5SR - August 2, 2023

Today’s #5SmartReads contributor is Larell! This is her first time being a contributor! She follows joy in her career and life. She is a marketing consultant for fem-tech and lifestyle startups, a sexual health reporter, and a freelance copywriter. She helps neighbors reclaim their outdoor spaces via landscape design, homesteads on her tiny urban property, and provides floristry services for parties and gifts. At the core of her adventures is a deep practice of Reiki and Medical Qigong, both of which she calls on when performing house clearings and making art. In the background of this eclectic life, you can hear her spunky rainbow parakeet chirping her on.

‘Girl Dinner” Is TikTok’s Latest Food Trend. I’m One Step Ahead. (Boston Globe)

A trend that has been happening in my kitchen for years, “girl dinners” serve a tiny glimpse into the world of female resourcefulness at its finest. For me, it’s like this: 8 or 9 pm rolls around. Post workout. Post shower. Post whatever else happens in the time warp between 5-8 pm. I’m hungry in a peckish way. Single, I have no one’s cravings to consider. Child-free, I am bound to no picky eaters. And that’s when it happens.

A quick fridge raid combines cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, a BabyBel, a scoop of tuna, some chickpeas, corn chips, grapes, feta, and a dollop of hummus topped with olive oil and a squeeze of lemon. Never has a soft-boiled egg known this type of craftsmanship!

Some might look at this dinner and see a random assortment of snacks. Half-assed. Like a charcuterie board made in the dark. Girl dinner girlies see all our favorite in-betweens pleasantly arranged on the wobbly ceramic plate we made in pottery three years ago. We use the tiny wooden spoons from a local craft fair to drizzle honey from the market.

What I’m saying is “girl dinners” are about girl essence. This resilient, calm, solitary resourcefulness that’s been fueling #girlpower for decades. I only speak from experience. How else would my friends and I fall into step during visits? Working together to create a world of food? Cooing over the tiny pageantry? Then we light a candle, scoot up to the snack tray, and press play on an episode of Friends. Alas, I enjoy a girl dinner as I type this. From my living room picnic to yours.

Apparently Magpies And Crows Are Using “Anti-Bird Spikes” To Make Their Nests (Audubon)

God, I love a good bird story. Ever since adopting my Rosie Bourke Parakeet, my Instagram feed has been full of weird and wonderful #birb content. I even find myself relating to wild birds more intimately, having experienced how smart and goofy they are up close.

Jump to a few brilliant Magpies and Crows taking the bird world by storm after using, wait for it, anti-bird spikes to help build their nests. Yes, the very objects used to deter birds from nesting on buildings are employed by Corvids to do just the opposite.

The Audubon Society reports, “Yet the birds … are exceptional for having taken something so purposefully built to minimize their presence and using it to rear the next generation.” They appear to use the spikes to secure a solid nest foundation and protect against predators. It’s almost too perfect to be true. A natural rebellion. If Moira Rose could see them now.

Menopause Care Is Still A Largely Untapped Market. Here’s Why Investors And Startups Should Dive In (Fierce Healthcare)

I’ve worked in women’s healthcare for years, and menopause has found its way into just about every conversation. But I remember my mom going through menopause and absolutely no one talking about it. She just kind of suffered through this radical life phase alone, with no resources or medical support. Not cool!

It’s safe to say attention is finally being paid to this deserving market by way of technology, research, funding, education, and general understanding. Celebrities are speaking up about perimenopause and menopause, insurance companies are getting on board, and more and more direct-to-consumer startups are helping women find relief and answers. This article reports that “ 80% of healthcare dollars are controlled by women, so the people experiencing the problem are the same people deciding how to spend on healthcare costs.” LFG!

I Own 3 Pairs Of These Linen Shorts (The Strategist via New York Magazine)

I almost choked when I saw this article about a life-changing pair of high-wasted linen shorts. I’d just spent the day with my friend cleaning out her closet, updating her wardrobe, and helping her pack for a Greece adventure.

See, my friend is a badass. She runs a successful childcare business, employs amazing teachers, is raising an empathetic seven-year-old, co-parents like a pro, lifts, reads, juices, and everything in between. But she hasn’t updated her wardrobe in years. She was lost at the idea of packing for her trip.

One Saturday, we threw on the Fugees and assessed every summer item in her closet. She tried them on. I ate goldfish and organized the piles. We were critical and honest. The shorts she once thought were a staple were actually too short and puffy for her long, lean legs. “I can’t believe I’ve been wearing these!” she squeaked.

Here she was, this beautiful, successful 37-year-old, grasping for straws in a closet that once dressed a younger version of herself. She needed (and deserved) an upgrade. This author nailed it when she wrote, “I often struggle in the shopping limbo between young adulthood and middle age, but these shorts elevate my style without making me feel like I’m trying to be 22 (no thank you!) or on my way to the early-bird special down in Boca."

So here’s your sign to buy a pair of high-waisted linen shorts and experience the life-changing shift that comes when your wardrobe helps you look just as put together as your Pinterest board.

How To Quick Pickle Any Vegetable (The Kitchn)

I’m seeing a lot of backyard gardeners LOL at the fruits of their labor, aka one small cucumber and three green beans.

It reminds me how idealistic (and challenging) gardening is. We skip to the garden center at the first sign of spring. Basil! Tomatoes! Marigolds! Spinning and laughing through benches of flowers, we dream of growing our own food. Of coming home from work and clipping a fresh zucchini to cook for dinner. Or, oh, I don’t know, bringing a beefsteak capri salad to a dinner party. “It’s from my garden,” we might say in a breezy, carefree way.

Maybe you’ve dreamed this dream too? A backyard full of fresh food? Reduced grocery bill? Then life kind of gets in the way. Summer plans. Missed waterings. Vacation. Heck, bugs, rabbits, NATURE. Around August, reality kicks in when an earnest garden season amounts to like two cherry tomatoes and a weird-looking jalapeño.

I have a solution. Enter the quick pickle– a tried and true homesteader’s saving grace. With a quick pickle (mainly vinegar and sugar), you can make a salty, crunchy garnish from just about any vegetable. I use variations of this recipe to make something useful from my small or random harvests. Try using different types of vinegar, like balsamic, apple cider, or rice. Also, mix up the sweet note! I successfully used honey instead of sugar, and it was delicious.”Girl menopause cai