apartment Therapy!

If you’re a parent/aunt/uncle/actively involved adult in any child’s life – this is a great read: 6 ways to teach your kid to be culturally competent.

Have you heard the podcast Getting Curious? It combines my favorite things – humor and weird stuff. Obbbbbviously I loved this episode about the Romonovs!

Have you guys heard about this sports bra band thing? Apparently it’s AMAZING.

I’ve been thinking about this video a lot.  Am I using my time, energy, skills, and platform in the best, most helpful way I can? What does a better, more ‘useful’ version of my life look like? I loved this post about using your online space for activism.
I’ve been given a platform, an audience, and some influence to use my words for good, and I don’t want to waste that opportunity. I want to use what I’ve got to bring light to situations like foster care, and, even though I can’t build Rome in a day, I celebrate the small changes, and the growing awareness that happens as people follow and read my blog.

Are you planning a stay-cation this summer? Or just want to get more out of your city? (I do!) I love this post about getting the most out of your city.

It sounds crazy, but I think it’s true. Buying one thing (the wrong thing!) can ruin your life.
After pulling four years of my online purchase history, and calculating the totals spent over the course of those years, it finally all hit me. I already had the life I so desperately wanted. That life was crammed away in drawers, closets, bookshelves, and buried in basement boxes. Hundreds of small online purchases that, for what I spent on them, could have added so much actual value to my life.

Something nobody talks about: when you’re living abroad, trips home can be overwhelming and stressful. You’re probably experiencing jet lag and culture shock, evvvvverybody wants to see you, and there are probably home-specific things you really want to do. Here’s a great post on how to plan a trip home and actually enjoy it!

And a few Yes & Yes posts you might have missed: It’s okay to be awesome, There is enough, and My problems aren’t your responsibility (and, ahem, probably vice versa).

P.S. If you appreciate my taste in links, I share more on my Facebook page! Different than the ones I share here! Let’s be friends!