If you live in Minnesota (as I currently do), then you most definitely know that the Minnesota State Fair starts today. And the beginning of the Great Minnesota Get-Together — you betcha, we got tater tot hot dish on a stick!* — officially signifies summer in the Midwest is coming to an end.

I plan on fully enjoying these lingering August days by visiting the fair multiple times and eating all my feelings about our current president. It's really the perfect place to do so. Fried cheese curds, corn dogs with extra mustard, Sweet Martha's cookies + unlimited milk, grilled corn-on-the-cob (there's a new street corn version this year with crushed Nacho Cheesier Doritos) and mini donuts, if there's room.

If you count calories at the Minnesota State Fair, you are a monster.

What are YOU up to these next few weeks? Whatever you've planned, I hope it's relaxing and delicious and allows you ample time to appreciate the beauty of this fleeting season. Enjoy this collection of links from around the web, and I'll see you back on the blog post-Labor Day.

*photographic proof


How to help after Charlottesville.

Where were you during the Civil Rights Movement of 2017?

Oprah's Super Soul podcast just came out, and every episode is worthy of listening to on repeat. I believe the world would be a much different place if radical empathy + gratitude existed for ourselves and others.

I finished reading this, now I'm on this. Anthony Doerr's writing is magic.

I'm borderline obsessed with these money diaries. Why is reading about how other people spend their money SO fascinating?

How you can make flying better for the environment. This is one of the things I struggle with most traveling, because flying is terrible for Mother Earth.

The benefits of taking a REAL vacation.

Talking orgasms.

Declutter your life. Declutter your mind. Preach.

European fall sweater lust — yellow trim, stripes, buttons + floral.

Freelance achievement stickers. LOL.

[Photo via the lovely Hanna Voxland]