sunday edition: five things from the archive
it's the earlybird vacation edition!
Coming to you live from my summer break, it’s the earlybird Sunday edition!
Whenever people ask me about my plans for the week long trip we take every summer, I joke that it’s not a vacation, it’s a family trip. These things are decidedly different – vacation conjures the idea of leisure and exotic destinations, sleeping in, relaxing and eating gourmet food (perhaps).
A family trip, on the other hand, is a much more accurate description the summers at a shared-with-cousins lake cabin in western Minnesota. This trip functions more like a summer camp, with sailing and water skiing, family-style dinners at a long picnic table, cousins and neighbor friends in and out all day. The cabin is my favorite place on earth (and the place I met my lifelong, long-distance best friend).
I’ll be here all week with my parents, all my adult siblings, their spouses and kids, and (when not revising my previous life as a summer camp counselor for my own child) will be taking the ten days or so as a little bit of an extended writing retreat. I’m so looking forward to carving out some early morning time before the chaos begins to work on a few essay and issues I’ve had on the to do-list. In the interim, I have some updated-from-the-archive pieces ready to go out, including my favorite summer stone fruit batch cocktail (coming Thursday — don’t miss it!).
There have been quite a few new faces here at earlybird from what seems like a combination of reader sharing and recommendations from some of my favorite writers on here, both of which are such surreal and awesome things I can’t really fathom them. To properly welcome everyone (and to give myself a break for my vacation!!!!) I’m unlocking some of my favorite issues from the archives for the next week.
I’ve pulled issues that are a pretty good representation of the kind of things you can expect from earlybird;
obsessively researched travel guides (that make travel manageable and accessible),
personal essays that hopefully make you say “I thought I was the only one!”,
delicious (and easy) recipes
lifestyle-esque guides that straddle the line between essays, personal musings and academic essays (trust me, it works somehow).
I am simply thrilled and delighted that you’re here — so pull up a seat, grab a coffee, and enjoy!
xx,
The updated guide to being a morning person:
I am, unfortunately, a morning person, and I firmly believe that you can be too. Check this piece out for the comprehensive way I approach planning and blocking out my schedule to make it easier to rise and shine (even after having a baby! I feel so strongly about this that this piece is the SECOND version of a guide like this I’ve done, to make sure we really broke it down:
23 things that made my life better in 2023:
If there is one thing that you should know about me, it’s that I take recommendations I make here and on instagram SO seriously. Your time (and hard earned money) are so valuable and I’m not trying to waste them. It’s why you’ll often see me recommend something I have owned or used for multiple years, or new purchases I’ve vetted for months before recommending. In January, I rounded up the 23 things that made my life easier, more comfortable, and more fun.
The low-effort, high protein breakfast I make on repeat:
I’m more of a self-taught cook than anything, but I love to share recipes that make cooking at home easier, more fun, and most importantly, more delicious. This recipe is inspired by a few of the fancier meal-delivery services I’ve tried, and became a staple at my house when I was returning to work while still breastfeeding – I needed something that took zero time in the morning, was PACKED with nutrients, and could keep in the fridge for a few days (and was also delicious enough that I would eat it multiple days in a row). Enter: the tropical coconut mango chia parfait.
liking what you see? let me know what topics or content you’d like to see in the coming weeks — I should have time this week to get to them!
Coffee chats (with Maggie!)
Something that excites me the most about the newsletter is the opportunity to try new formats and have more of a personal conversation than on other social media platforms - there was a time where I posted daily to 40K+ followers on Tiktok, and I found it absolutely exhausting. Have started to do some audio format posts to have more personal conversations, like this ~45 minute chat covering your questions. It’s a great option to pop on for a walk or while you’re doing something active, and one of my most favorite posts I’ve put together! (if you’ve got a question or request for a topic, don’t forget to enter it here!!!!) like what you’re seeing? give a shout if there are any topics you’d love to see in the coming weeks — I may actually have time to get to them all this week!
Travel Guide: A weekend in Paris
The earlybird travel guides are some of my all time favorite kinds of things to write: I feel so strongly about putting together travel writing that gives you the 411 *and* gives you resources to plan your own one of a kind experience. This guide, pulled together from my babymoon in Paris, is a great one (and includes my piece de resistance, a highly researched google map with all the places I share which you can personalize and use to plan your own trip!!!) oui, oui!
The memories I have of lake weekends/weeks with family are some of my most dear! Hope you have a wonderful week off!