Daily Skimm

EDITOR’S NOTE

Happy Saturday. Apologies to everyone I know, but there are few birthday parties I’d RSVP yes to (don’t get me started on the latest milestone trend, which makes the birthday month thing seem rational). That said, after seeing pictures from Lena Dunham’s 40th birthday dinner, I would’ve paid good money to attend — if only to see who got her that absurdly perfect gift. That wasn’t the only thing that made me do a double take this week…

Gwyneth Paltrow stepped out carrying what I firmly believe is the much cooler version of the L.L. Bean Boat and Tote. Needless to say, my summer bag situation just changed.
Turns out, the chicest jewelry styling trick is the one your mom always said was a mistake — and it means you’ll finally wear everything you own.
First came track pants. Now, another middle school gym staple is having a surprisingly stylish moment — minus the folded waistband, thankfully.
I hadn’t thought about my favorite childhood cereal in years. But when I saw it was launching a new flavor specifically made for me? Let’s just say being an adult is gr-r-reat (sorry, had to).

— Melissa Goldberg / Senior Editor / Washington, DC

These Mediterranean-Inspired Meatballs Are About To Become Your Most-Made Recipe

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Virtually any meal can begin with meatballs if you try hard enough — but the beauty of Eden Eats’s Spiced Chicken Meatballs with Garlicky Yogurt and Herby Cucumber Salad is that you barely have to try at all. In this objectively perfect weeknight dinner, tender meatballs are packed with shallots, Mediterranean spices, lemon zest, and milk-soaked panko — and baked in the oven, so there’s no fussy frying or oily stovetop to clean up. Even better? They’re served over a bed of lemony yogurt sauce and topped with crisp, minty cucumber salad for what one commenter called their “dream plate.” Couldn’t agree more.

The Time Commitment: Around 45 minutes.

Key Tips: While the recipe calls for full-fat Greek yogurt, Eden Grinshpan (aka Eden Eats) says labne works just as well. And for an extra burst of flavor, finish the dish with a sprinkle of sumac and a drizzle of olive oil.

Other Takes: For more easy, meatball-based dinners, try…

Green Goddess Chicken Ricotta Meatballs. If you also believe green goddess dressing > ranch, these juicy meatballs are loaded with its key ingredients and drenched in the sauce itself.
One-Pan Chicken Feta Meatballs with Lemon Turmeric Rice. When a 30-minute meal is called “the easiest, most satisfying dinner you’ll make all week,” you don’t need to tell us twice.
Yellow Curry Meatballs with Peanut Shallot Crispies. No shade to Aunt Sue’s green bean casserole, but this Thai-inspired recipe is what crispy fried onions were meant for.

What’s new in food & home:

🕯️ Move over, Le Labo hand soap. This other sink essential is apparently the new bathroom status symbol.

🤯 You’ve probably never thought about putting this dining room staple in your bedroom — but once you see it, you’ll be mad you waited this long.

💡 Can’t figure out why a room in your house feels off? You’re probably making one of these design mistakes. (Number three feels like a personal attack.)

Men Like Ours by Bindu Bansinath

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Don’t be fooled by the title — Men Like Ours by Bindu Bansinath is a book about women. Namely, the women of Willow Road, a South Asian suburban enclave of New Jersey, where recently widowed Anita Sharma and her teenage daughter, Leila, live. When a family friend, Matthew Pillai, is found dead, the tight-knit neighborhood is thrust into a gossip-fueled investigation. Jumping back and forth in time, the novel chronicles the Sharmas’ unhappy arranged marriage, Anita’s struggle to find home in America, and how Matthew grew suspiciously close to Leila under the guise of encouraging her acting dreams. Darkly funny and unsettlingly vivid, it’s a riveting portrait of a community with a side of murder mystery. Or as author Gary Shteyngart put it, “the most promising debut I’ve read in decades.” We asked Bansinath a few questions. Here’s what she had to say…

Q: What’s one thing everyone needs to watch?

Bansinath: Sons of Ecstasy, a twisty and oddly beautiful doc about two rival kingpins facing off in the 1990s Arizona party scene. One is a British stock trader, and the other is the wayward son of a mafioso in witness protection.

Q: What’s a corner of the internet you recently discovered?

Bansinath: The GirlDinnerDiaries subreddit, where strangers post food photos and vent about grievances small and large — like how they’re “so f*cking sick of ads being everywhere” (wonton soup pic) or how their ex-best friend is possibly pregnant by their ex-husband (yogurt parfait). It’s vulnerable, messy, and very Old Internet.

Q: What’s one recipe everyone should make?

