Since you last heard from me, I’ve made a batch of salsa verde from my garden, cleaned and organized my kitchen, made bouquets with these zinnias from my flower patch, spent countless hours working on Floso (my dirty soda business here in Oregon), and drafted my fantasy football team.
I’m sorry to say I haven’t read a single book this summer that I liked—but I’m sure one is out there. Please tell me you’ve read something you just can’t stop thinking about. And then promptly let me know the title in the comments so you can save me from this misery.
I’ve discovered I love the sun as much as the next girl. I love my garden, my afternoon salads, my tomato sandwiches, my peach butter on cinnamon toast, my iced coffee. But I won’t go kicking and screaming into fall. No—I love foggy mornings and nights spent spooning steaming soup more than anything.
I’m saying this because you might see a through line in today’s Sunday links. This girl is getting ready for autumn.
• This week on Substack, I published a list of things I do to get my kitchen ready for fall: filling glass jars with my homemade taco seasoning, chili seasoning, and Italian seasoning; organizing and prepping my baking cabinet so I’m ready when the mood strikes. (Substack)
• The Menendez brothers had a parole hearing this Thursday—a step forward in their possible release. BBC covers how pop culture played a strong hand in even getting them this far. I find it fascinating how public opinion often has its claws in the balance of justice. The same grip that solidified their original life sentence now has the potential for a reduced sentence. (BBC)
• My TikTok feed is flooded with kids being sent off to college—decorating their new dorms, crying over a Wendy’s meal, missing home. But did you know Harvard (and Yale) admissions used to be based solely on class, not grades? Incoming freshmen were even divided by perceived family hierarchies. I know, I wasn’t surprised either. This article takes us on a little ride through the history of these prestigious universities and the bizarre reasons that system ended. (History.com)
• We’re heading into the 24th anniversary of 9/11. While a generation who never experienced that day is starting to poke fun at it on the internet, it doesn’t sit right with me—especially when the death toll from that event is still climbing, many of them first responders and cleanup crews. (ABC)
• As a huge 49ers fan, I’m a football-loving girlie. I look forward to the season every year—hoping, praying, that this is the year we finally take home that Lombardi. But even as a fan through and through, I can’t brush over the very real issue of domestic violence in the NFL. At times it feels like speeding tickets and domestic violence are treated with the same severity. ESPN covers the reported arrests since the infamous Ray Rice case (2014) and the changes the league has made since then. (ESPN)
• Do you have a comfort show? Mine is cyclical: in the winter it’s Girls, in the summer it’s Jersey Shore, in the spring it’s Dawson’s Creek, and of course—Gilmore Girls in the fall. It makes sense, I’m a millennial. But a new generation of women are discovering Gilmore Girls and loving it for the same reasons we do. With all the topical humor and you-had-to-be-there one-liners, I’m always surprised to hear they love it just as much as I do. (Vox)
• There’s no true season for self-tanner, but pretty soon we’ll be missing our glowing skin. I’ve recently been loving this one from Coco & Eve.
• I’ve already packed away the ingredients to make Joy’s Brown Butter Pumpkin Texas Sheet Cake again. It’s going to be the first thing I bake once this heat wave is gone. I’ve made it a few times since shooting it for the blog, so you know it’s just THAT good. (Joy the Baker)
• Keith Lee, the viral TikTok food reviewer who rose to fame for keeping mom-and-pop restaurants afloat with his 0–10 rankings, just visited Portland. Having lived there for years (and now just an hour outside), I’m not surprised he listed Portland in his top three food cities—bumping Houston out of the running. Sorry, Joy! The food scene here is also how Joy and I randomly met one day in a hot commercial kitchen. Blessed! If you ever have the chance to visit, you won’t be disappointed.
• As a huge fan of scary movies, Daniel and I went to see Weapons in theaters, and we were not disappointed. Zach Cregger—once a sketch comedian—is following in the footsteps of Jordan Peele, blending horror with humor and making the viewer’s journey more complex. Where there once were cheap jump scares and low-budget writing, a newer, deeper genre may be brewing in the world of horror.
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