I'm typing this while at the dining room table. I have my bare feet propped up on the chair across from me. My feet are always cold ("You mean, they are ice bricks," says the husband). I don't like being cold so I tend to wear thick slipper socks or slippers around the house. At the office, I aim my space heater directly at me feet. 

We've entered summer weather which means these are the few months of the year I happily plod about barefoot. In high school, I took modern dance classes. We wore half-sole sandals which let your foot move freely. You could better grip with your toes or point your foot. I remember these classes fondly. I take joy in walking around barefoot and love doing the occasional turn or foot swoosh as I walk around our home. 

While I can't readily do this in the city, I love walking around barefoot outside. My in-laws' yard has the softest grass that tickles the feet instead of scratching. I remember tip toeing across the hot pool deck at my grandparents' house before diving in to the cool water. As a kid, when we lived in Florida, I would dash across our driveway to grab the mail or meet up with a friend. My feet always developed calluses as the long summer progressed.

I equate being barefoot with happy childhood memories, and I'm glad these moments come back to me now that I'm pushing 40.

Plus, I always recommend being barefoot when you paint. That way you know if you step in wet paint before you track it around.

​Do you like being barefoot?

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I started reading Simplicity Parenting: Using the Extraordinary Power of Less to Raise Calmer, Happier, and More Secure Kids by John Payne and Lisa M. Ross for two reasons. First, it’s been hanging around on my bookcase for awhile and it’s about time. Two, I have a book due to come in from the library that’s got a growing wait list. I needed something I could stop reading and then pick back up again. So far, it’s reaffirming our decision to not get our kiddo too many toys.

• Why some food just tastes better cold. [TASTE]

• Art made by rolling and pinching paper. [Colossal]

• This just made me laugh. [@webmastergirl]

• These clouds look like one of those popper toys. [WaPo - gift link]

• Mentalization can help you handle trouble in parenting and work. [A Cup of Ambition]

• How Asian carry outs ended up in Black DC neighborhoods. [Dish City]

• The problem with "buy now, pay later." [Planet Money]

• #VanLife is not all that Instagram makes it out to be. [The Daily]

• Now I want to try the mysterious eel. [Gastropod]

• I need my kid to listen to the episode on FOMO so that she'll actually nap at daycare. [Life Kit]

• Yes! More scientific studies related to women's health, please. [Short Wave]

• The US may now need to look to Mexico as a model of abortion care. [The Daily]

• The women who made the men of the civil rights movement. [Throughline]

• In this household, we have a thing for high intensity movies set in space. Voyagers is a sci-fi YA novel crossed with Lord of the Flies. It feels like the movie should be a drama full of complex storytelling and technological complications. It is not that. Due to some weird directing and acting choices, the emotional intensity is lacking which means the great production and intriguing premise don't get to reach their full potential. Also, the entire narrative of the movie is an scientifically ethical disaster. No IRB would touch this work. I just could not get that out of my brain. [Lionsgate]

• We polished off the last episodes of the Leverage: Redemption. This reboot was just so good. It brought back all that was great about the original series and added some new characters that worked to expand the series. Plus, the reboot abounded with Easter eggs referring to the original series and the actors' previous work. They were subtle enough you'd miss them if you didn't know, but added so much if you were in on the joke. [Amazon Prime]

• Tried a new to us recipe: easy Asian glazed meatballs. They were a cinch to make. I served them with leftover steamed white rice and sauteed snow pea shoots from takeout we had the night before. It was so good we plan on ordering extra snow pea shoots next time. [Taste of Home]

• Somehow I made it to 60 issues of my newsletter without sharing the recipe for vegetarian French dip. This is one of our go to vegetarian meals. It's rich without feeling heavy. The jus is so good I eat the leftovers like soup. We like to serve this with a side of roasted sweet potatoes. [Budget Bytes]

I finally got to visit the remodeled MLK branch of the DC Public Library. It’s beautiful. They added a slide to the kids area that is both fun to use and pretty to look at.

Townscaper is a web based game where you build a town. That’s it. Just keep clicking and watch it grow. It feels like Sim City but with none of the strategy - just the pretty building.

*looks at calendar* That’s a lot of Zoom calls.