I know this post is late (again!), but July was a heavy month of reading for me! I have been spending a lot of time at home, which means I've been spending even more time than usual reading. Here's everything I read last month.
It's been a while since I wrote a more chatty, casual catch up post here! I've been using Substack to share my more personal thoughts lately - it's been nice to explore and expand a little there, and have the option to paywall posts in the future that I want to keep a bit more private. But in honor of August being SMA Awareness Month, I thought I'd do a little bit more of a personal share here, since SMA has kind of been kicking my butt lately!
Last weekend I got back from my final trip of the summer - we went to Cedar Point in Ohio - and I don't know if it's the change in schedule plus my overall exhaustion or what, but I really struggled to get back into a normal routine this week! I've felt so groggy and out of it and having been making so many iced espressos to try to snap out of it. I'm really happy that all of my planned traveling is done and I can just enjoy the rest of the summer at home. It's exactly what I need.
With traveling in both June and July, last month's favorites is a little heavy on things I rediscovered that I loved because of how convenient they were for travel. It's less new things than usual, but I'm trying to be better about using the things I already own rather than just replacing with new! Here are my favorites from last month.
I don't know if it's just me, but I'm struggling to wrap my mind around the fact that it's already August! While I keep my fingers crossed for a slow end to summer, here are the things from this past week that I've been loving.
When I wrote this post last month, I had wrapped up a trip to DC, and this month I traveled to New York! Like I wrote in my Substack, I have been dealing with some pretty severe exhaustion lately, and have had to really prioritize rest. So other than my trip and going out here or there, this past month was mostly spent at home.
I can't believe this is the last Friday in July - the month has seriously flown! I feel like I'm finally getting back into some sort of normal groove after feeling out of sorts from traveling - though I do still have one more trip this summer before things really go back to normal. I have been doing a little more of my normal browsing this week, too - so here are this week's favorites.
I know this is a bit (...okay, a lot!) late, but better late than never. Last month was full of so many good books! There's just something about summer reading for me - maybe it's nostalgia for summers of my childhood with nothing to do but read, I don't know! But I always get the mos reading done in the summer, and June did not disappoint. Here's everything I read.
When I shared one of my posts about Disability Pride Month earlier, a friend asked for suggestions of places she could donate to. And I realized that while I've shared about ways you can be a better ally and advocate before, I've never shared directly about places that could use your financial support. But honestly, donating is one of the best ways you can help support disability justice - especially right now, when so many funding sources are being decimated. This is far from an exhaustive list, but it's a variety of local and national, specific and broad places that could use your support.
Have you heard of the disability tax? No, I'm not talking about a tax credit at the state of federal level related to disability. Instead, I'm talking about the financial toll it takes to be disabled in an extremely inaccessible world that's not built with disabled people in mind. I don't think I've ever talked about this before, and since I'm currently unemployed, finances are on my mind more now than ever! So I thought I'd go over a few of the ways that I have to spend more because of my disability.
