HEY APW,
As a recovering people pleaser, I’m embarrassed to admit that I used to be really bad at taking vacations. Which feels like… the dumbest thing to write. Who’s bad at taking vacations? Is that, like, the biggest non-problem a person ever invented? Except having convinced myself that someone might need me at any minute, I have basically spent the past five years always feeling like I needed to be “on,” never giving myself an opportunity to take a break. And it was starting to take a toll on my mental and physical health (do you know what anxiety does to your body?). But thanks to some very expensive, but very useful therapy last year, I’ve been working on unplugging and allowing myself to believe that the world doesn’t really need me as much as I like to think it does. And today I’m writing to you on the first day back from my first real break in about half a decade. I went to the beach, read to my niece, and even got to drive my baby sister back to college. And while my inbox is a hot mess right now, it was so worth it. Yay for progress.
In other news, I also got to come back to a newly decorated APW office (with a special treat just for me). Because Meg is Meg, she’s been using maternity leave to pretty it up, and it’s sort of like the best part of going back to school, minus the homework. There are even gel pens! Having worked from our respective kitchens all these years, gel pens feel like a big deal. I mean, hi, they’re neon.
But that’s enough about me. It’s your happy hour, so get to it!
CHEERS,
MADDIE
HIGHLIGHTS OF APW THIS WEEK
What do you do when your hypothetical baby is already stressing you out?
If Tim Burton was really into flowers, this might be what his wedding would look like.
Some #realtalk on wedding day disasters, and how people got through them.
The Flashdance, aka the hippest wedding DJ we know, gave us his secret list of seventy-five reception songs that will make sure all your guests bust a move.
Her fiancé bought into the WIC and now he wants to spend ALL THE MONEY.
This is the trailer palace desert wedding that American dreams are made of.
LINK ROUNDUP
We don’t need anti-abortion activists telling us what we already know: “Abortion is disgusting.”
Speaking of which: “The war on women is over (and women lost).”
“If I knew my daughter had Down’s Syndrome, I would have aborted her.”
“My generation hates cultural appropriation, but my Indian parents love it.”
Coming out as a trans man, when you have no male role models to look up to.
Kim Davis was let out of jail for refusing to issue marriage licenses on the grounds of her “beliefs”…and someone made a hilarious twitter account about it.
Twenty-four Tim Burton inspired wedding ideas. (OMG those candlesticks!)
Mother’s milk is basically amazing. End of story.
These men’s rights activists are using a 1950s discrimination law to shut down women in tech.
Roxanne Gay and Erica Jong discuss feminism, and it’s… awkward.
However, Connie Britton hawks Feminism as her best beauty secret.
A dad made this anti-bullying music video for his daughter and it’s the best thing.
The reality of getting paid as a freelance writer in 2015.
These women are making a statement against acid attacks using beauty tutorials.
Okay, so listening to a drunk couple talk about getting together isn’t usually awesome, but this time it REALLY is.
“How do we give Ivy the same opportunities as Abe? Do we praise her 21.7 percent more? Hug her 21.7 percent harder?” On how to raise your daughter by a tangible feminist standard and making up for the gender wage gap.
Why do Americans dress so casually?
I fuck fat people: “If you’ve never fucked a fat person, take a minute and ask yourself why.”
