Issue #215: spring cookbooks, spring projects, and spring allergies

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issue 215 ~ week of April 9, 2021

An image of orange flowers on a table in a ceramic rendering of a carton of orange juice.

bloom bloom bloom (via @kellbelldancer)

editor's note

Hi ,

If you've been reading the newsletter for a while now, you probably won't be surprised to hear I'm a big fan of spring. The hope of warmer weather in the air! Flowers blooming! Magically gaining a mood boost thanks to the sunshine! Spring is second on my power ranking list of the seasons: just a smidge below fall, but miles above the extremes of winter and summer. Here's a hodgepodge of spring-specific things that are helping me get into the groove of this month:

1. I LOVE a good single-function website. I've been using this tool called Allergies or a Cold?, for helping me figure out if my sneezing is due to a whole lotta pollen or potentially something else. 🤧

2. Spring means spring cleaning, and you know what I’m passionate about? Keeping my sponges clean. Our team recently told me about these scrubby parents (lol) and I’ve also heard great things about this option that lets you know when it’s time for a fresh sponge. Please let me know if you, too, have strong sponge feelings. 🧽

3. Gardening? In spring? Groundbreaking. I had the chance to gab about my favorite soothing British gardening show recently.

4. These Matisse-inspired earrings by Moon-Seed (follow them here) would make a very great gift for spring birthdays.

5. I love our dog (maybe a little too much) so he, too, is getting a spring glow-up. I’m outfitting him in the Lilac collar from Wild On e (that's going on sale in time for national pet day tomorrow). This article about why buying stuff for your dog sparks joy is a little too on the nose for me right now.

And with that, here's a picture of some daffodils recently plucked from my yard. I hope your weekend guides you toward some spring-specific joy too.

Until next week,
Alisha Ramos, CEO and Founder at GNI

weekly picks

ideas for a more leisurely weekend

An image of laksa from Hetty McKinnon's new cookbook, "To Asia, With Love"

add it to the cookbook shelf (via @hettymckinnon)

Keep cool with this side dish... Hetty McKinnon’s new cookbook, To Asia, With Love is out this week. Have we cooked from it three nights in a row already? Yes. Our rec: Start with the smashed cucumber salad with tahini and chili oil. Its 10-minute prep will allow you to spend more time at the picnic and less time packing it. 🥒
Give a friend a compliment today... During this past year of seeing each other less, compliments have been harder to come by. Here's a reminder on how to text a really good one to a pal today. ☀️
"Too many books" isn't a real thing... That's what author and independent bookstore owner Jenny Lawson boldly asserts in Broken (in the best possible way). We're reading this book (out now!) for a little extra care, a good laugh, and the reassurance we needed that we're not alone in living with anxiety and depression. GNI readers can enter to win one of 25 copies of Broken (in the best possible way) here. 📚 #SponsorsThing
Five mental health experts to add some support to your scroll... These five women of color are changing the therapy industry for the better. Give them a follow! 💆‍♀️
If you've got some knots to work through... "I've never seen anything like this Lanshin massager, and now that I have one, I use it every day. It's delightfully analog and soothing. It's more like a comfort item than a skincare tool for me at this point." - Heidi F. 😍 #ReaderRec
A small reminder about grief... courtesy of this very sweet blob. 💛

Bonus rec: This mascara is IT (think: smooth, lengthening, no clumps) and the Sephora spring sale is coming up. 👀

👋 Have a weekly pick you want to see in GNI? Tell us about it here and you could be featured in an upcoming #ReaderRec.

Sponsor Spotlight: Projector

Image of some design features and capabilities of the Projector design software.

A creative corner of the internet that's helping you tell your story... 🎨

Projector is basically like having a super pro designer pal on speed dial. It's an online platform for designing your ideas into beautiful Instagram posts and stories, presentation decks, one-pagers, email banners, and more.

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read/watch/listen

what we're taking in this week

Image of Nicole Crowder's balcony setup, complete with pattered rugs, bamboo chairs, plants, florals, and bright upholstered pillows.

the balcony setup of our dreams (via @nicolecrowder)

📚 Reading....

Doreen St. Félix on the rise of Amanda Gorman | Vogue
Hetty McKinnon on the triumph of third culture cooking | Epicurious
Sangeeta Singh-Kutz on vaccine daddy (!!) | The Cut
Danielle Cheesman on why goals don't have to be productive | The Good Trade
Reem Kassis on nafas, an elusive gift that makes food taste better | NYT

🍿 Watching...

Somehow we've landed on the IKEA cabinet upgrade side of TikTok.

This is a ten-second masterclass in confidence by Jaimmy Koroma.

The trailer for season four of The Handmaid's Tale is HERE, and we have feelings.

Ducks. Fly. Together. We are unabashedly watching The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers reboot on Disney+ and are here for the Lorelai Gilmore x Gordon Bombay matchup. *faints*

🎧 Listening...

It's time to talk about the TikTok-ification of music. In this episode of Still Processing, Jenna and Wesley dissect the crossover between the popular app and popular music — and Wesley makes a compelling for bringing back songs with a bridge (why did it go anywhere in the first place?! We love a bridge.)

take action and take care

A tech tip that can help you take care... If Twitter's video auto-play feature is surfacing harmful or violent content to your timeline, here's how to change your settings. 📱

A small but meaningful way to take action... Follow Pocket Change Pools, a mutual aid collective that's been able to redistribute hundreds of thousands of dollars to people and small orgs since last summer. Each week, they highlight a few opportunities to "pool" small amounts of change to show that we can make big change by coming together. 💰

heading into the weekend like...

A picture of Florence Pugh excitedly hosting her Instagram cooking show in her kitchen.

channeling our inner Florence Pugh (via @vulture)

Thanks for reading and supporting GNI and our partners — they help make the creation of this free newsletter possible. Just a note: GNI may receive a small commission from items you purchase from this newsletter.

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Issue #215: spring cookbooks, spring projects, and spring allergies

weekly picks

read/watch/listen

heading into the weekend like...

Older messages

We're Hosting a Watch Party 🍿

Issue #212: take care and take action ❤️

Issue #210: there's something about March 👀

Issue #208: to all the issues I've loved before... 💓

Issue #207: send your friends some cheese 🧀

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