Snippets of the weekend 10.16.2023

Friday I did school dropoff and pickup for my niece and nephew, with showering and a work trip to Swarthmore in between. I browsed my work BFF's favorite store for a magic pin and some other treasures, and she gave me my birthday gift. After school pickup we went to the Halloween store, and to Friendly's for dinner, back to my house to watch a movie, then on home to theirs. 

Saturday was lounging, laundry, lazy because it was raining. It cleared up in time for Brenna & Nick's wedding sail on the Delaware. Loved the costume party and the super cool skull thing they made themselves! I got zero photos of them aside from one on the table. It was nice to see everyone.

Mrs. Roper era in full effect.

Good times and home by 11!

Sunday I was back in Old City to pick a few things up from my office before heading home to clear surfaces in the kitchen and dining room, cut up veggies, and lounge and read.

weekending reels on Instagram - current favorite weekend look back mode.

snippets of the weekend 10.31.2022

Friday I walked the beach after work, drove back to Philly and meant to go watch the Phillies at my brother & Aubrey's but lay on the couch and it was all over. I was up until 2 Thursday night trolling through Rome hotels and apartments, so I watched the game on my own couch and was up until after 1 again doing that and also uh looking again at more Rome hotels and apartments. 

Saturday I slept in, did nails (Zoya Charla), ran a few errands, did some veggie prep for the week, and MFD made dinner. We went to Mr. May's to watch the Phillies and I was up past 1 again. 

Sunday there was no sleeping in. More errands, laundry, house things, Eagles game, and couch sitting. My brother and Aubrey and the kids came over and we got Chinese and had cake for my dad's birthday. 

In addition to snippets here, I've been doing weekending reels on Instagram if you are interested. 

Today is the first Halloween without my uncle alive for his Halloween birthday, getting absurdly large pumpkins and handing out full size candy bars to gleeful children. Extra love and support to my cousins today as it is a hard first, made extra hard by the fact that usually when a loved one dies the entire country is not celebrating their birthday as a holiday and by Perry truly embracing being a Halloween child and leaning into it so it is hard to separate the holiday from him. Or from excessively large amounts of chocolate cake.

Have a safe & great Halloween and appreciate each other - we don't know how long we have together here.

GO PHILS. The World Series game schedule/hours/watch parties were much easier on the body when I was 31 in 2008 vs. now. 

Thursday Thoughts - I let the melody shine, let it cleanse my mind, I feel free now

Glorious night. The air was great last night, and so were the skies. I was out there for a long time walking and stretching my neck like nobody's business. I'm making a pier pics photo book for our house this winter. Allegedly

Bruce was running wild through the ocean with his leash on, Ben following, and Mae bringing up the rear although how she made it out there I don't know. We all got soaked but it was fun and they didn't move the rest of the night. 

Fuck everyone who has things to say about a man recovering from a stroke speaking in public. Especially if you voted for the former president who is a fucking terrible public speaker and don't know your ass from a hole in the wall regarding strokes or any kind of processing delays. Being able to speak well in public is great, but we do not need the sound bytes and we do not need the fire tweets. We need people who will write, read, and pass legislation that will HELP REGULAR AMERICANS. That's the fucking job. People who will actually work and produce RESULTS that are not TV interviews and tweets. We've had so many years of gridlock and so many years of do nothing shit under McConnell previously that we might have forgotten they are not in office to make names for themselves or be twitter stars or make appearances at fucking baseball games or anything else people on both sides do, they are there to work for the American people. Period. The ableism and fake concern for health people have been spouting this week is fucking vile. Many people out there clearly taking their health for granted and have not had to work through the recovery from any physical or mental health issue in public and if fucking shows. Enough. Act right. What is wrong with people. My god. Elect people who will not lie and will work for us. 

Last day for Yunizon kickstarter. Please click here to support this campaign if you haven't! I did it by pledging the sunglasses. Amba and Andy, baby.

