Links we sent our friends #61

Lip Smackers, "that's weird," great basics, and bookstore merch

Happy Monday! It’s Aja. Honestly, I was having a pretty bad week — a bunch of fires popped up at work, and I had to bail on a sushi date with Aliza I’d been looking forward to — but then Thursday night, Sam and I drove out to the Cape with his parents. When Friday dawned, it was like a hard reset. I took my favorite walk (a beautiful five-mile loop along the shore), got to a good place with a few of the biggest crises, and started a new book.¹ They say you can’t outrun your problems… but sometimes new scenery really helps.

Aja’s Links:

1. How many of these teen beauty trends did you try?²

2. I didn’t know pasta bowls could be so pretty.

3. An interview with Liz Moore, author of one of my favorite books of the summer so far, The God of the Woods: “I don’t actually love the process of writing, but I do experience a lot of catharsis from writing and publishing a book. I just want to always be able to do that. As long as The God of the Woods would sell well enough to let me publish a sixth book, I’ll be happy with it.”  (Aliza: I loved Moore’s Long Bright River — cannot wait to read this new one! I feel like she’s finally getting some well-deserved and overdue attention…)

4. So here for the new “weird” strategy.

5. I must insist you try this tea — it’s like dessert (and I don’t say that lightly.)

6. Some of the most stunning shots from the Olympics so far.

Aliza’s Links:

1. Bringing you some Monday motivation. 

2. Does anyone else still remember every word to every song on this album? It’s amazing what sticks.³  (Aja: Oh my gosh. Came instantly rushing back.)

3. I love to pop into this local shop when I’m home in Nashville — known for their basics, graphic tees, and denim. (And then add things to my wishlist! :cough: Sam :cough:)

4. We love bookstore merch!

5. A really nice, universal reminder from Ann Friedman: 10 ways we find hope. 

Left: Beautiful pasta bowls from PINCH; Right: Imogene & Willie’s famous denim

Newsletter we sent our friends:

I (Aja) open The Secret Strategist as soon as I see it in my inbox. It’s a shopping newsletter from New York Magazine that recommends things like “the cool couch we saw in the corner of that artist’s Instagram story” and “the necklace we chased someone down an L.A. block to ask which Etsy store it came from.” The only downside is that many items are one of one — so you have to move quickly.

Question we asked our friends:

I (Aja) am drinking less caffeine — words I never thought I’d type — after realizing I’d go from zero to anxious in roughly 30 minutes… and that tends to happen every morning, right after I finish drinking a big cup of coffee. Unsurprisingly, it’s hard to drink less! But I’ve noticed slightly less anxiety, and sleep is definitely coming easier each night.

What’s your relationship to caffeine these days?

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1. The Wedding People, highly recommended by last week’s guest

Michelle Martin

!

2. Me: You wouldn’t catch me in the shower without Clairol Herbal Essences. I also looooved Lip Smackers, Urban Decay eyeshadow, and (more recently) faux freckles.

3. Ashlee Simpson was also my first concert experience when I was thirteen without a parent chaperone. I felt so cool. (Thanks, Mom!!!)