Since moving to Northern California three years ago I have sewed just two garments. Both have been linen gingham dresses in the exact same pattern. (Here's the first.) I use a simple mod of McCalls M7946 version D (it's basically two rectangles for the body and then 4 narrow straps that tie). I shirred the bodice with elastic thread (linking 100+ tutorials here). My fabric this time is a linen sheet set from Quince via Poshmark and I am excited to have more than enough linen leftover to make new pillow covers for our kitchen bench. Hopefully that can be an August project.

This month my college girlfriends got together to celebrate our 40th birthdays. It was my favorite of the dozen or so girls' trips we have taken over the past 18 years since graduating college. We did all the things – ate, drank, boated, swam, cried, laughed, reminisced, chatted life/kids/marriage/jobs/dreams and we played Codenames. It's smart and fun. (One of my friends told another that it's like playing NYT's Connections which feels right.) I bought it when we got home and I was so happy to find that my kids (ages 9.5 and 12) were able to pick it up quickly.

There is a line in Braiding Sweetgrass about junk mail and how all that paper comes from trees to be turned into catalogs that are hardly glanced at before they are thrown in the recycling bin. I read it and immediately googled how to get off the 700 mailing lists I seem to be on. The PaperKarma app popped up, I downloaded it and then spent three months scanning every item of junk mail that arrived at our house. The app costs $4.99/m (I kept it active for just three months) to send the requests to get you off all the lists. And it works. I get almost no junk mail anymore (I haven't yet figured out how to get off the local “Our neighbors at” lists). It's a physical relief but it's also a decision making relief. I don't see the catalogs so I don't page through and wonder “Do we need a new lamp?” “Should I order another pair of shoes?” Nope and nope. Deep exhale.

Early this month I listened to the audiobook Wool by Hugh Howey. It's the first in a series of three that takes place in a dystopian future where humans have been “saved” from a toxic Earth surface and now live in an underground silo. After reading it I told Paul we had to watch Apple TV's Silo based on the book series. The show feels much more expansive than the book (season 1 covers maybe half of Wool) and I was transfixed by how they brought the underground world to life. If you watch, be sure to note the outfits, especially the knitwear! So visually stunning and I loved this deep dive on crafting the costumes. We are halfway through season 2 and can't get enough.

Wild Dark Shore was our July book club pick and wow was it perfect. Fast-paced but with a lot of depth, interesting multi-character perspectives, flashbacks that don't feel annoying and yes, even odes to interesting plants. There are some books I read that afterwards I feel like I watched because the descriptions and scene setting are so rich. This was one of those and the book club discussion it generated was one of our best.

We've been in our house three years now and the inside is done except for window treatments and, of course, art (I will forever and ever be searching for pieces and making things to hang on the walls). In April, I turned my attention to the backyard. The biggest change is we had a cement pathway to the garden poured and a redwood pergola installed. In the soft-scape areas I have been moving around rocks, layering cardboard to prevent weeds from returning and adding wood chips one bucket at a time. (We found a local tree trimming company that drops off free chips!) I am no where near done but the physical labor is satisfying and I love seeing the progress.

This month marked 18 months off social media. I have been reflecting on why it feels so good to not scroll. I knew going into the break that I would have more time but what has been surprising is the mental energy I have gained. For me, “keeping up” online was overstimulating and exhausting. When my online life shrank, my offline life expanded to fill the space. I find the good stuff – focus, parenting, deep friendship, curiosity, intimacy, creativity – easier to access now. It's nice to have wide margins. (Five stars; would recommend.)