revealing: the July 'quarterly' box #THP07

Last Thursday, the postman brought a box to my door. The return address read:

Have you heard of Quarterly?

Quarterly is a company started by GOOD cofounder Zach Frechette to 'connect with the people you follow and find interesting.' Its quarterly subscriptions -- see what they did there? -- offer you the chance to receive a curated box of goodies from 'influential contributors'.

Fast Company did a small piece on the company a couple of years ago, and I was intrigued. I kept checking back on the site and its contributors (and their boxes), but still didn't pull the trigger. Yes, the contributors were 'interesting'. And yes, I even 'follow' some of them. But it wasn't until I saw this:

-- or what I call 'Box 6 from Gretchen Rubin', that I got serious and subscribed. What tipped me over? That copy of 'Slightly Foxed'.

I love 'Slightly Foxed'. I pick up a copy when I see one -- which isn't often as I don't go anywhere or do anything, of course. I have had them brought to the house, however. And I adore them. Read them cover to cover. And sometimes again and again. And 'Slightly Foxed' I do follow. Along with Gretchen and her Happiness Project.

So I subscribed. And waited.Then, '#THP07' arrived last Thursday. And I tore it open. I was greeted by a note. She writes that 'summer is here' and it's 'time for some fun...relaxing fun, calm fun, and silly fun.' Here's what's fun, according to Gretchen:

I left the opened box out on the table, a tease for The Children. They spotted it quickly - and were breathless asking who got what, assuming it was all meant for them because it all looked so fun. 'Who sent this, mom?' they squeaked; 'It's amazing!'

In her note, Ms Rubin encourages us to ask ourselves: 'What did I do for fun when I was ten years old?' As we have a resident 10 year old, and judging by his reaction, I'd say her box of fun hits the nail on the head. The first thing snagged was the yo-yo. (Possibly because I had called the rubber band shooter 'off-limits' for the time being. See below.) And then the stars went. Frankly, those stars have always appealed - and apparently continue to do so. Even the Yoga Deck was well received. Or maybe that was just my own happiness. (I look forward to using it; it should be fun.)

All in all, I was quite pleased with #THP07, or as I call it 'the fun box from Gretchen Rubin'. It made us happy. And I look forward to seeing what arrives in 'Box 8' next quarter.

So, people, are you intrigued by Quarterly? And are you remembering what you did for fun when you were 10?

Onward.

NB: The Children are all 'old enough' for these items. However. However, one of them was hurt badly last summer by a rubber band misfire. And that was with a simple 'finger' shot; not the advanced technology of a 'rubber band shooter'. As I would like to not visit the ophthalmologist again, we will be taking extreme (read: adults only) caution with this item. So much for me being any fun.