Sydney's Sunday Reads: #11
Happy Sunday, friends!!
Sydney's Sunday Reads is a weekly blog series that highlights some of my favorite stories, articles, think-pieces, and more from around the Internet.
Fully stocked, come what may. - If we’re to believe what the health experts are saying, the upcoming winter season will be QUITE the doozy. Every news outlet out there has published an article on how to keep your pantry and fridge stocked with the essentials, which is great, but truthfully, I’ve been on the search for tips on how to actually use those essentials effectively and efficiently. Panic-shopping never works, and buying things you won’t use just because they’re shelf-stable completely defeats the purpose of trying to ready yourself to hunker down. This comprehensive article provides some helpful tips on how to be prepared without just listing items to buy. (Food and Win)
So #cottagecore. - Speaking of hunkering down at home, do you remember the 2018 trend hygge, the Danish concept of extreme coziness? Well, since we’ve all tried to stick closer to home this year, hygge is making a comeback, but this time, we’re calling it “cottagecore.” For those unfamiliar with the concept of cottagecore, it is the lifestyle trend of tranquility, domesticity, and creativity. Having a picnic in a meadow full of blooming flowers, reading a book in an oversized armchair with a cup of tea, making a big pot of pear preserves to last you through the season - all examples of the coziness of cottagecore. As a natural homebody even before the pandemic, this lifestyle trend perfectly describes my life and desire to be the comfiest and most creative hermit on Planet Earth, so you know I’m fully on-board. If you’re trying to cottagecore-ify your life and space for optimal comfort, here are a few tips you can use to make that happen. Bring on hygge 2.0! (Real Simple)
Move over, Amazon. - If you’re a lifelong reader or even an occasional one, you know that books are EXPENSIVE. You can walk into any bookstore today and find brand new hardcover titles with prices set anywhere between $25 and $40 depending on subject matter, page count, and even projected popularity. You say to yourself that you’ll just buy the book on Amazon, but when it comes time to checkout online, you pause, wishing you could spend that money at your local indie bookstore instead. What if I told you that there was a way to find the discounted prices you seek and STILL support your local bookstore? Meet Bookshop.org, an independent book platform looking to take on Amazon by streamlining the online book-buying process. It works like this: independent booksellers create their own digital stores on Bookshop, and when a book is sold, the bookseller receives the full profit margin of the sale through their page (30%). By working with Bookshop, everyone wins: the user experience mirrors that of big-box sites for customers, and booksellers maintain or even increase their revenue generation. And that’s not all: 10% of overall sales that go through Bookshop are added to a fund that helps keep independent bookstores running, regardless of whether or not they’re part of the platform. According to Bookshop’s founder Andy Hunter, over $7.5 million has already been raised for indie bookstores nationwide! (CNN)
🎶This is my winter song to you…🎶. - To know me is to know that I LOVE Leslie Odom Jr. The man has a voice as smooth as silk, filled with so much depth and emotion that it almost makes me cry. A few years ago, he released a gorgeous cover of Sara Bareilles and Ingrid Michaelson’s “Winter Song,” which instantly became a favorite of mine (and one I listen to all year, not just when it’s snowy). This week, Leslie re-released “Winter Song,” and he made it EVEN BETTER by featuring one of my other favorite vocalists of all time, Cynthia Erivo, as part of The Christmas Album:
DISCO, baby! - Disco is coming back in a HUGE way in 2020 with hits like “Don’t Start Now” by Dua Lipa, “Dynamite” by BTS, and “Diamonds” by Sam Smith. All of those are bangers in their own right, but no one, NO ONE, can make a dance track like Queen Kylie Minogue. Here’s “Magic” from her brand new album, DISCO: