Freeform Friday

We're looking forward to my husband coming home from a weeklong class and going to this super fun sing-a-long movie at our local theater. The weather feels like fall already, so my fingers are crossed that we get a couple more trips to the pool before Labor Day.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend, and I hope you enjoy my favorite links from the past week.

This snarky Instagram account made me laugh.

Yeah, I don't watch Game of Thrones either.

All three Coppola movies with Dunst take the time to consider femininity in a male-dominated world.

Your next party conversation starter.

A lovely story about finding love after 35 years apart.

Why moms are funny AF. 

This nanny ad is both terrifying and hilarious.

Who the hell was that guy, anyway?

Things I've said to my puppy or a Republican senator?

[Photo from Our Moveable Feast on Instagram of our most recent pop-up dinner.]

Activating Spaces with Pop-Up Dinners

I love scouting out new pop-up dinner spots and imagining elegant meals in locations that are unexpected. Activating those spots, and getting friends to experience an unfamiliar park around town, is a big part of the excitement behind a pop-up dinner.

We recently hosted a pop-up dinner at a park along the Huron River. Normally claimed by teenagers soaking up the sun, we spread out our crisp white linens and had a lovely dinner party on a wooden dock with views of passing kayakers.

While my sister and I were setting up this particular pop-up, many kayakers approached us asking a slew of entertaining questions -- Were we a professional company? Was this a wedding? (A question we've been asked a couple times now, despite our small size.) Did we rent the space? Did we have any snacks to spare? (This last question was from two college-aged boys who were half-joking.)

While it was quite busy on the river during setup, by the time six o'cock rolled around, the boating and floating traffic quieted down, and our dinner got underway. We had a grand time chatting on the riverbank, starting with individual gazpachos, dining on beef tenderloin with a delicious cream sauce, and ending the meal with blueberry buckle topped with a big dollop of whipped cream.

Here are some of my favorite pictures from the night; I hope you enjoy them and get inspired to activate your own unexpected spot for a dinner party of your own.

Freeform Friday

Thanks to a pleasant weather forecast, I'm looking forward to a pop-up dinner party at a surprise location tomorrow night and a showing of The Wizard of Oz at our favorite local theater on Sunday. Summer may be almost gone, but I'm tipping the glass back for every last drop, folks.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend, and I hope you enjoy my favorite links from the past week.

How to view the 2017 solar eclipse.

What to do with all your summer tomatoes.

What happened in the lives of two women in a famous Civil Rights photo.

How about this fall side dish recipe?

Are you thinking of going to the Women's Convention in Detroit?

This book is so captivating that I read it in almost one sitting; this companion piece and video is also lovely.

A new twist on what to do with precooked chicken.

If you voted for him.

Eight ways to help after Charlottesville.

The importance of a local newspaper (which my hometown barely has anymore).

Three fantastic protest art magazine covers.

The scoop on Antifa.

Thank you, Tina Fey.

[Photo from Our Moveable Feast on Instagram.]

Freeform Friday

I had a satisfying week purging the house of things we don't use in preparation for listing our house as a game day rental. We donated seven bags of clothes and got rid of a ton of baby gear, and I swear our house feels lighter. Tonight we're hosting an impromptu dinner party, and I'm making a new recipe to use up a ton of tomatoes we have on the counter. We're outdoor party hopping tomorrow, with a friend's block party and street party downtown, and I get to go chat about Brave New World at book club on Sunday.

I hope you have a lovely weekend, and I hope you enjoy my favorite links from the past week.

Ever wanted to stay in a Hobbit home?

I could binge read this travel blog, with fantastic photos, forever and ever.

Caftan for the win. 

What fun accessories for your favorite littles.

Hilarious tweets from The Last Blockbuster.

An ode to bad family vacations.

A terrific farm house is on the market.

Why multilevel-marketing companies are bad news.

Don’t use Asian Americans to justify bullshit anti-affirmative action politics.

Sorry about our president.

[Photo from Our Moveable Feast on Instagram.]

Freeform Friday

Fresh off a stay at our family cottage on the fresh coast of Lake Michigan, we're looking at a low-key weekend. August always makes me itchy as we look down the barrel at school starting again, so I'm already thinking of day trips and other little getaways to make the rest of the month exciting. Do you have any favorite places you'd recommend?

I hope you have a fantastic weekend, and I hope you enjoy my favorite links from the past week.

If you regularly go to a lake, even for a week every year, I can't recommend this enough.

A simple Lake Michigan rock guide.

Always entertaining quips from David Sedaris.

The most dangerous woman in America.

An interesting read on DNA kit surprises.

Interesting films that take place within confined spaces.

A tasty looking recipe for Greek grain salad.

Glad I stumbled across this beautiful photographer's work on Instagram.

Putting this little gem on my wish list.

Freeform Friday

We're just back from an action packed week near Lake Michigan, and we had a wonderful time exploring new and familiar places with our extended family. It's good to be home, and we're looking forward to fun times with friends at German Park tomorrow and an event for the kids on Sunday. I hope you have a wonderful weekend, and I hope you enjoy my favorite links from the past week.

This is my kind of van.

Literary would-you-rathers.

More travel spots in the Upper Peninsula.

The coolest movie theater in every state (including my hometown favorite!).

Why my kid won't play football.

Love these yummy Instagram videos (their apple hand pies look especially amazing).

It's smart to live in Ann Arbor.

Research and reporting now vs. then.

Pouty fish or grumpy old man?

[Photo of the boules court at Sovengard in Grand Rapids. See more at Our Moveable Feast on Instagram.]

Freeform Friday

You know you're on vacation when your toughest decisions revolve around what book to read next (I'm debating between this favorite author's new book and this classic for book club), which bouquet of flowers to pick from Farmer's Market, and whether to go to the pool or the lake. These are the kinds of decisions I can handle right now. I hope you have similar dilemmas ahead for your weekend, and I hope you enjoy my favorite links from the past week. 

An infograph for when it's okay to say, "You're in such good shape...beautiful."

Sherman Alexie’s heartbreaking reason for pausing his book tour.  

What a $100 Airbnb looks like around the world.

Insight into The Grand Dame of Science Fiction.

An awesome resource for mixing up reading aloud to children.

We're going through a polenta craze at home, and I'm looking forward to trying this, this, and this.

How good does this chopped salad look?

"That's a man. In a skirt. Trying to return Kim Clijsters' serve."  

Made me snicker. 

The Northern Lights in Michigan this week looked incredible.


I love it when local businesses support each other in creative ways.

[Photo from Our Moveable Feast on Instagram.]