Coffee and Blogs No. 6

Summer is here- officially on the calendar and for the lucky, lucky kids and adults who get a summer break.  I use this season as an excuse to get ice cream for dinner (often) and drink spiked lemonade, and I wish you that same kind of happiness.  Here is some good reading to tackle over a frosty iced coffee, maybe on your phone, maybe at the beach?  

I want to make friendship bracelets this summer, but if you're not into reliving camp activities by yourself, this is a round up of summer camps for adults.  The documentary film making camp seems AMAZING.  I would also happily live every single second of the itinerary from a camp for kids if I could fill the campground with all my adult friends.

On a camp note, this episode of This American Life is one of my favorites.  I heard it rerun last summer during a weekend of traveling (meaning I heard it about 7 times on different NPR stations) and was shocked to hear it was from 1998.  It holds up really well, since camp holds up really well.

Deep thoughts about your recently used emojis.  This made me stare at my screen for a little while and evaluate my life.  I may submit mine for analysis, but I'm scared.

I'm never not going to add something about YA literature.  Here is a ranking of the coolness of female kid lit characters, and here is a great defense of adults reading YA from one of my favorite sources for book reviews and celebration of a reading life.

Would you like to be smarter in 3 minutes?  I imagine that if you can share these corrections to common history misconceptions without sounding like a know-it-all, it would make interesting intelligent chit chat at BBQs and beach weekends with friends of friends all summer long.

Why I Miss Being a Born-Again Christian.  I have nothing witty to say about this.  It made me feel a little sad and a little less alone, if that makes any sense.

David Sedaris has a Fitbit.  I thought I was doing good with step count, but as always, he's put me in my place. (Thanks to Carolyn for this article!)

This article about dressing for the ordinary days is so relevant as I enter a few months of not having to go to work.  I am famous for wearing workout clothes and ratty t shirts to chase my kids, which is okay but also not that okay, since I like the idea of being more put together.  It's almost always a goal of mine to "get dressed."

My pinterest board about clothing and style has gotten a little refresh lately.  The petunia plum dress, scarlet flats, and camera necklace make up my dream outfit for the weddings I'm going to this summer.

Willpower is an exhaustible resource.  This explains why I can be so much more successful with my healthy living goals on the days where my routines are solid, and why the summer sometimes feels like the wild west when it comes to getting things done.  This article inspired me to make a summer schedule and to still spend my evenings getting organized for the next day.

I found my dream job.  Researching someone's past, organizing the facts into a timeline, turning it into a keepsake piece of writing...is this real life?  Librarian has a challenger for the title of Ashlie's Next Career.

I spent some time updating the pictures and hash tags in my side bar.  If you get the blog in your e-mail or a feed reader, please click through and check out the new look!  I'm in the market for a domain name and a new header this summer.  While you're here, consider voting for Simple Mama on Top Baby Blogs.  You're awesome, thank you.

Happy reading, lovelies!