Weekend Reading 07.11

Friday nights on the patio, a list of dream vacation destinations, a must-read essay, and more links for your weekend.

Hi readers, and happy Friday. What are you up to this weekend? We’re kicking ours off tonight with a family happy hour.

A little backstory: Earlier this spring, Tom and I decided to set aside Friday evenings for an outdoor cocktail hour as a way to wind down the week. The plan has been pretty hit or miss, mostly due to schedules and weather, but one happy discovery has been that the Friday evening time often works for the kids. So once or twice a month, everyone lands here after work, and I pull out snacks from Trader Joe’s or we order pizza and just…hang out.

The best part of the Friday night hang is that, unlike a birthday or holiday, or even watching a big game, almost no planning is required. Someone (often me, but occasionally one of the kids) will text “happy hour tonight?” and that’s it. That’s the planning.

Oh, sometimes we try a new cocktail (tonight it’s the Spaghett…have you had one?) and I’ve started a chill playlist just for Fridays, but as the person most likely to try and turn these Friday nights into “a thing,” I’m doing my best to resist. The idea is for everyone to just show up, including me, and I have to say it’s become one of my favorite things to do.

Here’s what I saved to share with you this week…

Q&A with Elyce Arons of Frances Valentine. Elyce was Kate Spade’s best friend and co-founded the Kate Spade and Frances Valentine brands with her. She also has a new book out about their friendship.

15 coastal grandma-inspired destinations that look straight out of a Nancy Meyers movie. This is a dream list for me. Have you been to any? What would you add?

Why the crime fiction world is embracing the cozy mystery. “This year, a host of authors with successful track records in historical fiction, contemporary women’s fiction, crime procedurals, literary noir, romance, and magical realism have taken a leap into different territory.”

My grandma says you’re crazy. I adored this funny, thought-provoking essay by Nashville designer Stephanie Sabbe. “As I round the bend in the final stretch of my now-familiar commute between Nashville and Crane Hill, Alabama, I always pay a silent homage to an adorable, now-abandoned house perched humbly in a field of discarded car parts and think, “Once upon a time, someone loved you enough to paint your windows pink.”

A couple of This Bookish Life posts with the paywall removed: a great big list of book deals and what gives a house soul.

I hope you have something fun or relaxing in store this weekend.