june digest
the best of june, including the earlybird bookclub kickoff, easy summer dinners, an espresso machine upgrade, and the links you've been loving.
The monthly digest is a summary of the best things I have read, watched, listened to, saved, shopped and considered each month. As usual - she’s a bit long, so you might want to check out the browser version or expand in email.
We’re less than two weeks into official summer, and it’s been absolutely nonstop at our house. After kicking off with a weekend trip to the Oregon coast, I am now recovering from two sets of houseguests that rolled straight into our annual multi-day 4th of July camping trip with friends – our first time with two littles. I’ve got a few days to take a breather before we head straight out for a week at the cabin.
If I stop moving long enough to think about all the pieces in motion, I might never get started again, so I’ll make this short and sweet. The June digest is packed with recommendations that are easy, effortless and work on the fly.
Let’s get to it,
may digest - the best of may – including the earlybird book club, a sapphic summer coming-of-age novel, the messiest tv show I’ve watched in recent memory, and the links you’ve been loving.
the sunday edition: bedlam, good music, fake internet & a seasonal menu - Reclaiming the routine after a week of cousins mayhem: playlists, the group chat, a dead-internet spiral, and a summer-produce menu.
extremely specific book recommendations, vol. 3 - my annual summer reading round up: more than 100 extremely specific recs for literally every mood.
(no) summertime sadness - lessons learned from my first summer as a SAHM (plus what i’m doing this summer to beat the summertime sadness).
plus three excellent interviews:
coffee with... lucy higgins - a conversation with the florist, writer, and founder on squaring your shoulders to the hard things, reigniting old hobbies, and meeting people where they are.
coffee with...sonia feldman - a conversation with the debut novelist on vintage ribbons, advice for writers, and getting dressed before you do something brave.
coffee with... susie - a conversation with the brand writer on curiosity, connection, and building a life you’re proud of.
books
Have been chipping away at Land by Maggie O’Farrell – a much slower read than I was anticipating, but I’m enjoying sitting with it. This is going to be the first earlybird book club read (as selected by you all last month!) – planning to go live for paid subscribers July 19th, so if you’ve been thinking about reading, now is the time!
Reread Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel during a family trip to the Oregon coast – I’ve been meaning to revisit for a while, and it was a perfect paperback to throw in my bag for early mornings with the little one before the rest of the fam was up. It continues to be one of my all time favorite books.
I’m not sure that I can say I enjoyed Weather by Jenny Offill, but it certainly gave me a lot to think about! This quick read follows a struggling graduate student turned unofficial therapist to her former mentor’s podcast listeners who struggles to find optimism and reasons for being as she becomes increasingly obsessed with disaster psychology and end of the world prepping. It’s extremely literary, and the meandering, existential style was supremely effective in leaving the reader feeling as aimless as the protagonist. Those of us with climate anxiety…proceed with caution.
Currently Reading: The Children by Melissa Albert (hard copy), My Nemesis by Charmine Craig (audiobook)
kids’ books
First Words by Patricia Hegerty. I can always count on my sister (a second grade teacher and reading specialist) to come in hot with the best books for our kiddos. Our 3.5 year old is loving the touch-and-trace books for consonant vowel consonant words – it’s kept him entertained for hours.
The Way Things Work by David Macauly. Another excellent gift from houseguests – this one is perfect for your little tinkerers and future engineers, deep diving on how everything from WiFi to windmills work.
Usborne My First Encyclopedia. The return of a classic – we got this one for our little guy for christmas and while it’s been a steady favorite in the rotation it’s become #1 in the last few weeks. I love that it has age-appropriate explanations for tons of different things (science, history, bodies, etc), lots of wonderful illustrations, and each section is short enough for a manageable bedtime selection.
National Geographic Kids: Everything Soccer by Melissa Santoyo && Messi’s Magic by Caroline L. Perry and Luciano Lozano. Between the World Cup in Seattle and our little guy starting soccer, we’re in a big soccer mood. Both of these were great to talk about the sport, some rules, and get him pumped up for a new activity.
open tabs
In the spirit of making the monthly digest a little shorter and easier to pull together, I did a little experiment this month and rounded up my open tabs for a bi-weekly email digest of things I’ve been reading lately. Super curious to hear how y’all feel about this format and if it’s something I should continue moving forward! In case you missed it:
Volume 1 - on the unsettling rise of conservative “masculinism”, AI-onset psychosis, the end of google search as we know it, the struggle of ambitious mothers, and more.
volume 2- the dark side of hiring algorithms, fake feeds, a skill gap worth noting, digital decluttering, and how we model wellness for our kids.
volume 3 - a look at modern digital leaks, the reality of summer, making mom friends, and the death of American cool.
