mind trinkets #3: may & june miscellany

adorable ya romance books, summery music must-listens, fashion favorites, and interesting anthropology

Jul 02, 2025

Hello again, dear friends! I apologize for the brief pause on content. My cat had a medical emergency, so I’ve kinda dropped everything recently so that I can help take care of her. That said, cat emergency aside, I had a good May and June, and I hope y’all are doing well too!

Today I’m back with another segment of “Mind Trinkets,” my series where I gab about everything that’s caught my mind’s eye recently. Today’s segment is a bit more brief than usual (owing to said cat medical emergency), but there’s still some good stuff packed in here. So let’s dive right in!

current obsessions

you started it by jackie khalilieh

I’ve been slowly reading through this ADORABLE young adult romance and so far I love it soooooo much!!! It’s about a mixed race Arab diaspora girly with anxiety (so, bonus point for the main character being relatable for me) who gets into a fake dating situation in order to try to woo her ex-boyfriend back. Of course, shenanigans ensue, and things turn out a little differently than the main character expected. I don’t usually read contemporary romance, especially of the YA variety, but I decided to give the audiobook of You Started It a chance after I received it as an ALC (advance listener’s copy) through Libro.fm’s influencer program. Needless to say, that was a great decision! Not only is the romance so sweet and cute, but I also love the representation for mixed race Arab girlies and girlies with anxiety. There’s even one scene that almost moved me to tears because of that representation, which is rare for me! If you’ve yet to give this book a chance, then definitely check it out!!

my summertime 2025 playlist

Summer is the perfect season for fun music of all kinds! And, of course, that calls for making the perfect summer playlist! Which I’m always superb at, if I do say so myself, haha! This summer, my playlist is a nice, eclectic mix of Bad Bunny, Addison Rae, and many other random songs by different artists which scream “summer!” to me. Definitely take a listen and let me know what you think!

my new maxi skirt and wrap top from shiny by nature

I purchased a tiered, baby blue and white, gingham maxi skirt and a pale petal pink, long sleeved wrap top from the brand Shiny by Nature, and they’re some of my new favorite pieces in my wardrobe! I have a very unusual hip to waist to bust ratio (my waist is really tiny compared to my hips and bust) so it’s always difficult to find good, well made, and cute clothing that fits well, but Shiny by Nature is a godsend in that regard! Shiny by Nature is a brand designed for curvy women and all of the pieces I’ve purchased from them fit so well and are so cute. I’m really satisfied with my purchases and will definitely be checking in on their site regularly from now on to see what else they have!

what’s got me thinking recently

fig tree’s video on the phoenicians

As a Lebanese American anthropology student myself, I adore coming across outstanding, qualified anthropology educators on social media and I also love learning more about my Lebanese heritage! Which is why I was ecstatic when fig tree’s video on the Phoenicians (a.k.a. one of the ancient Lebanese civilizations) popped up on my YouTube feed. fig tree is a YouTube channel run by an archaeologist who focuses their content on ancient archaeology and anthropology. I instantly fell in love with their content, all of which is fascinating, so when I saw they had a video about the Phoenicians, I knew I had to watch. It was a great decision, as I learned so much about my people’s forefathers, all of which was very interesting and made me want to do even more research on them! Definitely watch fig tree’s video on the Phoenicians and definitely check out their other content as well!!