issue #16 - the one on the best/worst things we’ve bought

What’s the best thing you’ve ever spent money on? The worst?

Ditching all my mismatched t-shirts and pajama pants and replacing them with 5 pairs of these pajamas single-handedly changed the quality of my sleep. They’re so breathable, super soft, and the most comfortable things I own. At $25 per pair, they also make for the perfect ’treat yourself’ present that won’t break the bank.

They’re also my go-to gift for the women in my life.

I can’t pinpoint a single purchase as being bad, but I think back on the money I spent on clothes, cocktails, and my social life in my early 20’s and regret 80% of them. Did I need to buy a new going out top every month? Absolutely not. Was that round of drinks necessary to put on my Visa every Saturday night? Nope, and I apologize, liver. I wish I had my financial game together earlier in my life, but better late than never?

If this is your first e-mail from me, welcome! In addition to writing the book How To Pack, I'm an entrepreneur and angel investor, an avid reader, and a mom of a rambunctious 4 year old (with another boy on the way).

Every Saturday, I share the 25 best reads from the Internet (culled from the daily shares on my Instagram), the books I've read that week, and things I'm generally loving at the moment.

If you need to re-download my packing list, you can do so here.

#ThingsILove This Week

• Mommy-Rho time is limited to seated activities these days. We’ve been loving these Lego sets and this beading kit, and I’m trying to keep up his interest in writing with these workbooks.

• Podcast episodes I loved this week - my friend Keren on HTW, Bad On Paper’s self-employed episode, Skimm'd From The Couch with Cuyana’s founders, and goop’s interview with Emily Nagoski (I’m reading her book Burnout and it’s brilliant).

• H&M’s latest is so good. I picked up this smocked jumpsuit (nursing friendly!), multiple pairs of these flowy pants, and Goldilocks shorts (not too short, not too long).

• Made my last few baby purchases before R2 arrives - his coming home outfit (this kimono bodysuit and hat), a new seat for our BabyBjorn bouncer, a ride board for the stroller for Rho, bottles, spare pump parts, formula, and lactation cookie mix. The one new purchase I’m hopeful for is this pumping bra attachment - here’s hoping it works as well as promised!

• I shot a Mother’s Day campaign with J.Crew and Loeffler Randall on Tuesday, and have been carrying around this bag since. It’s surprisingly roomy and goes with virtually everything, and I love it. (bag was gifted by J.Crew)

What I read/am reading this week:

• Song Of Sacrifice - this book started off strong, draaaaaaaagged in the early chapters, and picked up steam again about 1/3rd of the way. It was worth it in the end, especially if you’re a mythology nerd (it’s a prequel to the Trojan War). It’s a lighter read than Circe or the original Iliad, and I’ve already downloaded the sequel (both available on Kindle Unlimited!)

• Screen Queens (ARC provided by NetGalley, available in June) - skip this. On paper, it’s everything I enjoy in a brain candy book - easy reading, strong women (in this case, girl) characters, themes of empowerment. But despite its promising description, it fell flat in every way. The characters are one-dimensional, the plot is predictable, and it’s a snooze of a book. Not worth your time, or the time of any young women in your life who may be attracted to books like these.

• I’m Fine And Neither Are You (ARC provided by NetGalley) - this book is surprisingly excellent. I thought it would be an enjoyable - but forgettable - book on female friendship and the motherhood juggle, but it was surprisingly moving and very thoughtful. Penelope is a familiar protagonist - a woman who has it all on paper (the family, the career, the home) but feels like she’s losing control, is slightly envious of her best friend whose life looks even more idyllic, and something bad happens at the beginning of the book. Penelope’s journey is entirely relatable and inspiring, and I loved how it focused on her reclaiming her life versus being rescued in some way.

• Burnout (ARC provided by NetGalley) - just started it, but WOW. It talks about stress and burnout strictly from women’s experiences with it, and is incredibly readable. Highly recommend.

• What I hope to read before the baby arrives - Cribsheet, What No One Tells You, and The Moment Of Lift. What I hope to cook from before he arrives - Indian-ish and Tex-Mex Cookbook (I’ve been making the nachos multiple times a week!)

You can find every book I’ve read this yearhere, and myAmazon favorites here.

Mother’s Day Gift Picks

• If you don’t want to waste time hunting for the perfect gift but want her to know how perfect she is, the Small Packages Mother’s Day box is ideal. (I am an investor in Small Packages)

• I like to use Mother’s Day/birthdays/times I wasn’t so nice to my mother to treat her to skincare she wouldn’t buy herself. This anti-aging serum will literally leave her glowing, this essence is something she’d likely never buy herself (but will use every day if you gift it to her), and this mist is the perfect skin-pick-me-up anytime.

• We’ve talked a lot about pajamas in this e-mail, but they do make the perfect gift. I’ve gotten my mom and mother-in-law hooked on my favorite Latuza pajamas, and I love to gift new moms a Posh Peanut robe with a matching swaddle set for their baby.

• If she’s a bookworm, a Kindle or a Book Of The Month subscription would be a perfect gift.

The Top 5

1. The World Needs Fewer Cersei Lannisters (The Cut)

2. The best $5,929.10 I ever spent: moving back to the Midwest (Vox)

3. I Spent $17K Freezing Eggs—and I Regret Every Penny (Glamour)

4. Hayley Leibson’s Morning Routine (My Morning Routine)

5. The best $16 I ever spent: Old Navy pajamas after my husband left (Vox)

The Catch Up

Monday

• I Tried to Fight Racism by Being a "Model Minority" — and Then It Backfired (Teen Vogue)

• Official: Sri Lanka failed to heed warnings of attacks (AP)

• Inside Dating-App Bumble’s Bid For Global Domination (Vogue)

• Hospitals Stand to Lose Billions Under ‘Medicare for All’ (New York Times)

Tuesday

• Why Female Presidential Candidates Are Still Overlooked (Harper’s Bazaar)

• U.S. health officials unveil experiment to overhaul primary care (STAT)

• Instagram Is Experimenting With Hiding Likes, Which Would Make It Much Harder to Be an Influencer (Elle)

• Comedian known for playing president on TV wins Ukrainian election (Axios)

Wednesday

• The Common Pitfall of Conflating Self-Worth with Career Success: Fulfillment Failure (Well+Good)

• At a Feminist-Finance Pop-Up, Cash is Queen (The New Yorker)

• Stop the Misinformation Virus: Don’t Be a Carrier (Medium)

• Serena Williams: The Champion’s Mindset (Business of Fashion)

Thursday

• Why Aren’t Men Talking About Fertility? (Glamour)

• Leaders of Hong Kong's Pro-Democracy Movement Handed Prison Sentences (TIME)

• How the Kleiner Perkins Empire Fell (Fortune)

• My Unexpected Struggle: How to Impart My Cultural Heritage to My Child (The Bump)

Friday

• Day in the Life: Amy Nelson of The Riveter (Create & Cultivate)

• Pharma’s Secret to Lobbying for Higher Drug Prices? (Bloomberg)

• Flint Is Family (Elle)

• How to Seem Like You Always Have Your Sh*t Together (Medium)