July 2026 Nonpareils: World Cup, 90’s Mom Rock and Witchy Books
📚 Reading
The Bane Witch by Ava Morgyn
A dark and compelling story about an abused woman who escapes her husband, learns she’s part of a line of powerful witches and uses poison to hurt and kill terrible men - it’s the feel-good story of the summer!
Ok, that was a little snarky but you guys - the horrors, they continue to persist and so does my love of witch-lit and women rediscovering their power. If you’re a fan of Practical Magic or men getting what’s coming to them, you’ll probably love this book.
Get it on Bookshop.org
The People Who Think Air Is Food by Breena Kerr (GQ)
My best friend sent me this article. I come from a cultural tradition of fasting wherein women fast on certain days for the good health of their husbands (when do the men fast for the good health of their wives? Excellent fucking question) and I understand the occasional break from indulgence if you feel you need it, but I’m gonna need people to please stop coming up with creative ways to kill yourself and attempting to legitimize it by slapping a Hindu theological concept on it. The prana from the air will not nourish you but a big-ass bowl of hummus topped with lots of olive oil, cucumbers, tomatoes, olives, onions, fresh jalapeños, feta and pickled beets with grilled pita bread will. Oh my God, you guys. I am so hungry.
🎧 Listening To
I’m The Only One by Melissa Etheridge
It is 90s Mom Rock Summer in my car and if a song sounds like it would have been played in the Salingers’ home in 1994, I’m probably gonna be belting it out in my car. No-one sings a torch song like Ms. Melissa Etheridge.
Coastline by Hollow Coves
I’m lucky enough to have a noisy, colorful life filled with interesting people and places and experiences but every now and then, I need a moment. I need some time and space to decompress, so I listen to what I call Sunday Morning Music while engaging in some necessary but zen-like activity like chopping vegetables or folding laundry and feel a little more centered and more at peace.
Wonderwall - Oasis
This one is the song of the summer and I’m usually belting out while in various states of sobriety directly at the television after England matches while weeping and blubbering on about how much I love Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka and Jude Bellingham.
🎦 Watching
The World Cup
England beat Mexico at the Azteca 3-2 courtesy of a brace by Jude Bellingham and a banger of a goal by Harry Kane. This was the match of the tournament and I have never been more proud of this team.
Then, we beat Norway and then, we took on Argentina where the ref didn’t call any fouls and we all learned that FIFA does indeed stand for:
Fixed
It
For
Argentina.
We played France in one of the most wild matches I’ve ever seen in the third place final, winning 6-4 with a beautiful hat trick from our Starboy Saka and a final belter of a goal from the man of the tourney, Jude Bellingham.
I’ve been an England supporter since childhood and remember watching Gazza cry when he got the yellow against West Germany in the semi-finals. Yes, West Germany. I am very old. Regardless, I have loathed the Argentinian national team for a very long time and the fact that this match made my son cry real tears means I will stroll into the heat death of the universe with a heart filled with hatred for La Albiceleste.
My God, how can you not love football?
I love our lads and cannot wait for the start of the Premier League in August. Up The Gun!
Sugar (Apple TV)
A noir detective show set in Los Angeles is exactly up my dark alley and when you throw in Colin Farrell, a man who is more handsome now than he was two decades ago, it’s pretty much the best show on television right now.
Widow’s Bay (Apple TV)
Much like Gretchen Weiners and the word “fetch” - I am a firm believer that Summerween needs to be A Thing.
About fifteen minutes into Widow’s Bay, I was cackling like a witch. By the second episode, I was all in and when I Googled the show and this popped up?
Yeah. Sold. It’s the show of the summer for me.
🍳 Dining
I launched my food series, One Mouthy Sandwich Girl last month. I share recipes and review vegetarian bites and this month, I’ve been eating a lot of Happy Hour specials as we’ve been going out to watch World Cup matches.
Hydration Packets: You would think that living in a place where the temperature hovers in the mid 90s and the air is as thick as day-old chowder, I would be better about drinking water. I am not. I am actually really bad about it. Thankfully, half a hydration packet + sparkly water means I’ve been less lizard girl and more hydrated woman. Highly recommend Aldi’s line which are delicious and cost way less than Liquid IV - the passion fruit is really good and so is the coconut water cherry variety.
Trader Joe’s Sparkling Orange Flavored Espresso Tonic: Summer in Florida feels like being trapped in a dryer load of wet towels, so my standard order of an iced shaken espresso with hazelnut and oatmilk feels a little cloying. An espresso tonic with orange is a bright, effervescent caffeine fix on a sweltering day and one I highly recommend. If you’re a West Palm local, check out the Espresso Tonic at Pumphouse Pouratorium. It’s the first place I ever tried it and they do it well.
Homemade tacos: Tacos are delicious but here’s the deal - unless you live in Austin, it’s goddamn impossible to find delicious vegetarian tacos. I’ve started making them at home and I kinda prefer them to pretty much every local taco joint around me. Mostly because fuck mushrooms as a taco filling forever and always. Lately, I’ve been making black bean, roasted zucchini, onions, pepper and corn tacos with fresh jalapeños and green onions and they hit the spot every single time.
🤷🏽♀️ Misc.
The Ordinary’s Hyaluronic Acid 2% + B5 (with Ceramides)
Remember that scene in Freaky Friday where Jamie Lee Curtis looks into the mirror and freaks out?
Yeah. That’s pretty much me under the fluorescents only worse because she’s Jamie Lee Curtis and I’m Jaime Elder, noted not a millionaire with access to aestheticians.
Thankfully for regularly Janes like me, there is The Ordinary and their beautifully formulated, effective and incredibly reasonably priced skincare.
I am 43 years old and average somewhere around 5 ½ to 6 hours of sleep a night (snoring spouse, giant dog who loves to spoon and dreams he’s running the Kentucky Derby, kid who invariably shows up to sleep in my bed despite having a king sized bed of his own, perimenopause and waking up to feel like the actual fucking sun lives inside of your body) and yet, my skin looks lustrous, hydrated and smooth because of this magic potion.
Anthony Jeselnik’s Book Club
Apologies to Anthony Jeselnik, I was not familiar with your game.
I was under the misconception that he was a douchebag in the vein of Dane Cook. Why did I think that? I don’t know, he’s a white dude with a mic. You tell me.
Anyway, I’m a big enough person to admit that I was completely wrong (about Jeselnik. Dane Cook is still a douchebag).
In addition to being an incisive stand-up whose scathing comedy would make Bill Hicks proud, the man reads voraciously and his book club is better than every other book club I’ve joined….which, let’s face it, is usually just a reason to get together and drink.
June’s email ended with, “Also, DO NOT fall for email scams coming from accounts that look like Jeselnik Book Club but aren't Jeselnik Book Club. We will never ask you for money! We just want you to read! And remember, TV is bad, Movies are bad, Vanilla Ice concerts in 2026 are bad. Enjoy your books.”
The man wants me to read and agrees that everything is the actual worst. Yeah. I’m all about this.
