FROM: STELLA

TO: LAURA

1. Colby is 40 weeks and 4 days old today. He was born at 40 weeks + 3 days so today marks the point he’s officially been out longer than he was in. It feels like a big milestone to me and I’m so grateful for all of the time I am getting to spend with him while working from home.
2. We are a bit limited on our grocery options now that I’m in a more rural area. Our local Walmart just got curbside pick up a couple of weeks ago and I’ve started ordering wine from Winc so that it can be delivered. We’ve also joined a CSA and have been buying direct from farmers which has been a really cool way to support the local community.
3. I enjoyed this article featuring two Princeton grads who are starting a business for college students to do remote learning from a hotel so they still get a social aspect. It’s interesting to see how people are getting innovative. 
4. We just had our first big power outage (2 hours) since Colby’s been born. It threw us off a little bit but luckily I’d anticipated that we’d get one at some point and bought a battery powered white noise machine. We still prefer using the Hatch if we have power but it was great to have this back up.
5. I’ve been loving the OverDrive app on my phone which connects me to be able to rent audio and ebooks for free through the library. A lot more people seem to be utilizing the service during the stay-at-home orders so wait times are a bit longer than usual but I am still getting to read/listen to some great books for free!

FROM: LAURA

TO: STELLA

1. My husband and I jumped on the quarantine hot tub trend a couple of months ago (wow, quarantine has really lasted a while at this point…) and have been pleasantly surprised how much we’ve enjoyed using it. We have this one and I’ve been treating it with this natural line of products which makes me feel a little better about soaking in a chlorinated tub.
2. I found this article about preemie births having decreased during the pandemic very interesting. I’ve been trying to seek out news that spins some silver linings of this whole situation, because my mental place hasn’t been super great lately.
3. I’ve been enjoying wearing this t-shirt made by Andre Henry that says “it doesn’t have to be this way.” I’ve worn it to a handful of protest/protest-adjacent and volunteer events and am very much planning on and looking forward to wearing it on November 3.
4. I started listening to a new podcast called The Stacks hosted by Traci Thomas. I started with this episode with Kiese Laymon because I read his memoir, ‘Heavy‘, a few weeks ago and really loved it. They cover the book, ‘Breathe‘ by Imani Perry (among many others — my “to read” list is getting out of control… again) and it was a really good listen. I really like that she covers books without spoiling them, a complaint I have with a few other book-centric podcasts.
5. I have 100% been influenced by the A Thing or Two team in a few ways lately. My pantry is stocked with the Om Som sampler as well as this sichuan chili crisp and I (also) highly recommend them both (YUM!).