What are you up to this weekend? Around here we’re still unpacking and doing laundry from our recent camping trip … but we’re also making time to visit with family and find a home for all our potted plants on our new patio. And read some good books, of course!
I hope this collection of interesting reads and favorite things helps ease you into that weekend frame of mind.
My favorite finds from around the web:
- For 50 years, Alexander’s been having terrible, horrible, no good, very bad days. I didn’t realize Alexander is based on the author’s son!
- 3 offbeat summer grilling favorites. Because it’s too hot to turn on the oven.
- Traveling this summer? Here are book picks for all 50 states (and then some). A good companion to What Should I Read Next #333: Vacation reading.
- Aren’t these butterfly Vans the cutest? My daughter just got some that are similar and they are adorable in person.
- Parenting in the Time of School Shootings. “This is no way to live, and yet this is how we live. Every parent playing the worst lottery.” Call your senators, friends.
- Step Inside Best-Selling Author Austin Channing Brown’s Redesigned Reading Room. Such a lovely oasis.
- A friend recommended these Ooks picture hangers and they are fantastic.
- ‘Gone Girl,’ Still Here. It’s been ten years since the publication of Gone Girl and the impact is real. (Heads up for spoilers in the article if you haven’t read the book yet.)
- 19 Creative Ways to Get a Little Self-Care Outside. I love how practical these tips are, especially the last one.
- Craftsy rebooted their great sale for National Family Month: Get your Craftsy Premium Membership for only $1.99 for your first full year (normally $89.99). Lots of crafts classes, of course, but also gardening, photography, cake decorating, and writing.
- The Year America’s Hair Fell Out. “The pandemic was a near-perfect mass hair-loss event, and anyone with the most basic understanding of why people lose their hair could have spotted it from a mile away. The actual mystery, instead, is why almost no one has that understanding in the first place.”
- How to Make Box Brownies Better. I’m intrigued … but still am skeptical these could hold a candle to my favorite brownie recipe.
Don’t miss these posts:
- Things I’ll wear 100x this summer. My go-to summer wardrobe staples.
- 20 fantastic and flavorful food fiction reads. This might make you hungry. Don’t say I didn’t warn you!
Upcoming Events:
- June 22: Bookworm Problems: In this Quick-Fix Conversation session, we talk with three readers that represent common problems in the reading life and troubleshoot what plagues them (and might be plaguing you too!). This is a Modern Mrs Darcy Book Club event.
You can find more upcoming events here.
Have a great weekend!
12 comments
The craftsy link isn’t working? Is there a working link?
Great content once again! I have to ask, though, for details on the beautiful flower book in your picture?
I love the reason you love the last item in the outdoor self care article!
My favorite way to make box brownies better? Swap out the water for the same amount of your favorite red wine!
Any chance you could put the publications name by the links so we know if we subscribe and can make decisions about using our free article’s or not for that particular link? otherwise, thanks for the suggestions for things that are interesting that I may have missed on the internet each week.
For my family, the Ghirardelli box mix is hard to beat! Perfect with a scoop of vanilla ice cream…yum
The article on improving box mixes (I usually just add chocolate chips) went wrong when it added peanut butter….I never like peanut butter with my chocolate. However, YOUR recipe, Anne, looks delicious!!
I sometimes spiff up brownie mix by swirling part of (most of?) a can of dulce de leche in the batter (after it’s in the pan–drop a few scoops in the batter, then swirl with a butter knife). I like Nestlé La Lechera the best and I’m pretty sure I got the idea from The Pioneer Woman. And I only make brownies from mixes, my homemade ones are never as good!
I LOVE the book picks for all 50 states! What a fantastic resource! Thank you.
I liked the article about nature. Here’s an article I wrote on a similar theme:
https://www.travelawaits.com/2752761/creative-ways-to-connect-with-nature-when-traveling/
I signed up for Craftsy the last time it was offered for only 99 cents for a year. I thought “what a bargain!”. I am newly retired so I am looking forward to trying out their classes, BUT just beware….. when you sign up for Craftsy you will get multiple emails a day advertising other classes that cost extra. I have tried many times to unsubscribe and they will not take me off their mailing list.
Love that NPR books by state, what a fun idea! Also the Arizona book is written by a board member of the Arizona Trail Association, my work place, and she is a wonderful local historian with a rich family history in Arizona.