Tell me about your hobbies

Also in here: must-haves of the week and puzzling over tea

Hi! I’m hustling to get this newsletter out before the spring concert at Charlie’s preschool. What are you up to today?

Here’s a question: Do you have any hobbies? As a mom of forty-four small kids, my free time usually comes unpredictably in small increments throughout the day, so my hobbies are things that can fit into those little windows: painting, deep-dive audiobooks, and twilight walking. Later in life, I’d love to take pottery classes, learn to quilt, and try to conquer my fear of swimming in the ocean. What about you? What do you do regularly just for fun?

My sort-of hobby: Mirror Blossoms. // Kodak Portra 160 film double exposed. April 2023

long weekend

Happy Memorial Day! On Saturday, we're celebrating my grandmother's 90th birthday with tons of relatives. I'm very close with my gigantic family and have loved family reunions since I was little. I have an aunt with a fabulous diamond ring she always lets me try on, and an uncle who can track down the best gelato anywhere. My grandmother Verla is quick-witted, thoughtful, and friendly. She keeps notes on every member of the family (now over 100 of us) and still calls us on our birthdays. She’s full of great one-liners and she’s so much fun.

My grandmother in college in the 1950’s // Grammy Verla and me at her 88th birthday party

“Use your own head, mine’s busy!”
– Verla Sorensen

today’s bouquet

• With the sun setting later and soccer season ending, we're restarting our weekly visits to the pier. It's making me so excited for my family photo sessions this summer. Psst, if you have a trip to Disneyland planned, let's shoot together! Did you know the Manhattan Beach Pier is only 45 minutes away from the parks? 

• Nate often jokes that he only gets served ads for Angels baseball apparel and activities I would enjoy. Example: a lavender festival. I am devastated to have missed the sourdough festival, but now we know. Handpicked field trip, perhaps?

• An LA Times travel writer's top ten California recommendations. I've only done two of these! Adding number 4, 7, and 8 to my list for this year.

• Now here is a woman I would like to be neighbors with. 

• Last week I stained my favorite jeans with dark orange pollen. Immediately I treated the spot with my beloved all-natural stain remover spray (that apparently everyone on tiktok also loves?! I had no idea bc I am not on tiktok 👵🏼) and the stain disappeared completely. I am forever an OxiClean White Revive girly, but I personally believe every adult should own a bottle of this miraculous product.

• Can you believe this: a five year old with perfect pitch! (via Nate)

• Tomie dePaola postage stamps are here! Did you read his books as a kid? We love his mostly-wordless book Pancakes for Breakfast. He visited my elementary school in the 90's and I can still remember sitting on the floor in the multipurpose room, watching him draw with a thick black marker on a white sheet in his signature childlike style. 

• I've never seen anything like these wrapped furniture sculptures.

• Extremely cool kitchen cabinets.

• Two Netflix shows we've been watching: King of Collectibles, which is truly fascinating (turns out some Beanie Babies are actually worth money, and I had no idea sports trading cards were *such* a big deal), and our longtime favorite, Queer Eye season 7, which is set in New Orleans.

• My girls and I have been putting together this Floret Farm double-sided puzzle, which is actually isn’t terribly hard, due to the two different finishes on each side of the pieces. Yesterday I even spent a few minutes working on edge pieces while I drank my AM tea, something I have never done before and probably never would have done if I hadn’t 1. deleted Instagram; 2. started this book called Do Nothing, which is about reconsidering our collective proclivity for efficiency and the concept of time as money. 

"Know how to leave things alone, for if knowing how to refuse is one of life's great lessons, an even greater one is knowing how to say no to yourself, to important people, and in business. There are non-essential activities, moths of precious time, and it's worse to take an interest in irrelevant things than to do nothing at all."
– Baltasar Gracián

• Last week, Handpicked reader Kate shared these Floret Farm cosmos seeds (fun coincidence with our puzzle!). I know nothing about gardening, but I would love to work on a flower farm. See also: hobbies for my 40’s and 50’s.

• Trying to buy my family less ~stuff~ and I think I found the perfect birthday gift for Eleanor: a learn-to-draw-flowers course with The House That Lars Built. 

• On the lookout for: pouches for separating diaper bag contents. I like these and these.

• Feeling inspired to get more of my work framed. 

• A peek at Vietnam's bright colors from above.

"And you too have come
into the world to do this, to go easy, to be filled
with light, and to shine."
– Mary Oliver

• Coming next week: a Q&A column! Ask me anything here, if you prefer to stay anonymous, or leave your question in the comments. You really can ask me anything, only rule is: be nice! 😘

things that came in handy this week 

• My slightly nerdy but ever practical Casio watch. I gave up on step counting for a while so I took off my Garmin!

• The Synonym Finder. I can’t write Handpicked without it.

• Cozy red fleece. We’re having lots of May Gray around here and I love throwing this over my t-shirt in the morning.

• Cold water rinsing my hair. (It’s exactly what it sounds like and it’s so terrible.) I read that it helps prevent frizziness, so I gave it a try, and fortunately/ unfortunately, it worked perfectly. Now I must do it after every wash.

from the archives

• 05/22/19 - Crafts, roots, and better names.

• 05/27/20 - Scars become lighthouses

• 05/26/21 - Friendly feminism and two Trader Joe's fails

• 05/25/22 - No newsletter today

5 things from trader joe’s in my kitchen right now

1. Organic peppermint tea. I absolutely LOVE herbal tea and I usually drink a pot of this first thing in the morning and another pot after the kids are in bed.

2. Thai vegetable gyoza. Almost started a grease fire steaming these last week. Worth it. Positively delicious (esp w this sauce)

3. Fresh flowers. Nate got me a bunch to arrange myself (like I did for our wedding!) for our anniversary last week.

4. Organic roasted red pepper and almond pesto sauce. I’m a big basil pesto fan so I decided to give this a try. It’s nice! Mild, slightly sweet, and tastes like you’d expect from the name. Might be good on pizza…!

5. Strawberry yogurt O’s. Eleanor’s favorite cereal.

last thing

• It’s been one year since the Uvalde shooting. I still feel exactly the same.

• Last week’s most popular link: the blue checked Madewell dress set (it’s an extra 30% off now!)

• 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 🌍