Weekender #190

🎧 Lofi beats that make deep work feel like a vibe.

🌿 Your tiny garden era starts now.

🧢 Upgrade your merch game—summer edition.

🎮 Discover how “side quests” can be a form of self-care.

During the LA fires this past January, I couldn’t sit still. I felt pulled to help. So in addition to volunteering at a donation center, I signed up to foster with Stray Cat Alliance.

That’s how Tofu came into our lives—a senior cat with barely any teeth who was surrendered by owners, and one of the only cats left unspoken for at the adoption event. My husband had eyes for the kittens, but we both sympathized hard with Tofu. We would see people discover her age and then pass her over (older cats deserve cozy retirements too!).

But fostering a cat when you already have a dog and another cat at home is…complicated.

Luckily, we have a guest room we set up for Tofu with her own litter box, food, and a cozy hideaway. She needed a quiet space to decompress, and honestly, so did our other pets.

Here’s what I learned (+ a few tips from experts):

• Start with a dedicated space. Let your foster cat settle in a quiet room with their own supplies. It helps them feel safe and in control.
• Go slow with intros. Sniffing under the door comes first, then brief supervised visits. Our dog trembled at first. Tofu didn’t 😅. The moment they got comfortable around each other and touched noses though…cue the heart melting.
• Don’t skimp on litter boxes. One per cat, plus an extra if you can. Removing one too soon caused some turf wars in our house (we did this, no bueno).
• Scent swapping helps. Rub both cats with the same towel or blanket to help them get used to each other before face-to-face intros.
• Enrichment matters. Window perches, scratching posts, and playtime reduce stress and help the foster cat feel at home.
• Keep an eye on health. Foster cats may arrive with untreated conditions; Tofu had dental issues that needed immediate care. We had no idea how much pain she was in until her last few teeth were removed and she was like a brand new happy cat. Always report changes to your org.
• Have a transition plan. If you’re not adopting, help your foster cat’s next home by sharing updates, pics, and personality traits—they make all the difference to future adopters.

Tofu’s been with us for 5 months now and we’ve really seen her come out of her shell. She’s a velcro cat who snuggles under the blankets at 5am sharp (a habit I accidentally created, now permanently enforced). She’s still not BFFs with Santi, but they mostly avoid each other and coexist for the most part. That’s a win in my book.

If you’ve ever thought about fostering (especially the senior pets!) this is your sign. Even short-term care can change a life. Sometimes more than one ❤️.

Joanna (TA Co-founder)

P.S. If you’re in the LA area and looking for a sweet, loving cat, we’re still hoping to place Tofu in her forever home. Reply if you’re interested in meeting her!

Here’s a not-so-fun fact: Most teams spend more time managing their work than actually doing it.

If your week feels like a blur of Slack pings, vague Asana comments, and “quick calls” that derail your day, you’re not alone. The good news? There’s a better way to run your workday, and it starts with the right tools and a few strategic tweaks.

Below: Four powerhouse platforms + the best practices high-performing teams use to stay focused, aligned, and actually productive.

✅ monday.com

Best for: Teams who want clarity and flexibility—minus the tech headache.

Standout features: Drag-and-drop boards, automations, sleek dashboards, integrations with Slack, Google Calendar, and more.

Why it works: Monday brings structure to chaos—especially for marketing, creative, and ops teams. You can build out workflows for anything: content planning, client onboarding, team standups, you name it.

✨ Tip: Set up conditional automations like “If status = done, move to next phase” to keep projects flowing without the manual chase-down.

🚀 Power move: Create a high-priority dashboard that pulls in urgent tasks from across all boards. That way, everyone knows what matters most right now. Check out TA’s monday.com StartUp Guide here.

✅ Smartsheet

Best for: Spreadsheet lovers who want their grids to do more.

Standout features: Grid, card, Gantt, and calendar views; formulas; cell linking; and robust permissions.

