This Week in Photos:

Oh gosh this week… My life has become a whirlwind and I hate vague posting, but expect a small ‘announcement’ of sorts later this week once some final life decisions have been made and communicated. Let’s just say my mind has been fully consumed as of late and I will feel much more like blogging when I can share what I’m thinking about instead of avoiding what’s really on my mind.

Anyway, let’s get to what we were up to this week!

• Tim and I went to Fish Bar for date night. It’s a great tapas seafood place and we sat outside to enjoy the fleeting days of summer! My favorite part of the meal was the s’mores we had for dessert, of course.

• Speaking of summer… can a person ever have too many hibiscus lemonades?! Nope. It’s my favorite summer drink and it’s safe to say I’m fully addicted and every trip to the park now costs $3.

• Mom friends are the best. Our kiddos are the same age so we enjoy getting together and seeing what our kids should be capable of doing. Like I learned that Clara is actually pretty quiet for her age. (Not that I’m surprised, because I swear all of her energy is going into figuring out how to accomplish physical tasks and she has no interest in working out the other parts of her brain.) We also discuss how hard life is with toddlers but how much we love these little people who have turned our lives upside down! It’s so nice to see that other moms are continuing to adjust well after the first year of motherhood.

• Clara’s physical feats of this week involve climbing the rope ladder at the park and learning to climb on the kitchen table. I was sitting at the table reading The Economist while Clara played on the floor next to me, and all of a sudden I looked up and she was sitting on the table next to my magazine, smiling at me! She was so proud of herself, but now I’m disappointed that there’s yet another surface in the house that we need to childproof.

Worth Reading:

You know I love some Ellen. And by ‘some Ellen’ I mean I love every single thing that Ellen does, including this short video of Trump debating himself. (here)

“Stepping away from the theoretical, there are some nitty-gritty barriers that keep you from expanding your social circle. For example, researchers believe that it takes about five years to form a truly meaningful friendship. Close relationships that are formed quicker than that are usually because you’re both in a situation of insecurity. That’s why it took you years of company Christmas parties for you to realize Ryan from marketing was actually cool and one week of study abroad to put Kim in your mental list of future bridesmaids.” (here)

“Counter to the popular societal consensus on an increasingly time-pressured society … reports of feelings of being ‘always rushed’ declined by 6-9 points from those reported in 2004 … both among employed and unemployed respondents.” (here)

“The outrage that comes from empathy drives some of our most powerful punitive desires. It’s not an accident that so many statutes are named for dead girls—as in Megan’s Law, Jessica’s Law, and Caylee’s Law—and no surprise that there is now enthusiasm for “Kate’s Law.” The high incarceration rate in the United States, and our continued enthusiasm for the death penalty, is in part the product of fear and anger, but is also driven by the consumption of detailed stories of victims’ suffering.” (here)

“That made it harder to get even the most basic things done, like keeping the government from shutting down or preventing the nation from hitting the debt ceiling. Trying to corral an increasingly extreme party has been one of Boehner’s biggest — if not the biggest — challenges as speaker.” (here)

What have you been up to this week?! Have you read anything interesting?