We’re heading back to Brooklyn this weekend, where our childcare coverage becomes significantly more spotty, and options for swimming much more limited. I took this week off from work to do such glamorous activities such as finish registering the kids for fall after school, schedule doctors’ appointments, and weed the yard, It’s been legitimately great.
Here are a handful of summertime recs from the last few weeks:
To eat (Hudson Valley edition):
Alleyway Ice Cream in Saugerties. Shoutout to the Thai Iced Tea Cookies & Cream and the Fresh Mint Chip.
The “tomato bagel” breakfast sandwich from Rosie General in Kingston. AKA their perfectly toasted homemade bagels + tomato, cream cheese, capers, dill, + greens.
“Kids’ night” at Westwind Orchard on Sunday nights in the summer, which has nothing to do with the food, but they provide face painters, music, bubbles, hula hoops, and plenty of activities to keep your kids pre-occupied while you eat and hang out with other adults.
Brunch at Blooming Hill Farm, where you can explore the market stand, the greenhouses, and walk the grounds before/after a meal in the restaurant.
“The Stand” burrito from Bubby’s in Red Hook, which is, IMO, the perfect burrito. Eat it with the free pickles and tomatilla salsa. I do miss when the burritos came from a truck in a field, though.
Because summer salad season is the best season: any of the salads in Salad Freak: Recipes to feed a healthy obsession by Jess Damuck, which I saw at the bookstore and proceeded to photograph half the pages.
To wear:
“What Are the Best Kids’ T-shirts,” a piece that was fun to put together for The Strategist, because Ada is a young t-shirt connoisseur.
The kids’ favorite tees though are the ones we tie-dyed using one of the Tulip Tie Dye kits from Michael’s that come in different color-way combos. Ours was pretty similar to this one, but with five colors, not eight.
These Wilson Bowery Court shorts for tennis, because i’m not really a skirt-sport person, which have a thick waistband, generous pockets, and also a zip secret pocket for credit cards.
Saving my skin:
The Benadryl Itch Relief Stick. Ada fights me for this every morning. It works so well and you can carry it with you anywhere for when you get a bite. It’s the tide pen of mosquito bites.
Old news but Goop Unseen Sunscreen is legit the best-feeling to put on your face. Also still a very big fan of Shisheido’s Oil-Free Sunscreen.
To watch:
Barbie. Obvs lot to say, but enjoyed Ryan Gosling’s performance and the production design the most. Also <3 Greta Gerwig, who did an interview/convo on Smartless and I enjoyed all the parts where they weren’t talking over her.
The Deepest Breath (Netflix): The much talked about doc abou free-divers aspiring to the deepest-dive records. IMO this sport is the most insane of all extreme sports and seems like a literal nightmare. Jacob pointed out it felt like they should have gone more into the morality of it (a sport that really puts others at risk, where you regularly lose consciousness, etc.) which I agree with.
How To With John Wilson, Season 3 (Max): The first episode of this show is out and like the previous two seasons, the editing and deadpan humor is so spot on.
To read:
The Guest by Emma Cline: This is my first Cline novel, but she really strikes me as the Bret Easton Ellis for Millenial women. Drugs, alcohol, wealth, posturing, grifters, The Hamptons, zero accountability, and completely despicable behavior. The whole Dom storyline feels like a cheap mechanism to me but a fun beach-read.
Last Night at the Lobster by Stewart O’Nan: A quick novella about the last night at a location of Red Lobster before they close. It’s the middle of winter, there’s a big snowstorm, allegiances are wavering, and the customers are demanding. Really fun portrayal of the politics of hierarchy, service, and loyalty of a cast of characters.
All My Puny Sorrows by Miriam Toews, about two very close sisters who grow up in a Mennonite household, one now a world renowned concert pianist and the other a mid-life mess. Elfrieda, the pianist, tries to end her life and they must navigate it together. Only 50 pages in but incredible thus far.
Emily Oster’s newsletter about “Total Responsibility Transfer,” where in order to delegate to your spouse you can’t partially delegate, you have to fully delegate. So, better not to share family calendaring, or divide up meal planning, but to fully divide and conquer.
Towels:
Bath and lightweight for beach/camp: These Turkish towels from Eastern Woven (on Etsy). You can mix and match from their many great patterns (5 for $108)
Mollusk Surf Shop makes my favorite beach towels. Thick, plush, great designs.
Send me your recs: I’ve fully run out of podcasts to listen to, so please send me recs! I like longform interviews, narrative series, analysis on current events / trends, deep dives into niche anything. See you again when I see you.
Have you listened to the Sold a Story podcast? It’s 6 episodes on how reading has been taught in elementary schools and was one of the most compelling, eye-opening podcasts I’ve ever listened to. https://features.apmreports.org/sold-a-story/
I read a lot of Toews this winter before and after Women Talking came out. AMPS is amazing. If you keep reading her it’s very interesting how she weaves reoccurring character-essences into her stories.
Really wanted to like “the guest,” kept expecting a shift, that never arrived! My delightful beach read was Howl’s Moving Castle. Borrowed it from my 12yr old and now my husband is reading it too.
I like Tyler Cowen interviews with specific people and Tim Ferriss interviews with specific people--meaning not every single podcast they do, but many of them.