A Word to the Wise and OC Beach Buys

No trip is complete without a treat or two to take home once all the fun (and yes, exhaustion) is over.  From farmer's market magnets to beaded necklaces to a very special bejeweled clutch, I chose my Ocean City souvenirs wisely.  

My carb intake (as evidenced by yet more taffy), not so much!

From Summer Fling to Year Round Thing: A Romance for the Books

The phrase "summer reading" usually evokes either an idyllic three months of beach books or a tedious list of classics to be crammed in before the next school year.  But for Samantha Gale, the nightmare isn't limited to Dickens and Tolstoy.  Because Sam is dyslexic and has struggled with reading her whole life.  Now twenty-eight and between chef gigs, she's returned to her childhood home on Martha's Vineyard to plan her second act.  On the ferry over, she escapes being hurled on by a frat boy thanks to the gallantry of one Bennett Reynolds.  Ben is a swoon-worthy librarian, and Sam would like nothing more than to distract herself with a summer fling.  So she lies about her dyslexia and pretends to be Stephen King's biggest fan.   

Welcome to Jenn McKinlay's latest, Summer Reading.  I've enjoyed many a McKinlay romcom and mystery, but from the foreword, I knew that this book would be special.  In it, McKinlay explains what inspired her to write a novel about dyslexia -- and print it in a neurodivergent-friendly font and format to boot:

"Having been an avid reader all my life, I can't imagine not having books and stories to escape into when life gets difficult.  But I'd watched up close as several of my family members did not find reading as enjoyable as I did and had to navigate a world that was incredibly unfriendly to those with dyslexia.  Books weren't the safe place for them that they were for me, and it made me much more aware of how many people find decoding the written word a challenge." (xi)

As someone who also finds comfort in books, I was instantly sympathetic to anyone who can't seek such refuge.  That said, Sam's dyslexia makes her life -- as well as her relationship with Ben -- take on another dimension.  A library card-carrying knight in shining armor, Ben accepts Sam for who she is.  He even shares his love of books by reading her a romcom that just happens to be McKinlay's own Paris is Always a Good Idea.  (How's that for mignon?)  But Ben has his own stumbling block: his eccentric artist mother refuses to tell him who his father is.  Because her family has lived on the island for generations, Sam is the ideal person to help Ben research his dad's identity.  As the two work and play, their bond grows even stronger, leading Sam to hope that it'll last long after Labor Day.      

Summer Reading is a refreshing and irresistible romance, all wrapped up in a classic opposites-attract trope.  

But then, maybe the reason that opposites attract is that they're not so opposite after all. 

Jersey Shore Core: A Photo Album

Surprise!  Last week's bit of a breather was actually a family vacation.  The husband and I, my parents, and my sister and her family piled into a house in Ocean City.  And one of my favorite things to do on vacation (aside from eating my weight in salt water taffy) is take colorful pictures.  So here are (more than) a few of my favorites.  

Free taffy for the first one to spot Gritty.  

Un Coffee Cake Break

I'm taking a bit of a breather this week.  So whatever you're up to, make it summer camp cool.  Although not really, because summer camp bites.  Better to bite into a cookie!  Here are some choice ones to try.  🍒🍪💖🎀😍

The Old and the New: Red, White, and Not Blue

Dress: XOXO; Bag: Tatty Devine, ModCloth; Shoes: Jessica Simpson Collection, DSW; Sunglasses: Zulily; Headband: New York & Company

Necklace and bangle: RETMOD

Dress: LC Lauren Conrad, Kohl's; Bag: Betsey Johnson, ModCloth; Shoes: Madden Girl, Kohl's; Socks: Xhilaration, Target; Bow: Carole, JCPenney

Dresses: LC Lauren Conrad, Kohl's

Cherries Jubi-Twee Necklace

Dress: So, Kohl's; Bag: Delia's, Dolls Kill; Shoes: Betsey Johnson, Macy's; Sunglasses: Zulily

