A few good gems

Welcome to Friday! We are headed to a birthday weekend around here. Sam turns 17 tomorrow, so we will be shining the bright birthday spotlight on him, which is ever so slightly different from the bright spotlight of being the only remaining at-home kid. (Wait. Teenage boys love the spotlight, right? Oh.) I think we will probably continue to seek out the best burger in Canberra, see a movie, take a hike, and let him sleep in for however long he wants on Saturday (or until his concert in the afternoon, whichever comes first).

The amazing Gunnera Tinctora leaf. Image by Philip Newton.

A few of our favorite gems of the internet to take you into the weekend:

The best ice-breakers for teenagers (or, really, probably any new group of people)--thanks, Tona.

The secret to love is kindness and generosity--a slightly old but very good one that popped up in my feed recently.

Speaking of kindnesss, what if everything you think you know about disciplining kids is wrong? Interesting article about changing how teachers (and parents) approach helping kids with challenging behavior.

The most important element of a good story?

Ode to an #uglyfeminist, a lovely piece by Jennifer Quist on teaching our boys to be better.

I loved this wedding write-up in the NY Times (anyone else love to read those, too?)

A collection of teenage bedrooms on screen. 

I could probably link to every one of Courtney Martin's columns for On Being (and I reserve the right to do so, ha!) but this one about the fluidity between who you love and what you love really resonated with me.  

I guess I can forgive you for not telling me about Poldark. Eventually. No, no, it's okay, really, that I had to pipe up at a family reunion during a conversation about favorite things--"um...what's Poldark?"  So in case you didn't catch the Masterpiece series this summer (or in England or Australia or wherever you are), get thee to iTunes and binge watch now, my friends. You're welcome. 

Five signs a party/dinner host is doing an great job at it. 

photo from Baker by Nature

What's better than key lime pie? Frozen chocolate-dipped key lime pie on a stick!

Fellow bookworms, we just updated our what-we're-reading-now books on the sidebar--->. What have you been reading lately? 

That's about it for now. Happy weekending! See you back here next week. We're on a roll!