Has anyone else ever struggled with a crippling addiction to blue Gatorade before? I can’t seem to go more than two days this summer without the sweet nectar of “cool blue” trickling down my throat, and I’m growing concerned about my sugar and sodium intake via Gatorade alone. Not concerned enough to stop drinking it, though, despite Jeffery has suggesting I switch to the sugar-free stuff. 

I’m also depressed that the Olympics are over. I was definitely watching them more intently the first week, but now that they’re not available to play in the background while I’m working, I feel a bit of a vacuum in what to put on the TV and what to chatter about. House of the Dragon is also over so I definitely need something new to fixate on. Any suggestions are welcome!

Oh! I also wanted to mention that I don’t make diddly squat on a majority of the links I share in this newsletter. I can make, like, $0.02 on some Amazon affiliate links, but even then, I’m sharing ‘em because I really recommend them and it’s highly convenient to pop things right into your cart. Maybe one day when I have enough subscribers I can generate some ad revenue, but until then, this is a largely ROI-less endeavor (and I’m okay with that). Onto the meat of things!

On My Brain 

Don’t Beat Yourself Up About Not Reading Enough

The thing about reading is that people take it on as some sort of moral or intellectual superiority. Perhaps this is rooted in the read-a-thons and summer reading lists we endured as kids, but it’s certainly a pervasive theme in adult life, too. I used to really get down on myself when I was in a period of not reading very much, but I’ve come to realize that an appetite for reading, like everything, comes in waves. 

As a kid, I was obsessed with reading. My mom would take me to the library and I’d check out the max number of books from the YA section, then I’d stay up all hours of the night devouring them, determined to beat Megan Sweeney for the title of most books read over the summer. It wasn’t until college that my relationship with reading shifted, and it’s taken me years to be at peace with the cyclical nature of my reading habits. 

There are plenty of reasons why I read more or less during differing periods in my life. In college I was upset that I didn’t read enough for pleasure, but I later realized I was just exhausted by all the dry, heavy reading I was doing for my English major. But once I started working and commuting, I picked reading back up to pass the time on the train. Now that I work from home, I don’t often reach for a book in my downtime, and am more likely to flip on the TV. But in the summer, I’m game to suck down a few NY Mag articles by the pool in nothing flat. All that to say: It comes and goes.

Another thing: Don’t get down on yourself for what you read. Okay, so you love Emily Henry and aren’t so into Margaret Atwood… so what? I personally love historical fiction, a voicey romance novel, or a read-it-in-one-day thriller. Many people (myself included) are entranced by the world of ACOTAR. Jeffery likes to read celebrity/comedian memoirs. Some people are just reading my newsletter (hehe). But seriously—are you enjoying yourself? Giggling aloud or taking some sort of peace while you escape the world at large? Then read on! Or don’t, just… go easy on yourself, will ya? 

In My Cart

An Apron Made Just for Me 

It’s not technically in my cart, but I am elated to be the proud owner of a Grateful Dead x Hedley & Bennet apron. I’ve been wanting one of their aprons for a while, and certainly loved the Grateful Dead collection, but decided to play it safe and put one of the denim colorways on our registry. But Jeffery is very good at gratifying my love language (one of which is obviously gift giving/receiving) and now that the tie dye one with little dancing bears holding pots and pans is here, I’m so glad I didn’t end up with the safe option. However, if you’re not a quarter-life deadhead like me, I do still love the denim apron in “Georgia,” garment dyed apron in “matcha,” and the “kale green stripe.” 

My Favorite No-Frills Notebook

I start and stop with trying to journal all the time (similar to reading, I write for a living and don’t always want to do it in my free time), but even if I’m not taking notes on my day-to-day, I do still love to hand write things. I’ve come to realize that I’m particular about the kind of notebook I want (shocker), and my favorite one is widely available and relatively inexpensive, considering that notebooks are actually not cheap these days. 

My fave happens to be the 9.75 x 7.5 spiral-bound, college ruled decomposition book, which I originally purchased at Target when I was feeling optimistic about my journaling habits. Mostly, though, I write grocery lists, scratch notes during interviews, sketch project ideas, and write down recipes. I prefer spiral-bound notebooks because they can be flipped over into a compact size, and I don’t feel guilty when I tear a page out, because it doesn’t leave a tattered sliver of paper behind. The pages are also pretty thin, which doesn’t sound like a pro, but that too helps prevent any page-ripping related guilt. They also have so many cute cover art options, and since I have about three pages left in my current notebook, I’m between the “leafy perch” (it’s giving Japan!!!!) and “Everglades” (manatees <3) ones. 

In My Belly

If I Had to Pick One Snacking Cheese Forever, It’s Manchego

I love to eat, and I love to cook, but what I don’t like is having to stop what I’m doing halfway through the day to make and eat lunch. While breakfast is a ritual I enjoy over interior design YouTube channels, and dinner is an expression of love, work-from-home lunch feels like such a chore. Leftovers are my favorite form of lunch because they require no thought and can be easily doctored up, but when I don’t have leftovers, my current favorite lunch is some slices of Manchego and whatever crackers or bread I have kicking around. 