Why it works: Smartsheet looks like Excel but works like a project command center. It’s especially great for managing timelines, dependencies, and cross-functional projects where accuracy is key.

✨ Tip: Use column formulas to track task progress or automate updates across rows.

🚀 Power move: Link multiple sheets across teams (like Marketing + Ops) for live updates without duplicate data entry.

✅ Quickbase

Best for: Ops-driven teams who need custom workflows (and zero reliance on IT).

Standout features: No-code app builder, workflow automations, real-time reporting, and robust database backends.

Why it works: Quickbase is like business Legos—build exactly what you need, without code. From project trackers to vendor management, it’s endlessly customizable.

✨ Tip: Use pre-built templates to hit the ground running (think CRM, asset tracking, or resource planning).

🚀  Power move: Add dynamic form rules so users only see the fields that matter to them. Cleaner UX = less confusion = higher adoption.

Because when your task management is dialed in, everything else clicks into place.

Less stress. More progress. And way fewer “just circling back” emails.

📚 Read: Our Subway Baby by Peter Mercurio

A true NYC love story with a baby. This heart-melting picture book tells how one child, left in a subway station, found his forever home with two dads and a whole lot of fate.

📺 Watch: The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives

SO much drama. SO many secrets. This docuseries is basically Real Housewives meets religious reckoning (and yes, you will binge the whole thing in one sitting).

🎧 Listen: RATHER LIE by Playboi Carti & The Weeknd

Dark. Chaotic. Addictive. This track oozes late-night energy. Carti’s wildness meets The Weeknd’s noir vibes in a sonic fever dream you’ll loop on blast.

If spreadsheets, receipts, and “just one more invoice” are haunting your dreams…it’s time to upgrade your accounting setup.

Whether you’re a solo consultant, scaling startup, or managing expenses across departments, the right tools can help you get your financial sh*t together without losing hours to a spreadsheet spiral.

Below: Two crowd faves that make accounting less painful (and dare we say…kind of satisfying?).

✅ FreshBooks

Best for: Freelancers, creatives, and service-based businesses

This all-in-one hub makes it easy to send invoices, track expenses, accept online payments, and even log billable hours—without bouncing between apps.

✨ Why we love it:

• Automated late payment nudges = no awkward follow-ups
• Bank sync keeps you audit-ready
• Proposals turn into invoices in one click (yes, really)

Tip: Use the built-in proposal tool to quote clients, win business, and convert it into a paid invoice with one click.

✅ Xero

Best for: Small-to-mid-sized teams that need deeper financial insights

Xero handles smart reconciliation, inventory, multi-currency support, and payroll—all with accountant-level accuracy.

✨ Why we love it:

• Set rules to auto-categorize expenses (looking at you, recurring subscriptions)
• Think of it as your CFO-in-a-tab

Tip: Set up real-time dashboards for cash flow and profit & loss. You’ll actually understand your numbers, not just track them.

The best accounting tool won’t just save you time, it’ll help you make better decisions, faster.

Nelly, my adorable foster fail, arrived with severe allergies—patchy fur, scabs, and the unfortunate nickname “Scabby Cat”. With some TLC, she’s made a full transformation and now has a shiny, healthy coat. These days, she loves playing with her Pomeranian BFF, sneakily nibbling on my spider plant, and making surprise cameos in Zoom meetings. She’s a daily reminder that a little love (and a lot of personality) can go a long way.

🐾 Got a cute fur baby? Submit them to be our pet of the week in an upcoming issue.

• Orora Packaging Solutions is hiring for an Account Executive (Hybrid).
• Great Gums is hiring for a Vice President Marketing/Brand (Sonoma, CA).
• That’s it. is hiring for a Social Media Manager (Los Angeles, CA).
• Future Electronics is hiring for a Strategic Account Manager (Detroit, MI).
• CONMED Corporation is hiring for a Human Resources Coordinator (Largo, FL).

⭐ View more jobs here >