Week 56: the (soft) hard pants search, job app hacks, Netflix queue, and more.
plus, my favorite no-cook summer recipe.
Welcome to this week’s edition of Five Favorites! A newsletter that’s big on small moments.
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June 17, 2025
Hello from the sun-kissed mountain backyard of my parents’ house, up near Lake Tahoe. It isn’t the area I grew up in, but it’s nearby. The pine trees combined with the weather right now feels like a summer homecoming (a very welcome one, indeed.)
My 7-month-old has been getting the best sleep of all her days (time to invest in better blackout blinds for home…know of any good ones?), and my toddler is discovering the simple joy of throwing rocks into streams or touching snow for the first time.
It reminds me that it is no coincidence that I started Five Favorites postpartum, for parenting — whether through the eyes of your small children or the experience itself — lends to noticing and savoring the smallest moments.
Here are the favorites I’m enjoying this week. I hope you’re finding some favorite small savorings in yours, too.
applying
Sometime before I start my new job next month (eek,) I want to share about the experience of being laid off upon returning from maternity leave (twice.)
It’s been…challenging, to say the least. To have to worry about finding work and starting a new job instead of just the transition back to work (already hard!) is less than ideal. I know I’m far from the only parent who has experienced this, which makes me mad/sad.
For now, I want to share a helpful tool that has saved me a ton of time while continuously sending my resumé into the abyss (I jest, but job hunters - you get me.)
Enter: Simplify jobs app. It’s a Chrome extension that auto-fills the information you otherwise have to enter tediously into each job application online. It even uploads your resumé so you don’t have to! Highly recommend.
wearing
Related: I’m about to reenter office life for the first time in 5+ years. A pandemic, two pregnancies, and two postpartum times have passed since then, so when I say I have no hard pants…I mean it. I have no hard pants.
I have no time for shopping, and I also have a body that is still in transition from two births and breastfeeding. So as much as I’d love to purchase some high-quality wardrobe staples, that’s just not what I’m in the market for right now.
Step one has been, of course, to organize what I do have. I’m trying a few closet organizer apps (Whering, Indyx) to keep things simple and reduce the mental load of being presentable each day. Will report back.
Step two has been to get a belt I can toss on to help me look more polished with minimal effort. I landed on this reversible one from Ralph Lauren, which feels like a bargain considering it checks both the brown and black belt boxes. A definite favorite so far. (Note: runs a bit small.)
Step three is the search for comfortable but polished pants. Send help. Although, I did find some trousers/jeans that I love for a bit of elevated denim. They’re comfortable but a bit more tailored-looking! Pair one || pair two, if you’re curious.
watching
So that I’m not paying for all the streaming services all the time, I keep a running list of shows that pique my interest from whichever one is currently on pause. Right now I’m not paying for Netflix, but I had access to it at my parents’ home, so my husband and I jumped on these shows after the kids went to sleep.
A Man on the Inside: wonderfully charming, light, and full of SF love. If you liked The Good Place, you’ll like this one, too.
Nobody Wants This: took me a minute to get into it, but I fully get the buzz around this rom-com now. The casting is great and the romance isn’t too soapy.
If you’ve wondered whether to watch either, do it. Bonus: both will have second seasons soon!
A past fave: love, love, love the French show Call My Agent!, also on Netflix.
See more recs in the Five Favorites directory, included with a paid subscription.
cooking
Is it cooking if you just assemble ingredients? I think so. And this classic Italian salad is one I crave every summer, especially as ripe tomatoes begin to emerge.
My go-to is, of course, Ms. Ina Garten’s recipe, which adds bell pepper and capers to the traditional set of ingredients. It’s fun to also watch an old Barefoot Contessa clip that quickly shows you how to prep and assemble the dish. To quote her, “any salad that has bread cubes dipped in vinaigrette is just fine with me.”
Others that I plan on taste testing include Kenji Lopez-Alt’s recipe and this simple take by Recipes from Italy. Some versions include mozzarella, but I’m a firm believer that adding cheese takes it in the direction of caprese. (Which, in that case, I’d rather just make that.)
contemplating
I found this on Notes (apologies, I didn’t save it, so I’m not sharing directly) and I quickly wrote it down in my notebook to reference later.
Imagine reading a book with no way to turn back the page.
How carefully would you read it?
That’s life.
I find this especially relevant as I use scrolling or screens to distract or dissociate when I’m bored or uncomfortable… Good to remember.
Until next week!
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