Lazy Sunday Links

by Lindsey and Kelsey

We’re in the Windy City for a long weekend of friend time, sightseeing and, mainly, eating, but we did not forget you, our lovely lazies. This week, we’re sharing a bunch of random favorite things of late. Enjoy these bits and bobs, and we’ll be back with some Chicago goodness for you soon!

S’well water bottles: We’ve both purchased these beautiful bottles recently (thanks for the “hey – these exist” alert, Design*Sponge). We’re both slightly hypochondriacs, so the whole even-BPA-free-plastic-bottles-may-be-killing-you-slowly-thing prompted us to look for some metal containers we love (that we’ll probably learn will also kill us next month). Anyway, these are gorgeous and functional and safe (for now). Just don’t put the lid down on a table where your cat might find it, because it’s gone.

Banjolele: I enjoy picking/strumming on my beloved guitar (Thanks Youtube for Iron & Wine guitar tutorials and and video games for accumulated muscle memory dexterity!). I’ve been toying with the idea of learning to play the ukulele (probably because of The Descendants), but I still haven’t given up on the idea of learning to play the banjo, either. And the world ushered forth the Banjolele — my choice: Firefly Banjo Ukulele. See one in action in this wicked cover.

Girl power books: Not that we were ever against girl power books, but they’re really on our respective radars right now. I (Lindsey) talked about Bad Feminist here, and I’ve also recently acquired #GIRLBOSS and Women in Clothes (post about this one coming soon). With high school students these days making video games to talk about menstruation, I feel like I have some catching up to do on my feminism, you know?

Side note (still Lindsey): If you look at my Amazon “recommended for you” list, you’ll see books about female empowerment (especially in business), books about true crime and matcha tea. This is who I am.

Side side note (now Kelsey): if you look at my Amazon “recommended for you” list, you’ll find 87 eyeglasses cases because I lost just the lid to mine this week and spent an hour searching for the finest glasses case in existence. This is who I am.

Imaginary moving: Imaginary moving is my favorite, second only (I imagine) to real moving. Approximately 80% of my limited brain capacity is spent on fantastical scenarios where Lindsey and I move to a wonderful new city and live on either side of a duplex, fostering a cookie company by day and enjoying take-out and Netflix bingeing by night. This is a misanthrope’s (speaking for me) fantasy.

Lazy Sunday Links

by Lindsey

My fellow lazy people, today I bring you…games!

Farm Hustle: Long, long before Candy Crush was born, a college student that shall remain nameless played this game to avoid homework. This is a hard core, no saving, no holds barred animal matching game. Get ready. Plus, sooo cute!

Tampon Run: Oh, this baby has gotten a lot of press recently. I love the story behind it, and I love that the creators wanted to help normalize periods. They really aren’t that scary, dudes. Throw some tampons, and maybe you’ll understand.

What Type Are You?: This isn’t really a game, but you can find out what typeface your personality best fits. It’s also a heck of a lot cooler than any similar quiz you’ll take on BuzzFeed.

All for now. Play on, playa.

Lazy Sunday Links: Amazon Prime/Netflix Sept. Streaming

by Kelsey

With pumpkin season upon us once again, the days are growing shorter and darker, which means that lazy show bingeing is now more socially acceptable (for those socially conscience among us). Not that I’ve ever let this stop me. Peer pressure is for the weak, my friends.

That said, to aid in your antisocial activities:

Paste’s list of Netflix’s new releases

IGN‘s list of Amazon Prime Streaming’s new releases

Huffington Post‘s canon of fall 2014 TV premieres

I have a feeling that this is going to be a great season.

The laziest of Sundays to you, readers.

Lazy Sunday Links

by Lindsey

Happy Sunday, all! For some reason, the links I found and shared most this week were unbelievably adorable. Who am I to be selfish? If these cute animal links don’t make your day, then we probably can’t be friends.

First up, a never-ending bouncing lamb Vine.

If you enjoyed that one, you’ll probably also like “Where’s Bea?”

Then, a Vine featuring a few seconds of piglet squeals will (almost) make you want to give up bacon. Also, please forget I mentioned bacon next to such a sweet little piggy.

Finally, enjoy this prairie dog who became too chubby for his own home. What a cute nightmare!

(Skip to 1:18 for the close-up!)

Enjoy! Hope your Labor Day is labor free!

Token News Sources

– by Kelsey (and Lindsey in spirit/suggestions)

I don’t know about you, Reader, but I prefer to gather my news online throughout the day vs. subjecting myself to the dismal existence that is television media. That said, our favorite daily news sources are below:

The Vox

More of a “purist” news site than some of our other suggestions, The Vox is well-written and informative. Also, the “Understand the News” flash card section, is wonderful, giving a thorough, contextual account of some of the biggest things happening in news at the moment (unlike the majority of mass media).

