5SR - July 3, 2023

Genevieve “Jenny” Dreizen is the co-founder and COO of Fresh Starts Registry, the first and only platform for everything you need to begin again, including divorce or breakup, moving, career changes, stepping into your truth, or starting again after grief.

Jenny is passionate about creating usable, efficient, and beautiful systems to run Fresh Starts to maintain their Experts, Support Specialists, and Freshies. When not planted in front of her multi-screen setup, Jenny might be found baking brownies, working on a poem or essay, or doing her favorite thing - going for a walk and buying herself a little treat.

The Free-Returns Party Is Over (The Atlantic) 

I have bad news, the party is over. And by "party" I do mean everyone, always offering free returns all the time.

There are a lot of arguments pro free return: the ability to try clothes on in various sizes, colors, to be more adventurous and turn your living room into a changing room with much, much better light. Plus the ability to shop at stores that might not have brick and mortar locations at all or at least not in your proximity. However the ever shifting landscape of climate change is probably far imbalanced - whatever good we do not driving to the mall to buy clothes is dramatically outweighed by the over consumption of goods (clothes, shoes, etc) that has to be shuffled back and forth via plane, train and automobile. I am very, very guilty of this. And so the stores are pushing back, bringing back return shipping fees.

I am personally not thrilled about it, but maybe an unintended consequence is a moment of pause before ordering. Asking ourselves if we're willing to try this item if we have to pay to send it back, maybe it will put a little less strain on the supply chain and therefore the climate. It's worth the shot, I guess.

What To Do If You Have Over $5,000 In Your Bank Account (Life Hacker)

I've discussed this with you all time and time again, but I am a numbers person who is rather clueless when it comes to money and how to make my money make more money. This piece helps, it helps a lot.

Not only does it tell me what to do with the money I have but how to make it make more money and then it links to other articles which do beautiful things like: telling me how to find a high yield savings account. And what is CONSIDERED a high interest rate, which is almost as important. Simple, practical steps to help you get your finances in order. I think I will beat this drum until the end of time.

How To Keep Your Long-Distance Relationship Healthy, Happy, And Hot (Self)

As the survivor [drama intended] of a serious long distance relationship (USA to UK) I just loved this piece trying to protect all of you sweet souls from the potential perils and difficulties of distance. While the key to all of this is communication, the piece lays out some important questions and conversations you've got to be having - paramount in my opinion is: what is our exit strategy?

I could not have lasted longing for my guy for as long as I did (5 months was the longest stretch we were apart, and it felt like a very long time) without knowing that on the other side we were both very excited to live a life together and what that would look like. For some couples there is no exit strategy and there is only endgame of being together apart, amazing- but important to communicate. Other important convos are how and when do we communicate, what do visits look like and who will take on the expense of those?

All of these conversations and learning to communicate are foundational in any relationship. Important to have, important to keep having and important for staying connected. 

The Art Of Friendship: How To Befriend Neighbors (Shondaland)

I love the series they're doing on Shondaland about the Art of Friendship - I think friendships are about to get their day in the sun. In the past we've often relegated them to a sort of B tier of important life relationships but no more, NO MORE.

This piece in particular is about making friends with your neighbors and I had to feature it. One of my most transformative and important friendships was one I shared with the wonderful witchy woman who lived across the hall from me in my Queens apartment with my then fiancé. The peak of our friendship coincided with the last few months of that relationship, and the sweet memories of padding over to her place to chit chat or borrow something and just pushing open the door she'd propped for me hold a very special time and place in my memory.

Connecting with people, community, support - these are all so paramountly important for the human condition.

Hourglass Syndrome Sounds Innocuous But It Left Me With Permanent Damage (Refinery 29)

As a curvy child of the 90s I was always, ALWAYS told to just suck my tummy in. Like it was no big deal, just suck your tummy in. When I found this article about Hourglass Syndrome or B Belly Syndrome I RAN to TikTok to see what they were referring to.

Essentially many of us who spent our entire pre-teen, teen, early adult and even ADULT years "just sucking our tummies in '' have created a circumstance with our upper abs from over use which forever altered our bodies. Which is upsetting, right? To think that as little girls we were so shamed about the amount of space we were taking up and wanted to be praised for being smaller/thinner/losing weight that we quite literally changed our physique, no less in a way not intended.

I see glimmers that we're doing better as a society, encouraging women to take up space. I'll focus that energy on hope instead of my abs.long distance relationships