It’s the last week of school and Eloise is in full blown summer prep mode, getting ready for a trip to South Carolina next week and sleep away camp for the big girls after that. There’s a lot of sunscreen to buy! Plus we’ve got all of the end of the teacher gifts and parties to survive this week, and we’ve reached the dry wall sanding phase of our construction project, hopefully soon to be followed by the tiling phase. It’s going to be a busy week, but the sun’s finally out and we had a nice relaxing weekend on the boat so we’re going in strong.

Dinah is also prepping for a few days away next week and trying to find balance with a busy work and social schedule which last week included the most amazing morning kayaking on the Charles River. It feels like a big push to get things done before summer fully kicks off and schedules go out the window!

Monday Missive: June 14

What We’re Reading and Watching

• I’ve been working my way through all of the new summer beach reads that have come out, but I have to say that some of them have been very heavy and serious-not quite the light and fluffy stories I thought I was signing up for. First, I read That Summer by Jennifer Weiner, which I thought was going to be about growing up on the Cape, but is more about recovering from trauma on the Cape. Then I read Where the Grass is Green and the Girls are Pretty by Lauren Weisberger, which I thought was going to be about glamorous news anchors and then turned out to be just kind of depressing. -E

• Friday night I needed a break after a very social week, and was very excited to watch In The Heights on HBOMax! I love Hamilton and Crazy Rich Asians, so the combination of Lin Manuel Miranda and John Chu, the director of Crazy Rich Asians, seemed too good to be true. It was really fun and sweet - although they maybe could have done with one or two more intimate numbers? The big crowd scenes were masterfully executed though and the performances were incredible. - D

• I also read The Wreckage of My Presence by Casey Wilson, which is a must read for any fan of Bitch Sesh or Happy Endings. There’s a list on page ten, in the midst of a chapter on how her bed is her favorite place to do almost anything, where she describes all of her favorite things, and I have never felt so seen. I tried to read the passage to my husband and children and they had no interest, but if anyone out there has read and it and also loved it-let me know! -E

• The girls watched the new Cruella with Emma Stone at a friend’s house this weekend and I can’t wait to watch it with them later this week! They gave it rave reviews. -E

• I’m almost done with Dial A For Aunties by Jesse Q. Sutanto, which is hilarious. Meddy Chan works for her family wedding planning business, and when a date goes wrong on the eve of their biggest wedding yet, her mother and three aunties have to help her hide the dead body. It sounds insane, and I was honestly not sure how they would pull it off, but have had a lot of fun reading it! - D

What We’re Buying

• Last week I finally met the daughter of two close friends that I hadn’t seen since before Covid and I obviously couldn’t show up empty handed. I bought the little cutie a pair of hot pink Babiators -figuring that every cool girl needs shades and if she already had a pair, it wasn’t the worst thing to have multiples of! - D

• I’m buying all the Father’s Day gifts right now and Chad shared a new to me company, Free Fly, which makes super lightweight and comfortable fishing and performance apparel in beautiful but manly muted ocean tones. I just ordered some as gifts and can’t wait to see what they’re like in real life. -E

• Summersalt just launched a capsule collection with Rifle Paper Co. that puts some very cute floral prints on their classic swimsuit designs for women and girls. I couldn’t resist and ordered a few to try. -E

What We’re Making

• The girls cleaned out our art cabinet this weekend and got rid of all of the broken crayons and mostly done coloring books, and then I added in some paper dividers and markers towers so that we’re ready for the summer and all of the art projects that come with more free time. It was such a satisfying project. -E

• Chad is supposed to eating gluten free right now, and these Taco Stuffed Avocados look like a very fun way to do that! -E