The Most

The election and links and a few other odds and ends.

I get that you’re not here for election content — and I’m taking a lot of walks to quiet my own anxiety around it — but what else are we talking about for the next week? Over the weekend, I had the absolute thrill of being the book vendor for Cherry Bombe’s Wine Country Jubilee and I am still humming with inspiration. What a thing to get 100 plus women together to talk honestly and openly about career, perspective and motivation. So much good energy! And, during the panels, the election kept coming up again and again.

I basically took zero photos, so this is what you get of the fabulous weekend.

You had the vibrant Dominque Crenn talking about reproductive rights, you had April Garguilo of Vintner’s Daughter talking about creating a sustainable future for her own daughters, you had Camilla Marcus championing gender equality. She shared about her time with the Danny Meyers Group where she realized that there hadn’t been a female executive chef in 30 years. And then there was Jeni of Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream who, like me, takes a lot of walks in nature to dampen outside noise and stay grounded.

Jeni was a wonder and I left brimming with hope and courage and a desire for change. And fired up. As a woman, I am whole heartedly voting for the person who is capable, smart and, above all, sane. I am voting to maintain my personal freedoms and to foster a society in which my daughters have access to the same. Go, Kamala, go!!

At the beach with my babies, post trial in 2020.

I’ve shared my story before (you can still read the Today.com piece), but I am alive today because I had a choice. When I got pregnant with my second child, I was six months in remission for non hodgkin’s lymphoma and, within weeks of discovering that I was unexpectedly pregnant again, the cancer also returned. I won’t go into the whole story, but for a span of time there, things did not look good.

So when the doctors assured me that my ovaries had shut down and still our birth control failed us a few months after Nell was born, we were gutted. I was on a clinical trial that required me to sign an encyclopedia-length contract, promising I would not get pregnant. Surely, I wouldn’t survive another pregnancy. So my husband and I drove to the clinic in Oakland. I remember the sun was shockingly bright that day, a perfect blue sky giving the whole experience a surreal quality. It was deeply, deeply heartbreaking, but at least it was our decision. My decision. My life, my future with my kids instead of a big blank where the “me” was supposed to be.

I will absolutely be doing my part to hold onto that essential right.

We’re light on graphics this week because I’m tired. It’s been a very full few days! But we have links!

• I used to make this soup all of the time because it’s quick, super flavorful and gets my kids to eat broccoli rabe. Time to add it back to the rotation.

• How good do these $20 slippers look??

• I have pinned practically everything from the latest Sarah Sherman Samuel collection for Lulu & Georgia. Need these curtains, this wallpaper, these candlesticks…

• All of those terrible reviews of Disclaimer turned out to be true — shuddering just thinking about it. Thankfully we found Rivals instead and are happily enjoying some 80s British independent tv drama with plenty of romance (and sex).

• The Nanushka x Zara Home collab is terrific and these geometric candles have really caught my eye.

• The dresser in our bedroom is this gorgeous wooden piece that my husband’s great grandfather made by hand and I love it so much. BUT, it has the teeniest little top drawers where I keep my socks, bras and underwear. So, after wrestling to find a comfortable pair amidst the weird or old or wedgie-inducing undies that were spilling out, I finally had enough and dumped the contents on the floor. Enough was enough! I weeded and sorted and threw most of it away, then promptly ordered seven new pairs of my favorite Natori French Cut Briefs — my answer to “Days of the Week” underwear and I cannot be more pleased with my grownup self.

• House & Garden UK’s food editor has the world’s dreamiest house in Devon. The conservatory! The pink velvet sofa! But, really, it’s all about that canopied bed. I love the warm, wavy wood, the patterned fabric and how she tied it off on the post. I’m desperate to do something similar in our room.

Photo: Dean Hearne

The Most by Jessica Anthony

I took last Wednesday off from the store while my husband rang up books (and probably watched soccer games on his phone). I’ve realized I need a day off to creatively refuel and am hoping to make it a regular thing. I went for a run (!) for the first time in years and, after the initial creakiness wore off, it felt wonderful to be outside, working up a sweat, moving my body.

Then I made myself some lunch and sat on the deck reading the slim slice of beauty that is The Most. The lovely

Natalie Serber

is back from her European adventures so we’re going to do a Book Bites about it later this week, stay tuned.

And I inhaled it. It’s being called an instant classic, about a marriage in the 1950s at its breaking point. One unseasonably warm November day, Kathleen Lovelace Beckett gets in the kidney-shaped pool in her apartment complex and refuses to get out. Set over 8 hours, it’s about the tradeoffs in marriage and in life and it was spectacular. Highly recommend.

Because the entire book takes place in the pool, there’s not much to round up. But here are a few necessities.

1. Kathleen spends the entire book in a red one piece swimsuit.

2. Going to listen to some Charlie Parker.

3. Kathleen was on her way to becoming a true tennis star when she gave it all up. I’m keeping an eye on this very cool looking brand for all things racquet sports (you know it’s going to be good when

   Tracy Georgiou
   is involved). Coming soon.