Web Time Wasters

How was your week, guys? I got to see the amaaaaazing Andrew Solomon speak about family and identity and yesterday we hosted 20 family members at our place for our two-months-post-wedding brunch. Praise be the power of egg bakes and waffles!

Anyway. Links for you!

If you’re here in the Twin Cities and you want to hang out or hear me talk about  writing for a living, I’m speaking at this free event on October 27th. Join us! I’ll be joining other, much more awesome people like Jamie Millard (the co-executive director of Pollen), John Sturgess (founder of Adogo pet hotels), and my husband (climatologist Dr. Kenny Blumenfeld.)

If you’re reading something that requires the use of multiple post-it notes, these will make the job a bit more fun.

I’ve been trying to do 10 minutes of yoga every morning, not matter what. After wading through a jillion mediocre Youtube videos, I found this one. Calming, mellow music that’s not annoying, a few slightly challenging poses but nothing crazy. Perfect for me!

I never really understood SlutWalk. I sort of thought “Okay, you enjoy sex and small clothes! That’s cool. Does it necessitate a parade any more than enjoying beer and jeans necessitate a parade?” But of course, it’s not that straightforward and SlutWalk is for everyone, regardless of your sexual preferences.
Celibacy … caused me to be perceived as a prude, a pariah. Oftentimes the word virgin was hurled at me with as much judgment as the word slut was wielded towards some of my peers.

People assumed things about me — my relationship with my body, my intelligence, my street smarts, my taste, my politics — that had absolutely no basis in fact. Even those who “approved” spoke to me with an odd and unacceptable level of intimacy, once again assuming that they knew everything they needed to know about me based on one piece of information about my sexuality.

Rose and many of the women who have participated in SlutWalks all over the world have felt those feelings too.

Related: Cats against catcalls

I travel by myself about 70% of the time AND I LOVE IT. Here are eight reasons you should try it.

My friend Katie wrote a lovely, honest essay about the reality of going from one child to two.
I’ve known the sting of not being invited along because I’ve had to say no too many times before, due to bedtimes or nap times or just general got-my-hands-full times. I hate that if I get on the phone while my children are awake, I cannot say more than three words, or hear a full story, before someone wails or needs something. (Thank you, inventors, for text messaging.) I fall asleep in front of the TV at night and need a recap of half the show I was trying to watch in the morning. I can’t just pick up and do things spontaneously all that often. Well, sometimes I can. But I can’t rely on it the way I used to. Someone always needs to go to sleep right now. My intentions and actions do not match up the way I want them to.

This essay is really, really not what you’re expecting: How To Lose Weight In Four Easy Steps.

Smoked avocado?!! Tell me more.

Love this! Amaiya Zafar wants to box competitively, and modestly

My sister was adopted from Korea so I found this article incredibly fascinating: China’s one-child policy led to my adoption — and a more privileged life
Sometimes it’s odd to think that between us, Wu Chao is supposedly the privileged child — the boy preferred by Chinese society, the son my family held out for while I was hidden and ultimately put up for adoption.

Have you guys heard of Havenly? For $79, interior designers will help you create concept boards for your spaces and then you can buy the pieces you like at discount prices through their store!

What does it sound like when Florence & The Machine cover a Justin Beiber song?

And a few Yes & Yes posts you might have missed: 3 clever things to do with old blog posts, 9 ways to love moving your body, The art of being happy.