Bansinath: These giant crinkled chocolate chip cookies with double the recommended chocolate.

PS: To learn what deeply unexpected thing has made Bansinath 10% happier, read our full author interview here.

Meanwhile, on the internet...

The Washington Nationals just added an 8-week-old puppy to their roster — and honestly, he might be the best thing to happen to baseball.
Thought you had a bad week? Just be thankful you’re not the person behind KFC’s X account, who’s never going to live down this (impressively still live) post.
These are the nine “adult cheat codes” that apparently make life easier. Number three just validated our Amazon order history.

The highly specific, effortlessly cool trend we're seeing for summer: cobalt pants. This Free People pair and this one from Quince are both under $80.

From a perfectly oversized striped tee to joy-sparking plushies, these are the new product launches our shopping editor is most excited about.

Keep scrolling...more recs below

This Italian Island Has Everything the Amalfi Coast Offers — Without the Crowds

theSkimm

Summer’s almost here, which means the Amalfi Coast is about to be packed. That’s why we’re making the case for Sardinia instead — which is equally stunning, but with a fraction of the crowds. Make Cagliari, the capital, your base and spend your days wandering narrow alleyways in the Castello district (don’t miss sunset at the city’s best lookout point), relaxing on spectacular beaches, spotting pink flamingos at Molentargius Saline Regional Natural Park, sampling the island’s “longevity wine” (which may or may not explain Sardinia’s Blue Zone status), and embracing slow living over aperitivi in lively piazzas. As for whether you extend your trip to the ridiculously glamorous Costa Smeralda or the tiny hillside town home to “The World’s Rarest Pasta”? We’ll leave that up to you.

🌊 Sure, Northern Sardinia takes the crown for the island’s best beaches — but the southern shores are just as mesmerizing and way more affordable. Case in point: Cagliari’s Poetto Beach, a miles-long stretch of white sand and turquoise water lined with beach clubs and seafood restaurants. Want something less crowded? Cala Cipolla, with its dramatic cliffs, is well worth the hour drive.

🍽️ Forget tagliatelle and bucatini — Sardinia has its own pasta playbook. In Cagliari, visit Trattoria Lillicu to try fregola di mare, a couscous-like pasta cooked in a tomato broth with mussels and prawns. Or head to Pani e Casu for malloreddus alla campidanese (aka the “quintessential pasta dish of Sardinia”) and culurgiones, a potato- and cheese-stuffed pasta that falls somewhere between a ravioli and a dumpling.

🎣 Spend an afternoon strolling the Marina neighborhood, a former fishing enclave packed with bars, shops, and restaurants. Snack on local cheeses and tapas-style small plates at Sabores. Pick up whimsical, animal-shaped ceramics from the husband-and-wife team at Raku. And pop into Durke Maurizia Pala Srl, a family-run bakery serving up traditional sweets like suspiros (the Sardinian equivalent of a macaroon) and papassinus (diamond-shaped raisin cookies).

🏰 History buffs, prepare to be very busy. Start at The National Archaeological Museum of Cagliari, where 4,000 artifacts trace 7,000 years of history. Then take a day trip to Su Nuraxi di Barumini — a mind-boggling Bronze Age fortress dubbed “Sardinia’s Stonehenge” — to explore remarkably well-preserved stone staircases, towers, and homes. Or go down the coast to Nora, an ancient city with a Roman theater, thermal baths, and temples — and that’s just what’s been excavated so far.

Wearable supplements is the newest wellness trend we're pleasantly surprised by.

If you have travel plans on the horizon, pick up this Glow Recipe minis set. It's a complete skincare routine in TSA-friendly packaging, all for less than $40.

PS: Want more product recs? Follow @skimmshopping on Instagram.

We asked you to vote on an etiquette question you’d like answered. The winner was:

A close friend who’s on a GLP-1 recently asked to pay a quarter of our dinner bill instead of splitting it evenly, since she ate significantly less. Was I wrong to push back, and how do we handle the bill going forward?

“If this were a communal meal with shared appetizers, entrees, and a bottle of wine, then your friend’s request to pay a quarter of the bill wasn’t really fair. Menu prices are fixed regardless of appetite, and the cost of a shared experience doesn’t shrink because one person ate less. But if your friend said upfront she wasn’t eating much, ordered accordingly, and the bill reflected two very different individual orders, then pushing back was the wrong move. Going forward, order in a way that reflects her new reality. If you want to share, this probably means ordering less food overall. Otherwise, agree upfront that you’ll each order individually and pay for what you ordered. It may feel less carefree than before, but it’s a lot better than letting it come between you.”