✨let's talk thru: MAY
the best month of the year because of travel & meeting internet friends IRL
If you are new or need a refresher, I am (attempting to) breaking down each month through categories. It helps me reflect & remember the things I learned, observed or wanted to document.
READ
LEDGER:
🔘 read on my nook
🎧 audiobook
📚 reread
🔖 library
📔 own
🔘 Big Swiss by Jen Beagin
rating: really liked it
Sapphic. Funny. Specific. Grounded and etherial. Set in upstate New York, the main character transcribes therapy sessions for a local sex therapist. She only knows people as their initials & voice. She becomes infatuated with one woman she names Big Swiss…and then they meet.
The people are messy and fun and vibrant.
🔘 Really Good Actually by Monica Heisey
rating: liked it
Lots of messy woman books lately. This one was really messy. Had really good moments, and good friends, but also was kinda frustrating to see one woman keep messing up.
📔 Practice Makes Perfect by Sarah Adams
rating: really liked it
The ultimate sweet romance. Annie and Will are major swoon and Sarah Adams knows how to write small towns, lovely families. If you want a low anxiety, kind read, this is it!
📔 Adelaide by Genevieve Wheeler
rating: really liked it
More messy women! But this one has better reason in my opinion. This one isn’t a light read. The cover kinda makes it look like it, but content warnings galore. The way this develops is beautiful and I love the writing of this one.
Adelaide has a hard time seeing the good in herself. She has assault in her past, but hopes for Prince Charming in the future. She thinks she meets him- Rory is kind and funny and handsome. They seem to have things in common, but sometimes he won’t text her back for days or goes weeks without communication. This relationship is the impetus for Adelaide’s both unraveling and rebuilding.
📔 Still Life by Sarah Winman
rating: loved it
This book has made me rethink every book I’ve ever given a “loved it.” Because I truly love this one. Like so much. So much.
Ulysses and Evelyn meet at the end of WWII. They strike up an unlikely friendship- him a British soldier and her an art historian. He saves a man while in Florence, and years after the war when Ulysses is back in England and Evelyn is abroad, Ulysses gets word that the man he saved has passed, and left him everything.
I’m not going to say more than that. Except that you meet a cast of a found family in both England and Italy. And a parrot named Claude, a girl named Alys, and people you won’t soon forget.
I REALLY LOVE THIS BOOK. And Florence. So much.
📔 Before We Were Innocent by Ella Berman
rating: liked it
Three girls go to Greece, only one returns. This isn’t a thriller, it’s more a social commentary on friendship and young girls coming of age.
🔘 Cult Classic by Sloane Crosley
rating: it was fine
The most memorable thing to me about this book is that I read it on a beach in Nice. I found it fine, but not too worth it.
📔 Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
rating: loved it
I don’t know what I can say about this one that hasn’t been said. It was so fun. It reminded me of the excitement of the Hunger Games or other immersive series. I usually avoid series, but I’m along for this ride.
🔘 Con/artist by Tony Tetro
rating: liked it
Reading about art in Europe felt right. I love art and art crime stories. I like this one because he wasn’t really trying to justify his actions. He knew what he was doing was wrong, but profitable.
REALIZE
The freedom and joy I feel like while traveling is accessible to me every day. I might just have to look for it a bit more.
ORGANIZE
Okay in this little section I’m going to talk about the things we bought for our trip to Nice/Barcelona that I think we were worth it!
Going on a big trip means you feel like you have an excuse to buy all the things. To get a bunch of new clothes, organization products, etc. to make you enjoy your trip the most you can. And there is some value in this, but buying what works is more important than the actual buying.
TRAVEL BOTTLES
Here’s my hot take, not eco-friendly solution for these- think of them as disposable. They aren’t that expensive, and usually leak at some point in the trip. When something is out, just throw it away, make space. I did like these even though I did have a spill. I don’t think I’ve ever not had a spill.
ELECTRONIC CASE
Originally seen on Emma’s Thing, this might be the organization MVP of the trip. I hate losing cords, I hate not being able to find my charger when it’s who knows what time and I’m on a plane and can’t sleep and need my emotional support phone game. This case made things easy to find and organized.
FOLDABLE DUFFEL
Okay the actual MVP. Maybe not this exact product, but this concept. Bring a duffel you can check filled with all your dirty laundry so your luggage can be filled with all the goods you have purchase abroad.
BUY
See above, but also let’s talk purchasing abroad.
We have learned that the best things to buy are the things that the city/region you are in is known for. This sounds like common knowledge. And it is. So much so that tourist areas know what you are looking for and will try to make cheap versions.
