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What are you up to this weekend? Freddie<\/a> and I are heading to a cottage on the North Fork. The weather looks blustery, so we\u2019ll play cards and read, and maybe he\u2019ll cook something. On Big Salad, we\u2019re sharing the 15 best books to read this summer<\/a> \u2014 including a creepy psychological thriller and funny, food-y memoir. Looking forward to lazy afternoons. Hope you have a good weekend, and here are a few links from around the web\u2026 <\/p>\n Wearing this easy outfit to the Whitney Museum this weekend: shirt<\/a> + pants<\/a>.<\/p>\n Have you seen The Studio<\/a> starring Seth Rogen? I watched the first two episodes last night and laughed a lot.<\/p>\n New York Magazine\u2019s lookbook<\/a> is really fun \u2014\u00a0like, a double dutch competition<\/a> and dogs dressed up for a Mets game<\/a>.<\/p>\n This woman is raffling off her cottage in Ireland<\/a>, and you can buy a ticket for $7! (NYTimes gift link)<\/p>\n How wild is this restaurant<\/a>, which looks like a black-and-white drawing?<\/p>\n An Ethiopian-Eritrean bride on the quiet power of wedding-day braids<\/a>. \u201c\u2018I told my bridesmaids, everyone\u2019s getting braided,\u2019 she said, half laughing but dead serious. \u2018No excuses. No \u2018my scalp is tender.\u2019 We\u2019re doing this together. We\u2019re honoring something.’\u201d (Vogue)<\/p>\n Cool sneakers<\/a> on sale.<\/p>\n The weight and wonder of Mother\u2019s Day<\/a>. \u201cMy therapist gave me one other piece of advice: Hold other people\u2019s babies. I\u2019m not sure if she meant it as a test of my longing or a salve for it, but I\u2019ve decided to treat it as an invitation to live vicariously. To heal by allowing myself to take in the joy of others. To exist in a community where we feel each other\u2019s joy and pain and longing. Why can\u2019t I delight in holding your baby, just for a moment?\u201d<\/p>\n Toby loves sending Paperless Post invites for his birthday party and watching the replies roll in. While helping him choose a style, I found these Joana Avillez designs<\/a>, how great are they?<\/p>\n Life-sized embroidered portraits<\/a>.<\/p>\n Oh my gosh, how gorgeous is this collage<\/a>? Should we all get together and collage?<\/p>\n Most important, the news:<\/p>\n Gaza is enduring \u201ccruelest phase\u201d of Israel\u2019s attacks, says UN Secretary-General Ant\u00f3nio Guterres<\/a>. More devastating quotes from UN officials: \u201cFor nearly 80 days, Israel blocked the entry of life-saving international aid.\u201d \u201cThe aid going in now is a needle in a haystack.\u201d \u201cThe entire population of Gaza is facing the risk of famine.\u201d \u201cVisiting maternity units and witnessing women giving birth starving.\u201d If you\u2019re able to donate, World Central Kitchen<\/a> is a great organization.<\/p>\n The Gaza genocide is devastating, and we should be pushing our government<\/em> to stop sending money and weapons. But, of course, Jewish people should not be targeted<\/a>! No one should be attacked because of their identity<\/em> \u2014 whether you\u2019re Jewish, Palestinian, Muslim, Israeli, LGBTQ+, etc. It\u2019s hard to know what to say; sending love to friends and readers who experience and fear rising antisemitism.<\/p>\n Plus, four reader comments:<\/p>\n Says Laura J. on what toys have your kids played with a million times<\/a>: \u201cOne of my best parenting moves: I framed a U.S. map and a world map, then hung them in our kitchen. My husband travels for work, so I cut out a picture of his head and we\u2019d move it around. As the kids got older, we\u2019d also point out where family members lived or traveled. We learned the state capitals, too.\u201d<\/p>\n Says Kari on houseplant crime scenes<\/a>: \u201cMy friend diligently spritzed her hanging terrarium and felt so proud of how it was thriving, only to realize a full year later that it was fake.\u201d<\/p>\n Says Rebecca on what nonfiction books do you love<\/a>: \u201cSolito<\/a> by Javier Zamora. I\u2019m a middle-aged white lady who cares for immigrant adolescents in a community health center. This true story of a young unaccompanied minor, written by a poet, is the nonfiction book I recommend most to friends and family. In a time of unprecedented violence and animosity towards immigrants, understanding the complexities and strength in stories of migration from Central and South America couldn\u2019t be more important.\u201d<\/p>\n Says Caitlin on what nonfiction books do you love<\/a>: \u201cWhat a delightful post full of comments about why you will be ENTRANCED by a book on eels\/a very specific shipwreck\/quantum physics. I love a gentle organizing task, so I put as many of these recommendations as I could into a spreadsheet<\/a> for safekeeping\/future library holds, in case anyone else would find it useful.\u201d [Thank you so much, Caitlin!]<\/p>\n (Photo by Jessica Gledhill\/Stocksy.)<\/p>\n Note: If you buy something through our links, we may earn an affiliate commission or have a sponsored relationship with the brand, at no cost to you. We recommend only products we genuinely like. Thank you so much.<\/em><\/p>\n