This was a short work week, but it didn’t feel like it for me! It rained most of the week and was actually chilly – it made it very hard for me to find my productivity. This is always the time of year where I feel like I’m obsessed with the weather – all I can think about is how long until summer is here for real. I promise this phase of updating you all on the weather every Friday will be over soon though! And now, on to this week’s favorites.

It’s a Love Story by Annabel Monaghan

I read an ARC of It’s a Love Story earlier this month (thank you Netgalley!), but it came out this Tuesday. It’s a perfect book for some summer reading – if you like romances, I highly recommend! It follows Jane, a former child star, as she exaggerates her connection to her old co-star and then tries to chase him down to help her in her current film job. It’s got a rivals-to-lovers trope, and is so perfectly summer.

The Mom Who Had a Baby After Becoming Paralyzed

Really cool to see The Cut including this perspective of a mom who had a baby after becoming paralyzed. There are so, so many weird stigmas around disability, sex, and motherhood, so it’s really exciting to see this woman’s story published in such a straightforward, no-holds-barred way. I loved it.

Dr. Idriss Pimple Patches

I’ve been impressed by the Dr. Idriss products that I’ve used so far, and I’m intrigued by these new pimple patches that they’re offering. They’re designed to be more gentle, and include ingredients to both reduce redness, soothe inflammation, and reduce the risk of post-acne scarring. The older I get, the longer I find it takes for my scarring to fade, so that all sounds really nice.

In a Village Built for Nazis, Darkness Lingers (NY Times gift link)

This article isn’t a light read by any means, but it’s a necessary one, I think. When we think of Nazis (and any political / moral evil, really), we think of the most obvious, blatant things. But often, it’s much more subtle – people are people, after all. The fact that they lived their daily lives in a beautiful place is a dichotomy that can be difficult to wrestle with – but is very important to remember.

Fringe Fish Bag

J. Crew is getting in on the Fish Girl Summer fun! I love this new raffia fish bag. There’s a zipper at the top to keep everything contained (a rarity in raffia bags!) and it has the most fun fringe detailing coming off the back… it almost seems like the fish is swimming! I’m obsessed. And it’s relatively affordable compared to some of the other fish-shaped bags I’ve seen!