Hi friends - it’s been awhile! I used to share this newsletter monthly, but…life happens. But, I do love putting it together and chatting with y’all in a more intimate way, so excited to share again this week. As a reminder, this newsletter is basically a round-up of round-up of life things - what I'm enjoying, reading, learning, buying, doing, thinking about, and more. Thanks for being here! 💛
PERSONAL REFLECTIONS
I used to drive past the hospital I planned to deliver at in San Francisco. Every time I’d pass it, I’d think of my baby, wiggling inside of me, and tell myself: good things will happen here. I’m not sure if it was a prayer, an affirmation, and/or a desperate plea — but I hoped and wished and willed good things to happen in that place.
At the time, I needed to believe the hospital would be a safe place to bring my child into the world. Giving birth is vulnerable. You can research and plan and prepare, but ultimately — you can’t control the outcome.
Last week, I was driving past the elementary school where my daughter will attend kindergarten this fall. The words instinctively fall into my mind and heart without me even realizing: good things will happen here.
I’m desperate for it to be true. I hope that school will be a safe place for my child to exist. I now know, five years in, that parenting is vulnerable. You can research and plan and prepare, but ultimately — you can’t control the outcome.
I want to be so excited for Lucy to start school this fall, but I’ll be honest — I’m absolutely terrified. The thought of it makes me sick with anxiety and fear. I know I’m not the only parent who feels this way. The awareness of my — our — vulnerability feels frightening and sobering.
Parents should not have to fear their children going to school and not coming home. Teachers should not have to worry about protecting their students from gun violence. Children should not be hiding under desks or in closets. HOW IS THIS OUR NORMAL? Schools are supposed to be a safe place; a place to learn and play and create and connect and grow and have fun. A place where good things will happen. 💔
WAYS TO HELP OTHERS
Like all of you, I’m horrified and heartbroken by the elementary school shooting in Nashville where three nine-year-old children and three adults lost their lives on Monday. It hits extra close to home as a Nashville resident and mother of two young kids. My entire body physically hurts for these families and the larger community. Here’s a non-exhaustive list of ways to help. 💔
DONATE:
Nonprofits:
Community Foundation of Middle TN’s Caring for Covenant Fund
Everytown’s efforts to end gun violence
Victim’s First GoFundMe to support victims/survivors
Personal GoFundMe campaigns:
MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD:
Call your state senators + representatives (here’s a great resource sharing a script + numbers)
Attend a peaceful protest or rally
Sign petitions
VOTE!
OTHER: I’m donating 100% of all Shop Lucky Collective proceeds to the Caring for Covenant Fund through Friday 3/31.
LIFE LATELY
We had a very full, busy, and fun January + February followed by a more low-key March and April ahead. We celebrated Lucy’s 5th birthday with a festive and fun cheetah-inspired safari party. We went on a family vacation / birthday celebration for Vacation Winnie™️’s 3rd birthday to Turks and Caicos! And E quit his job after almost 9 years (!) and we went on a kid-free trip to Iceland together. I finally (four years later!) got a ‘San Francisco’ tattoo. We visited Ohio to see family, got to see Noah Kahan in concert, and had a college reunion weekend in Athens with my besties. And we had a lot of beautiful, regular, normal life moments in there. 💛
THINGS I LIKE / RECENTLY PURCHASED
For myself: I’ve been rotating between wearing these new Veja sneakers and these high-top Converse sneakers daily!
For travel: This duffel bag fits SO much while also fitting under the airplane seat, making it a perfect travel ‘personal item.’
For kids - I can’t recommend these soft hooded towel ponchos enough! // I bought the girls the cutest little tutus for Easter // this collapsible sand toy set was perfect for our beach trip // more kids beach items saved here)
READING - here’s (most?) of the books I’ve read September - March!
Solito by Javier Zamora (top recommendation!), Buy Yourself the F*cking Lillies by Tara Schuster (my type of self-help book), Start With Hello by Shannan Martin (wonderful read about how to live as neighbors), I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy, We All Want Impossible Things by Catherine Newman, The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett, The Less People Know About Us by Axton Betz-Hamilton, Mad Honey by Jodi Picolt, The Golden Couple by Greer Hendricks & Sarah Pekkanen, The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan, The Mothers by Brit Bennett, Screaming on the Inside by Jessica Grose, Wild Game by Adrienne Brodeur, The House in the Pines by Ana Reyes, The Measure by Nikki Erlick, The Cage by Bonnie Kistler, The Love of My Life by Rosie Walsh, Luckiest Girl Alive by Jessica Knoll, These Silent Woods by Kimi Cunningham Grant, Broken by Jenny Lawson, The House Across the Lake by Riley Sager, The Family Remains by Lisa Jewell, The Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware, And Yet by Kate Baer, The Lost Summers of Newport by Beatriz Williams, Torn Apart by Dorothy Roberts, The It Girl by Ruth Ware, The Maid by Nita Prose, Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson, Passing by Nella Larsen, The End of Normal by Stephanie Madoff Mack, The Good Sister and The Younger Wife by Sally Hepworth, Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid. And really leaned into the TikTok + Gen Z obsession with Colleen Hoover, reading several of her books including Heart Bones, November 9, Confess, Verity, Ugly Love, and Too Late.
FROM MY CAMERA ROLL
CODES & DISCOUNTS
ATHLETIC GREENS - use this link for a year’s supply of Vitamin D3+K2 & 5 free travel packs
BETTER DAYS - use code LUCKYANDI for 10% off
CHATBOOKS - use code LUCKYANDI20 for 20% off!
EIZZY BABY - use code ANDI25 for 25% off
HIYA VITAMINS - use this link for $15 first order + free shipping
NUULY - use this link for $10 off your first order!
SHOP LUCKY COLLECTIVE (my Moroccan textile shop!) - use code LUCKYANDI for 10% off!
PAST NEWSLETTERS
No. 13 - September 2022 (The Travel Issue)
Thanks for reading! I love hearing from you so always feel free to shoot me a note!
Sitting with you in the anxiety about school, friend. Mine are both in school now (K and 1st grade) and it's something I worry about daily. When they come home and say they've done another drill for "bad guys," it's heartbreaking. I hate that it's something so present in our world.