Emotionally, this was a roller coaster of a week.

I started out on a high with some great news from work and an awesome tour of our (almost finished!) remodeled space. And then I made a not bad for only 45-minutes of work video of said tour.

Then the week ended in complete despair. Every breaking news alert made me want to cry. I'm genuinely afraid of the November election. As a DC resident, what happens in Congress impacts us more than many others because many of our laws have to be approved by people we did not elect. AND I AM NOT OKAY WITH THAT.

So, I'm just going to mope a bit and hope things get better.

Also, if you care at all about how this country is run make sure you are registered to vote and then make sure that ballot gets in by the deadline.

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Right now, I’m polishing off the appendices section of A History of the World in 6 Glasses. I’m only doing this because I’m anxiously waiting for my library hold of Iron Flame to come in. Any day now…

*Books shared here are affiliate links for Bookshop.org

• Some writing tips we can all use. [Career Contessa]

• Do we all speak Phone now? [The Atlantic - gift link]

• Looking at the language around how we refer to people. [The Language Matters Memo]

• A look inside an incredible, sustainable home. [wbur]

• Long Read: What's going wrong at The Washington Post. [The Atlantic - gift link]

• Putting some sleep myths to rest. [Life Kit]

• Food allergies are just our body's attempts to keep us safe. [Gastropod]

• The problems with jeans. [Culture Study]

• I fell into this fascinating look at how pastels are made. [Business Insider]

• I can see how Spectral was trying to be a blockbuster but was definitely better as a Friday night couch watch. The movie had a decent cast and performance, plus the production was good. It just was lacking that je ne sais quoi of an A-list popcorn flick. This was a ghost horror-ish military movie that ends with a heavy dose of competence porn. The filmmakers made the excellent decision to keep things tense with a low key soundtrack that played almost too quietly in some scenes. [Netflix]

• When it's my turn to pick a movie, I tend towards meaty, historical dramas. This week, that drama was The Boys in the Boat. I knew absolutely nothing about this story ahead of time. It tells the story of a college crew team, made up of mostly blue collar rowers, who go on to compete at the 1943 Olympics. I loved the period details and cast, but this was a pretty stereotypical sports story. And the script was a bit overwrought at times. Not bad, just could have been better. [Amazon Prime]

• For my lunch meal prep, I used up a farm share veggie by making kielbasa and cabbage skillet. This is a surprisingly quick dish to throw together. Also, I love any excuse to enjoy a mustard-based vinaigrette. Stretched across three meals, the portions were a bit light. Adding potatoes would have been a great idea. [Budget Bytes]

• To use up the green beans and never ending green onions from our farm share, I stir fried a bunch with some shrimp. We then served everything over rice. To complete the meal, we drizzled our bowls with Thai style chili sauce. I love how a single sauce can give so much flavor. [Kikkoman]

This midsummer scene is a whole vibe and I am here for it. [The Atlantic - may be paywalled]

I kept telling myself not to add one more daily word game to my life, but I couldn’t help but fall in love with Strands. This new-ish addition to the NYT games roster is a lot of fun. It’s essentially a mix of a word search and scramble. You have to find all the words under one theme. I love how satisfying it is when I get the spangram.

Getting together with my bestie for dinner. There will be gabbing.