issue #49 - the one with a Zoom hangover

July 05, 2020

I feel like I have hit the ’too many video calls’ limit. It does, in fact, exist.

Don’t get me wrong. All of them - catch ups with family and friends, my webinars with Female Founders Alliance and Mother Honestly, my IG Live with The Juggernaut and Lily Herman - were wonderful. It gave me a taste of the connection we took for granted in pre-COVID life, and it’s what I long for the most in post-COVID life.

But I am a little drained from it all. And in a time when we’re still learning our limits from the new ways we’re communication, it’s okay.

It’s…normal?

I did pull out my half-finished needlepoint project to work on. I blocked off hours for a few evenings next week to work on said needlepoint project, while listening to this book.

And my husband and I made the grand mistake choice of starting Too Hot To Handle on Netflix, which is equal parts awful and addictive.

It is what it is. But if you are watching the show, please reply so we can talk about it!

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 two boys (a 5 year old and a 10 month old).

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. You can join the conversation on all these articles - and more! - in my Facebook group.

Looking for my packing list template? Here you go!

The app that is responsible for my nostalgic binge watching (sponsored by Reelgood)

Whatever happened to Rainbow Brite?

There was a 9 month period where I would watch Rainbow Brite and the Star Stealer every single day, without fail. It's a film that's surprisingly held up, and I wanted to show it to Rho.

It's surprisingly hard to find - unless you have the free Reelgood app.

I typed in the title of the film in the app. Reelgood let me know was available to rent on Vudu. Signed up for Vudu. Turned on the TV and started streaming the film in under a minute, via the Roku Remote.

All without having to search for the remotes (which are forever missing because of my kids), entering different search options in my browser, and juggling between my phone, computer, and remotes to get the movie started.

Setting up and using the Roku Remote in the app is seamless. The app quickly detects the device connected to your WiFi, and you can easily access it by tapping the green circle in the bottom right corner.

So rather than searching for a missing remote (a casualty with small kids around) or skipping between streaming apps, you can easily find and play the exact thing you want to watch all in one app.

Even hard-to-find children's program from the 80's (that deserves a solid reboot).

One Smart Conversation

  • I joined Kate on a bonus episode of Be There In Five to talk all about Jessica Simpson’s excellent memoir, Open Book. Joining her for this conversation was a highlight of my week, and I hope you enjoy our winding, random, and fun conversation as much as I did.

#ThingsILove This Week

If you’re going to shop, please shop small! Here are another round of small business favorites

  • How many Phenomenal sweatshirts are too many? The limit better not exist, because I’ve lost count and I wear mine every day. ‘Per My Last E-mail’ is their latest one and I couldn’t pre-order it fast enough, and I also highly recommend ‘Likeable Enough’, the mint Phenomenally Soft one, and the OG Phenomenal Woman one. Rho and Rhaki love their Feminist t-shirt and onesie respectively, and I just ordered my dad this Girl Dad hoodie (he stole my Electable one, and I have to admit it looks better on him than me). The best part? Each shirt purchase supports a different, very worthy cause.

  • I discovered Amanda Kloots through another influencer’s fitness Instagram, and was immediately drawn to her warm and sunny attitude. Both of us were pregnant at the same time, and I followed a ton of her pregnancy and baby+me workouts that she shared on Instagram. Her husband has been in in critical condition with COVID for the past couple of weeks, and puts a specific face and name to the struggle of so many others. If you want to help Amanda and her family specifically, you can do what I did and sign up for her streaming fitness classes and buy her jump rope. And if you want to help the many other people going through the same thing but don’t have the same social following, you can do what I did and donate to some of these funds.

  • I’ve been meaning to make the boys’ baby books since they were born. I’ve all but given up on the handwritten missives in a book filled with creamy pages and printed photographs, but I have been adding daily pictures and little stories on my Tinybeans app, which has been a great way to share these moments with our family all over. I love that I’ll be able to print a book with these moments (first one - the quarantine edition) and flip through it with them as they grow up, and that these memories are safely stored in the web with greater security than certain major social media platforms.

  • Alchimie Forever is one of my hero skincare brands, and a fellow father-daughter run business. Their Kantic Brightening Moisture Mask is a weekly (these days, near daily) ritual for me, and their Pigment Lightening Serum is the only product that successfully faded scars and blemishes. Both of their eye creams are wonderful (I use the eye gel in the morning and the eye balm at night), and the Dry Skim Balm is a lifesaver for chapped hands. Ordering directly from their site is the best thing you can do to support the business, and your skin will thank you.

What I read this week

A quick note - I hope you reserve the books I recommend from your local library, or purchase them from your favorite independent bookstore or the audiobook fromLibro.fm.

  • Apsara Engine- I can’t tell you the last time I read a graphic novel, but Apsara Engine is a spectacular, transportive collection of stories and imagery that will keep you thinking long after reading it. These twisting, fantastical stories are not your average graphic novel. The book digs into some themes you won’t expect from popular literature, and weaves in history and mythology and alternate realities that is brilliant and bizarre only in that I’ve never read anything quite like this. The author and illustrator, Bishakh Som, is an immense talent. I’m proud to serve on the board of the publisher of this book, Feminist Press, and their championing of bold new voices and stories.

  • The DNA Of You And Me - I confess that I picked up this book solely because of my friend Kimmery’s blurb (“a gorgeous novel exploring the intersection of love and science”), and I wholeheartedly agree. Emily, Aeden, and so many of the characters working in this lab remind me of the many scientists I know, and their single-minded pursuit of discovering something groundbreaking about the little things we take for granted. What’s refreshing about this book is how beautifully and honestly it captures the complexity of female ambition. I’ll admit that there were stretches that were hard to read because of their stark honesty, and because I’d been reading lighter fare and didn’t expect such depth from this book. But it was a satisfying, wonderful read and I can’t wait to see what Rothman writes next.

Current book reviewshere, and here are all my random Amazon favorites.

Hitha’s Favorite Things

The Top 5

The Catch Up

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

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