How is everyone feeling today?
We’ve been largely occupied with home projects the past two weeks: We are finally getting our pantry! Here was my inspo post a few years back. Also, we replaced our damaged cork flooring this week. We’ve been moved out of the house and will move back in this weekend! Here’s an older tour.
Other house projects I’ve been occupied with: we’re taking out a lot of our large Agave Americanas and replanting the area with a mix of things we’ve been propagating—some succulents and such. (Here’s a garden inspo post with some of my favorite photos from when we redid the front yard.) Hoping to get the balance just right! And we’re also looking at projects for the cabin that will lighten it up a bit inside and doing a lot of painting.
But also… like everyone, it seems… I’ve been reeling over the leaked draft of the Supreme Court’s majority opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. The draft decision, published by Politico, would overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision legalizing abortion. “There is no mention of the procedure in a four-thousand-word document crafted by fifty-five men in 1787. This seems to be a surprise to Samuel Alito,” quipped Jill Lepore in The New Yorker. Her article nicely describes how “the [constitution] history test disadvantages people who were not enfranchised at the time the Constitution was written, or who have been poorly enfranchised since then.”
There’s so much that could be said on this topic, so much regret about how we got here! But in thinking on how to best move ahead, I think about one of Beto O’Rourke’s remarks this week: “If they want states to decide, then we must elect a governor who will protect a woman’s right to abortion.” (And morning-after pills, and IUDs, and IVF, and all of it!) Elizabeth Warren also focused on the midterms and state government elections in her comments, supporting Cisneros in Texas. A minority of Americans believe the unborn are more important than the people who give birth to them—which points to our problem with representation. The possibility of so many civil rights being rolled back is terrifying. Moira Donegan, in her Op-Ed, writes “There is no condition more essential to democratic citizenship than a person’s control over her own body. We can’t call ourselves a free country without it.” Could we? It’s a provocative question and her article is worth a read regarding all of the potential ways this plays out for all sorts of families and communities.
I really loved the quotes shared on Even*Cleveland this week, but especially her own reflection on bodily autonomy: “No single story ever encapsulates any human experience. And I am increasingly wary of stories, anyway. The ugly power of narrative is evident everywhere in this country. Maybe what we need is to step away from storytelling—the repeated tales of what a mother is, of what a person should be—to dwell in possibility. Why is what we do with our bodies endlessly up for debate, whether that is choosing not to be pregnant or getting the care needed to align an inner and outer self? Why are people so afraid of making space for choice? Of accepting that people do, in fact, know what is best for them, in a way others can’t?”
It’s difficult to pull together lists of fun links when doing so might be misconstrued as not putting enough emphasis on the real stuff, but alas… some other things…
Design Mom revealed that she buys herself a pair of Vans like these every summer and wears them till they’re faded and worn out. I love that sort of uniform!
Pickle Fries? (And pebble ice?) Yes, please!
10 minutes I need to start planning into my day.
I’d like to plan a stay here, in Malibu. Looks lovely!
Smitten Kitchen has a new book coming out—her “keepers” or forever recipes!
On my to-read list this week.
A great story about finding treasure.
Molly Shannon on Conan O’Brien’s podcast was a treasure I found this week… her story about sneaking onto a plane!
Always drawn to pretty florals for spring—like this and this and this.
Anything you have spotted to recommend my way?
Hope those celebrating or being celebrated this weekend have a lovely Sunday!
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