Monthly catch up - September

Last months on goings.

Oct 01, 2024

September is becoming a favourite month of mine, there tends to be a second wind of sunshine and with the start of the academic year it feels like a fresh start. Kids go back to school so everywhere feels a little quieter. I love Autumn, but I’ll never wish away summer! That’s what inspired a last minute holiday to Portugal. Any excuse to hold onto those last few sun drenched days!

I also went for a long weekend to the Lake District (a favourite and very special place) Taking two 2 and under away isn’t for the faint hearted, alas it was still so much fun.

Here is a round up of my month.

What I watched on TV -

Kaos - Netflix as someone who loves Greek myths but has about 0 retention on all the names/roles of Greek gods I loved this somewhat lighthearted show. The only thing that jarred for me was the total lack of chemistry between riddy and
The soundtrack was spot on and Geoff Goldblum was great. I like short series and 8 episodes was ideal for this it meant that it didn’t drag, of course it lead on very well for the next season.
Only murderers in the building - I first watched this on my last maternity leave so it felt about right that another season cropped up whilst on maternity leave again. It’s a one a week job so a slow burn rather than a binge. I love Miss Gomez and find the humour very tickling.
The Perfect Couple - I loved this as easy going semi trashy tv. I liked that there were limited episodes as the storyline is a bit far fetched. It actually sparked a really interesting conversation in my house about lust and indefinitely. Whether tv shows like this are perpetuating toxic masculinity in a way that men should be adulterers etc to be sexy. A topic I could probably rant on about.

This months audible - The Wedding People-

I have so much to say about this book, I think I’d love to write a longer review.

Lighthearted, fun, romantic comedies are NOT my go to books. I somehow downloaded this in a panic of what to listen to and it was the only book I could think of on the spot.

I had planned on reading/listening to Luminaries this month, a book I would love to commit to but I’ve been put off purely from the page count. My baby really doesn’t sleep well so my brain capacity is low and needs something easy to follow.

The wedding people follows Phoebe, a woman who’s life has recently not gone to plan. She decides the best thing for her is to check into a luxury hotel and kill herself. Here she meets Lila, who has meticulously planned an extravagant 6 day wedding for her and Gary. She cannot have Phoebe kill herself and spoil her special week.

It was great to have such fun characters with a sense of humour whilst also battling very delicate subjects, failed fertility, infidelity, death, grief, loneliness.

I loved the story, I genuinely got very invested in the characters and the plot. It was the perfect mix of lighthearted and substance for an end of summer read. I could feel myself grinning constantly and just going along for the ride.

Specifically to the audible there were a few sound glitches on the recording, you can hear very distinctly when something had been recorded at another time, it made it a little jarring but despite that the book was great.

Favourite articles I read -

Maybe Baby

#188: Lessons from babyworld

Good morning…

10 months ago · 402 likes · 54 comments · Haley Nahman

Loved both these Sad Girl pieces too

notes under the fig tree

in defence of 'sad girl books'

If you’ve spent any time on Booktok, you would have seen many videos about ‘sad girl books’. While this ‘genre’ is nothing new - think Sylvia Plath, Jean Rhys, Clarice Lispector - there’s no denying that these types of books have been dominating the publishing industry in the last few years…

10 months ago · 26 likes · 6 comments · leah beth

literarie bohème

Woman vs. the void

the void is something i fight every day. i fight it when i wake up in the morning and defy it when i get out of bed. it continues its hum in my ear, so i dance to music while i start my day and put on a sitcom while i eat breakfast…

10 months ago · 30 likes · 8 comments · peyton

After going on holiday in all those hilly winding roads I loved how much this resonated with me-

Midventurous Spirit

How Not To Drive in Italy

My adventure began with a purpose: I was headed to a tiny village perched high in the Ligurian Alps to study the ancient art of Italian Majolica pottery. The artist, who I will refer to as Alisa, was something of a local legend—a master of her craft, secluded from the modern world, living in a place so remote it was said that only the truly dedicated ev…

10 months ago · 3 likes · 2 comments · Holly Bennett

New Yorker - I’m really enjoying the audio option on some of the New Yorker articles. I found this one particularly interesting.

I wrote a note talking about small substackers which was pretty popular, please check out the comments and hopefully connect with a few people? my favourite new accounts I’ve subscribed to who I’m excited to follow are

abigail
- I loved her first personal essay, conveying some emotions that most of us experience.
jennifer cook
a NYC mom who’s vibe I love.
Julie H
- Who also turned 33 this year. She spent her birthday celebrating exactly how i had planned to spend my honeymoon, which was amended because of Covid.

What I ate

I spent a long weekend in the Lake District. We visited one of my favourite places Chester’s on the River. Personally I have a dairy intolerance and my daughter a dairy allergy. Visiting a bakery/cafe that is mainly vegan is beyond a treat for my two year old who asks “dairy free” when ordering anything. Seeing all the cakes, doughnuts, scones she could eat. She was delighted.

Somehow I managed to forget to take a picture of the insane onion bhaji we ate and the cherry and almond doughnut!

We also enjoyed using the pizza oven that was at our lodge making home made pizzas!

Portugal was a delightful seaside escape and we ate an array of fish. I took this insanely bad photo of fried baby squid and chips. It was dreamlike!

What I bought

I’ve been on a bit of a shopping ban, something that I’m planning on talking a bit more about. I’ve started a post in the drafts but there is a lot more I want to go into before publishing.

But I am slowly replacing old well worn items in my wardrobe. I saw a very chic mama at the playground wearing a similar borg jacket. I’m in my easy to wear era and this goes with most things in my wardrobe.

That is the last month neatly rounded up!

Sunshine and family moments really fill my cup.