On chocolate cake, the meanings of jewelry, and leaving Instagram
And one thing from each of my sisters!
Hi! It’s Wednesday again! How are you? Lots to share today, including a milestone, a big goodbye, and one thousand links. Shall we begin? First up, my honest thoughts on Mother’s Day…
annual day of the mom
Hot take: moms don’t really care about Mother’s Day gifts that much. We mostly want to sleep in, eat a gorgeous meal made by someone else, and maybe get one nice photo of everyone. And that is where I come in: may I recommend gifting your mom – or yourself – a photo session! Pictures on film have the magical ability to let you press pause on whatever messy, wild, special season you’re living in now.
baby milestone
Mick flew for the first time! We took a very quick trip (a triplet? lol) to Seattle to welcome my grandma home from her genealogy service mission. We went on a drizzly walk near the lake, ate the most delicious vegetarian Indian food, and listened to Grandma tell stories of her life living and working in Hollywood before she married Grandpa. There was even a rainbow as the sun set! I’ll share a photo when I get my film back. Here’s an airplane mirror selfie:
today’s bouquet
Three years ago, when there were only about 280 readers, I asked my mom about her thoughts on motherhood.
Made my stomach drop: old-timey photos of daredevils on Yosemite cliff edges. No thank you!! (via)
My sister Mary is working at the Lazy B Ranch in a very rural part of eastern Arizona so the other day on FaceTime we were strategizing about meal planning for one. Found this article on shopping organic when you live in a rural area very interesting. Any readers from Wyoming?
I’m truly terrible at drawing, though I wish I weren’t. My seven year old’s homework sheet has a small “blindfold” prompt each week that we always look forward to where we have to close our eyes and draw the prompt, this week it’s a sunflower. Related: love this straightforward challenge of drawing every day using only three materials.
This toddler pom pom bath was a *huge* hit last week. We used these poms.
From my sister Emily, who is a good mother in so many ways:
“The most important thing she'd learned over the years was that there was no way to be a perfect mother and a million ways to be a good one.”
― Jill ChurchillDo you wear meaningful jewelry? I have always been a ring person, and each one of mine has a special meaning attached to it. For my 28th birthday, I bought myself this delicate turquoise ring. Last fall, when I was pregnant with Mick, I got two forever bracelets at Catbird in New York, one for me and one for him, though I really can't bear the thought of ever cutting them off! After my fifth miscarriage, I thought about getting a tattoo to honor the experience, but I decided to get a signet ring instead, with no monogram, to represent the namelessness and silence of that type of loss. When I saw this heart-burst locket, it reminded me of that feeling of looking at my newborn and thinking, “My heart could burst, I love you so much!” What about you? Do you wear heirloom jewelry or other pieces with meaning?
“I will look after you and I will look after anybody you say needs to be looked after, any way you say. I am here. I brought my whole self to you. I am your mother.”
– Maya Angelou
Lizzy is planning a trip to Amelia Island, so we've been talking about sunscreen and swimsuits. This breezy new swim collection from can-design-no-wrong Julia B screams “please take me to Florida with you!”
How to know which trends to skip and which ones are worth embracing. I have been eating up this newsletter Gumshoe!
My favorite pair of shoes I own are these pink-and-red espadrilles I bought in a small town in France the summer I turned 19. They’re getting pretty battered (14 years later? you think? 😉) so I’m on the lookout for some new ones. Sarah recommended these pretty mary janes – love the blue stitching! But maybe the only shoes I ever want to wear are these rosy suede slip-ons.
We've been rewatching The Bear and it’s making me want a trip to Chicago, Carmy's white tees (via) and Sydney's white Birks so bad. Next up: teach the kids to say "yes, chef" to all of my commands 🥲
Very cool: the math and poetry of a thoughtful wedding cocktail hour.
This super simple phone seems like it would be great for a teenager, elder, or person who is rethinking their digital habits.
Two things that made me laugh: this bath mat and an Aristocats upgrade.
If you’re looking for a good pod: I’ll say nothing about this episode except that it’s completely changed the way I think about excellence. By the way, I'm a July.
This is fun: translate your favorite book or movie into emojis. I tried a few that were just okay, but the one for Where the Wild Things Are made my heart leap! (via)
Report on last week's best cake ever recipe: While I wouldn’t crown it The Best Cake Ever, it’s pretty freaking close. The cake itself is perfect. Re: the frosting: I'm fairly pro frosting, but this recipe made a ton and we thought the cake only needed a very thin layer, almost like butter on toast. Charlie's review: "this is the best cake I ever ate today!" (Btw, my Aunt Kathryn’s chocolate cake is my favorite – and easiest – cake ever.)
Home & Kind said this flourless chocolate cake was easy and delish! I’m going to give it a whirl, because, yknow, apparently this newsletter needed three chocolate cakes.
from the archives
05/15/19 - The peonies are here, the peonies are here!
05/13/20 - Guest writer Emily Tate Hawker is here!
05/12/21 - Thanking oneself
05/11/22 - Really good earrings, rice pudding, and recipe hacks
5 things from trader joe’s in my kitchen right now
Raspberry skyr yogurt. A new type of skyr, hooray! I like it better than the cherry and the vanilla. My favorite high-protein snack.
Crunchy jalapeño lime and onion. So very happy this seasonal condiment is back, it is one of my all time favorite TJ’s products. It’s very lime-y with just a bit of kick from the jalapeño.
Fresh berries. I don’t know what it is about a bowl of berries with a pile of whipped cream, but nothing makes me happier.
Fresh basil (not organic). I store these stems-down in a glass of water, like flowers in a vase, in my kitchen window. The organic leaves always turn brown too soon, so I skip them and go for the regular.
Milk chocolate peanut butter cups. Cannot stop will not stop.
saying goodbye to the gram
One reader question I got last week was about my departure from Instagram. I've been a little chicken to really address it before this question came in, because, literally *who cares*. But to answer the question, I am 100% off of Instagram with no intentions of returning. Without getting into the gory details (which I will probably do in a blog post soon 🫠), the main reason I left Instagram is because I realized I was completely addicted to it. Not in a casual, waste-an-hour-scrolling way; I never stopped thinking about it, all day long. I oriented every single thing in my life around Instagram, and I couldn’t stop. It's embarrassing to admit this. But I already feel a sense of freedom after a month or so logged off. Once I'm farther away from it, I'll share some of the more personal and specific reasons I left.
“Progress requires unlearning. Becoming the best version of yourself requires you to continuously edit your beliefs, and to upgrade and expand your identity.”
– James Clear
last thing
I’d love to know: what was your favorite thing in here today? You can reply directly to this email or leave a comment if you’re the share-with-the-class type 🤗
Last week’s most popular link: the best cake you’ve ever eaten.
THANK YOU so much for reading, clicking, and shopping the links in Handpicked! If you know someone who would like Handpicked, will you tell them about it? Word of mouth makes the world go round 🌎
That drawing challenge is really inspiring me. I’d love to practice my mediocre art skills more and that seems like such a good framework. Thank you for sharing it!