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Alison Alleyne's avatar

Great recap...and don't stress yourself. We'll all still be here. Well most of us. Not the ones that buggered off after you posted from the DNC ( which as a Brit I loved by the way. So Insightful, could almost touch the hope and LFG attitude in the room).

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Caroline's avatar

I did too! It was great for people like us located outside the US who might not have access to such detailed coverage, to see the speeches and reactions in real time! (NYT take note 😉!)

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Isabelle's avatar

I would love to see your ads that you make for Titktok but I don't have Titktok. Any chance you can post it on IG for subscribers?

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Ilana Wiles's avatar

Yes I can do that!

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Kristen Baker's avatar

These recaps make me feel like we’re best friends who haven’t seen each other in forever and you’re giving me the highlights reel of important things.

I’m so excited to hear about Harlow’s audition! Performing is engrained in her DNA. I’m also super excited for Leah’s wedding update…

What’s Mazzy’s plan for school extracurriculars? Is she doing volleyball again?

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Ilana Wiles's avatar

She opted out of volleyball this year. It's very competitive and she thought it would be a waste of her time. Both because she probably wouldn't make it and if she did, she would spend a lot of time on the bench. We tried to convince her and failed. Then we signed her up for a studio art course over the weekends that will be much more her speed.

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Kristen Baker's avatar

Oh!! And this was the first week of school for my sophomore. It’s his first year at this school as we moved cross-country in January and he finished up his online program instead of enrolling him in school here.

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Caroline Ross's avatar

I loved the DNC National Convention video. And, Ilana, I really love this style for your writing. I haven't been on socials as much this summer, so it was great to see all these things in one place. And, I loved reading the big summary.

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Jacqui's avatar

I live in London, so looking forward to seeing what you did here and what you enjoyed! I think that I was on holidays with my kids when you were here, otherwise I would have been on the lookout for you and your family. (I live and work in central London so you never know?)

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Sarah Hurst's avatar

I live in London too, and was totally on a lowkey lookout, just in case!

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Caroline's avatar

Thank you Ilana for the updates! Personally I like your substack posts the most of all your content as I think you have a lovely writing style and as a parent of younger kids I like reading about life with big kids 🩷

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Wendy G's avatar

So much fun to read about the summer! I’m looking forward to reading about the wedding and the trip to London. I enjoyed your DNC recap, thank you! (Did you see Jessica Yellin’s Instagram video on content creators vs traditional journalists? Gave me a lot to think about…the world is changing!)

This is the first time in 19 years I don’t have anyone going off to school, but both offspring are job hunting and starting tomorrow…both will living at home! So much for the empty nest 😂😂

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Karie Tieszen's avatar

Love the recap 😊

Good luck to Harlow at auditions and to you all as you get back in the school routine! We’ve been in school since mid August and as a mom of a high school freshman, we are still transitioning 😂. Can’t wait to see the London trip, Leah’s wedding, and the house!! 😍

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Caroline Ross's avatar

We started in mid April, too. I have a graduate, 10th grader and an 8th grader.

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Madeline D's avatar

I love this succinct recap that tells it all! I admit to be firmly in the "no more Italy" camp and also the "can't wait to hear about Leah's wedding" camp. You know how at New Year's everyone does the top pics of the year? Maybe you could do a similar insta post with the top 10 pic overview of the summer?!

Glad Harlow is letting that light shine!

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Brandy McFee's avatar

Always love these Substack recaps. Looking forward to seeing Leah’s wedding, London, and the new house renovations. Thanks for sharing! And good luck to Harlow at her auditions!

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Kelli B's avatar

Loved this recap! You’ve had so much JOY going on it’s hard to fill us in on all of it-but hey, that’s not a bad thing. I’m so glad you did the DNC in real time! It was so wonderful to see it all up close and feel that hopeful energy! Can’t wait for Leah’s wedding and back to school!

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Lorette Lavine's avatar

I love it all! Since COVID and retirement, I have enjoyed more down time than I have ever had. To be very honest, I have never enjoyed a political convention in my entire life except for when the balloons are released and it is ending. Most of it is from my childhood memories of all the major networks in NY cancelling my favorite programs for an entire week! Your videos and coverage of the DNC was the highlight of that week...it was like actually being there without the crowds. I loved that you were able to meet up with Jessica as I have met both of you at MOM 2.0 years ago and it is just amazing to see how OG bloggers are still flourishing. Life after retirement, when your family is spread out across the country can sometimes too quiet...but I love to see your travels and watch how you navigate NY where I grew up went to NYU and lived my young adult life before I transplanted to suburban Chicago. Keep doing what you are doing...I am here for it. So happy to hear that your friend Lucy will be returning to New York. Enjoy Fall!

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Jennice Cottle-writer's avatar

Im kind of disappointed that I did none of the things I wanted to this Summer. I got married in June and after that we went back to our regular routine. I ran into a nasty bout of post wedding blues and I'm finally getting past it but I do have major olans for the regular school year for my own personal growth. Here's to a new school year 🥂

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Andrea T.'s avatar

Loved the recap! I've not always been able to keep up with stories this summer so making sure I didn't miss anything helped. I absolutely LOVED that you got to experience the DNC and it was great to see a real person's perspective vs the TV coverage.

My kids started back to school this past week. Everyone was very ready for the long weekend! I've got an 8th and 9th grader and there were definitely some nerves for starting high school. My daughter is also trying out for her school play this week. Good luck to Harlow- hopefully they see her for the star we all know she is!

As for Mazzy giving up volleyball, I feel like that's one of the lesser know challenges of the big kid years- we want them to spread their wings and find their thing, but it's also sad to see them give up things we've watched them put so much into (BabySideburns did a great post about that a while back).

Anyway, loved the recap and can't wait to hear/see more about the house, the wedding, and London!

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Kelly Neumann's avatar

Thanks for the re-cap! We are all so invested in your life! 🤪 looking forward to Leah's wedding and London content. I was ready for back to school but at the same time it is hard to be back to a strict schedule. I feel like summer flew by and we didn't do anything. In reality we did back to back trips to Ohio and South/North Dakota in June. So the rest of summer was just relaxed due to burn out. So this summer was just different than normal.

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Lauren Eland's avatar

Ohhhh I love this! And love that Lucy & fam are coming back!… as long as it’s great for them, too 😉

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