Recently Enjoyed Things | July 5, 2024

Enjoying the long weekend and other things.

Happy July, or as the corporate girlies call it (me), Q3. There’s something so freaking good about a new month, a new week and a new quarter starting fresh on a Monday, but when I walked into the office and got hit with Q3 priorities, I tried not to groan. Can’t we all just be on summer vacation? Please? I literally have no problems that couldn’t be solved by a few weeks of laying in the sun, drinking something with ice cubes and an umbrella (could be a Coke! IDC!) and reading a book uninterrupted all afternoon.

Not in this lifetime or this season of life or whatever, but at least we have a good long weekend to disassociate for a minute. And after a cool and rainy June, it feels like this is the real kick-off to summer. Guys, I’m ready.

What are you up to this weekend?

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But first, some housekeeping: there’s some affiliate links in here. But aren't they everywhere? Anyway, if you click on something and buy it, I might earn a commission at no cost to you.

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Recently Enjoyed

Reading

I’m passionate about reading and sharing books that are readily available at your library and don’t feature a waitlist 47 people long. So these are rarely new, hot releases, but if you’re intrigued, there’s a good chance for instant gratification at your library.

• Prince Charles - Sally Bedell Smith // Two years ago, I was barely aware of the Royal family. Then I got hooked on The Crown, read a book about Elizabeth to get the facts straight, moved on to Diana, then Harry and Meghan, and now I’m in it deep. It’s Charles’ turn and Sally Bedell Smith is very good at this, so I’m enjoying this read immensely. My hot take is this: he acted like a turd, but if they’d just let him be with Camilla from the start, all that could have been avoided.

• Milk Bar Life - Christina Tosi // I love to mindlessly peruse cookbooks - it gives me the same dopamine hit that scrolling IG or Pinterest does, and this feels….healthier? IDK. Anyway, I grabbed this one from the library earlier this week to have on hand to page through over the long weekend and maybe feel inspired to make something. We shall see!

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Shopping

Buckle up. The internet is on sale this week and, it seems, most of July. We’re about to get real overwhelmed!

• ⭐ I sense Nalgene bottles making their return. Which feels very apropro if everything from the early aughts are coming back around. Frankly I am delighted.

• Panama Hat - Lands End // A very good hat that is as functional as it is stylish, imo. I would wear it on the beach or out for drinks, consuming literal poison, but at least my face is protected!

• Weird snacks I’m curious about // Spicy Dill Pickle Goldfish (sold), Crumbl Cookie Cereal (part of this complete breakfast!), Freeze Dried Gummy Worms (weird).

• Banana Air Freshener - Etsy // Haha, I love anything kitschy and this fits the bill perfectly.

• Baggy Shorts - Target // Are they actually baggy, or just like, not the skin-tight variety that women are used to being sold on? I’d argue the latter, and GD are they good.

• Notice Sneakers in Blue Suede - Dolce Vita // A reshare, but I’m still stalking these tenny-bops.

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Recent Saves

OOO bishes.

See also: long weekend plans

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3 Things

On my every-damn-day list: Morning edition.

• Read my Horoscope - Because I’m a woo-woo Leo girl who always says she is not woo woo at all, and yet this is item number one on my morning routine. I like Elle’s horoscopes because one day, right in the middle of a bad one, I read it and it verbatim said “you’re feeling emo in the morning” and I nodded my head and thought, I really am feeling emo this morning! I’ve trusted it implicitly ever since.

• Play the daily Wordle, Mini, and if my brain is feeling really stretchy, Connections.

• Drink 2-3 cups of coffee while checking my personal email. I’m an inbox zero gal, so I try to clear it, but it’s full of goodies like The Skimm, Substack subs, and usually a tracking email or two, so it’s pretty light work.

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Sending You on Your Way

(Interesting things I found on the internet this week)

• ⭐ I’m done making my home look like a magazine. GOOD!

• The Everything Guide to Partying with this quip, “nobody’s mind is being changed over a cheese plate at a cocktail party” + all sorts of other guidance.

• Body Mists are back, baby. I’m not embarrassed to say I’ve often wondered if I can still buy Love Spell and smell like my high school self.

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Last Week - In case you missed it:

On powering through discouragement, alluding to Inside Out 2 endlessly, and singing the (silent) praises of earplugs.

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PS -

I’d love to see you over on Instagram. You can find me at recentlyenjoyedthings.

I’m also talking books, beauty, and style over at recentlyenjoyedthings.com

Here’s a few things I did recently:

• I’ve got huuuuungry eyes.

• My summer weekend must-haves.

• Everything I liked and recommended, all in one place.

And if you enjoyed today’s newsletter, would you consider subscribing? I aim for one newsletter a week, and usually on Friday, so if I may be so bold, it’s a lovely treat for you inbox, just before the weekend.