WEEKLY EDITION: June 6th

Happy Friday! 

*  be sure to click on the "message clipped" at the bottom of the email to read the entire newsletter - sometimes it gets cut off at the bottom.

Hey heyyyyyyyyy,

What a week. Last weekend was jam packed with basketball and lacrosse tournaments and it’s pretty tough watching girls lacrosse at this age because they are not in control of those sticks yet and injuries during the tournament were sky high. We came home Sunday night after sports and found our eldest kitty, Tweezers, in respiratory distress. He’s almost 17 and has definitely been moving slower but it was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do. We talked with the kids, said goodbye and then I brought him to the emergency vet hospital. He ended up having a lot of fluid around his heart and the prognosis was not good so we did have to say goodbye to him :(

Also this week - our youngest fell at school off a slide and ended up with a broken arm. When it rains, it typically pours so we are in the thick of it right now. The newsletter is a little shorter this week because I’ve been volunteering at the schools a lot and dealing with all the rest of the stuff that’s been happening :)

The kids are in their last full week of school and then they are free for a long summer - 12 weeks this year! They will mostly be home with a few camps here and there.

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In case you missed it, I talked about the insanity of “orgasms” during birth and other bullshit the internet tells mothers here in this post.

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I put together this collection of gift ideas for Father’s Day

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Paid Content Coming Up in the Next Few Weeks:

• 10 Healthy, Protein-Packed Costco Meals

• Raising Girls Who Stand in Their Power

• Our Summer Sunday Spiritual Series (introducing the idea of spirituality to our kids)

• 10 Parenting Scripts We Use Frequently in Our Home

• A Week of Honest Parenting Recaps

• 10 Ways I Create Connection in 5 Minutes or Less (Even When I’m Touched Out)

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  Next week’s dinner lineup:

  1.) Street Corn Chicken Rice Bowl

  2.) Creamy, Spicy Tomato Beans and Greens - this looks SO good but I’m not sure if the kids will eat it so I may make something separate for them

  3.) Roasted Salmon Glazed With Brown Sugar and Mustard with Rice + Broccoli

  4.) Strawberry Crunch Salad with Chicken

  5.) Leftovers

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Outfit #1

All outfit details here (I know some of you have been having trouble with this so I am looking into it!)

TOP: OZMA Sloan Cardigan, Gap Tank (similar here)

BOTTOMS: High Rise Barrel Denim

SHOES: Gold Flats

ACCESSORIES: Natalie Borton Belt, Woman Power Necklace, Fav perfume, Mini huggie earrings, Natalie Borton Sunglasses

Outfit #2

All outfit details here

TOPS: Racerback Tank, Jenni Kayne Cotton Cocoon Cardigan

BOTTOMS: Mid-Rise Run Shorts

SHOES: Converse Sneakers

ACCESSORIES: Natalie Borton Sunglasses, Woman Power Necklace, Mini huggie earrings, Fav perfume

TOP: Apron Neck Tank, Linen Blazer

BOTTOMS: Linen Skort

SHOES: Strappy Toe Ring Sandals

ACCESSORIES: Pebble Mini Necklace, Double Cobra Bracelet, Charlee Triple Earrings

TOP: Organic Linen Cotton Square Top

BOTTOMS: The Brynn Long Short

SHOES: The Kira Thong Sandal

ACCESSORIES: Natalie Borton Belt, Double Cobra Hoops, Straw Tote Bag, Pebble Mini Necklace

• READ || Curtis Yarvin’s Plot Against America | The New Yorker → If you are not aware of who Curtis Yarvin is, this is a must read. Curtis Yarvin, once an obscure blogger, is now quietly shaping the thinking of influential conservatives and tech leaders. He believes democracy should be replaced with a system more like a tech company, run by one powerful leader instead of elected officials. His ideas—like claiming the media and universities control public thought—are gaining ground, especially among people close to Trump and figures like J.D. Vance. This is urgent because what once sounded extreme is now influencing real political power, and it could seriously threaten democratic norms if left unchecked.

• READ || More Than Half of Top 100 Mental Health Tiktoks Contain Misinformation, Study Finds | The Guardian → More than half of the top mental health TikToks are spreading false or misleading info, according to a new study. A lot of creators might have good intentions, but platforms like this are packed with oversimplified advice that can do more harm than good, especially when it comes to serious stuff like ADHD or anxiety. It’s a good reminder to double-check what you’re seeing online and turn to real professionals when it comes to your mental health.

