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 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.

may, snapped.

My first year of college in Boston, I experienced the first bout of what I now refer to as “sunshine guilt” – the pervasive, unsettling sense of dread and guilt you feel when you are indoors on an objectively beautiful day. After a long, dark, snowy winter, and a grey and slushy spring, the arrival of blue skies, green grass, and moderate temperatures hit like a siren song. As I trudged across campus to study at the library, I would find myself overcome with urgency – with the need to hurry up and so I could get outside and enjoy the good weather before it was gone.

I had a brief reprieve from this experience while living in Los Angeles (it’s hard to feel that kind of urgency 325 days a year) but it’s a constant feature of summers in Seattle. It’s a rhythm I love about this corner of the world: ebbs and flows of life that feel in tune with the natural world. The gentle pull of blue skies to nudge everyone out of their homes and into the lush abundance of summer.

May’s digest is full to the brim with similar energy – books with the spirit of early summer, recipes full of seasonal produce, and a few recs to make spending time outside more comfortable.

Okay that’s it, love you!

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• what i wore (when nothing in my closet fit) - a week of outfits in my life navigating postpartum body changes with minimal spending

• level up your at home coffee (without breaking the bank) - because in this economy, we have coffee at home.

• practice how you want to play - family camping trip with two littles, loving lately, and other bts updates.

• strong as a mother - what I wish I knew (and what I’m doing now) for pregnancy and postpartum fitness.

• anti-doomscroll reading list, vol. 1 - a new series! Quick and dirty reading recs to stop the scroll

• coffee with...anna maltby - an unlikely fitness expert on being brave enough to try something you’re bad at, and the marriage advice she’s glad she took.

• coffee with... kaitlyn elizabeth - an off-duty therapist on pop culture, modern mental health, and on relationships over miracles.

books

I had a very light reading month, largely due to the sheer volume of events, activities and visitors. Did manage to tear through The Singer’s Gun by Emily St. John Mandel (reviewed here), a quick and delicious page turner about a man striving to move beyond his previous life of crime. I also loved the sapphic coming-of-age novel Girl’s Girl by Sonia Feldman (review + author interview here!) as a perfect read for the beginning of summer and pride!

Currently Reading: Land by Maggie O’Farrell. A historical novel set in the aftermath of the Great Hunger in 1890s Ireland follows a cartographer employed by the British. He has a mystical experience that sets him on a new journey to reclaim the land through the documentation of Irish history, language and culture. I’m about a third of the way through, and can’t put it down.

Up Next: Whidbey by T Kira Madden. (I have this on hardcopy vs. audiobook and had much less “sit down and read” time this month, but can’t wait to come back to this!).

INTRODUCING: THE EARLYBIRD BOOK CLUB! I heard y’all loud and clear that you’re interested in a dedicated post-style book club for late June / early July.

Please vote on which book you’d like to read and discuss!

kids books

We went hard on non-fiction books this month – my very curious engineer in training has been very into math, counting and patterns, so we leaned in. Absolutely loved Master Math: Get to Know Numbers and Get In Shape by Anjana Chatterjee. Both are exceptional for teaching counting and math adjacent concepts with great visuals and engaging opportunities to practice. We also loved the fun and silly Trillions of Trees by Kurt Cyrus that combines big number concepts with some fun nature and conservancy lessons.

On the fiction side, Tomorrow I’ll be Brave by Jessica Hische is a sweet bedtime book with a supportive lesson about how tomorrow brings new chances to be the person you want to be. Busy Spring, Nature Wakes Up By Sean Taylor, Alex Morss, and Cinyee Chiu, was a lovely celebration of springtime and seasonal transitions. Finally, On the Other Side of the Forestby Nadine Robert & Gerard Dubois might be on the fast track for one of my favorite kids books of the year. It’s a little dark and weird, but tells the story of a bunny and his father who work together with their community to overcome adversity, reach their goals, and connect with others. The illustrations are excellent.

It took a very strong stomach and several days to make it through the BBC adaptation of Lord of the Flies (Netflix - reviewed here). While there have been a number of Lord of the Flies-inspired man-versus-nature-versus-himself on an island shows recently (Lost, The Wilds, Yellowjackets), I found this one to be beautifully, hauntingly poignant. Moms, watch with caution.

My immediate palate cleanser? Frothy and fun Off Campus (Prime TV), the most recent book to tv hockey romance novel adaptation. This one plays on the “pretend dating to real feelings” trope. I’ll be honest: rom-coms are not typically my genre of choice, but I found this one terribly addictive and refreshingly sensitive – I found myself bracing for the inevitably misogynistic “locker room talk” between hockey bros, but the show tackled consent, pleasure and sexual assault with surprising tact.

Mark and I are currently working our way through Your Friends and Neighbors, S2 (Apple TV+). I’m deeeeeply enjoying the addition of James Marsden’s unhinged megalomaniac billionaire as the primary antagonist. We are also starting to catch up on Industry, S4 (HBO) - two episodes in and the level of mess is legitimately squirm inducing (I can’t wait to see what happens next).

