Another short intro this week because the kiddo and I flew back from Florida yesterday. Each bit of travel we do with the kiddo makes things easier. We're learning what we do and don't need and how much she'll tolerate. Fingers crossed that things only keep getting better.

Our trip was great fun - even if I did need to work for most of it. Something about getting to log-off and visit the pool and eat dinner outside makes an average work day feel a bit like a vacation. 

Leave a comment

I read the entirety of Mr. Malcolm’s List by Suzanne Allain while in Florida. This is a straightforward Regency romance novel. The writing, however, has a twist. It sounds much more like Jane Austen than your typical romance written today. I greatly enjoyed that chance of pace with the prose.

*Books shared here are affiliate links for Bookshop.org

• Lots of illustrated cooking tips. [Real Simple]

• The ancient history of coffee. [AP]

• Sunshine guilt is a thing I've experienced but didn't have a name for. [PopSugar]

• The many bicycles of World War II. [The Atlantic - may be paywalled]

• The real life trend behind the Downton Abbey marriage. [Noble Blood]

• The power of pleasure. [Short Wave]

• Ralph Nader, consumer crusader. [Throughline]

• Trying to seat the jury in the Trump case. [The Daily]

• Shrimp is cheap and popular. That's not be a good thing. [Gastropod]

• Before I flew out of town, the Husband and I watched Molly's Game. Aaron Sorkin wrote and directed and, as is typical for him, the writing is sharp and witty. The dialogue leads the pacing and storytelling. Jessica Chastain stars and is perfect for Sorkin's writing style. Idris Elba also gives a great supporting performance. I had to look up the real story after watching the movie. I don't understand why certain parts of what was happening in this gambling world were illegal, but it was interesting to see all the logistics behind the game. [Netflix]

• While in Florida, I watched the NCAA gymnastics semi-final with my parents. They are big Gator fans and could tell me all the ins and outs of the season. I forgot how fun it is to watch this sport. Now I can't wait to get to the Paris Olympics. [NCAA]

• You know what makes for a shockingly good airplane meal? A cheese plate! Both of our flights were scheduled to take off around lunch time. I let the kiddo walk through one of those typical airport market and decide what she wanted to eat. She immediately gravitated towards the snack packs with cheese, crackers, and grapes. (She also grabbed an extra mixed fruit cup.) I thought her choice was so good that I grabbed the exact same snack pack for myself.

• My mom did all of the cooking during our visit this week (thanks, mommy!) and even premade a bunch cookies. One of my favorites was, what we now call, COVID cookies. These are just the DoubleTree cookie recipe made slightly smaller in size. DoubleTree released the recipe during COVID which is why our family gave them that name. They are so darn good - the perfect amount of chocolate, nuts, and oats. [Hilton]

I had no idea there was a volcanic eruption happening in Indonesia until I came across this image on Twitter. Intense. [WaPo]

Need to build a brand set from scratch? Looka can help! This AI powered tool can help you build a logo, SWAG, templates, and other brand kit items with a few clicks. I’ve played around with this tool and results are pretty darn good.

I’ve got an article due to an editor. Gonna be red penning my draft to get it into shape.