• READ || Trump Taps Palantir to Compile Data on Americans | The NY Times → The current administration is giving Palantir, a powerful data company, access to huge amounts of sensitive information from agencies like Homeland Security and the IRS. That means one private company (already closely tied to the administration) could end up with a detailed profile on millions of Americans. It’s honestly pretty alarming from a privacy standpoint. We need to be asking hard questions about who controls our data and what safeguards are (or aren’t) in place. Please be aware of the tracking apps you have in your phone - all of this data is free to be manipulated and used by others. You can also read this article here.

• READ || The Department of Education Isn’t Safe | Frazzled About Education → Here is where we currently stand with the attempt at dismantling public education….

• WATCH || Landman | Paramount+ → I wasn’t sure about this show in the beginning but all the characters have really grown on me and I especially love Ali Larter’s character!

• A veteran high school teacher from Harlem, NY talks about what happened when his school banned phones for a year

  “You see, even though they couldn’t access their phone, they still felt the dopamine burst whenever they felt a vibration go off in the pouch. They had to know. They had to see. It drove them mad. Students started taking pens and stabbing through the fake Kevlar pouches, other kids started using their keys to saw the locking mechanism off.”

• So excited that the longer denim shorts (even longer here) are back in! I’ve always loved this look and saw a lot of it in Paris (see the below that Ailsa captured!)

• A new study finds that eliminating fluoride in drinking water would cause 25.4 million more cavities for kids in the U.S. in the next five years and it would double to 53 million in 10 years

• RFK Jr. says he wants to force U.S. medical schools to teach nutrition or risk losing federal funding. Honestly, these kinds of threats are just exhausting. This is exactly why we have dietitians, it's their area of expertise. Physicians already have an overwhelming amount to learn; if you need nutrition guidance, see a dietitian, that’s what they’re trained for.

• Don’t charge your phone at airport USB ports and don’t use the airport WiFi

• A new study suggests that drinking just one cup of coffee a day may help women live longer, especially by lowering the risk of death from heart disease and stroke. Researchers followed over 170,000 women for more than 20 years and found that even moderate coffee intake had noticeable health benefits.

• Public health is in crisis

• I kind of want to live in this tee

• This sounds like a yummy refreshing summer drink!

• This weatherman from FL warns on live TV about the federal governments cuts to weather service (and science in general) and how it will impact the upcoming hurricane season ⬇️

• An adorable summer romper that you can throw on slides with

• I recently got this for the kids this summer - I will be getting in there too!

• Marking this down as a summer recipe to try

• My summer mantra

• T administration revokes guidance requiring hospitals to provide emergency abortions → AP News - The Trump administration said it will revoke a Biden-era policy that required hospitals to offer emergency abortions in situations where a woman’s life or health was at risk. That policy was introduced in 2022 after Roe v. Wade was overturned, aiming to ensure abortion access in life-threatening emergencies. The Biden administration had argued that federal law (EMTALA) required hospitals, even in states with strict abortion bans, to provide this care if they received Medicare funding. Now that it’s been revoked, there is no protection (a disaster).

• A recent warning from a West Virginia prosecutor has sparked concern after he suggested that women who miscarry could face criminal charges depending on the circumstances. While the law currently doesn’t explicitly allow prosecution for pregnancy loss, there’s growing fear it might be interpreted that way. This kind of language adds to the chilling effect we're seeing across the country, where women's health decisions are increasingly under surveillance. It’s a reminder of how urgently we need to protect both reproductive rights and compassionate, evidence-based care.

• In Texas, police are using tools like license plate readers to keep tabs on people they think might be traveling for an abortion, even tracking them across state lines. This kind of surveillance includes traffic data and possibly info from your own car, which raises big privacy red flags. It’s pretty unsettling to see this level of government tracking tied to personal health decisions. It’s not just about abortion, it’s about how far authorities will go to monitor private lives.

🌻I wanted to express my sincere gratitude to all of you who subscribe to this publication. Putting together these newsletters for you is a true joy, and your paid subscriptions allow me to dedicate the time and effort they deserve.

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