FROM: STELLA

TO: LAURA

1. Today is my birthday and I’ve been struggling all week to remember how old I am turning. I decided to blame it on “now that I have a kid, I’m focused on him” rather than feeling so old I can’t remember my age :/

2. I’ve finally gotten around to doing some travel booking this week after putting it off for way too long. We have several weddings this fall and are beginning our return to work (back to the West Coast) plans as well. It’s been a while since I booked a rental car but I was pleased to find that AutoSlash is still working wonders, car booking rates were half as much when I searched on their site!

3. My go-to pizza dough recipe takes 24+ hours to rise. It’s amazing but I didn’t have quite that much time this week so decided to try this quick and easy one to save myself the time and it was really good.

4. Colby received a Radio Flyer Scooter and a Tinker Truck for his first birthday. He was sort of excited back then (7 months ago!) but now he’s finally really getting the hang of them and loves to zoom around on his own. It’s always mind-blowing to see how much he is growing and changing each day.

5. I’ve been enjoying watching Happy Endings this week. It’s a nice light show that takes my mind off the day but doesn’t usually end on a cliffhanger so I can turn it off easily if I need to switch gears into other things.

FROM: LAURA

TO: STELLA

1. I finished ‘Mediocre‘ by Ijeoma Oluo and it was a very powerful read. I’m recommending it to all of my white, male friends and colleagues as a necessary book and I think white women can get a lot out of it, too. The way Oluo frames the historical contexts and draws parallels to very recent events is so smart, and also so eye-opening. Another fantastically written book by a writer known for getting white people to recognize and act on their privilege.

2. Related by more than the fact that they are just books, I also got through ‘To Raise a Boy‘ this week and it was a great pair alongside ‘Mediocre‘ — they are definitely in conversation with each other. As the mother of a young son, I’m constantly trying to shift my perspective to what it’s like for him growing up and this book gives so many concrete examples of when and where those shifts need to be put in play. Ernie is too young to really pick up on a lot of the societal norms I try to point out and explain to him, but we are already trying to be very intentional in our language about and around him when it comes to gender, race, and equity. I love the children’s book ‘A Boy Like You‘ for a good starting point to hopefully build on this conversation as he ages.

3. We recently acquired a piece by Jessi Raulet (@ettavee on Instagram and beyond) from the Liz Lidgett Gallery for our living room and I’m so in love. I’ve been following Jessi for a while and lusting after everything she produces. It was very cool earlier this year to see her branch out and partner with Pottery Barn Teen and Pottery Barn Kids to bring her bright colors (and hopefully an imparting of a love of art) to a younger audience. I rarely feel very artistic myself, but I’ve been toying with the idea of getting her Bright Book workbook as a way to explore any creativity that might be hiding inside.

4. Using this summer post from Emily as a to-buy list to update my summer wardrobe. Buying new clothes is not a thing I do very often (my new running shorts were the first addition to my closet in quite a while 😂), but this whole list looks so lovely and has me lusting after some new summer digs.