Souvenirs #9
More finds to take with you (for Memorial Day Weekend!)
Hey!
Dropping in before the holiday weekend with a long list of links and listens. Save this newsletter if you’re journeying somewhere fun via plane, train, or automobile! (Though if you can read in the car without getting sick, well, I salute you.)
Let’s get to the souvenirs—
1/ TIKI!
You’ve discovered the story of Tiki, right? (If you haven’t, well, climb aboard that feel-good train right this second!) Then read this interview his foster mom, Isabel, did with the Substack Embedded earlier this week.
2 / SLOP LIFE
Are we all mindlessly living the Slop Life?
3 / HOW TO EAT ICE CREAM
I am so happy to have discovered Jeni Britton’s Substack. The founder of Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams, her newsletter How to Eat Ice Cream is chock full of recipes and wonderful musings. (I loved this essay on melting as an analogy for transformation and pleasure, plus this one with her astute thoughts on Instagram.)
4 / REPEAT AFTER ME: YOUR WORK IS NOT YOUR IDENTITY
Oof, this piece on AI, its impacts on jobs, and how those changes will upend identity was great. As someone who is deep in the process of untethering work from her identity, I related with so much of what Carmen wrote. Highly recommend!
5 / WHEN FORGETTING IS GOOD.
“The forgotten moments are the price of continued participation in life.” A sweet essay to read this weekend.
6 / THIS IS CUTE.
We’re just a few weeks out from Father’s Day, so I’ll leave this adorable essay written by a new dad right here.
1 / ORLANDO SORIA—
who you may know from HGTV—has a hilarious new IG series centered around DIY and home projects. Bonus: the intro songs are real bangers.
2 / HANNAH AND PAIGE TRY NEW THINGS.
I’m an occasional giggler, what can I say? (Gotcha!) I giggled at the first episode of Hannah and Paige’s new YouTube series. The others are on my watchlist!
3 / THIRD EYE BLIND’S SELF-TITLED DEBUT ALBUM.
It all started with NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert, after which some of their songs bounced around my head for a month. This week, I finally put the original album on. My fun fact I forget about when asked for a fun fact is that “Semi-Charmed Life” is my go-to karaoke song. (Ask about this.) I gotta say, this album still has it. Those opening guitar strings, and I’m 14 years old, laying on the forest green carpet of my room. (Cut to distinct memories of giving my dad shit for listening to the music of his youth...)
4 / A PODCAST EP ABOUT, UH, FAMILY DYNAMICS
(That’s the trigger warning.) Mel Robbins recently hosted Dr. Lindsay Gibson on her podcast, author of the famed Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents. I read this classic earlier in the spring (a read that’s a read, you know?) and was excited for a companion podcast of sorts. Anyhoo, the episode was great, and very illuminating!
5 / CENTER STAGE TURNS 25
Loved this look back at Center Stage on the occasion of the film’s 25th birthday! Put on that Jamiroquai jam after to keep the vibes going. You know this boogie is for reallllll.
1 / SWIMSUITS, LOTS OF THEM.
Many things are better to shop for in-store, but swimsuits? Swimsuits are not one of them. I fell victim to the Stylest hype, but let the record show for us C-section gals, these suits do what they say they will. Also liked this one from Vitamin A, though warning, it’s cheeky.
2 / A LUDICROUSLY CAPACIOUS TOTE BAG
It does not contain flats for the subway, but it does contain daily items such as my child’s lunchbox, plus her water bottle, jacket, and library books, the presence of each explaining my need for such a large bag in the first place.
3 / MEI MEI MOON PILLOWCASES
My little one is blessed with an incredible head of gorgeous curls. I’ve lately fallen down a rabbit hole learning to care for super curly hair, and the Internet and fellow ringlet owners recommended silk pillowcases. I got her a couple mini ones from this local small shop, and they are wonderful. Fun, whimsical patterns, and super soft. They sell them in King and Standard sizes, if you’re in the market for high quality silk pillowcases!
4 / AFRICAN BOTANICS VITA C CORRECTOR
Been working my way through a bunch of different Vitamin C serums at various price points to see which one I like best. Gotta tell you, this one is the winner—even over the famed Skinceuticals CE Ferulic. For one thing, it doesn’t smell like day-old hot dog water, and for another, it’s oil-based and it just gives that GLOW. It’s still quite pricey, but less than Skinceuticals.
Four books I just finished:
1 / MAYBE YOU SHOULD TALK TO SOMEONE
3 / CARE AND FEEDING
4 / TINY CEDRIC (picture book rec!) The most successful, well-crafted political-satire-in-a-children’s-book I’ve ever come across. Not to be missed.
Four books on my list:
1 / GIRL ON GIRL (This one is in high demand at my local library and I can’t wait for my turn. Read more about it here.)
2 / THE EMPEROR OF GLADNESS (Ditto, and same: read a phenomenal, moving interview with Ocean Vuong here.)
3 / THE CORRECTIONS
4 / These shadow books for kids. I saw them discussed here and thought this looked so fun!
Need a new read for summer? I found SO MANY I want to check out from the New York Times’ summer fiction list.
From @juliuschurafilms
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Images: Chandra Oh, Letizia Agosta