Hi First name / love,

 

How is August treating you? This month has been set to low and slow over here. I feel like a pot softly simmering on the stove, but the stove is my desk and the pot is my laptop. Me, I'm just the soup. And somehow there's always a cat in front of whatever I'm working on. 🙃

 

 

I've written you a few times this summer to share ways I've been resting and snapshots of this season, and today I'm landing gently in your inbox with five books, movies, and music recs that are making my simmering summer a bit more delightful. 

 

Keep reading for a few fun things. And thank you so much for being here! 💛

 

 

 

 

This queer romance novel just came out on Tuesday, and I am so absolutely obsessed with it that I've texted a half-dozen friends to make sure they purchase a copy or put it on hold at the library.

 

The premise sounds a little silly – “two bisexual exes accidentally book the same European food and wine tour and challenge each other to a hookup competition” – but the execution is fantastic. If you love slow-burn summer romance, fun travel stories, or luxe hospitality culture, you'll love this book.

 

Plus the special edition has really pretty purple edges! I highly recommend it. 

 

 

 

I've never been one for HGTV, but I cannot stop watching this Youtuber tear down and reconstruct her mid-century modern home in Vancouver. She's doing all the work with her partner (and no contractor!), and it's somehow really calming to watch them address challenges together.

 

Maybe that's because I've been renovating the kitchen in my 104 year-old home this year… but I also think it's fun viewing for the non-home-renovators among us.

 

 

 

In the spirit of loving things… I am also really loving this song about hating things. And the music video is so lush with Marie Antoinette high camp that I can barely handle it.

 

Warm Human is Chicago pop artist Meredith Johnston, and I was really into her last album that she wrote during a “month-long-breakup fever dream,” but this new pop direction is such a fun departure!

 

Consider this a throwback to when I used to have a weekly Girl Power Hour radio show in Chicago. Press play and you'll be quietly whispering “I'm so bitter, but I'm better when I'm bitter…” to yourself for weeks to come. 

 

 

 

I've been exploring a few older films lately, and I came across this gem of a movie starring Veronica Lake. The synopsis is a fun time and it only gets wilder from there:

 

“Just as she is about to be burned at the stake for witchcraft, 17th century witch Jennifer casts a curse on the family of her accuser, dooming all the men to marry the wrong women. Freed from her ethereal prison some 250 years later, Jennifer decides to make the most recent descendant of her accuser even more miserable by using a love potion on him.”

 

You can be sure that plenty of colorful hijinks ensue in this black and white film. I watched it on Max, but someone has also uploaded it to Youtube for free viewing. Enjoy!

 

 

Of course I couldn't leave you without offering a podcast rec! Lately I've been listening to Green Dreamer, a long-running show exploring our paths to collective healing, biocultural revitalization, and true abundance and wellness for all.

 

I particularly enjoyed this episode with Camille Sapara Barton which offers practices for tending grief and ways to rebuild our capacity to sense more deeply – even amidst the ongoing violence in the world. 

 

I listened on a day that I was feeling particularly heartbroken by the genocide in Gaza and found so much solace in that episode. If you enjoy it, I highly recommend supporting the show's Patreon for extended interviews and bonus meditations. Maybe I'll see you in the comments there.

 

 

Ok that's all five recs for your simmery summer! Thank you so much for reading them and making it all the way here, First name / my friend. ♡

 

I'll be back in your inbox in a few weeks to share two zine projects that I've been working on this summer. Until then I wish you a sweet, soupy month.

 

xoxo, Amelia

 

 

 

 

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