What I’m Into: October 2019

With new record highs being set the first week of October, I was starting to wonder if fall was coming this year. The trees are just starting to turn, but the cooler weather has officially arrived!

Reading

Miracles and Other Reasonable Things: A Story of Unlearning and Relearning God by Sarah Bessey (5 stars) I gave in and ordered this the day it came out. It’s a beautiful memoir about recovery from a serious car crash.

I’m Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness by Austin Channing Brown (5 stars) Read with one of my book clubs in preparation for Austin’s upcoming lecture at my church! This is some difficult truth for white people, even for me having sat with these concepts for a while, but it should be required reading.

The Newlyweds by Nell Freudenberger (5 stars) A character-driven novel about Amina, who comes to America from Bangladesh to marry George, an awkward engineer. As she tries to assimilate and works toward bringing her parents over, she and George are pulled and pushed together in unexpected ways. It’s a great immigrant story that also depicts some universal truths about marriage and family.

Hallelujah Anyway: Rediscovering Mercy by Anne Lamott (4 stars) Not the best of Anne Lamott’s recent books, but still great. I especially liked the chapter about Anthropologie.

Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men by Caroline Criado-Pérez (3.5 stars) 272 pages of cited examples of current influential research, development, systems, and technology that ignore women’s entire existence. Around the world, the effects on women range from inconvenience to literally dying because people don’t feel like adjusting the status quo. It will make you really angry.

Wilder Girls by Rory Power (4 stars) Lord of the Flies meets Jeff Vandermeer: a group of girls tries to survive at an isolated boarding school after contracting a mysterious, disfiguring disease. When one of three best friends disappears, the other two try to find her and make a lot of disturbing discoveries. Straight-up horror is not my usual genre, but this was extremely well done and left me with way more questions than answers.

PS, I hit a satisfying Goodreads milestone.

Listening

I love Tegan and Sara’s new high school-inspired album, Hey, I’m Just Like You. This track is perfect for jumping around your room.

Most weekends in Memphis, you can catch free music at the Levitt Shell, but a few times a year they have a paid concert as a fundraiser. The fall season’s headliner was Ben Folds! He was fantastic.

My mom took Debra and me to see Lauren Daigle. She’s a beautiful soul and one of the few “Christian” artists I really like. (The first few times I heard “You Say,” I thought she was Adele.) I have never seen my mom so hyped for a concert.

I discovered the SSR Podcast and am working my way through the episodes about my favorite childhood books! And attention fellow Enneagram 6es, the new episode of Enneagram Journey (70 – Leslie Bley) will provide lots of wow moments.

Watching

Traditionally I’ve watched TV shows on the elliptical, but I’m now catching up on missed movies instead. (Fewer interruptions and commercials!) Always Be My Maybe is one of my favorite movies of the year. I keep thinking of more things I liked about it! I also finally watched Morning Glory with Rachel McAdams, followed by Mindy Kaling and Emma Thompson’s Late Night (an excellent double feature).

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Bluff City Law didn’t get picked up for its back half of episodes, and just wrapped production here in Memphis. I’ve really warmed to the characters and think the show gets better every week. There’s a chance it could get renewed if it performs well on streaming, so if you’re at all interested, please give it a watch!

PS: I teared up at the final Rise of Skywalker trailer. CANNOT WAIT.

Around Town

In a move that probably surprises no one, I agreed to be a community association block captain! I went to my first meeting and it sounds a little like being a dorm RA, but for your block. We’ll see how things develop. Another night, I helped string pretzel necklaces to sell at Cooper-Young Beerfest, the second of our big annual community events. (Sadly, I did not attend Beerfest because we had a Tigers football game that night and I didn’t think that combo would go well for me.)

The Irish pub nearby had Cider Fest this month. My mom is all about cider, so she and I and Taylor and a friend hit it up. Interestingly, all our favorite ciders were combined with other fruits besides apple.

I’ve been feeling antsy and thought it would help to get out in nature, so we took a hike in Shelby Forest with my mom. I’d like to make it a more regular thing. It was very peaceful.

The new Grizzlies season has started, and Tiger basketball is about to crank up too! In Tiger football news, my college roommate Emily and her family (who now live in New Orleans) came up for the Tulane game. Also, you may have heard ESPN College Gameday is coming to Memphis for the first time this Saturday. !!! Be on the lookout for MUCH MORE about that event!

At Home

We now have a few feline regulars on our porch. This sweet kitty visits almost every evening. She (I think it’s a she) hasn’t let me very close to her yet, but I bet we’ll be friends eventually. Rufus is getting less worked up when she comes to the door.

We got our chimney cleaned and can now actually use our fireplace! Taylor built the first fire last weekend and it was very cozy.

Our neighborhood is pretty.

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Eating

October was my first full month of CSA produce. I’m glad to have it, but there’s a lot of food prep, planning, and freezing involved to ensure everything gets eaten (and doesn’t take up the whole fridge). I welcome your best turnip and/or yellow squash recipes – this was a good one that I took to a potluck. Sweet potatoes are in the bag almost every week. I dice and freeze them immediately to use later in hashes, or in one of my favorite soups.

Wearing

Now that it’s finally cool, I’m happy to be reunited with my Girlfriend Collective leggings. They’re expensive, but worth it AND environmentally friendly. And, after wanting a pair since last Christmas, I got some Steve Madden quilted sneakers! Funny how I’ve almost totally eliminated pink from my wardrobe, yet did not want these in any color but pink.

Beauty

My hands and feet are perpetually dry – I have to apply lotion to both before bed in order to sleep comfortably. With winter coming, I’m on the hunt again for an industrial-strength non-greasy lotion. I’ve never used Soap & Glory products before, but decided to try their Daily Smooth Body Butter and so far, so good! I liked the smell so much that I got the matching body wash on a later Ulta run.

After a few eyeliner-sharpening disasters, I splurged on the Urban Decay sharpener, which is safe for all pencil types. I also got a hot (or cold, ha ha) tip: refrigerate your eyeliner for a few minutes before sharpening it!

On a beauty-related note, I joined the Forever 35 Facebook group and it’s a lot of fun! I haven’t posted anything, but I chime in sometimes and take note of good recommendations (such as the refrigeration tip above).

Wellness

I continue to run sporadically. Next month, I have to get serious about shaping up for the St. Jude 10K (10K used to be, like, Tuesday for me, but times have changed). Anyway, my mom, MIL, and I did Race for the Cure last weekend in a monsoon. I think if any of the three of us had backed out, we all would have, but we decided if millions of women can fight cancer, we can handle some bad weather. It was still an inspiring experience.

Two months after miscarriage, I’m finally feeling good and settled in my body again. I’m doing better/feeling more stable emotionally too, although it was a bummer all month to see lots of pregnancy announcements from people due around the same time I was. Like, congratulations on your functioning uterus. (I had a strong reaction to Maren Morris’s announcement – my sister reassured me that I’ll eventually be co-pregnant with some other celebrity I like.) But that should be the last of the big triggers until spring.

Your Monthly Rufus

Rufus got a good report at his checkup this month! ♥ Here he is having a well-deserved rest after the appointment.