no. 4 making time for a well-rounded life
a weekend in my life, plus the unexpected ways that having a kid changed my experience of travel, and the one quote that’s reframing how I set expectations.
None of this is True by Lisa Jewell - I’ve been in a major book slump since mid-September with a few DNFs I just couldn’t get into. Loved this selection for my book club that I started sight-unseen and devoured in just a few days. It’s got complicated female friendships, unreliable narrators, and a true crime angle that doesn’t feel predictable.
It’s officially cozy season, and I have very specific needs for the autumnal scentscapes I’m trying to curate. I’m not a big fan of seasonal gourmands — pumpkin pie, christmas cookies, cinnamon things, etc— and like with my perfume faves I prefer an earthier approach (translation: I want to smell like I just crawled out of a forest). I love the selections from Hetkinen for an at home diffuser- cedarwood, pine, eucalyptus cypress, and my personal favorite, black spruce.
If your feeds are anything like mine, all your friends and internet favorites finished the ACOTAR series and moved right along to Fourth Wing. Author Rebecca Yarros recently gave an interview describing “her own pronunciation” of words and names in the book, explaining that she pulled them from (Irish) Gaelic. Only problem? The words are actually Scottish Gaelic - a similar, but completely separate and endangered language - and are being mispronounced on a global scale. Highly recommend this deepdive from tiktok creator The Scottish Bookworm on the history of Scots, and misappropriation of the language in the series.
After my first day in the life post to kick off earlybird, the ask for a weekend in the life post has won not one but two “what would you like to see next” polls - so who am I to stand in the way of that kind of consistency!
Putting this together was funny to me, because it stands in stark contrast to the sleek, stylized tiktok vlog style recaps that I used to regularly make and built a decent following around in the past few years. I love those videos for what they are – beautiful, soothing, frictionless – and still enjoy making them from time to time. They are sweet snapshots, synced to music. But, they are one dimensional. I have never learned how to be vulnerable and performative on video. Have never felt comfortable communicating to a screen the way I feel I can with written words. Have never really figured out how to successfully step out of the role of the artist in order to be the subject.
All that’s to say: I made a video documenting this weekend for the other apps, but I’m so much better with words. In this issue, you can expect a (fairly hectic, lightly long winded) weekend in my life, complete with:
A last minute camping trip to the San Juan Islands
Gear we love for camping with our one year old
The coffee I am drinking daily - including on camping trips
My reflections on:
making time for a well rounded life
the unexpected way having a kid changed my experience of travel,
the *one* quote that has been helping me re-frame how I approach setting expectations.
the DIML girlies could never.
okay that’s it, love you!
xx,
5:30 AM: I mentally count Fridays as part of the weekend, especially when weekend activities start so early. I roll out of bed and shuffle to the bathroom to get dressed without waking up my husband. Today is a high energy needs day, but I’m taking it with a low energy attitude: what is the least amount of effort I can exert here and still get it all done? This morning, that means rolling into my 6 am pilates class looking a bit like a cat coughed me up in a very grungy sweatshirt and bedhead. I have been loving lagree-style pilates classes postpartum as I rebuild my core, and recently have been trying to go up to 3-4 times a week in the morning.
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