16 Cool Things You Need to Click On Today

What a week! My kids were home all day long for the first three days, which was...a lot. We did a few excursions (such as seeing Secret Life of Pets 2 where we were the only ones in the theater!), but it was mostly "I'm bored" on repeat. I bought them a lot of new books, made them spend some time on their summer workbooks (I'd heard great things about the Summer Brain Quest books to prevent summer slide, so I got this one and this one, and they actually really enjoyed them!). But I'd be lying if I said they didn't spend a lot of quality time on their iPads during those days, too. 

And then, they were off to camp on Thursday and Friday, and--oh em gee--it was like my entire world opened up! I was free from 8am until 5pm straight and it was glorious! I did miss them like crazy and was so excited to see them at the end of the day when they got home though. (Wish I could say the feeling was mutual though; when they got home, they were mostly excited to see their iPad!) But the day-long break is nice, not going to lie. Now, we're all taking it easy this weekend (it's way too hot to do much of anything), and looking forward to the week ahead. Camp, I love you.

Whatever you're up to this weekend, I hope you make it a great one. Here's a few fun links to check out in the meantime!

• Since we've been talking a lot about books lately, I wanted to share the latest one that I finished. It was Recursion, which is one of the hottest books of the summer (it was a June Book of the Month pick!), and it was AMAZING. Definitely one of the very best books I've read this year, and possibly one of the best I've ever read! It was a total mind-bend and an unputdownable thriller and I loved every second of it. Highly recommend! 

• Also, the July Book of the Month picks just came out! If you're a BOTM member, what did you pick? I chose Lock Every Door (I've heard it's a really good thriller!), and then added on The Gifted School, because it's supposed to be fabulous. It would have been a lot harder for me to choose, but I actually had already read advance copies of two of the picks: Things You Save In A Fire (a smart romance that's so good and likely to be made into a movie soon!) and Three Women (really good, different than anything you've ever read, and sure to be one of the most talked about books of the year). If you haven't joined Book of the Month yet, do it! (I'm obsessed!!) Here's your incentive: Join using this link and you and I will each get a free book. Yay!

• And one more cool thing about books: I recently shared on my Instagram that I discovered this amazing site called Book Outlet, where they sell overstocks of books for insane prices (we're talking $1.99 to like $6 for most things!). And while they don't carry brand new releases, they do have an incredible selection of both new-ish and classic kids books and adult books, so it's absolutely perfect for getting books that have been hanging around on your Amazon wishlist forever. I just bought a huge box of books (about 75 percent for my kids and 25 percent for me!) for about $130--but the books were worth around $400! Anyway, if you want to try it, I just discovered a discount code! If you use this link, you can get $10 off your order (woo hoo!). Enjoy!

• This is my favorite cardigan (I own it in black, charcoal gray, maroon, and army green, and love the little brass buttons!), and it's a steal: $24.99 on Amazon!

• This jumpsuit is so pretty.

• And this maxi dress! Love the gold foil details and the price. (It's on sale for under $100!)

• Okay, and this Rebecca Taylor dress is gorgeous, too! Would be so pretty for a summer wedding or a rehearsal dinner. (I think I'm going to wait for it to--hopefully--go on sale though...)

• Speaking of weddings, my brother's wedding was three weeks ago, and I was a bridesmaid in it. My sister-in-law had basically no requests as to what we wore (beyond that she wanted us in long black dresses), but she did say she'd prefer pale pink nails. She hadn't specified what to do with toes though, and I worried that the dark colors I usually gravitate to (navy, back, deep red), would look out of place. So I split the difference and chose a medium mauve shade. Well. I got so many compliments on it (I think because it's very pretty and wearable, but still a little different?), and it has totally become my new favorite, go-to pedi color. It's Zoya nail polish in Madeline, if you're looking for a new shade.

• I had/have a ridiculous amount of basil in my garden this week, so I made pesto. I used this recipe, and it was delicious and SO easy. (If anyone has any great basil recipes/ideas, let me know. I still have so much!)

• It's been a weirdly domestic week for me: I also made blueberry muffins! I used a mix, but I also tried Rach Parcell's trick for jazzing up box muffins with homemade crumble topping. It made all the difference, and was so good.

• How summery and refreshing and delicious does this chicken paillard with watermelon and arugula salad sound?

• Meghan's post about her trip Provence really, really makes me want to go to Provence.

• I can't stop thinking about this dreamy kitchen.

• How to cook Trader Joe's Cauliflower Gnocchi in an air fryer! #genius

And in case you missed it, I...

• Revealed my tips for reading more books in less time!

• Shared my summer bucket list.

Have a great weekend!