What I’m Into: October 2015

General Highlights:

I often struggle to write this section, because most everything is covered below. But I WENT TO ICELAND for a week with one of my best friends, Bethany, and her husband. It was one of the best trips ever. How’s that for a highlight?!?

 

Reading:

I read nine books this month (thanks to all my flight time)! My three favorites were written by celebs. I knew I’d love Sara Bareilles’ new memoir since I’m a huge fan, but I only picked up Jewel’s on Emily P. Freeman’s recommendation – and now it’s the one I can’t stop talking about. It’s inspiring on multiple levels and she is an amazing human being. Meanwhile, Aziz Ansari teamed up with a sociologist to research and write Modern Romance, an analysis of dating in our modern digital age and whether we really have it better or worse than those who coupled up before us. I HIGHLY recommend it to EVERYONE, single or not. I found it about 70% encouraging/validating and 30% depressing.

 

Music:

I saw Alt-J and San Fermin at Snowden Grove a few weeks ago and LOOOVED the show! I got way too excited about the keyboardist wearing a 901 shirt with a pig on it:

Since we spent much of our Iceland trip in the car with only a few local radio stations, I got familiar with some songs I wouldn’t have heard otherwise. I especially liked one popular Icelandic song, but now that I’m home, I can’t find or identify it (since the only thing I can say in Icelandic is “thank you”). The singer was female, and there was a lot of clarinet… that’s all I’ve got.

 

Travel:

Yeah… Iceland!! I’m so thankful I got to go. Expect several detailed posts about the trip whenever I get my shiz together – I haven’t even transferred the pictures from my camera yet. I’m still jet-lagged and trying to go easy on myself. This picture was planned before I ever left America (when I spotted Grindavik on the map), and it makes me very happy. My friend Katharine commented, “Do you just carry that [growl towel] around with you at all times, in case you are overcome by fan joy at random moments?” YES. YES I DO. #MemphisVsErrrbody

At the beginning of October, I went to Dothan for my niece E’s first birthday (including her Star Wars birthday party) and dedication at church! My brother was able to come too, and it was wonderful to have bonus time with the whole family together. Usually, we’re only all together at Christmas and once in the summer.

 

Around Town:

We Memphians had an epic weekend a couple of weeks ago! My Tigers are now 7-0 and #16. There’s some buzz about us being in the BCS final four. FOR FOOTBALL. The Liberty Bowl is more packed every game, and we even have bandwagon fans. It’s amazing, and completely unprecedented. I’m still trying to wrap my head around it.

As mentioned in the post, I went to my first Cooper-Young Beerfest this month, and to Wine on the River with Kelsey and Gwen. I also organized Supper Club at the new branch of Casablanca, a popular Mediterranean restaurant. Maybe this is why I’ve put on a few pounds. :P

I was thrilled to cast my first Midtown vote in the mayoral election! None of my people won, but oh well. I’m waiting expectantly for the winners to pleasantly surprise me. I think there’s too much positive energy in this city right now for things to take a nosedive.

 

Beauty:

My complexion has been troublesome over the last six months or so. My dermatologist said the only option left is to go on meds of some kind, which I don’t want to do, so I started researching. As a result, I went to Whole Foods for a $4 bar of African Black Soap, and this Indian clay that Mindy Kaling recommended on her Instagram. You combine the clay with apple cider vinegar to make a mask. Let me tell you: THIS MASK IS NOT MESSING AROUND. As it dries, the suction is so strong, it creates an actual temporary facelift. I also started taking Evening Primrose Oil along with my daily boatload of other vitamins and supplements. The combination of all these things is helping!

 

Random Happiness:

I published an article about the French Quarter Hotel at Memphis Type History. I worked long and hard on this piece (it was my first idea when I started writing for the website) and consider it my first real journalistic accomplishment. It was even featured in the Choose 901 newsletter!

The same day that article went live, so did a newsletter I wrote and edited at work. It went out to a hundred or so people worldwide and was also well-received. I’d never gotten to do anything like that as part of my job before. It was a good day.

 

Pinterest Quote of the Month:

 

On The Blog:

My writing slackage continues, but I have two, possibly three, Real Posts in the hopper. So stay tuned for that. I almost finished one a couple of weeks ago, but lost my nerve. Vulnerability is even tougher when you’re out of the habit… and you know who’s watching.

 

Posts I Loved:

♥ One of my favorite bloggers, Abby Norman, spent October writing about scarcity (a topic I think about a lot here in my Year of Enough). I appreciated all of her words, but my favorite posts were Being Basic and All the Feels.

♥ Jefferson Bethke at Storyline on how we assess each other’s value: What Makes a Human Life Worth It?

♥ Lindsay Ferrier: Death and Coloring

♥ A lot of big name bloggers, including Micah J. Murray and Emily P. Freeman, had Taylor Swift on the brain this month.

♥ AMEN and amen to this encouragement from Kate Conner: Life Without Asterisks

♥ Made me smile: Maggie MK Hess at Solo-ish: The 9 best US cities for dating, according to my imagination.