-Extra Weird + Spicy Perfume

Hello, friends!

How are you holding up … in nature? The cicadas have arrived in Nashville to make everything weird. After hibernating for the past 13 years—plotting—they’re now darting around looking for mates. Their screaming is constant and there are Biblical swarms of them to duck from as you go about your daily tasks, like taking a walk or opening your car door. Some neighborhood kids paint the shells with nail polish so every once in a while I’ll swat away a cicada donning a lavender shell. And there’s a handmade poster in the school hallway to Save the Cicadas. Everyone needs a cause! 

Below are some fun finds for your buggy weekend.

Xo,

Toby

• Lyz Lenz is the perfect choice to cover The Idea of You, which I ate up with a spoon. (Rolling Stone)

• Fellow perfume junkies take note: My coworker casually fished this ‘lil tin out of her purse the other day and smelled spicy two seconds later. (Fulton and Roark)

• Canelo Álvarez walked into the ring to this song a few weeks back, and it’ll pump you UP. (YouTube)

• All my meals this month have come from containers. But the kids and I are going strawberry picking when school’s out and I can’t wait to make Joy’s Strawberry Pie. (Joy the Baker)

• The group chat was in a tizzy over Bennifer, going full Carrie-from-Homeland on the potential breakup. So this Tweet made me smile. (X)

• I can’t stop talking about Under the Bridge. The teen actors are amazing, and I love the writing + 90’s soundtrack. It’s pretty dark, tho, so I’ve been chasing it with new Hacks. (IndieWire)

• Next up, I’m looking forward to watching Perfect Days ‘cause my film friends have been raving about this toilet cleaner in Tokyo. (Amazon) 

• Don’t you prefer this version of the controversial Apple ad? (X)

• JTB heads will appreciate the poem, Spiral, by Hari Alluri (Poets.org) 

• All of this: Nothing Tastes As Good As Final Feels by Kimberly Harrington. (Gloria)

• Here are two meaty profiles on Miranda July and Maya Rudolph. (New Yorker, Town and Country)

• I can never resist clicking on the apartment tour reels that start out, “Hey, excuse me, how much do you pay for rent?” Guess I’m not alone. (Rolling Stone)

• Trying to be more of a lover than a fighter these days but can’t get over the Kendrick v. Drake beef. It’s art, really. (The Ringer)

• I just started plucking titles for our Joy the Baker Summer Reads List, starting with this buzzy book. Will report back in early summer with the rest of my findings! (Bookshop)

• … And I’ve been circling around this classic tote to carry all my books in for the pool. Question is: What color? (LL Bean)

• Thank goodness it’s time for teachers’ end-of-year gifts. How sweet would it be to send your kid into school with a Target gift card and a dish of these Lemon Bars? (Joy the Baker)

• Finally, two comedy specials that will make you LOL in totally different ways: Everybody’s in LA, a love letter to one of my favorite cities. And, let’s be serious, I’ll watch John Mulaney in anything. And Alex Edelman’s special, Just for Us, is a funny-yet-introspective take on his Orthodox upbringing. (Netflix and Max)