Manchego is perfect. If you ask me what I like about it, I’d say it’s just extremely hork-able. But on a deeper level, I love it because it’s nutty like parm, not too sharp, a firm but crumbly texture, and the more aged varieties have delightful little pockets of crunchy crystals like the ones you’d find in an aged cheddar. Also, a fun fact: Manchego is like champagne or Kobe beef, because it’s strictly regulated and can only be made from milk of the Manchega sheep native to Spain. It’s definitely pricier than, like, pre-cut cubes of Colby jack, but I’m not even exaggerating when I say it makes me smile while I’m eating it. I know. 

Celeste’s Smash Burgers to Prolong the Last of Summer

I’ve been on the receiving end of some horrified looks when I declare that the best burgers are not, in fact, made on a grill. I thought we were all in agreement that the juiciest, best-tasting burgers are crisped on a flat surface, but apparently we’re not? Sure, grilled burgers have a certain je ne sais quoi—they have a unique ability to dislodge little nuggets of nostalgia from the backyard BBQs of childhood, and they’re best served on a shitty store-brand burger bun. But my favorite burgers are smash burgers, and wouldn’t you know it, my friend (and the editor of this newsletter), Celeste, makes killer ones. An added bonus is that they don’t make me violently ill like Shake Shack does—god knows what they put in there. Anyway, here’s her transcribed voice note on them below: 

• Get good quality ground beef (she gets organic beef), because it will make a big difference in the taste of the final product 

• Shape them into balls slightly bigger than a golf ball 

• Very thinly slice yellow onions and put them down in little burger-sized piles on a ripping hot cast iron with a bit of butter 

• Put a ball of meat on each pile of onions and smash it down (a spatula will do), then season generously with salt and pepper 

• Flip ‘em over, add a piece of American cheese onto each patty, stack two up and put them on a Martin’s potato roll 

• You can slightly steam/toast the bun in the pan and add ketchup and/or burger sauce if you please!

Ice Pops We Cannot Stop Eating

A few weeks ago one of us bought a box of Melona ice pops from the expensive-ass little grocery store around the corner, and our freezer hasn’t been without them since. The flavor is incredibly mild but somehow complex? I think because they’re made with real fruit and not artificial flavors. They’re also very creamy and the texture is slightly rubbery in a good way, because they’re almost chewy. 

When my friend Maura was over recently and asked for a snack I gave her a Melona ice pop and she was—in a word—hooked. The next time she came over she requested that we go get a box and proceeded to eat 3-4 before her departure, and if that’s not a glowing review, idk what is. The small grocery store near us stocks the strawberry and honey dew flavors, but on a trip to 99 Ranch we found coconut, ube, banana, and mango too. My favorites are strawberry and coconut, and since they’re imported from Korea, I’d check your local Asian grocery store for them. 

You Ask, I Answer

Q: “What gifts can I give to a host as a ~polite~ guest for a small gathering?”

A: As aforementioned, I love giving and receiving gifts. Somehow gifting has been made to seem like a shallow exchange, but it’s a deeply personal way to show someone that you’re thinking about them, without having to conjure up the words to say so. Some host gift ideas below:

A Specialty to Your Area

I happen to think that a lovely host gift for someone who doesn’t share your neighborhood is something quintessential or reminiscent of the place you live. For example, we just visited friends in Massachusetts, so we brought NJ bagels (shoutout O Bagel in Hoboken) and some pork roll to eat at their leisure, and obviously I had to get their baby a little metro card rattle. And when I lived in Astoria I’d bring tzatziki or a block of feta from the Mediterranean food store.

Food They Can Eat the Next Day

Hosting can take it all out of you, especially when it comes to feeding yourself the day after. Along with a b-day gift for my friend Kaileigh’s birthday this year, I brought over some food I had meal prepped for the week, too. A few containers of homemade chia pudding and granola and some pasta salad I know she loves—and hopefully that made her post-party hangover a little easier.

Everyone Loves These Glass Straws

After that horrible sea turtle video when society was making a collective and shameful switch to reusable straws, most of us ended up with the stainless steel or silicone variety, but they never quite hit the spot. Stainless steel is cold and clatters against your teeth, silicone is too bendy to effectively suck up thick smoothies, and both are opaque—leaving the state of the inside of the straw a disturbing mystery. Everyone who comes to my apartment (and me, of course) absolutely loves these simple glass straws instead, and I actually use them every single day. They also get squeaky clean in the dishwasher and elevate even the most basic iced coffee into something special.

Leave-It-On-the-Counter Olive Oil

I don’t care what kind of food or condiment purist you are, you can’t deny the aesthetic appeal of Graza olive oil, and I also think their extra virgin “drizzle” oil is damn good. The little squeeze bottle is adorable for anyone to display or put out for parties, and I love drizzling it on pastas, bread, avocado toast, and salads. I get it at Whole Foods, but you can find it at lots of cool little grocery stores all over.

Need a gift suggestion for your mother-in-law’s birthday? Stuck on how to rearrange the furniture in your living room? Want to know what to do with a jar of marinated artichokes? Come to mama. Hit me up with your questions, and I'll answer them in an upcoming letter.