Je Suis Revenu
Bonjour and hello from my brief visit to Brooklyn before I jet off to help my mother through an unexpected (and, fingers crossed, relatively minor) medical procedure. As Bette said, I am always going off and leaving her. Between my first work trip in a while to Chicago and my glorious last weekend(ish) in Montreal, it's been a kid-free travel-heavy time. Now, with the news that I had to go to Michigan... Let's just say, I fell hook, line and sinker for that guilt trip and guess who's racking up four more school absences?
Thankfully I am rich in community in the Metro Detroit area and Bette will be having the time of her life with Kristi and Naomi's son while I'm passing time in a hospital waiting room and picking up prescriptions.
Oh those glorious few days in Montreal? They were glorious. I drank enough aperol spritzes and white wine to make my mid-40s peers proud. I painted, I read, I shopped, I browsed, I walked, I think we may have even ambled at one point. But more than other activity Kate and I ate and we ate well. More on that below.
In addition, I can tell you with confidence that my conversational French is piss-poor despite my heritage and 26 day streak on Duolingo. That said, it was a delightful and relaxing time - even with extreme and unwelcome Canadian heat. I can't wait until we do it again.
Watching, Reading, Listening
Kate and I made a solemn vow to not watch Idea of You until this trip and it paid off. A perfectly fine romcom that delivered what we wanted: attractive leads and outfits. Have you read the book? Don't. Just watch this. Awaiting Inside Out 2 and the next batch of Bridgerton episodes this week.
Embarrassingly, almost every time I picked up my hard copy of Fight Night, I would fall asleep after a few pages. To test a theory, I got a copy for my Kindle from the library and I have been flying through it. I'm not entirely sure what to make of it but I'm pleased that I can actually still read books which, I confess, I was beginning to wonder about. Other books from the library waiting for me to zoom through (fingers crossed) are The Storm We Made and The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing. The former looks great and the author also goes to my small gym so I feel a balance of obligated and excited. The latter comes as a rec from Bim, to whom I admitted that I read the book in college but could remember zero details. She says it's great so she BETTER BE RIGHT.
I'm sorry but I'm still not over Cowboy Carter but have been breaking it up with a few episodes of Maintenance Phase. I always learn and I always laugh. What more could I possibly ask for?
Lifting
Suitcases and dumbells. Squatted the bar for fun last week and it was like coming home.
Ingesting
Montreal highlights include the bread, fattoush and hummus from Garage Beirut, bagels from St-Viateur, slushy coffee from Café Olimpico, Nerds clusters from JFK airport and fried chicken as well as a great margarita from Tiradito. 50 mg Vyvanse; 100 mg sertraline; several supplements and some birth control.
Struggling
in perpetuity to try to unknot the threads of caffeine, sleep, ADHD, various meds, exercise and hormonal changes and how they all affect my day-to-day moods and thoughts.
Buying
Two tickets to DTW, Rothy's slides (these I was thinking of returning but maybe not? these I'm breaking in), some cheap and cheerful bike shorts to throw on throughout the summer, some different pants from Curator SF (I usually go for the Cadence), and birthday presents for Bette (HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY!)
Creating
Reasonable expectations of how I will get through summer, my most dreaded season.
Fixating
On my relationships, on when/whether to chop my hair, keeping my shit organized, on clothing that cools and trying to be present and more joyful around the girls despite whatever's happening in my mind.
Avoiding
Thinking about summer camp logistics
Reader, I Pinned It
These old Prada show pictures; these sneakers that Kate was influenced to buy after I shared one of my latest influencer crushes and now I'm boomerang influenced; this custom-mixed pretty palette. Finally, this breakfast recipe which reminds me this pear custard pie that was of one of my all-time go-to easy desserts and that I can't link to because I've been making it so long that it now only exists in a cookbook. So.