Dress: So, Kohl's

Bag: Delia's, Dolls Kill

Howlite Delight Necklace

Dress, bag, and hat: LC Lauren Conrad, Kohl's; Belt: Belt is Cool, Amazon; Shoes: Jessica Simpson Collection, DSW

Cherry Gem Necklace

Hat: LC Lauren Conrad, Kohl's

Dress: LC Lauren Conrad, Kohl's

Dress and shoes: LC Lauren Conrad, Kohl's; Bag: Xhilaration, Target; Bow: Carole, JCPenney

Lettie Ladybug Necklace

These outfits feature stuff from all the usual places.  Mostly Kohl's, a little Macy's and DSW, and some ModCloth and Dolls Kill tossed in.  But they also include two somethings of a very different and therefore special origin: Etsy's RETMOD!  I stumbled upon this rad retailer on Instagram, hooked by its dazzlingly bold vintage product posts.  In particular, I'd admired a huge red heart necklace and was psyched to see that it was still in stock.  So I made it my own, along with a matching bangle.  I have so many things that go with both, but for their inaugural outing, my old XOXO polka dot shift dress was the obvious swinging '60s selection.

That said, I've moved on from red, white, and blue to red, white, and black, the colors of, not patriots, but pirates (there's a sports joke in there somewhere, but I'll leave it -- like myself in most of these pics -- on the bench).  And I couldn't let this opportunity of a color palette pass without making some of my own red, white, and black necklaces.  Not surprisingly, all are cherry-themed except one, which has ladybugs -- the cherries of the insect world.

Just think of it as me doing my part to create the vintage jewelry of tomorrow. 🍒🐞

Liar, Liar, Grants on Fire: Love, Academia Style

Ali Hazelwood's latest, Love, Theoretically was even better than I expected.  Once again, Hazelwood gives us a genius-yet-down-to-earth heroine who has only one foe more formidable than big, bad academia: herself.  This time her name is Dr. Elsie Hannaway, and she's a theoretical physicist with a concentration in crystals.  She also has type I diabetes and an uncontrollable habit of lying.  It's not that she's a bad person.  To the contrary, Elsie wants everyone to like her so much that she chameleons into the versions of herself she thinks they want to see.  It's an exhausting existence made even more so by her low-paying, no-benefits job as an adjunct professor -- and her side hustle of fake dating.  You read what you read.  Elsie pretends to be dudes' girlfriends for money.  But before you get it twisted, she's not that kind of escort, something she makes crystal clear when a lowlife client offers her seventy dollars to go above and beyond a dinner appearance.  So she's at the end of her rope when she discovers that the guy who can give her her dream job at MIT is none other than one of her fake bf's brothers and the guy who discredited her profession with one righteously indignant article.  

Ah, experimental physicist John Smith.  Because, yes, that's his name.  Or, as he prefers, Dr. Jack Turner-Smith.  Now, I have no understanding of physics whatsoever, but Hazelwood explains the theoretical-vs.-experimental rivalry in such simple and entertaining terms that I didn't miss a particle.  To that end, Jack may just be the most Hazelwood of Hazelwood heroes yet, calculatingly cockblocking Elsie's career only to end up being the key to unlock her best self.  The thing about Jack is that he doesn't like lying.  So he challenges Elsie to stop doing it, promising her that she'll be happier once she starts putting herself first.  It's a tricky trope, this alpha-male-means-to-an-end of unparalleled compassion.  Especially when Elsie discovers that Jack's been telling a pretty big whopper himself.  But as always, Hazelwood gets the formula just right one witty one-liner at a time, showing the world that the strong, silent type can also be strong and sensitive.   

Bonus of bonuses, Love, Theoretically includes a cameo from The Love Hypothesis's Olive and Adam as well as two references to Love on the Brain's Bee.  STEM academia really is a small world.  

And a surprisingly romantic one.