Sydney's Sunday Reads: #6

Happy Sunday, friends! What a WEEK it’s been, huh? We’re living in some pretty unprecedented times and it can be hard to see what’s real and what’s not amid the chaos. You may want to laugh at the absurdity of it all, or cry because some things seem a little hopeless, but the most important thing you can do is just allow yourself to feel.

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.

Ready? Set? Off we go!

• High dining. - Before air-filled packages with a few peanuts inside, and meals that resemble the Styrofoam packaging they come in, in-flight dining was actually kind of glamorous. Picture this: airplanes, much like trains, had actual dining rooms at one point, and airlines even made it a priority to partner with popular fine dining restaurants of the time to provide the highest-quality food possible. Boy, the history of in-flight dining is a unique one! (Reader’s Digest)

• Fold and go. - What if there was a way to continue to get your morning coffee (or two) from your local coffee shop, but also cut down on plastic waste? Meet the Unocup, a “100% plastic-free, compostable unit that replaces the traditional lid with paper folds that seal the drink tightly.” I love innovative design. (Fast Company)

• Make that bread. - What happens when a famed photographer puts down the camera and starts kneading dough to help his community? You get Breadfolks, a new bakery in Hudson, New York, co-founded by Norman Jean Roy. Used to being behind the lens watching other people do their part to enact change, Roy decided to take matters into his own hands (literally) by doing what loves the most: feeding his fellow human beings. Read more about his bread-making journey HERE. (Saveur)

• How postage stamps get the, well, stamp of approval. -We’ve all been at the post office or grocery store in a rush and in need of a new book of stamps. You look at the selection in the display case and quickly choose stamps that make you smile or catch your eye. Then you pay, mail whatever you’ve got, and barely think about it again. But while you might stick on a new stamp without giving its design much thought, you actually wouldn’t believe just how much thought goes into getting the stamp in your hand in the first place! You’ll never look at postage the same way again (for good reason!). (Book Riot)

• Making “Wonderland” a (virtual) reality. - Before the Victoria and Albert Museum debuts their March 2021 exhibition “Alice: Curiouser and Curioser,” charting the cultural impact author Lewis Carroll’s century-old novel has had worldwide, audiences can experience some of the magic themselves via a VR (virtual reality) exhibition this month! Named “Curious Alice” and designed by tech company, HTC Vive Arts, virtual visitors will be treated to a 45-minute session in which they are guided around a color-rich environment inspired by the V&A’s ornate, 19th century building. And what would an Alice in Wonderland-esque adventure be without a few twists and turns along the way, including a “pool of tears,” “hallway of doors,” and much more. The best part is, this digital experience, debuting October 22nd, is totally free! (Smithsonian Magazine)

What are YOU reading and watching today? Let me know in the comments below!

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Sydney's Sunday Reads: #4

Happy Sunday, friends! What’s new? This morning I woke up with a pep in my step because the sun was shining brightly through the windows and I could feel a little nip in the air. Autumn in New England is my absolute favorite season of them all, and I plan to do as much as I can to celebrate it. If you’re looking for some fun things to do you could: find an orchard open to pick apples for ciders, caramels, and pies, go for a hike in a forest full of brilliantly-hued leaves, make the best, most spectacular-looking fall porch display, or even fix yourself a cuppa, open the windows, and let the smells of nature carry you away for a moment. Life might seem a little dreary right now, so find what makes you happy. There will always be beauty around you, even if you have to make it yourself.

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.

Here we go!

• What the Peep? - Say what you will about our little marshmallow friends who taste like raw sugar, chemicals, and all the dyes your mother ever worried about: Peeps are a holiday staple every year. And as if 2020 couldn’t get any worse (who are we kidding, it seems like it tops itself every week), Just Born Quality Confections, the company that owns and makes Peeps, recently announced that their Halloween, Christmas, and even Valentine’s Day ‘21 collections won’t be released! They have a good reason though: production was halted n in March at the start of the pandemic shutdown to put safety first for their staff. While I’ll miss seeing miniature fluorescent fowl on my local supermarket shelves this year, you just can’t argue with the reason why. Still, I know there’s an old graduate professor of mine, a true fan of Peeps despite all the gourmet food he’s exposed to, who is somewhere deeply lamenting this loss. (Real Simple)

• Cuisines that connect us. - When Durkhanai Ayubi and her sisters traveled back to their native Afghanistan in 2012 after being away for 27 years, the first thing they noticed was its beauty - the beauty of nature, and the beauty of its people. The second thing they noticed was the cuisine, richly-steeped in history, and a true celebration of foodstuffs both native and imported. The sisters were touched by the enthusiastic and generous hospitality of relatives they had not seen in decades, and in those decades, their relatives had seen more than their fair share of hardships. Yet the need to give their guests the best that they could offer signified a lasting sense of pride. Inspired both by the magnitude of generosity bestowed upon them, and the food that had instantly resonated with them, the Ayubi sisters returned to their home in Australia ready to share their culture with the world by opening a restaurant, then opening another. In doing this, they found a way to stay deeply connected to two homes at once. (Travel + Leisure)

• Don’t rain on my (virtual) parade! - In 2020 it seems that almost every fun in-person event has gone virtual and the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade will be no exception. According to a rep from Macy’s, this television-only special event will not feature the traditional 2.5-mile parade route, but will feature many of the parade’s signature character balloons, as well as street performers and other attractions. While we might miss seeing the crowds cheering with joy (and also looking like they’re about to freeze their fingers off. Seriously, doesn’t it always look SUPER COLD there?), Mayor Bill de Blasio promises that this reinvented take on a holiday tradition will still “really give us that warmth and that great feeling we have on Thanksgiving day”. (Rolling Stone)

• How COVID-19 has made us better cooks. - All this extra time at home has given seasoned and novice home chefs alike the opportunity to get creative in the kitchen, whether we wanted to or not! In this fun article, Dakota Kim talks about her quarantine cooking journey to discover new ingredients and strengthen her connection with other food lovers! (Food and Wine)

• Dear Diary… - Dwell magazine wants to know: is it time to start journaling again? Like many writers and stationery lovers, I am guilty of buying many, MANY pretty journals in which I planned to pen all of my deepest thoughts. What ends up happening instead is my chicken scratch gets scribbled into the same tattered notebook on my desk again and again and my pile of beautifully-bound journals grows, but the pages remain untouched. Perhaps if I had one of these beautiful babies I’d be inspired to switch over! (Dwell)

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