Fast Company

Fast company features articles on various subjects, but tends to focus on business articles. Please keep reading, Reader. I’m the one with the B.S. degree in business, and this would instantly make me blackball this site. But it features a ton of interesting articles. Lindsey once called me mesmerized by a Fast Company article with a 5 minute video of exotic flowers blooming.

Jezebel

GIRL POWER! Jezebel highlights articles on various subjects that are tinged with a feminist viewpoint. They also feature a fair amount of GIFs and celebrity news, but it’s a good blend of information and irreverence.

Wired

Also a print magazine, Wired’s articles run the gamut from video games to current events, but it features heavily in the tech field. Highly recommended.

Honorable Mentions: The Verge, Kottke, The Daily Beast, and Slate

Get to bookmarking these gems, Friends.

Lazy Sunday Links

– by Lindsey

It’s Sunday again, folks. You know what that means, right? We do the dirty work of finding fun links for you to peruse whilst readying yourself for the Monday to come. Well, this week’s lazy links are less so. We’re sharing three useful household/cooking/misc. tips from our apartments to yours.

Tip #1 comes from Kelsey, who wanted to clean her grout this weekend. She’s adventurous that way. She followed this handy-dandy guide pinned from This Blessed Life, and she says there’s not a speck of mildew left. Anywho, she wasn’t convinced this Pinterest tip would work (the very idea something on Pinterest wouldn’t come through!), so she didn’t take pictures. You can take her word for it (if you dare).

Tip #2 is from me, Lindsey, who is trying to learn to like hardboiled eggs. I hate boiling water, because I suffer from watched pot syndrome. To get around this, I used Alton Brown’s method of hard baking eggs. They come out perfectly baked. Don’t be scared of a couple of tiny burn spots under the shell. Just peel that right off. For an impatient girl who wants hard boiled eggs, this is a lifesaver. I’m not sure the process of boiling/baking eggs could ever be considered lifesaving, but whatever. You get it. Also, bonus: mix Sriracha and soy sauce for a delicious egg dip!

Tip #3 I stumbled upon at a friend’s house when my stomach was upset. (Shoutout to Kelly and my uneasy insides!) We’ve all been there: we feel so gross we don’t even want to chug the Pepto-Bismol that could improve our sorry conditions. You know what makes Pepto-Bismol better? Refrigeration. Seriously. Try it. No link here, just do it.

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday, friends! Or, as Kelsey says, “Sunday night at 7:00 p.m. is the worst.”

Lazy Sunday Links

– by Lindsey and Kelsey

Instead of a straight up link list today, we thought we’d share a couple of things off our reading lists. I was born first, so I’ll kick things off…

Lindsey’s Picks

My most recent read was Fifty Shades of Gray, which I found to be poorly written and repetitive. If I had to read another sentence with “hitching” breath, boring attempts at plot, or the word mercurial, I think I might throw my Kindle out the window. Hopefully the two titles below will give my brain some much needed nourishment.

The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry by Jon Ronson

A fan of This American Life, I’ve heard Jon Ronson‘s lilting, soothing, very British voice a couple of times. The episode that prompted my purchase of this book, also called The Psychopath Test, featured Jon’s story about (possible psychopath?) CEO Al Dunlap. His discussion prompts questions about the correlation between success and psychopathy. I can’t wait to dig into more of his research about the actual test that, by some accounts, has been taken to the extreme. (Bonus: If you prefer the visual, Ronson’s TED Talk is pretty great, too.)

Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay

I first came to know Roxane Gay through her excellent Twitter feed. Anyone who live tweets Ina Garten is okay in my book, you know? Anyway, her latest book has come to my attention through countless media outlets. Seriously. Google her, and you’ll find all sorts of positive press. What got me to buy the book, though, are the snippets I’ve read, like “How to be Friends with Another Woman” and her manifesto on bad feminism. I have a feeling I’m going to relate, possibly because her book arrived the same day my order of Brazil Butt Lift (don’t ask) came in the mail. Baby steps, right?

Kelsey’s Picks

In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto by Michael Pollan

This book is only one in a pantheon of books by the Nicholas Sparks of food writing: Michael Pollan. (This is a reference to quantity, not quality, Michael. No hate.) In a last desperate effort to cut down on my Cap’n Crunch consumption, this kitten is one of the next titles on my to-read list. The proclaimed manifesto of this book: “Eat Food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” In a demoralizing era of diets and fads and GMOs, Michael advocates for a simpler and significantly more satisfying relationship to food.

All the Light We Cannot See: A Novel by Anthony Doerr

There is nary a book recommendation list that I’ve seen this summer without All the Light We Cannot See. And at 4 1/2 stars on Amazon with over 1500 reviews, I’m beginning to understand why. From The New Yorker:

“The dual protagonists of this gripping novel, set during the Second World War, are the blind daughter of a Parisian locksmith who builds an intricate model of the streets to help her navigate her world and a German orphan whose uncanny aptitude for mechanics makes him valuable to the Nazi war effort…As the strands of the plot converge, the book becomes a meditation on fate, free will, and the way that, in wartime, small choices can have vast consequences.”

I’m all in.

This Is Where I Leave You: A Novel by Jonathan Tropper

My goal is to read this novel before the movie (of the same title) is released this fall (September 19th), starring standouts Tina Fey, Jason Bateman, and Adam Driver. The four Foxman siblings return home after the death of their father, forced to spend seven days in the same household. I normally don’t enjoy reading/watching (what I’m anticipating will be) a show of dysfunctional degeneration, but I’m excited about this one.

What are you reading, friends? Let us know in the comments, if you’re so inclined.

Lazy Sunday Links

by Lindsey

It’s that time again, friends. For your lazy Sunday reading pleasure, I wanted to share a few of my favorite blogs. When I’m not reading true crime articles, I spend much of my internet time perusing all things pretty. These blogs fit the bill.

Design*Sponge: This was the first blog I remember reading religiously. When I was living at home looking for jobs and working on my thesis, I was pretty familiar with the Design*Sponge post schedule. Refresh, refresh! I particularly love taking personal peeks inside other people’s homes, and I really appreciate the historic bent they’ve taken explaining flowers and stones, etc. The personal essays are wonderful, too. Basically, I love it all.

designlovefest: DLF, as I like to call it, just makes me happy. Bri Emery’s bright, happy aesthetic comes through in everything she and her studio produce. Her travel posts could inspire wanderlust in the most slovenly house cat. I always look forward to new desktop downloads as an extra bonus!

The laziest house cat, Stella Luna.

Oh Joy!: Joy Cho is everywhere these days. Her family is adorable. Her taste is impeccable. (I’ve even watched her maternity dressing videos, and I have no desire to be pregnant.) Her blog (and her book on blogging) are not to be missed.

Kendi Everyday: I like a good style blog as much as the next girl, but sometimes I can’t relate to the person or the clothes I can’t afford. Kendi Everyday is the antidote. She’s that stylish friend you want to emulate, dressing well, but (mostly) affordably. Plus, her writing voice is friendly, approachable and not always about the clothes.

A Cup of Jo: Jo has all the coolness of a typical French girl, but she’s living life as a wife and mother in NYC. Her honesty is refreshing, and she links to some great stuff, too.

All of these blogs do a great job of blending the ideal with the real, mixing posts about clothes or homes with honesty about dealing with break-ups, anxiety, and the overall balance of life. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

Lazy Sunday Links

By Lindsey and Kelsey

I don’t know about you, but we Solomon sisters live for lazy Sunday afternoons. Want to watch Netflix until you fall into a blissful nap? Go for it. Want to spend time trying new recipes for the week ahead? Yum. Want to brunch? ALWAYS. Most of all, Sunday afternoons just perfect for gearing up for the day-that-shall-not-be-named.

On that note, if you want to fill your Sunday with fun web surfing, we’ve got you covered. Most blogs seem to do (great) link round-ups on Fridays, but we’re going to try to spice up your end-of-weekend reading.

Fast Company Design posted this gorgeous, calming flower video. It’s on repeat.
Want to read that new Harry Potter short story, but don’t want to join Pottermore? Check it out here. (If you do join Pottermore, you should know that Lindsey is a Hufflepuff, while Kelsey landed in Slytherin.)
If you enjoy good, old-fashioned journalism, Longform is your website. From a Vanity Fair article on murder to Buzzfeed (I know, surprise!) story about a very tall woman, there’s something for everyone here.
How would you describe your creative process? Check out Fast Company’s Daily Routines of History’s Most Creative Minds (in chart form!) to compare. (And I thought that my sleep habits were irregular.)
Stream Zach Braff’s ‘Wish I Was Here’ Soundtrack at EW. I haven’t listened to it in entirety, but my initial impression brings to mind a Garden State level of phenomenal.
Speaking of music, check out The New Yorker’s Best Music of 2014 List (with Spotify player).

Enjoy! More lazy links next week, friends.