Desk refreshes. In Philly I changed up my lighting because the room is dark and winter is coming, my friends. At the shore I just cleared out around my computer shit - there had been a scary stack of receipts and miscellaneous bullshit everywhere. I have a tiny lamp coming to light up the back of this area. Anyhoo easier to live and work in brighter, clearer areas. 

IT Department, Party of One. One of my least favorite things about WFH is being my own IT department. I woke up yesterday to no internet with a deadline looming so I tethered to my personal hotspot and chatted with comcast until we got a temporary fix, and they sent someone out in the afternoon who told me 3/4 things that make the modem work had a filter on them so we were only getting 1/4 of the power. Guess who showed up one day unannounced and put the filter on for "interference reports?" Comcast. The guy yesterday just shook his head.

Booking accommodations for next year's family trip. My first time out of the country since 2016 which does not seem possible. 

Halloween candy ordered. I nearly forgot. You? Who needs a costume? It's funny but it's fucking not

Reading. I have had issues settling on a book recently. I'm trying Celeste Ng's newest, which is absolutely nothing like her other books. I do have a new hold in at the library so I'll get that tomorrow.

Watching. Last night I watched the second Austin Powers for some LOLs 

That's it. Go Phils.

 
What appears beyond the hyphen in Thursday Thoughts titles is what I'm listening to when I'm starting this - this week is Bittersweet Symphony by The Verve

Thursday Thoughts - I'm livin' life, do or die, what can I say

You're late. 

Farewell, faithful lipstick. Always have a backup of a favorite, of course. This is Bobbi Brown Crushed Lipstick in lilac, one of my staples

Lunch trips. I went to Bristol one day this week to peruse some antiques shops and walk along the river. I used to go there with Mom Mom when I was little, to Ballow's shoes. Lovely memories, and a lovely lunch outing.

Vats of veggie meat sauce. I made what amounted to 15 jars to freeze and share (the bigger one has six cups instead of three). 

Hurricane Ian. Good thoughts to the folks in FL and others in its path of destruction. Climate action now. These events are just going to continue to increase in power and devastation if we carry on as we are. 

Splitskies. Billy wanted to go in on my niece's birthday gift

Halloween is here. Thanks to MFD's decor. The dogs are not pleased that their barking window is occupied. 

Bathroom reno still happening. Still living in an entire construction zone with shit on every level. 

Bailed on the Dahmer show on Netflix. Too creepy for me.

Bruce is a big baby.

Support Yunizon's kickstarter campaign! Click here 

Amen.

Fresh hair. Thanks Kristi! Love it as always.

Miscellaneous pics from the week the bottom right is actually my back window with that reflected in it

Happy birthday to my cousin Tyler today!

 
What appears beyond the hyphen in Thursday Thoughts titles is what I'm listening to when I'm starting this - this week is Gangsta's Paradise. RIP Coolio

TWTW - the halloweekend

Friday was a shit weather day with winds, rain, and flooding. But it was also a tie dye leggings day and we love those. I extended my lunch to hit the ReStore where the stools I wanted had already been snapped up, but I did score a fall wreath at the HomeGoods next door as well as Christmas pug towels which I always seem to miss. I also picked up pumpkins from the garden center on the way back into town. Ben was super clingy because of the winds outside. After work I got two electric fireplaces down from under a bed on the top floor, depositing on two flights down in the living room and one three flights down in our apartment. There's a whole shift that happens at the shore as we approach the winter. I cleaned two bathrooms, moved some excess living room furniture up into a bedroom, and started rearranging shit in our apartment. Salad for dinner while watching Witches of Eastwick. I watched a bunch of Bewitched episodes too and stayed up late to finish a book.

Saturday I slept in until 8:15 and it was glorious. I packed up stuff to head to Philly for the week, refilled my vitamins like a woman of a certain age, changed sheets, vacuumed and mopped my apartment, vacuumed the main floor upstairs, cleaned the powder room, cleared out both fridges, took the trash out, and packed up the car. We took a long walk on the beach then drove back to Philly. I did a few loads of laundry, unpacked stuff, went through mail and packages, started a new book, and the three musketeers (MFD, my Dad, and Carol) watched the freaking Shining. I shared popcorn with my animal kingdom (even Billy cat) and went to bed.

