A funny card game, the most beautiful gardens in Paris, and a dinner party must have
Plus, party pants and a field guide to American houses
I never tire of the pomp and circumstance, the energy, the sense of possibility found in a party. And this week, there were a lot of parties here at Nova HQ. Nothing gives me more pleasure than taking care of people, from a fundraiser at work, to a house full of friends on Thursday, to a simple birthday dinner for five for my father’s 80th tonight. I’m a happy kind of exhausted, but I’m making sure to soak in the joys of July: the fireflies, the blueberries, the lettuce from the garden, and hope some are finding you, too.
A. I gave this French salad serving set to Tim for Christmas, of all things - an impulse purchase while shopping for something else because we’d been making do with wooden pasta spoons for years. They have an elegant utilitarian quality, which I adore.
B. My mother-in-law gave us a roll of this multipurpose paper last summer, and I reordered it this week - I used it for the dinner party and then wrapped my dad’s gifts with the remnants.
C. A gift for my France-loving father - The Most Beautiful Gardens of Paris!
D. And a little gift for myself - A Field Guide to American Houses - because I love a Field Guide to anything - any attempt to organize and codify the (chaotic) world around us appeals to me deeply.
E. Star candles! A tiny joy! I bought mine at a HomeGoods stop while on a Costco run with a friend (one of life’s great joys is running errands with a pal!).
F. This was the hit of my dad’s birthday gifts. We had cake and sparklers and laughed so much playing Not Today, Murder!
G. I bought this set of glass candle holders for the dinner party, and I loved how understated and straightforward they were.
H. These La Double J pants ($$$$) I found on sale (now sadly sold out) were comfortable for a day spent on my feet at work and yet felt extremely festive and chic.

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A funny card: Happy Birthday, you magnificent bastard!
Somehow, I can never remember that the key to summer sanity as a mom is having multiple swimsuits so there's always a dry one to put in the camp backpack. I reupped after some frantic early morning searches: The seagulls and french fries pair makes me laugh every time I see them: Seagulls+Fries, Geo, neon, shark fin.
I bought this opal ring as a reward for a job well done, and it’s even nicer in person.
(Catching up after a very busy week so double design scouting for me today.) The field guide to American Homes is the book I got with my old home certification class I treated myself to for realtor continuing education! I love it. And three cheers for perfect party pants and opal rings.
I can say that the murder game is great fun. I find that very many of your suggestions are wonderful. Thank you for your insightful newsletter.