There were no Sunday edition menus this month because with two full weekends of house guests, plus a camping trip in between, we were fully operating on auto-pilot. Lots and lots of freezer meals and far too much takeout for my personal liking, and I’m much looking forward to some downtime in June to return to some intentional, seasonal cooking.

A few winners from the month: Big Fat Greek Salad With Souvlaki-ish Chicken from Wishbone Kitchen just feels like summer. Extremely easy to scale up for a crowd, the salad is so fresh, and the whole meal requires surprisingly little fuss. Super easy to prep components ahead and then toss together for guests.

Have been back on my sandwich nonsense, this time returning to my go-to plant based sandwich to take advantage of summer produce. She’s fresh, she’s delicious, and you’ll find me eating at least two a week all summer. I’m also steadily working my way through the 6 (yes that is s-i-x six) bags of mini cucumbers my grocery delivery shopper mistakenly brought us with my favorite recipe for when it’s too hot to cook. Finally: a stone fruit batched cocktail for sipping all summer long.

for seattle folks:

Many excellent coffees were had this month.

A few other recent winners:

Otherside Market and Deli - some absolutely fab grab and go sandwiches, perfect to eat next to your preferred body of water this summer. Just heads up – the construction in eastlake makes this decidedly tricky to park.

Madison Park Bakery makes some of the best parisian style prosciutto and cheese baguette sandwiches. Highly recommend grabbing a few before beach day!

Went up to Camber in Bellingham while up for a family camping trip and had an exceptional breakfast sandwich and an interesting date + pomegranate molasses latte. Would absolutely find myself as a regular if I lived closer!

Jeffry’s (formerly Bateau & Boat Bar) - I hadn’t been to either of these Renee Erickson restaurants since 2019 (RIP post-work happy hours I guess) but snagged a res at the refreshed Jeffry’s to take visiting family. I’ll be honest: the martini cart was fun, my vesper was delicious, but it wasn’t quite what I was hoping for. I’m extremely forgiving when it comes to service, but this was a tough one across the board. I know they probably have some growing pains for the new concept — here’s hoping things smooth out.

editor’s note: i’ve slightly revised the content here after the Sea Creatures team reached out. They’re aware of my experience and are addressing it, so I don’t feel the need for some of the sharper details to linger on. 🫡

A few excellent purchases this month!

tomatoes, strawbs, (soon to be) dahlias

It’s tomato girl garden summer! Snagged this perfect tomato candle for my garden-loving mom for mother’s day, and this farmer’s market scented room diffuser for myself. For the real, actual garden: I’m currently on my tomato, strawberry, cosmo/zinnia and dahlia journey (with some excellent dinnerplate varieties from Eden Brothers and Park Seed). It’s bringing me a ton of joy to check for new fruits with the toddler every day, and I’m ready to become a crazy dahlia lady.

Picked up this play mat for the baby and this three-in-one sensory play table for the toddler. Both have been excellent for playtime. The sensory table in particular has been a smash hit for water, kinetic sand and other play outside on the deck – anything that gives me 45+ minutes of independent play is an immediate yes in my book!

I only shopped two memorial day sales, both for items I’ve had on my wishlists for months:

• Picked up the Scarlett Nap Dress + Louisa Nap Dress from Hill House – with sale discounts managed to pick up both for less than the price of a similar Doen dress I’ve been eyeing. Excited to wear both all summer as easy grab and go outfits.

• For the past few years I’ve been focused on furnishing our interiors following our move and major renovation, but top of the list for this year was budgeting for a set of nice outdoor furniture so we can finally start to enjoy our outdoor space with more than a folding camp chair (... it’s been 87 years and my back is tireddddd). Picked up a few pieces from Neighbor for our deck and I’m chomping at the bit for it to arrive – I’m about to be literally seated all summer.

currently wearing:

Back to my “trying to get dressed every day” era – a week’s worth of outfits here!

empties:

• Caudalie Resveratrol Cashmere Moisturizer - swapped for Tata Harper Softening Cleanser for Sensitive Skin which has been great for some dry irritated skin with all the heat.

• Caudalie Resveratrol Lift Retinol Alternative Serum - refilled

• The Outset Micellar cleanser - swapped for Tata Harper Superkind Calming Crème. huge fan.

• Merit Great Skin Serum - repurchased

• Fresh Advanced Therapy Treatment Lip Balm - swapped for Farmacy Honey Vanilla Peptide Lip Smoothie

links you loved:

• Ruggable leaping cheetah rug - i can’t get over how much y’all love this rug // how kid and pet friendly it is in our upstairs landing.

• Fellow Espresso Series 1 - I’ve been saving to upgrade my espresso set up and this one is at the top of my list.

• Luna Pant + Cashmere Relaxed T-Shirt - a truly effortless mom uniform

• Caraway Non-toxic food storage - one of my favorite healthy home purchases from 2024

• DedCool Mineral Milk - because I *always* want to smell like a cashmere sweater on a cold beach.

This has been a long one, so if you’ve made it this far, thanks for reading! I’m currently working on another audio episode like this one — if you’ve got something you’d like me to discuss, feel free to drop it in the comments or the question box!