For example, in Italy last year, we knew we wanted leather. Florence area especially is known for their quality of leather goods. So what do some places do? Make cheap or fake leather and spray it with something that makes it smell like actual leather. Luckily, a shop owner took us into his store one day and told us the signs of what to look for, even if we didn’t buy from him.
In France, we bought cologne/perfume. In Spain, some local snacks.
Generally, art, paper goods, and books make good souvenirs. They last, and if packaged correctly, won’t get damaged.
EAT & DRINK
BUCKLE UP because we ate A LOT on our trip. So much so that we ended up cancelling a few reservation dinners because we were tired of eating and 2+ hour dinners.
FRANCE
TOP LEFT: the joy of getting 1.25 euro baguette every single day
TOP MIDDLE: midday snack of bread, butter, jamon, cheese. Butter in every single country we’ve been to so far is better than American butter and it makes me sad.
TOP RIGHT: first night at Citrus. Shrimp toast deliciousness
MIDDLE LEFT: felt like Italy again with chocolate croissant and cappuccino. This was the best we had in France at Chez Matire Pierre
MIDDLE MIDDLE lol: Lemon crepe with meringue bits was INCREDIBLE in Menton. Because Menton is known for….
MIDDLE RIGHT: Lemons! So of course we got lemonade
BOTTOM LEFT: Stumbled up on Ginette while wandering and went back two more times.
BOTTOM MIDDLE: Pate. First time having it. Didn’t think I would like it because it looked like cat food, but enjoyed it! We were informed it was the chef’s speciality so we had to.
BOTTOM RIGHT: Steak with chive butter omg
TOP LEFT: Connor got lemon ravioli and it looked divine.
TOP MIDDLE: I got a deconstructed shawarma bowl. I’m still dreaming about how they made the chicken crispy but not dry.
TOP RIGHT: We never had tartar before but I think we had it two or three times in France. The steak tartar was the one that it took me the longest to get used to but liked it the most.
MIDDLE ROW + BOTTOM LEFT: I wrote a whole instagram post about La Cucina. It was incredible. Bruschetta, burrata pasta, incredible steak and the best tiramisu of my life.
WEAR
Packing for traveling abroad is stressful. Did you pack enough? Or too much? Are you going to fit in or look hella American?
I’ve learned that you don’t need to buy a whole new wardrobe while traveling. You need to pay attention to the weather, you need to feel like yourself, you need to be comfortable.
I like making outfit formulas for my trips:
blouse + wide leg jeans
dress + jacket
tank + linen pants
Travel means making a lot of decisions and constant processing. Don’t let your wardrobe be another thing to stress over.
WATCH
I watched too much TV this month which is why I am doing a movie focus in summer (will talk about next month).
Highlights: new season of Queer Eye, Queen Charlotte (cried at the last episode), and reigniting my off brand love of the Fast & Furious franchise.
LISTEN
PODCASTS
Currently listening:
Bad on Paper
Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend
Over Under Achievers
The Popcast with Knox & Jamie
Sleep With Me
Money with Katie
Scam Goddess
Normal Gossip
Catching up:
Maintenance Phase
Added to queue:
None!
TRAVEL
I’ve talked a lot about our trip, so I won’t belabor it. But if you do have any travel related questions, drop them in the comments and I would be happy to answer.
MEMORIES
I would be remiss to not talk about finally meeting Hannah Moerman in May. I will try not to ramble, but here we go.
About five years ago I got a random follow on Instagram and/or Twitter (we can’t remember what came first). But what started as some DMs and responding, turned into texts, which turned into Facetimes. And the internet gave me a best friend (you can have more than one calm down).
But your best friend being confined to a screen means that they are difficult to explain to the rest of the world. “What do you mean you’ve never met?” “And she’s your best friend?”
So when you take the jump from 2D to 3D, it feels like a risk, it feels like dating. You wonder if the depth and closeness you’ve felt for years is going to translate. Well, it more than did.
As soon as Hannah got in my car, I knew we were going to be just fine.
We brunched. She joined me while I worked. We coworked. We went to Target. We talked…a lot. And about everything.
We’ve been trying to make this happen for years. And now I need her to move to Tennessee ASAP.
She’s funny, insightful, understanding, kind, and hard working.
If you have an internet friend, meet them if you can. It’s worth it.
I didn’t necessarily forget to do this newsletter in April and May. I was too busy. But not busy in the way I have been for years- busy being stressed, busy overthinking, busy overworking.
I’ve been busy calming down. I’ve been busy enjoying life. I’ve been busy enjoying not being on my laptop.
But I did miss writing this, so I am trying to figure out my when. When I write this, when I make time for it. Because I like writing and I like writing to you.