The last Thursday (vol. 1 no. 5)

A linkletter. This month includes a recap about Substack growth, a fun children's book, a beauty item, a packing hack, plus a favorite artist and recipe

Greetings from the last Thursday of May. On the last Thursday of each month, I share my favorite things from the past thirty days, plus some reflection if I’m feeling introspective. (Spoiler: I’m almost always feeling introspective.)

I recently shared on Substack that I hit the 50 subscriber milestone, and was met with lots of encouragement and more subscriptions. 🤯 I’m now at 92 (!) subscribers, which is so exciting. I had been tossing my thoughts out into the void, which was fine and strangely comforting, to be honest. (Okay, not the void. My husband reads my posts weekly.) But now, knowing that a few more actual, real people might read my words each week is really, really cool.

If you are new, you can read more about me and what The Thursday List is all about right here.

I’ve been an English teacher for 12 years, and I spend a lot of time teaching high school juniors how to write. And even so, I’ve never considered myself a writer. From time to time, I’m proud of what I write. But often, I think I could do so much better.

This is partly perfectionism and partly a deep appreciation for good writing. When I read a particularly beautiful sentence I often think, I would have never thought to write it that way. Really, though, what better (and more enjoyable) way to grow as a writer than to read (and write) more? I plan to spend my summer break doing both.

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For this Last Thursday installment, I have a book, a packing hack, a beauty item, a favorite artist, and a favorite recipe. Details below. 🙂

Links may be commissionable at no extra cost to you.

1. Natalie Portman’s Fables: This is such a fun children’s book. We’ve had it for quite a while, but my daughter (almost four years old), has recently become enamored with it. It contains three retellings of classic stories: The Tortoise and the Hare, The Three Little Pigs, and Country Mouse and City Mouse. The stories rhyme, have sweet morals, and the artwork is charming. My daughter’s current fave is The Three Little Pigs, which we’ve been reading on repeat.

   

   I spy Natalie Portman’s Fables, bottom right.

2. Packing cubes: I used these on a weekend trip and they were 👏🏻 so 👏🏻 nice 👏🏻. They are space-saving and really help keep your suitcase organized. For the weekend trip, I used a cube each for my daughter, my son, and me. For our upcoming week-long vacation, I will likely use most of the cubes for my things (as I am a chronic over-packer) and pack my kids’ things in the cute duffles I just bought them.

3. Grande Lash growth serum: I have been using this on both my eyelashes and eyebrows, and I’ve seen results with both. As a person with sparse eyebrows, this is especially thrilling. If you’ve seen an influencer link this, it is worth the hype. I was able to snag a tube on an Amazon deal, and it might be worth letting it hang out in your cart a bit to see if another deal hits.

4. Brittany Smith Studio: Brittany is one of my very favorite artists that I’ve found through Instagram. I currently have three prints of her work in my kitchen, and have so many more on my wishlist. Her florals and landscapes are equally beautiful and calming.

5. Taco puff pastry pizza recipe: I’ve made this recipe by How Sweet Eats several times over the last few months, and it is always a hit. Right now, I need recipes that are satisfying and easy, and this one checks both of those boxes. The flaky puff pastry (purchased in the frozen section) absolutely makes it.

This has been May 2024’s linkletter, a round up of favorite things over the last thirty days.