Weekend Reads 29.11.2024
Have sewing machine. Will travel.
Happy It’s-Safe-to-Start-Decorating-for-Christmas to all who celebrate!
Is anyone else completely over the “black Friday” sales? Sheesh, the volume of emails about lackluster sales is something, isn’t it?
If you are Stateside, did you travel for the Thanksgiving holiday? I did. My husband, our cat Patsy Cline, and I made the trek to Ohio for an annual list of festivities including food (obvs), a football game, and a big party to watch rival colleges play football.
It’s remarkable how every year no matter the amount of preparation, this particular long weekend sorta stresses me out. Something about getting that big meal on the table by a particular time coupled with all the things needed to do to prepare for my favorite holiday always makes for a toxic anxiety cocktail. But this year I think I may have found a remedy.
Instead of books I would never get around to reading, I packed my sewing machine. (I sure am marching to the beat of my own drum here!) It has been a glorious way to unwind, zone out, and feel productive in between gatherings and meals. When staying with family or friends, it can be hard to feel as though I have a space of my own. Being able to camp out in front of my machine has given me my own tiny corner.
Are there any ways you find space and time for yourself amidst holiday travel? Do you go for runs or long drives? Or maybe you are better at keeping up with reading than I am? Maybe you go shopping at all your favorite hometown spots? Or maybe, just maybe, you enjoy reading random things from across the web? If that’s you, you’re in luck. May I present this list of things I found that may distract you from whatever is filling up your schedule.
A to-do list for when/if you only have 24 hours in London.
This recipe for roasted carrots with a creamy Vietnamese sauce sounds delicious. (Side note, can we stop with the long stories before recipes and obnoxious pop-up videos? Bless.)
If you’re shopping small (business), you might like to know a random influencer out there swears these are the best robes. They are a beautiful mix of art and slow fashion.
And now, moving along from the aforementioned small fashion designer to a decidedly different type of designer – corporate fashion. This collaboration between Gap and Paddington Bear for kids is making me covet! There are some very cute things in this collection.
A list of towns across the U.S.A. that know how to put on a show of holiday cheer. And here are the most festive towns in the U.K. (Personally, I think the U.K. list should have given a special shout out to the Christmas market in Belfast).
Everything you need to know before your first ski trip according to Vogue. Since no one asked me, I say: bundle up in something cute, it’s ok to Aprés Ski all day, and snowshoeing is way better than anything you’ll do requiring you to be strapped to scary equipment and jumping off flying chairs.
Time seems to warp between the stretch of days between Thanksgiving and New Year’s, making indulgences like a day-long-movie-marathon (on a Tuesday) permissible. This is particularly true when the movie is other-worldly, like say the Lord of the Rings series. For those of you out there who think of movies like LOTR as holiday movies, the LOTR Project has lots of goodies like an interactive map of Middle-earth, life expectancy stats on the demography of Middle-earth, and timelines.
How 10 famous artists would plate Thanksgiving dinner.
Stats points to a decline in scientific innovation and productivity over recent decades. This article identifies three trends causing this decline, including bureaucracy.
“What explains this decline in scientific innovation? We identify three trends. First is the tendency toward scientific risk aversion and conformity: the current institutional system that organizes scientific research is structured in a way that rewards and instills orthodoxy. Second is the ever-expanding bureaucratization of science, which has resulted in the disturbing finding that researchers spend more than 40 percent of their time compiling and submitting grant proposals. These two trends are accompanied by an increasing drive toward the third: hyper-specialization. Researchers and academics have to become ever more specialized to make progress in an ever-narrowing field of study or research. Hyper-specialization is, to some extent, an inevitable consequence of the success of scientific progress. Due to the exponential accumulation of scientific knowledge over the past three centuries, specialization has become a practical necessity because it reduces the cognitive load that researchers in any given scientific field face.” Source
Duh. “Women’s gossip disguised as concern harms reputations while protecting the gossiper.” (via Rob Henderson)
People in-the-know swear these pants are the best travel pants, but I gotta say they make me look like I’m trying too hard. What about you? Do you have a travel uniform?
I felt very seen by this article in House and Garden UK: “Why nostalgia is so important to the way we decorate.”
Take good care of yourself this weekend!