This week was a busy one and also my last week at age 34. I am heading into the weekend with a few fun plans as a result and I hope to unplug quite a bit as well. Truth be told this week had me feeling really depleted. I felt drained and felt pretty emotional most days (and was crying at the drop of a hat!) I’m certainly glad to welcome the weekend as a result.

I hope you enjoy this week’s roundup and have a good weekend!

WHAT I DID THIS WEEK:

• Binged the entire new season of Queer Eye on Netflix – I love this show so much. And as June is Pride Month, a great way to help the LGBTQ community is to donate to Glaad which is an organization that works to get further acceptance for this community.
• I updated my Go-To Recipes document! You can find it linked in this post.
• I watched 13th on Netflix which examines the 13th amendment and our broken criminal justice system. I knew about much of what they spoke to having studied the California Innocence Project for a class in college and for similar issues raised in the 3rd season of Serial but some of the stats were still astounding to me. I definitely recommend watching this documentary.
• Updated my Amazon Shop with recent purchases I’ve liked.
• Got to meet Indie Lee over Zoom and had such a fun conversation about her brand, the power of self care in the current climate, my clean beauty journey and more.  You can read about some of my favorite products from her line in these posts.

READ + LOOK + LOVE:

• I hope you’ll join me in signing this pledge to get better representation of black owned businesses at retailers.
• Is it worth living in NYC anymore? I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had this conversation with friends in the past 3 months.
• 10 ways to be an actionable ally to Black people.
• My friend Becca launched her newest venture, RomComPods which is a scripted podcast telling a fictional story and the first season just launched. I am so excited to listen to this!
• Yum! How good does this summer punch sound?
• The Louvre and Eiffel Tower are opening in Paris. I can’t wait to be back in my favorite city as soon as it’s possible. Think how happy the locals must be to be able to visit without them being mobbed by international tourists!
• This is an amazingly comprehensive list of black-owned beauty and wellness brands to consider shopping from. So far I’ve bought from Briogeo and LuvScrub and Pat McGrath and Mented Cosmetics are next on my list to try.
• My friend Krystal introduced me this week to an accessories brand Brothers & Sisters – I can’t wait to shop at for my next trip to Paris!
• How refreshing does this salad sound for this summer?

SHOP AND LOOK LONGINGLY:

• Loving this pretty and forgiving linen top and this sporty, casual one for this summer.
• I just discovered this affordable workout wear line on Amazon. I ordered 2 tops to add into my rotation. I’ll report back once I’ve tried them out.
• Gap has a lot of cute workout clothing right now.
• This lightweight hoodie is perfect for summer and has over 500 good reviews!
• Love this affordable sweatshirt to throw on for cooler summer evenings.
• The best nights sleep I’ve gotten in the last month are on the two nights I used this bath soak. I don’t know how the magic works but I’ve gotten 6 straight hours of sleep both nights after using and that makes it worth every penny in my book!
• I haven’t been able to find cleaning wipes since the pandemic struck but bought these from Amazon at the recommendation of a friend and they were awesome for cleaning my bathroom and kitchen last weekend!
• My favorite bra brand Simone Perle is now on Amazon. I first invested in one of their bras five years ago and now it is pretty much the only brand in my lingerie drawer. You get what you pay for – they hold up incredibly well, keep their shape, wash well and are supportive and great under clothes. I can’t recommend their bras enough. This one in particular is my personal favorite. (And psst…it’s 30% off today at Nordstrom! The brand rarely goes on sale so when it does I almost always pull the trigger on a new bra. Did you know you’re supposed to replace your bras every six months to a year!?)
• One of my favorite body care brands, Necessaire is now at Sephora! Their Eucalyptus body wash is so, so good. A little goes a long way, it smells amazing and gets an A on lather from me.
• Given I’ve been living in workout clothing lately, I treated myself to this Athleta bra (passed my BBG jump test) and from Lululemon this tee, this hat, these shorts (I have and love the 4″ version) + this bra.
• I’m loving Ann Taylor’s new arrivals. Particularly this skirt, this darling top, this jumpsuit and this pretty eyelet top.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

• My favorite things I’ve bought and loved in quarantine.
• How I got rid of my maskne.
• How I’ve been managing my mental health lately.
• My favorite finds lately on Amazon Fashion.
• My favorite self tanners.
• WFH outfits for summer.
• My Everlane denim guide.

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