This is the summer that never ends, yes it goes on and on, my friends. It’s October 1, and the only fall thing happening is that I’m eating a lot of pumpkin seeds.
Reading
Red Rising by Pierce Brown (4 stars) – I read this because my friend Vada loves it. Darrow is a Red, part of a caste that slaves under the surface of Mars to prepare it for human habitation. After a personal tragedy, he finds out there’s a lot more going on on Mars than he was told. This story is sort of a Hunger Games / Lord of the Flies / Total Recall mashup, so it’s unsettling, but the worldbuilding is excellent.
The Friendship of Women: The Hidden Tradition of the Bible by Joan D. Chittister (3 stars) – A short collection of profiles of different women of the Bible, assigning them each a trait that’s good to have in a friendship. Not what I expected.
Vivian Apple at the End of the World by Katie Coyle (4.5 stars) – Vivian is Left Behind after her parents, and thousands of others, disappear in the Rapture foretold by the culty Church of America. As conditions get worse, she sets off on a cross-country road trip with her best friend and a cute boy to get some answers. This may look like a simple YA romp, but it speaks powerfully to our current American moment. I’m still thinking about it.
The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of September 11, 2001 by Garrett M. Graff (5 stars) – A comprehensive collection of 9/11 interviews with the people who were there. Equally hard to read and hard to put down.
The Vagina Bible by Dr. Jennifer Gunter (4 stars) – A great women’s health resource that I would recommend shelving alongside the classic Taking Charge of Your Fertility.
Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson (5 stars) – I read this with my church book club over a couple of months. The author is the founder of the Equal Justice Initiative, which advocates for wrongfully accused prisoners. His story is an important wake-up call to the deep injustice being perpetuated every day in America. I’m looking forward to the movie version in December.
Listening
Call me basic if you must, but I give T. Swift’s latest effort two thumbs up. I also downloaded Chance the Rapper’s The Big Day after seeing the tracklist of collabs with 90’s girl groups.
I was a late adopter of the Forever 35 podcast, but I’ve really gotten hooked on it. They have two episodes a week – a shorter one with listener comments and questions, and a longer interview. There’s been a fascinating ongoing discussion lately about friends who flake out on plans.
Other notable podcast episodes I heard this month:
Young House Love #147: Our Summer of Living in a Smaller House in a Smaller Town
Second Life #91: Mandy Moore (love her!)
Watching
I finished Four Weddings and a Funeral on Hulu! I thoroughly enjoyed it and am surprised so many critics didn’t. (Duffy and Ainsley are kind of the worst, though – is it me or is Duffy the new Ross?) I have a special place in my heart for romcoms that focus equally on friendships. The finale made me cry more than a This Is Us episode. Speaking of, This Is Us is back (along with The Good Place)!!
On Mondays at 9, you can now find most Memphians watching Bluff City Law on NBC! It’s so exciting to see a weekly drama set in my own city. They’ve filmed all the episodes here, some in my neighborhood. Thankfully (because we would all watch it no matter what), it’s an enjoyable show. Hoping for a full season and beyond!
Breaking Bad (re)watch update: I tapped out at the end of Season 3. I still pop in and out while Taylor is watching, but I couldn’t cope with how many lives were being ruined/ended because one man wanted to cook meth. Stories like that drag me down too much, regardless of how well done they are. I can’t seem to change that about myself.
We went to see Ad Astra, because I’ll never say no to complicated family dynamics in space. I liked it!
Travel
My parents and I went to Nashville for my younger niece’s birthday! Taylor was flying home from a work conference and couldn’t be there, but a few Florida relatives flew in. In addition to the birthday party (at a bouncy house place), we all went to the park together, and had a surprisingly excellent meal at Red Robin. It was a nice weekend.
Around Town
September is a big month in Midtown: the Central Gardens Home Tour, followed by my favorite, Cooper-Young Fest. I was excessively excited for CY Fest this year! The Cooper-Young 4-Miler is such a great time that I had to participate despite total lack of conditioning and recent medical trauma. Neighbors have parties all along the route. I actually ran more of it than I thought I would, and had fun and took Jello shots in the process.
This was my mom’s and my fourth Home Tour, and we agreed it was a little lackluster compared to past years. There were still some wow moments and Midtowny stories, though.
Wes and Amanda and I went to an event in the Edge District called Boxlot. It had everything: pop-up shops in railway containers (we love those railway containers!), Astroturf, Bluetooth speakers inside handmade 80s style boom boxes, and this new I Love Memphis mural.
The Tigers beat Navy (whew) and are now 4-0!
At Home
No matter how much you love someone and want to live with them, combining mature households is rough. I had a little nervous breakdown about All the Stuff earlier this month. Taylor responded heroically as usual, spending 3 nights putting boxes in our attic. Ideally, I would have gone through each box and sent about half of them to the perfect charity, but my mental state didn’t allow it. The best I could do was cull some obvious things off the top and take them to Salvation Army (by this point I’ve made friends with the attendant at the dropoff). I’ve been thinking about various pieces of my tension: loss of identity and the home I built for myself, current cultural idealization of minimalism and shame at having possessions, etc. I hope to take some of this apart for further analysis because I feel like it doesn’t get explored much. Anyway, even with a full attic, we’re still over capacity in the actual house and I still haven’t found workable solutions. I’ve even considered hiring a professional organizer, which is depressing because I once intended to BE a professional organizer and even took a class.
