OK. You have to read that book pictured up there. Have to. Erin sent it to me a couple of weeks ago with a note saying that I had to read it immediately, and she was right: I started reading it on the plane to St. Louis, and then could not stop. You know how everyone (myself included) is constantly bemoaning how we live in an increasingly online - and thus disconnected - world? Magic and Loss suggests that the Internet isn't an abandonment of cultural and social traditions, or even "progress"...it's just, very simply, what happened next. Virginia Heffernan's explorations of everything from "hyperlexia" (I have it; so do you) to the poetry of Twitter are must-reads. So seriously: go read this. It's going to change how you see...well, your life.

I've mentioned the brand before, but I still cannot get over how obsessed I am with Mociun jewelry. The rings are obviously their star pieces (oooooo this one), but please look at these earrings. They're like the perfect wear everywhere, every day pair...with a twist. Loooooove.

This video of a bunch of 12-year-old boys consoling a team they beat in a soccer tournament is BEAUTIFUL. (Kids Show Us How To Have Compassion in Victory, via Now This.)

Pictured here are a couple of outtakes from the shoot I did to accompany this post about Audible. (And speaking of: THANK YOU for all the suggestions for family-friendly books that you gave me over on Instagram! I love them love them love them. More please!)

I don't typically post photos that I've posted other versions of before, but I'm putting these here because...well, because we're wrapping that project that I've been shooting all summer this week, and I spent all day en route to St. Louis. And on the flight I did something very odd for me, which was spend the time reading an actual, words-printed-on-paper book from start to finish rather than reading six pages and then getting stressed, opening up my laptop, and trying to work. 

Me, about to be entertained while stuck in traffic.

It was Kendrick who first introduced me to Audible. (If you’re not familiar with Audible, it’s a site where you can download and listen to books, magazines, and radio and TV programs; you can download a book as part of a free thirty-day trial trial here if you want to try it out.) He’d been using the Audible app on his phone to listen to books on his way to and from school, making the hour-and-a-half drive both more fun and more constructive: he chose books he’d always wanted to read but had never had time to dive into, like Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s One Hundred Years Of Solitude. And then we drove cross-country with two kids, and discovered that Audible isn’t just a cool way to easily access and listen to tons and tons of books – it’s a way for the whole family to listen to them together.

When driving long distances, there’s always a temptation for each person to settle into their “thing.” The driver is listening to the radio; the passenger is reading a book; the kids are watching iPads or drawing or whatever. But to us, a big part of the constant road-tripping that we do is getting to spend all that concentrated time in the car together – and honestly, there are few things more fun than getting to introduce your children to your favorite books from childhood (while getting to enjoy them yourself all over again). So we decided to incorporate audio books into our drives, making the discovery - and rediscovery - of these books not just a solitary joy, but a family pastime.

We're clearing out inventory for the start of the new season (and because Erin would like to be able to be able to turn around in her office), and that means it's time for a big old end-of-season sale: 20% off of everything from now through September 5.

What's On Sale

 Blankets! I take these blankets with me everywhere. I use them as throws in the winter and beach blankets in the summer. I leave one in the car to cover my kids with if they get cold or if some blanket-requiring disaster occurs (which happens more than you'd think). This one is covering a white futon in my daughter's room that I don't feel like cleaning every thirty seconds. I've even started taking one or two with me when I travel, because they're so soft that they make even the scratchiest, most miserable hotel bed cozy. (I really do this. I know it's a little weird.)