Hi friends! Rounding out the week with a post that puts together five things from the week–products I’m loving; conversations I’m having with friends; and anything else worth sharing. Let’s round out the week with some smiles!

Five for Friday: The Perfect Beach/Brunch Bag, The Best Natural Eyelash Serum, and How to Maintain Friendships

1: Friends are the Best

My podcast interview this week is with Danielle Bayard Jackson, author of the new book Fighting for Our Friendships and female friendship coach. That’s a title (“friendship coach”) that I heard and thought, Wow, that’s a thing? followed immediately by, Wow, I’m so glad that’s a thing! We need these coaches to start working with girls in elementary school. 😆

You’ll have to listen to the whole episode to hear all the research-backed ways that you can find and keep friends, but here’s one crazy interesting nugget. Danielle says there are “three affinities” that matter to women in friendships–Symmetry, Support and Secrecy. She says we inherently value these things as women and they account for how well we connect with them.

Symmetry–feeling a sense of sameness with our friends

Support–feeling supported by friends

Secrecy–letting friends “in” and showing vulnerability

Check out the interview and share with a friend you love!

2: What You’re Loving

I put together my Mother’s Day gifts roundup and you guys are loving this beautiful woven basket tote. This is one of those bags that would fit just as well at a Sunday brunch as it would poolside at a posh hotel.

3: The Best Natural Eyelash Serum

I’ve been testing this natural eyelash serum since it was sent to me about two months ago, and my eyelash growth has been insane. If you’re looking for a natural eyelash serum that works, this is it. And it’s $55–relatively affordable as far as lash serums go. (One shopping note: Make sure to convert to USD when you click to shop; it’s not letting me adjust on my end but it’s super simple to do, just look to the top right corner!)

4: Currently Reading

I’m currently really enjoying this book recommended on my favorite blog, The Stripe by Grace Atwood. It tells the story of Sally Diamond, who discovers her family’s dark past as an adult only after her father passes away. It’s dark and twisty, but it’s interesting.

5: Paring Down the Inbox

As someone who loves to know when a good sale is happening, I used to love being subscribed to all of the newsletters. But the other day I was browsing my inbox for a work email and found myself scrolling through dozens of emails and thought, What am I doing with this inbox?! I started going through all of those emails and hitting Unsubscribe. Now when I browse through my inbox it is 100% less stressful, knowing I’m seeing only what I need, and want to, see. I wrote all about it on my new Substack. Check it out, and subscribe if you’d like! (All content is currently free.)