May 17, 2025

Five Things to Tell You Vol. 24

all the family time, candle refills, a summer sparkler, and more!

Well, hello there! So happy to see you today!

TODAY IS A BIG DAY HERE ~ it’s graduation party day for the middle kid! My mom and stepdad are back in town (again), my sister and niece are staying at our house all weekend (and perhaps more family members are staying too? I don’t know yet, but there’s floor space available!), and we are celebrating the high school graduate in a combined party with three other families at a city park. How many people are coming to this party? WE HAVE NO IDEA! No one kept track of who we invited, and whatever happens, happens. The only hard and fast thing we know is that we are not serving alcohol ~ otherwise, we shall see if we have enough food, not enough food, etc. We figure someone can always run to a store if we need stuff, right? It shall be an ADVENTURE!

Assuming you have a more relaxing day ahead of you, go ahead and settle in with your favorite snack and let’s dive in …

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I’m not sure if it was coincidence or the fact that Abby Jimenez and Kennedy Ryan are writing buddies, but I find it pretty remarkable that two of my very favorite romances of the year (so far) are both about daughters navigating the complexities and grief of having a mother with Alzheimer’s. These stories are quite different, but the central themes are achingly the same ~ putting life on hold to mother a mother.

I read Jimenez’s book pre-release in April and have mentioned it a few times already, but knew I just HAD to feature it side by side with Ryan’s book that just released this week!

Read Can’t Get Enough by Kennedy Ryan for a very steamy and Atlanta-based romance between super-successful entrepreneurs layered with the parenting-the-parent storyline. The billionaire in this book is the ONLY billionaire I want to hear about right now.

Read Say You’ll Remember Me by Abby Jimenez for a long-distance romance between Minnesota and California and a wonderful amount of large-family complexity combined with the grief of losing a mother.

Both of these stories feature insta-love too, but again, otherwise have very different vibes!

Friends, last weekend was SUCH. A. DELIGHT. Nonstop extended family time from Friday morning - Sunday evening!

The long weekend included a Mississippi River sightseeing cruise, downtown shopping & ice cream, renting city bikes, biking up to the drive-in diner, a family walk & lunch gathering at our house, a family wedding in which I declared it my solemn duty to not let the dance floor ever be empty (because the rest of the crowd besides my side of the family was … lackluster on the dancing front), a visit with an aunt I never see, breakfast at my brother’s hotel, river beach and paddleboarding with the crew, and finally lunch and a hike with my mom and stepdad on Sunday afternoon. I even got to spend Mother’s Day with my own mom for the first time since … I think for the first time since I became a mom myself!

I have very few pictures of all of the family time, but the one above, taken by my nephew while he was turned around hands-free on his own bike, pretty much sums up my utter joy to be with my people.

Why yes, yes I am wearing my Thigh Society shorts with my REI dress I told you about!

Last fall I tried so hard to move toward more sustainable candle consumption (I don’t want to have to throw away the glass containers!), but I just couldn’t fall in love with the one I tried ~ the little wax pellet refill things were a mess and it didn’t burn evenly AND didn’t have a strong enough scent for me.

Now I’m trying out Good Chemistry candles and so far they’re a win! You buy a candle in a glass container per usual, but after that first time, you just buy refills that come in paper containers! Exactly what I wanted! No more glass waste.

So far I have only tried the Coconut & Chill and Lavender & Ooh La La scents, but they’re definitely strong enough and burn evenly. I’m excited to try more scents in the future and will keep you posted on how the refilling goes!

You all know that my love for Spindrift will never end, and I have become increasingly fond of mixing Spindrift + kombucha for extra-flavorful sparklers! In November I discovered the delights of Cranberry Raspberry Spindrift + Cosmic Cranberry kombucha, and today I bring to you my summer sparkler ….

Pomelo Pink Lemonade Synergy kombucha + Strawberry Lemonade Spindrift + ice = summer perfection.

I actually gifted a friend a case of this Spindrift and a few bottles of this kombucha for her birthday last week (+ her favorite pretzels and York peppermint patties) ~ I’m that kind of friend who buys groceries as birthday presents.

And finally, one last reminder about my Backlist Summery Reads download that will release on Tuesday!

61 titles just perfect for the summery season ~ all books read and approved by ME. I can’t wait to share the 2025 edition with you!

Want to make sure you can download this on the 20th? You can upgrade your subscription now on a monthly ($5/month) or annual ($40/year) basis!

That’s all for this week ~ thanks for reading! Please feel free to reply to this email or use the link below (at the very, very bottom of the email!) to leave a comment to chime in about any of these things, or to share one of your own things ♡

Thanks for stopping by!