ISSUE #4: APRIL 2026
Hi. Hello. Welcome Back.
The weather is still figuring itself out. Working its way closer to sunshine a little more every day. ☀️
Just like me.
It’s April and there’s a lot to celebrate. Friends’ birthdays, Earth Day, Poetry Month, blooms pushing up out of the dirt.
If you’re nudging toward more light too, I brought you some things.
Cleaning Up My Cleaning
Dirty Labs
I’ve been on a quiet mission to clean up my cleaning routine. Fewer chemicals. Less plastic. Nicer to Mother Earth. And honestly, no more hauling a giant jug of mystery liquid off the shelf, spilling a gooey mess that takes eleven rinses to clean up. You know the one.
I tried a few options. Sub-par cleaning, tablets that wouldn’t dissolve, packaging that missed the mark. Then a Reddit rabbit hole led me to Dirty Labs and I haven’t looked back.
? It started with the dishwasher detergent. Our dishwasher is fickle and refused to break down any tablet I threw at it, leaving a crumbly mess in the dispenser every single time. Dirty Labs disappears. Dishes come out clean. I wanted to know what else they made.
? The laundry detergent comes in a recyclable aluminum bottle that weighs less than a can of soup and does 80 loads. Compare that to a standard jug at the same load count, which weighs over 7 lbs. You measure it in a little silicone beaker, toss the beaker in the drum, and it comes out clean on the other side. Nothing wasted. Nothing sticky. The scent is subtle, which I’d argue is exactly right.
? And then. The toilet bowl cleaner. A little spoonful of powder, it fizzes up like it means it, a quick swish, done. It even handles that stubborn orange ring where the water line sits. I did not expect to have feelings about a toilet bowl cleaner and yet here I am, genuinely delighted, standing in my bathroom.
Which feels both silly and completely correct.
Life is too short to eat celery
Harry Baker
The first time I heard the poem Wonderful, my hand went to my heart — that involuntary “aww” where the corners of your mouth turn up and something just softens. Pure warm fuzzies and sunshine. That’s Harry Baker.
He’s a British spoken word artist, World Poetry Slam Champion*, and former mathematician. Somehow all three show up in his work in the best possible way. He finds patterns in language the way other people find them in numbers. Playful, accessible, tender.
The kind of poems you want to read out loud to someone. Which, naturally, I have done.
I once wandered around a rehearsal dinner with his book, Wonderful, tucked under my arm, offering poems to guests like tiny party favors. Someone would flip to a random page, read one aloud, and suddenly we were all in conversation.Magic. One of my favorite things I’ve done at a party.
His newest book Tender was written one poem a day for the first 100 days of his son’s life. When it was announced I emailed him directly to ask about pre-ordering it for two friends expecting their new tiny humans. I mentioned the rehearsal dinner story and he wrote back: “I love the wedding idea!”
I haven’t had the chance to read it myself yet, but my friend had some feedback: “I’ve already read six and cried twice.”
I enjoy reading his poetry but the true delight is to hear him perform. For most of us, that means watching him on Instagram, which is exactly where I started. But if you find yourself across the pond, he is on tour now through October.
Wonderful and Sunflowers are two of my favorite poems. But honestly, start anywhere.
*In 2012, Harry became the youngest winner of the World Slam Poetry Competition.
Make Someone Smile Today · Take One
Give Strangers Flowers
There’s something quietly wonderful about leaving a little surprise in the world and never knowing exactly what happened next.
It started at our old office in the Pearl District of Portland. A basement space with one small window sitting at sidewalk level. We put a vase of flowers outside with a little handwritten sign: “Make Someone Smile Today. Take One.”
One day, a man named Mark came down to find whoever was behind the flowers and thank them. “I needed that that day.” We put a sign out to thank him for his thanks. Lots of love going back and forth between strangers.
In October 2018, we tucked a brightly colored daisy onto the handlebars of every bike parked outside our favorite coffee shop. Five bikes. Five riders returned to a little surprise. In June 2022, our garden roses were blooming and I put the extras in a vase outside our house. Same handwritten sign. Eight years later.
It’s not about grand gestures. It’s about making a regular day a little weirder in the best way. Maybe it makes a big difference in someone’s day. Maybe it’s just the thing someone mentions when they get home. Guess what I saw today? Either way, something small and good moves through the world.
If you want to try this, Trader Joe’s is your best friend. I have no clue why their flowers are so good but they just are. Consistently the freshest I’ve found anywhere, lasting noticeably longer than anything from a grocery store, at prices that make the whole thing feel almost too easy.
Just grab a bunch. Find a vase. Write a sign.
The world could use it.
Thanks for being here. Having you along for this weird little adventure is the best part. Seriously.
Just one girl • Just for fun • Probably a little too enthusiastic