On a cheerier note, we’ve been excited to see this crepe myrtle thrive. I got it and its brother from the Arbor Day Foundation in the spring, and it was the slower to take off. The other seedling was shooting up and popping out leaves while this one was still a stick. But look at it now! Also, after a long hiatus, our dahlia bloomed again.
And best of all: our Meyer lemon tree is flowering on every branch! Lots more lemons on the way! ♥
Cooking/Eating
I renewed my long-dormant subscription to our local farm share, Bring It Food Hub, for the fall season. Last week I got my first bag full of good produce. Tasty times ahead!
I made Smitten Kitchen’s blueberry cornmeal butter cake for a Labor Day cookout (it’s only in her cookbook – this link is from another blog). I wanted something a little different. Also, Taylor made me my own pan of spinach enchiladas one night and they were AMAZING.
Wearing
I’ve taken a new tack with purse organization. I’ve had a Fossil Emma Satchel for a couple of years. Over time, the organizer I had in it was just providing more places for items to get lost and stuck. It got to the point where I was seriously losing my keys inside the purse multiple times a day. So cleaned out the whole thing and got a simple set of zippered pouches . Now I know where everything is, and my frustration level is much lower!
AND: thanks to the equivalent of five cents’ worth of tiny plastic phone cord, my wedding rings are staying together as a unit and fitting more securely. Game changer.
Beauty
I’m really loving the classic Tartelette eyeshadow palette I bought for my birthday. I went back to Ulta on the last day of 21 Days of Beauty and picked up a half-price Urban Decay 24/7 eyeliner, as well as another Stila Stay All Day lipstick (also on sale). My makeup area is starting to feel pretty upscale!!
BTW, if you enjoy makeup and beauty, you need to follow Karen at Makeup and Beauty Blog. I’ve been reading her blog for a while, but have gotten extra joy from it the last few months. She’s delightful.
Wellness
The week after the CY 4-Miler, I ran a 5K for an organization I support, Operation Broken Silence. My MIL came with me. I’m still holding out for cooler weather before I start training for the St. Jude 10K… although I can’t hold out much longer.
I’ve been doing Pilates weekly for a year and a half. Sometimes it’s empowering and sometimes it’s frustrating, but the whole time, I have disliked my Pilates socks. I didn’t know what I was doing when I chose them. They’re toe socks, and when you’re hurrying to get in place for class, nothing is more annoying than having to maneuver each individual toe into its own spot. This month I finally ordered a new pair of Mary Jane-style Pilates socks. They’re more comfortable, take seconds to put on, look cute, and cost eight bucks. Win.
My schedule has been wonky lately, so I decided to go to an evening Zumba class at my gym and LOVED it. I hadn’t been to one in at least five years. In my experience, a good or bad Zumba class totally hinges on the instructor, and this one was fantastic. Her choreography was so much fun, I want to go back.
Random Happiness
My church celebrated its ninth birthday this month! I’ve been around for the last five of those years, and they’ve been a ride. I feel like I talk a lot about how my church and I have evolved at basically the same pace and in the same direction, and for a lot of similar reasons. But I’ll keep talking about it because after 30 years in The Church proper, I know what a rare and precious experience that is. After a few lean years, I feel like I’ve settled in a healthier, more grounded spiritual place, and a lot of that is because of my church. I don’t know if it could have happened anywhere else. I’m thankful to be able to bring my whole self to this place, to draw closer to God with these genuine and caring people.
Ashley, who was one of my bridesmaids, asked me to return the favor for her New Year’s Eve wedding! It’s going to be fun. We’re all wearing black dresses of our choosing – she’s still deciding whether or not to do mixed lengths. More to come.
Your Monthly Rufus
While sorting and moving boxes to the attic, we came across a bag of catnip that I grew and dried myself years ago. “Are cats really interested in that?” asked Taylor. In response, Rufus zoned right in on the bag. We let him go to town. It was worth every second of cleanup.
In my experience, cats change their rotation of favorite spots as the calendar turns. It’s been fun watching Rufus do that in our new house. His current favorite hangout is our “landing” table in the living room, where he spends hours at the window, intensely watching things I cannot see.
On the Blog
I wrote about miscarrying my first pregnancy. It happened in August. Once I had gathered my thoughts about it, I felt that it was important to share, both for my own processing and to help others.
Good Reads
♥ Another reason I spoke up about my miscarriage is that I’m furious about new laws (such as Georgia’s) attempting to interrogate and prosecute women who have lost pregnancies. Now it looks like the next step is to insist, against all scientific evidence, that ectopic pregnancies are viable. Anna North at Vox: This life-threatening pregnancy complication is the next frontier in the abortion debate.
♥ Angela Giles Klocke: This is the story of a door. (Props if you sang that to yourself a la Nine Days)
♥ Rachel Wilkerson Miller at Self: How to Cancel Plans without Losing Friends and Feeling like a Jerk
♥ Design Mom: Living with Kids: Jackie Leishman
♥ DW McKinney at Narratively: My Secret Life as a Mysterious Multimillionaire’s Personal Assistant
♥ Josh Gondelman at Vox: The best $80 I ever spent: TSA PreCheck
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