Sunday Dad got bagels from Red House, I cut down the hydrangea and weeded, then went through my closet and purged a bag of stuff. Carol and dad made mini burgers for lunch and I deconstructed mine, my niece and nephew stopped by in costume, Carol made mozz sticks, then it was trick or treat time. MFD came down in an unplanned costume and did his live pumpkin carving as is tradition and futzed with outdoor decor until nearly 7. I was back inside by 7:45 and in bed by 9:30.

Happy All Saints' Day! 

I’m in the office today, and off tomorrow. The first thing I’ll do is vote, of course. What’s your voting plan?

Friday Five - On screen witches

Happy Friday friends! I've been loading up on witch movies as one does around Halloween, and it got me thinking about my favorite on-screen witches, which do not include the damn Hocus Pocus witches. 

The Witches of Eastwick are on deck tonight, always a favorite. 

Earlier this week I watched Practical Magic. The Owens aunts are the best, hands down, and this is one of the only instances where I prefer the movie to the book. The kitchen is to die for. Sally Owens fucking grates on me in the books and is tolerable in the movie.

I watched Teen Witch that same night. A classic.

Last night I watched The Craft with crazy ass Nancy and the two useless friends and Sarah who should have reached inside herself earlier. 

Favorites of TV: Endora from Bewitched and Witch Hazel from Looney Tunes. 

Who are your favorite witches?

Have a safe and happy Halloween on Sunday! 

Thursday Thoughts - I gave you no roses, no romance, no candlelight and no slow dance

1. Happy Halloween from these fruit loops.

I can never share just one.

2. I've got my fuzzy pug witch socks ready but I'll be wearing them for the Christmas holiday because it's still much too warm. Ben got a new coat from Treat Lady too and he is here for it.

3. My BFF Kim officially launched Yunizon late last week with her partner. Check them out for your sunglass needs. Kim has been my personal sunglasses guru for many years and I'm beyond proud of her in this new venture. Yunizon is an alternative pronunciation of unison to capture their core valeus of free expression, unity, and belonging. This is from their What We Stand For section and I am freaking here for it: We believe everyone should have the freedom to express themselves without inhibitions or judgment. We aspire for a united world where everyone is accepted for who they are, and tolerance is prevalent. Creating a sense of belonging is fundamental to human satisfaction. I am also here for the sunglasses, obviously, and my first pair are the Festiv style in milky army green. All the sunglasses are gender neutral and available in three sizes for the core ranges. I've got my eye on the libera next. Give them a follow on Instagram too.

4. My family is walking in the Purple Stride walk this Saturday in memory of my grandmother. She lived nine months from her date of diagnosis with pancreatic cancer. I've done many walks for various cancers, and what strikes me at the Purple Stride walk is how very few survivors are present. We'd like to do what we can to change that and that's what the money we raise goes to. Since 2008, the survival rate past five years has increased by 3% from 6% to 9%. Families out there need it to be higher. We are Madeline's Marchers and you can donate to me here if you're so inclined - I am late fundraising this year. Thank you so much for your consideration. It's a cause very close to my heart.

5. Nails - Now Museum, Now You Don't by OPI. This was on my wishlist forever and I found it for cheap in a store. This has been an episode of Happy Nail Tales. 

6. Last night I put when I dip you dip we dip french dip in the crock. Hark! Magic standing meat. Searing on all sides is where it's at. What's for dinner at your house?

7. What are we saying when we blur our features so we're unrecognizable as ourselves?

8. Me, every day under this corrupt AF administration and everyone in government who enables them:

9. Reminder:

10. Ecards. It's not possible, but give it a go if you're ambitious.

Happy 60th birthday to my uncle Perry today and happy birthday to my long time friend Jimmy who doesn't even internet.  

Trick or m'f'n treat, friends.  

What appears after the hyphen in Thursday Thoughts is a song lyric to whatever I'm listening to when I start to write the post. This week is a 1981 classic, Try Again by Champaign...also that video with the sing off fight is sort of hilarious. I had never seen it.