Jessica's Friday Five: Free donuts, summer road trips, and bowling
Published 1 day ago • 3 min read
Hi Reader,
Did you know today is National Donut Day in the US? You can get free donuts at Krispy Kreme and Dunkin (the latter requires you to buy a drink). Or if you don't yet have a Rakuten account (my fave), sign up and then use it to order donuts for delivery through Grubhub. If you spend $30, you'll get $30 cash back. Dozens of free donuts, basically. Have fun!
Make a “Start the Work Day” checklist: If you’ve been in my world for very long, you know I love the value of a checklist. The research supports how they create mental ease and help us avoid errors. Here’s a good one to try: a checklist (maybe on a post-it) for 3-5 things you want to do to start your workday. The tasks can be about setting priorities (“review and star priority emails”, “pull must-do tasks from Asana”, “check reminders app”) and about managing your energy properly (“get a glass of water”, “decide when to go on a walk and mark calendar”, “set alarms to remind me for meetings”). Don’t make it too long; just your key startup tasks for the day. I promise you’ll feel more together.
Road Trip Tips: If you're doing a road trip this summer, get the free iExit app. It's so helpful to figure out what's coming up at exits ahead of you. Like maybe you want to eat lunch in the next 60-90 minutes but you're flexible - you can search what restaurants are coming up and decide. Or compare gas prices. It's been a useful app for us for years. And pick up a pack of these, too - so fun to have in your console or glove box during those long stretches of highway.
Summer Dinner Idea: Y'all know I love CookUnity for easy dinners. This summer, though, we're pausing it and shifting over to Home Chef, which we got weekly for over 4 years until late last year. The difference is that CookUnity meals just need to be heated (they're already chef-prepared), and Home Chef sends you ingredients and a recipe, and you cook yourself. I'm assigning my kids (ages 9 and 10) each to one summer night per week to make dinner using a Home Chef kit. It's a simple way for us to build some skills for them and eat delicious dinners. We'll be back to CookUnity this fall when school starts again. Use my link for 15 free meals + free desserts forever + free shipping if that sounds like a good idea for your family.
Monk Mode: I read this article a while back and found the concept pretty compelling - I'm considering what it might look like to do a light version of this to make some meaningful progress on the book I'm writing (I think that's the first time I've mentioned my book here - stay tuned, y'all!).
These free Life Skills Workshops for Kids and Teens Age 5-18 are SO good. We did some of them next year, and we'll be doing them again this summer (they're happening next week, but you can get replays if you want).
We signed up for Kids Bowl Free,! If you sign your kids up they can play two games free per day at a local bowling alley. It's 100% free for kids and if you want adults to bowl with them free too you can pay a one-time $40 for a whole group of adults to be able to join them for their free games (we got the family pass so my husband, dad, and I can also bowl with the kids). Last year was our summer of Chuck E. Cheese, and I think this summer will be our Summer of Bowling.
Bonus Sponsor Resource: I have had this on my wishlist since the end of last summer when my friend Lisa recommended it. I have had for years (and love) a weighted blanket for sleep, but the one I had was absolutely too warm for the late spring - early fall months. This is a weighted blanket that's breathable so it's good for all seasons. You can get it directly from Bearaby or on Amazon. I have the cotton one in midnight blue and it's been lovely for the last 4 weeks or so since I switched from my warmer blanket. Pick one that's about 10% of your body weight. This resource is from one of our Friday Five sponsors - thank you to them for keeping this newsletter free for readers!
