Hi friends!
Hope you had a wonderful weekend and happy Monday! This is going to be a busy week for me, as we’re gearing up to leave for our big cross-country camping trip out to Oregon next week–I have a LOT to do before then! ???? (If you missed it, we’re driving out to see my family who I haven’t seen since Christmas, and we’re camping in the Badlands and the Tetons along the way! More details on that to come!)
Right now, let’s get this week started On a High Note: Our Monday roundup of inspiring, interesting, fun and/or helpful snippets and ideas to try, read, make, cook, drink, do, and so on!
Without further ado, grab your coffee and dive into our favorite highlights to check out this week!
On a High Note: Vol 19
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The Cut’s Short interviews with USPS workers
“I loved reading these short interviews with USPS workers in The Cut for their latest edition of The Look Book. (We’ll be talking more about USPS in a blog post later this week!) Get a glimpse into what life looks like working for USPS right now–many working 12 hour shifts 6 days a week as online orders have skyrocketed. A quick read that is both sobering and heartwarming.” –Jess
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The Single Strip of Fabric That Went From ‘Votes for Women’ to ‘Miss America’
“(Okay full disclosure, there are several items under the “Read” category this week ????) This short New York Times article is a fascinating read about how quickly the “sash” went from being a suffragist symbol to a ‘Miss America’ emblem. You never really think about sashes in fashion these days (unless you’re at a bachelorette party), and this quick history lesson fills you in on when they became popular and the role they’ve played in the pursuit of feminism.
‘What lay behind the choice of the sash for the suffrage movement? Why does it come out today for events like bachelorette parties and beauty pageants, even as it has been more or less retired from official feminism? The answer lies in the sash’s peculiar properties, which managed to make it emblematic of the careful line the suffrage movement had to walk: it allowed women to make a statement, while still retaining social acceptability. Today, its statement-making properties have faded, but the festive air remains.” —Kendall
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I Will Teach You To Be Rich by Ramit Sethi
“Bad title, excellent book. I’ve started getting more and more dm’s from you lately saying, “this year is inspiring me to get my finances together”–presumably because you have more time to think about that stuff and/or maybe because there is literally nothing to spend money on right now and therefore you’re saving more money and need to know what to do with it. ???? Regardless, GO YOU! I wanted to point you toward this book (which I reviewed in this blog post here last year!) Available on Amazon and Bookshop.org.
Horrible title–it sounds like a get rich quick scheme (it’s not)–but it’s about putting responsible (and automated!) systems in place in order to build wealth over your lifetime. Basically, it’s a step by step guide to everything you should know without any of the fluff you don’t need–designed to be completed over 6 weeks. That’s it!
I recommend 1. Downloading the Audiobook version today and listening to it all the way through and 2. Getting the physical copy so you can refer back to certain sections when you need step by step instructions. The reason for this is because finance books are boring but Ramit reads the audio version and is HIGHLY entertaining. It’s actually a very fun listen!” –Jess
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Triple Berry Kahlua Crisp
Photo via Halfbaked Harvest
“I was really excited to make a dessert for a socially-distanced get-together this weekend! I picked out this fruity goodness from my favorite cookbook — Halfbaked Harvest and got to baking! Unfortunately, tragedy struck on the car ride over to the dinner, and I spilled a sizeable amount of gooey fruit down the front of my new dress. 2020 am I right?! Best case scenario, I showed up looking like a Halloween costume and worst case, like I’d been in a horrible accident. The good news is — the dessert was salvaged and every last piece was eaten! I’d highly recommend if consumed at home, I can’t recommend if it needs to be transported anywhere — the risks are just too high ????” —Kendall
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Custom VOTE Bracelets!
“My friend Christen just came out with these fun stretchy VOTE bracelets that she’s now selling in her Etsy shop! You can customize the color of the O and they also look so cute stacked together, too! A great little present for yourself, or, wouldn’t this also be a fun snail mail surprise for your girlfriends?!” –Jess
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Why Being Kind Helps You, Too — Especially Now
Photo via The Wall Street Journal
“I really enjoyed this Wall Street Journal read about kindness. It dives into the research that links kindness to a wealth of physical and emotional benefits and why it’s such a great coping mechanism for the COVID-19 era. It talks about the difference between kindness and politeness and tips to being kinder — especially during this time.
‘Psychologists call kindness altruism and talk of two types: reciprocal (you help someone because it will benefit you in some way—like giving money to get a tax break) and pure (you have no expectation of reward). Humans evolved to do both. We’re not the biggest, strongest or fastest animal in the kingdom, so we needed to band together to survive. “The key to our success is not the survival of the fittest,” says Jamil Zaki, a neuroscientist and associate psychology professor at Stanford. “It’s survival of the friendliest.’”—Kendall
