Happy Friday, friends! How is it already mid-August?! I hope that you have all had a great week and are ready to relax! It’s gonna be a hot one here in Seattle so if you’re local, get your fans out of the closet and start freezing your popsicles. 🤣 Before we start the weekend, I just wanted to share a few things with you that I’ve recently discovered:
H-Proof – Clearly, you know that I have a love for adult beverages. I usually only have a glass or two, but sometimes when you’re having fun you stop paying attention to how many drinks you’ve had and then you’re left feeling quite delicate the next day. This company has developed a type of chewable “vitamin” that you take before bed that will help you to avoid that delicate feeling in the morning. I don’t get hangovers often, but when I do they’re crippling! (And they don’t get any easier with age, let me tell you… 🥴) I would love to avoid those experiences (on the rare occasion that my cocktail count gets away from me), so the idea that this product could help accomplish that is pretty awesome.
SeaStar Beachwear – I hate water shoes; they’re always ugly and look super dorky. I discovered this brand of water-friendly shoes that look like stylish flat espadrilles, but are actually intended to get wet! They’d be great for any beach days or adventures where you’d like to go in the water, but also keep your feet safe. They transition beautifully from walking the shoreline to brunch! I ordered a pair when the brand was recently running a sale and I am so impressed with the quality! I am between sizes so I went up a half size and they fit perfectly. I will say that the edge of the top of the shoe fits a bit tight, but I imagine that is intentional to keep the shoes on your feet while in the water or when they get wet (because the material stretches just a bit when waterlogged). I just want you to be aware of that design element so you aren’t surprised when you get them. So so happy to have these for our next trip to Hawai’i (and beyond) once we can travel again!
8 Exercises You Can Do with a Chair: Forever looking for easy at-home workouts that aren’t super intensive and don’t require much equipment… this list totally fits the bill! Also, I love that the instructions include little video clips to showcase the workout moves because I often find static images annoying to follow.
Anti-Racist Book Club: As someone who has grown up in a position of white privilege, I know that I need to forever continue to educate myself so that I can do my part to dismantle systemic racism in our country. There are so many excellent resources out there to accomplish this and I felt that a book club might be great way to help stay active at working to become anti-racist. This book club in particular is hosted by Eva Amurri of the Happily Eva After blog and they’re currently working on their second book. I personally like to absorb books on my own time (read: I don’t want to feel the pressure to complete a book because a discussion is being held on a particular day) so I may not actually take part in the book club itself; instead, I plan to follow along on the suggested reading list and listen to the audio book versions whenever available.
Online Cooking Classes with LaCuisineParis! For me, this just seems like one of the silver linings to come out of quarantine. Who knows when we (as Americans) will actually get to travel to Paris again, let alone get into a limited person cooking class with La Cuisine Paris — being able to attend class virtually from our own kitchens is such an incredible opportunity!
Ways to Support Beirut: Of course there is always the Red Cross which is always a great organization to support, but I discovered a few other options provided by a Lebanese national (@elieyobeid). I started following him on Instagram because he lives in Paris and shares the most beautiful photos and videos of his adventures around the City of Light, but he happened to be traveling back in his home country of Lebanon when the deadly explosion happened in Beirut last week so he made his way to the city to help share what’s happening on the ground / document everything as well as help the citizens clean up and rebuild. The organizations that he suggested were: Beit El Baraka, Impact Lebanon, World Central Kitchen, and Souk el Tayeb.
*One last thing to note: I have read that there are some organizations that are run by the corrupt Lebanese government that will only seize the funds and not allocate them properly to people in need, so please be cautious about where you donate you hard-earned money if outside of these suggestions.
Things to [safely] do outside before the weather turns: plan a socially-distant picnic (above image from EverydayParisian), make s’mores (indoors or out!), BBQ, ride your bike (or rent one!), go on a hike, rent a kayak or paddleboard, do some gardening, go camping… just get outdoors while we still can (but please wear a mask whenever you are near people)!
I hope that you guys have a fantastic weekend! Sending hugs.
xx, Natalie
I loved this post, Natalie! Also – Online French Cooking Classes?! Sign me up! This sounds incredible <3
xo Alli | On the Trip Side