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Iced Tea Merch, a Cookbook Debut, and More Things to Buy This Week

Your weekly dispatch from the ‘Add to Cart’ newsletter

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Ellie Krupnick is executive director of editorial operations for Vox Media's lifestyle brands, and focuses on keeping Eater running smoothly. She previously edited Eater's shopping content, as well as lifestyle content on Racked, Mic, and HuffPost.

This post originally appeared on May 7, 2019, in Add to Cart — the weekly newsletter for people who love shopping (almost) as much as they love eating. Subscribe now.


Black Friday is by far the biggest shopping day on the U.S. calendar (until Jeff Bezos completes his hostile takeover with Prime Day, at least). But less bemoaned and almost equally focused on shopping is Mother’s Day, which compels approximately 84 percent of U.S. adults to shell out $25 billion for flowers, cards, jewelry, gift cards, and more.

But you could always just buy your mom an omelet. Somewhere along the line, over the past several decades, Mother’s Day brunch became a key element of the holiday. And while I couldn’t find a great explanation as to why (though this NPR take on brunch as a feminist innovation is interesting), it is noteworthy, as it’s one of the few holidays I can think of that revolves around dining out. Maybe it’s because the bulk of home cooking still falls on mothers’ shoulders (despite all our supposed progress), and eating brunch out offers a well-deserved break. Or maybe it’s due to a concerted effort by the restaurant industry, with all those Mother’s Day brunch specials and promotions (hey, it worked with Valentine’s Day).

Either way, it’s a nice excuse to eat out — and perhaps to skip the traditional eggs-and-mimosa fare (and crowds) and explore someplace new and unexpected.

Things to buy

Things to know

  • Vivian Howard, of PBS’s A Chef’s Life, launched her own pop-up online bakery selling one “limited release” item at a time. The first batch — coconut lime cornmeal pound cake — is already sold out, but there are plans for a new recipe next month. (Drops — they’re for every industry now!)
  • Was the “accidental” placement of the Starbucks cup in Game of Thrones just an elaborate ploy to promote the brand’s Dragon Drink? I’m going to go out on a limb and say yes.
  • If last summer was the summer of Aperol spritzes, I’m calling this the summer of the canned spritz. Whether that’s a spiked seltzer or a Bud Light Rita Spritz or a Willie’s Superbrew (an improbable spiked seltzer-cider-kombucha combo), there have never been more options for fizzy booze.
Bud Light Rita Spritz cans