Dusk has faded into full night as I’ve been working on the newsletter, and since I haven’t bothered to get up and pull the shades, just now, when I glanced outside, I saw that the fireflies are out. ✨ We’re past the solstice; it’s getting darker just a tad earlier than a few weeks ago. I feel a shift towards the turning of the season, and it makes these glorious final days of July all the more precious.
We had a knock-around day here with just one scheduled activity, which ended up getting canceled - hallelujah!. Ben and I woke up early and faffed around in the garden for a bit; we pulled weeds and planted wildflower seeds in some bare spots left by daffodils I let go too long this spring (when will I learn to cut them back faster?!).
Then, the kids and I ended up watching Mission Impossible: Final Reckoning in the middle of the day, which felt decadent and very much like a summertime treat. We then made pesto for dinner from a glut of basil a friend dropped off, something Alex (my 17-year-old) and I have been doing together since he was tiny. A good day!
Nova Wright Pesto Approach:
Fill a Cuisinart bowl with basil/kale/spinach you have around.
Combine with equal parts Parmesan cheese (1 cup) and almonds (1 cup). Tonight I used 5 honking cloves of garlic (probably the equivalent of 10 normal cloves) and probably half a cup of oil. It was a pretty thick pesto that I’ll freeze and thin out later with pasta water and some additional oil. I like this old-fashioned ice cube tray for freezing pesto.
A. I love it when friends remember my birthday, and I am always working on ways to remember birthdays. This charming perpetual birthday calendar is a work of art in its own right.
B. Last night Ben and I had half an hour to kill and stopped by our favorite bookstore. There was something hypnotic and appealing about the grids of colors all so neatly organized in this collection of color charts. I carried it around the store for twenty minutes until I talked myself out of buying it. Maybe next time!
C. This measuring tape reusable notepad for jotting measurements is so smart, and I love the packaging (and the cyclops reference!)
D. I ran errands with a pal; one of my favorite kinds of intimacy. We stopped by Bizalions in Great Barrington (a fantastic French cafe if you’re in the area), and this red pocket knife winked at me.
E. The organic shapes of this necklace caught my eye and ended up in my Zara order. I also ordered this and this.
F. This is a really affordable and surprisingly comfortable shirt dress. It’s a very lightweight and soft cotton that washes well; I’ve worn it multiple days this week and ordered it in the red stripe, too. I tried both my smaller and larger sizes, and I decided to keep both as they each worked on my petite, short-waisted, and busty frame.
G. I used up the last of these clothing tape stickers to close the buttons of the shirtdress at the bust (a forever problem of mine) and promptly reordered.
H. I bought this tiny notebook for myself and for a friend who is also a list maker. Somehow I never have paper on hand when I need it! Maybe now I will.
I. I found these travel scissors mixed in with some watercolor supplies and was delighted to rediscover them.
J. These easy paper airplanes have been a huge hit with the 8-year-old set; Ben has been making them obsessively in the mornings - the garden is littered with them.
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I occasionally include affiliate links - typically to products from Etsy, Ebay, 1st Dibs, Bookshop, and yes, sometimes, Amazon. Affiliate links are bolded so you know when I’ve used one. Our most consistent political power comes from exercising our values via our wallets. I’m always thinking about cost, accessibility, and the planet. It’s a work in progress.
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