Happy Saturday and first day of August! I’m so glad to be back in your inbox today. We have been wrapping up summer activities and are already starting to prep for back-to-school season; I’m always up for buying some new school supplies (yes, even for myself!).
We’re off to a kid’s birthday party in a few minutes, but first I wanted to share 6 things on my mind this week.
My mom’s book club. She called me this week to tell me I need to read The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride. Luckily, I picked up this book last year from my favorite local Little Free Library (you can read all about the book I traded).
Then my mom sent me a picture of my three high school English teachers. Apparently, they are all in a book club together now, and as my mom likes to say, “They actually discuss the book!” (Of course they do!)
Monotasking. It’s when you give your full attention to just one task. Like many other modern humans, I am constantly switching between multiple email inboxes, text messages, work chats, phone calls, and what feels like a million other notifications. But I love when I can just focus on one thing for 30 minutes or an hour. It reminds me of studying in college on the top floor of my university’s biggest library.
The reason monotasking is on my mind is because I needed to sign my son up for an activity recently and I had to keep refreshing the screen every few minutes for several hours, which makes it hard to do literally anything else!
Read this article from Harvard to learn more about the art of monotasking.
It just takes some time. My husband and I did the most millennial thing ever and took our son to the Jimmy Eat World concert last weekend to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Bleed American album. I love the song “The Middle” and have been listening to it at every stage of life since I was in high school! My brother originally downloaded the song on my iPod Nano.
If you’re local to the East Bay and have never been to the outside concert venue in Concord, you have to check it out because that view is hard to beat!
Currently listening. I’m honestly not sure how anyone balances their time between listening to audiobooks, podcasts, and new music. Feel free to send any helpful tips my way. I only listen to one podcast regularly and I’m a completist; I’ve listened to all 481 episodes of Happier in Hollywood.
Co-hosts Liz and Sarah are TV writers, producers, and mothers living in Southern California. They are originally from the Midwest and have been friends since high school! I love their down-to-earth career and life advice.
Currently watching. I keep asking myself why I’m not getting any reading done and it’s because of Mad Men. Have you watched it? I’m currently in Season 6. I love the historical setting, character development, office politics, and learning about the advertising world. My husband said “ketchup is ketchup” the other day, and I said, “But it’s not Heinz.” Heinz (the real company) ended up using one of Don Draper’s ads from the show!
Also, that title. Mad Men. The show is about ad men on Madison Avenue, and they are all a little crazy. Perfection.
And for the Swifties: did you know Taylor wrote “Lavendar Haze” after hearing the phrase in Mad Men? Season 2, Episode 12.
Salt air, and the rust on your door. This is your reminder that it’s officially the season of “living for the hope of it all.” August is a time to find the good in the temporary even though we know it won’t last forever. The best way to end summer.
That’s it for this week! We have a busy weekend with kid activities, but I’m hoping to get in some long walks and reading sessions with my current book.
Check out these posts from this week in 2025 and 2024:
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