picks vol. 36

what we’re wearing

3 outfits, fun bags, easy shoes to carry across seasons, classic but fun pieces.. all the looks linked here: https://liketk.it/6fxmf

what we’re sipping

this is the season for a nice, crisp white wine.. no oak, no butter, no weight. just high acid, clean minerality, and the kind of finish that makes you want another glass immediately. here are three bottles worth knowing — all widely available at whole foods / total wine.

• martín códax albariño — rías baixas, spain

• henri bourgeois 'les baronnes' sancerre — loire valley, france

• domaine de la pépière 'clos des briords' muscadet — loire valley, france

what we’re baking

gather:

• 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled

• 2 large eggs

• ½ cup milk

• 2 cups all-purpose flour

• ¾ cup sugar

• ½ tbsp vanilla

• 2 teaspoon baking powder

• 1 teaspoon kosher salt

• 2 ½ cups blueberries

prepare:

• preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

• prepare a 12 tin muffin tin with liners or spray with non-stick cooking spray.

• whisk together the butter, vanilla, eggs and milk in a medium bowl.

• in a large bowl, whisk flour, ¾ cup sugar, baking powder and salt.

• stir wet ingredients into dry ingredients then gently fold in blueberries.

• divide the batter evenly among the muffin tins.

• bake for 25-30 minutes or until an inserted toothpick tests clean.

• eat warm with more butter or at room temperature.

what we’re reading

mattering — the secret to a life of deep connection and purpose by jennifer breheny wallace

beneath modern epidemics of loneliness, burnout, and depression, wallace identifies a single hidden crisis: the widespread feeling that we do not matter. she defines mattering as a two-part equation — feeling valued by others, plus adding value to the world — and argues it functions as a meta-need that runs deeper than belonging, connection, or purpose individually. the framework she builds around it is concrete: recognizing your impact, being relied on but not too much, feeling prioritized, and being truly known and invested in.

what makes this book work is that it doesn't stay abstract. it opens with two encounters on the same day — a bodega shopkeeper who remembered a regular customer's preference for clementines and stocked them specially, and a train conductor who defused an enraged young man not through force but through calm respect — both as proof that the desire to feel seen and valued is universal. the research is rigorous; the storytelling is humane.