Weekend Reads for How is It Already the Middle of November?

Last week I felt all a mess, like I was juggling eggs and they kept falling and cracking. I realized I had not picked up my Vyvanse refill (there's an ADHD joke in there). It's funny, when I started taking it this past spring I could hardly notice it. But once I went a week without it, I saw how much it helps me.

We women have been taught to white knuckle through things men wouldn't spend a second suffering through. We are taught that exercise, water, sleep, and kale can cure everything and medication is a crutch. I believed this for a very long time myself, but going through perimenopause made me a Western medicine convert.

I have a progesterone IUD, an estrogen patch on my bum, and smear testosterone cream on my calf every morning. I swallow three different pills before I even head downstairs for my morning “cocktail” of preworkout, creatine, and fiber. At night I have another “perimenopausal cocktail” of magnesium glycinate and a prebiotic fiber powder as I down fish, sea buckthorn, and borage oil pills and an allergy tablet. And I feel no guilt, no shame, only a return to the me I remember back when.

Sure, I exercise (love Katie and Rebecca for strength classes on the Peloton app and my Hydrow rower), I hardly drink, don't smoke, eat quality foods, drink predominately water, and prioritize sleep. But I know that lifestyle is only part of the prescription. I white knuckled ADHD for decades and now realize how much more enjoyable life can be when I am not battling against myself so much.

I share this because if you're white knuckling because you feel that hormones or meds or therapy or some treatment or procedure is a crutch or a waste… be kinder to yourself. You're a badass, and all badasses need an arsenal of tools to get sh*t done. These are merely tools.

Weekend Reads

On Maintenance. (Oldster via Substack)

The Midterms Are Over. The Garbage They Generate Is Forever. (Coyote)

Who else loves a slip on and off waterproof winter boot to have at the door at the ready? I just got these and feel set for the season. BTW code ALISON10 gets you 10% off.

Does Fashion Discriminate Against Short People? (New York Times – gift link)

A chic and sustainable addition to a gift card present.

An affair with an economist exposed the calculus of modern dating. (The New Yorker)

I love giving matching socks to friends as a little holiday gift; these are adorable for your sipping sisters!

The wellness industry wants to sell you your attention back. (Dazed)

How pretty is this blouse?

The Radical Politics of Accepting Help. (The Auntie Bulletin via Substack)

Just got this bag and it is genius! Weighs less than 2lbs, packs down to nothing, but is a durable, water-resistant, and well-designed weekender or carry-on.

How Women Over 40 Are Getting Hired. (Gloria)

AI’s Advice to Women? Know Your Place. (The Noosphere via Substack)

How the Blue Wave Powered Liberal Judges in Supreme Court Elections. (Bolts)

What is my cat saying? I asked experts to translate. (The Guardian)

I have shared before my obsession with this body wash. Well, they have now made us a discount code! Use ALISONG20 and get 20% off your entire purchase at Each & Every!

Don’t Dress for Success. Dress for Your Nervous System. (The Material Unconscious. via Substack – and yours truly is interviewed!)

The Democrats Who Are Stunned to Find Themselves in Congress. (The Atlantic – gift link)

Paulina Porizkova: The Value I Lost When I Became an Older Woman. (New York Times – gift link)

Always on the hunt for chic rings in larger than a size 8; got this one and it's just as pretty in person.

What I Learned at a Drunk-Math Party. (The Atlantic – gift link)

Speaking of which, this is a great gift for your fire pit/football season tickets/grill master friend.

Out of Step: Minor Threat and the Beginnings of Straight Edge. (WETA Boundary Stones)

And if you're looking for a way to make a major impact with a little investment, I highly encourage you consider participating in Mutual Aid. For the past couple of years, I have been donating to CMMP, a consistent money-moving project in D.C. and it's awesome to see the direct and immediate impact. To know I am substantially helping 32 households; that the money is going to them, not marketing or payroll or office leases… that's really meaningful.

If you'd like to participate in CMMP, you can join at this link. You can donate as little as $3 a week or more depending on your capability. Payments are through Venmo, and they use clear details so you know it's legit and not a scam. Especially this time of year, it's in the spirit of the season to give and we live in a time where the disparity between economic levels is so extreme, donating the equivalent of a coffee can be practically nothing to one and practically everything to another.

Style Inspo & Sale Alert

Style Inspo

I am still trying to catch up from being off work during the election. Before early voting, I began working on updating an old post about what to wear when going out as a grown woman. I hope to finish it, but fear the items in these collages will be sold out by that time. So why not share now?

Shop the Collage: jeans I own (XS-3X & lengths) | sweater I own (XS-XL) | earrings I own | lip oil I own | bag | boots

Shop the Collage: top (XS-3X & under $100) | pants (00-18 & petite & on sale less than $55) | earrings (under $30) | lipcolor | bag | shoes (less than $85)

Sale Alert

Lands' End has 55% off and free shipping on orders $50+. This is a stellar sale; I love Lands' End and they bring it for the holidays. Cute pajamas your teen or college kid would actually wear? Check. Festive holiday socks that are actually functional too? Check. The perfect something to make that bottle of wine look like an actual gift? Check. Cute and practical housewarming gift? Check. Gift for your friend's kid you don't really know? Check. Gift for the person who has everything? Check (and personalize it). Gift for the guy who is sick of highwaters and chilly wrists all winter? Check. And a gift I am thinking of getting myself? I love Thermaskin, and now it comes in stripes!

I know you all love Awe Inspired jewelry and I do have code ALISONG15 for 15% off which many of you have used… but Awe's Black Friday sale has started early with 30% off sitewide! This is the ring I'm always wearing and people are always asking abot.

See/Hear/Read

This week, we finished the 4th season of The Diplomat. (Netflix) Starring Keri Russell and Rufus Sewell, K and I are both fans of this series and S4 did not disappoint. If anything, it made me think even more about our current presidential administration and what is happening to cause what we end up seeing.

That being said, some episodes dragged when it got too much into the relationship stuff between Kate and Hal. When my husband and my daughter banter I call it “Gilmore Girls” and my husband said a lot of this season felt like Hal and Kate were being “Gilmore Girls.” I hope for next season they realize we do like the two of them together, but less talking about their relationship and more showcasing it.

I get that the character of Kate doesn't care about fashion or her hair, but it's still always a shock when she goes from bedhead and gray bland clothing to a very fashionable evening gown and updo. I feel by now some of it would have rubbed off, or at least they would be pushing the stylist to pick her clothes for things like G7.

For books, I am 75% through The Thoroughbreds by Elin Hilderbrand and Shelby Cunningham. The whole Hilderbrand signature of detailing every meal, name-dropping local businesses and musical artists is getting a bit tiring. In this series, she has also included definitions for “SAT words” used, which is also a bit grating. But it's all a bit comforting, since I've been on an Elin Hilderbrand journey since late 2023. But I feel that when I run out of books it will be just at the time when I am over it.