Voicemails for Isabelle (Netflix) I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this delightful romcom (once I stopped sobbing). Zoey Deutch is absolutely radiant as the eccentric prep cook Jill who finds when the voicemails she leaves for her (already spoiled because it’s the whole premise alert) deceased sister Isabelle are delivered to a ~handsome stranger~.
I can’t seem to look away from House of the Dragon (HBO), despite my overwhelming feeling the extension beyond existing source material is milking the franchise for all it’s worth. But nevertheless, I am seated week after week.
Another month doing my best to balance efficiency with nutrient density and enjoyment – the perpetual struggle, is it not? A very rapid round up of some things we loved this month:
For fast and easy weeknight dinners, pulled out the herby shrimp cous cous bowl and Taco bowls several weeks in a row. High volume, repeatable, and customizable (I’m not much for shrimp, so we swapped out for chicken and seitan a few times and it was great)
Leaning seasonal and summery, a tomato peach with goat cheese salad or chopped salad with chickpeas, avocado & feta were both incredibly easy to pull together as a hearty side with a basic protein (chicken, salmon) and a good bakery bread.
On the lunch prep side: made several batches of white bean Mediterranean salads, and was put on to tuna salad sandwiches by a good friend. I did a few riffs to make it slightly more healthy (swapped mayo for labneh or greek yogurt) and occasionally swapped out tuna for pulled chicken for variety.
Our littlest one started solids – with our first we did a combination of purees and baby-led-weaning style solids, and plan to do the same this time around. We’ve been loving little spoon as a supplement to our BLW efforts to increase exposure to different foods, combinations and textures (as a surprise to no one, our girl is a fruit monster and is taking some extra convincing to get into the vegetables).
for seattle folks:
Shoutout to me for planning ahead with both friends and babysitters: managed not one but two double dates with friends this month, and it was so lovely to spend time with friends without being interrupted 37 times a sentence. Deeply enjoyed the 1-2 punch of drinks and apps at Single Shot (get the burrata) followed by dinner at Seraphina (the chicken was fab), as well as a dinner at House of Eve (we loved the caesar, brussel sprouts, duck and chocolate cake family style) followed by a nightcap at the 1 Hotel Drift Bar (I had a very LA feeling green juice cocktail and it was fab).
I’ve been largely making coffee at home, but did pick up the breakfast burrito and an espresso spritz from Pacha in Greenlake (burrito is a little potato heavy for my personal taste but gets the job done). I also finally branched out from the Volunteer Park Cafe breakfast sandwich and tried the prosciutto toast (+ espresso spritz, obv) and it was really good.
I finally convinced myself to make a purchase I’ve been saving for since last summer as a celebration of hitting six months of breastfeeding – upgraded my automatic Breville Bambino to a much more manual (but still beginner-intermediate friendly) Fellow Espresso Series 1 machine and have been loving tinkering around learning to pull real espresso shots, steam milk, and (attempt) latte art.
After nearly two years (!!!) in our house, we finally got around to picking and committing to some furniture for the back deck. It took forever but last month I shared that we landed on Neighbor Outdoor Haven Furniture – snagged a love seat, a round coffee table and two arm chairs. We’ve had them for about three weeks now - they came fairly quickly, assembly was VERY straightforward and I’m happy to report we are completely obsessed. I’m spending so much more time outside, they have been wonderful for guests, and above all they are just so comfortable.
links you loved
Soft Services X Vacation buffing bar - the classic exfoliator bar with a summery new scent – anything with notes of bergamot, solar musk, pool water and swimsuit fabric has me *so* intrigued.
Hill House Louisa Nap Dress - so darling, so comfortable, and (still) on major sale.
Margaux Woven Leather Demi Flats - i can’t stop wearing these – feel easy breezy like sandals, more structured and comfortable
Sezane Claude Bag - my go-to date night bag – I’ve had mine for over two years and she’s the star of every outfit.
Fellow Series 1 Espresso Machine - seems like i’m not the only one has been fiending after better at home coffee
Warby Parker Rustin Sunglasses - I get questions about these every time I post in them (which is… every single week.)
that’s quite enough from me, today! see you (later on) in july for the first earlybird book club post, two new coffee with… interviews, two sunday editions for paid subs, and a whole lot more good stuff.
Okay that net over your strawberry plants is genius!!! I've been fighting off squirrels non-stop 😤
I’m new here and felt like I really got a glimpse of you reading this digest!