Things I've been meaning to tell you 6.14.2024

Aldi coming in hot with this lovely toter. A perfect replacement for one I just lost that I got in Vermont a few years back.

Weekends gone by post here for the last three, all good ones. Someone had a bead kit at the shore Memorial Day Weekend and I swear I will be finding these for all eternity.

Our hydrangea is having a moment

How I've felt since finding out I had Lyme's disease last week - IYKYK. I've felt as crazy as Felicia. Cliiiiiiiivvveeeee. Where are my Witches of Eastwick fans? Goddamn ticks. It has been a journey for sure, and not a pleasant one. Things went south very quickly. Bless these mega antibiotics. And the fact that I had a visible and very clear bullseye rash. I've never been so sick in my life, and I've never been so scared for my own health - what a privilege at this age to be able to say that. A weird after thing is that I have not had coffee since 6/3. I tried hot and iced and couldn't have more than a sip of hot and two of iced. 

I much prefer this type of feeling...which is how I feel when I walk into a new Marshalls/TJMaxx HomeGoods that has all of my things. I found an awesome one close to me at the shore that I haven't been to before and it is awesome.

In the midst of the Lyme's shit and first shore rental checking in, I picked up our new senior dog - 14 year old Queen Victoria, a corgi who lost her owner in May to cancer. She comes from Senior Dog Haven and Hospice, the same place Mr. Rooney came from and the same awesome foster. Crown Vic is likely at the end of her lifespan (corgis are 12-15 years by all accounts), but we'll keep her comfortable in style for as long as she has left. She's acclimated to us and to the dogs, but has not been to the shore yet.

Someone who is not interested in acclimating to the new dog...

The late light in June is just dreamy.

I am in the season of more Philly, less shore as the shore population swells and I find it harder to operate down there. I estimate I'll probably spend 3-ish days a week down there and four in Philly versus all the time down there like I do in the off-season. Philly showing up and showing out this week. 

The shore rental season prep flew by this year, mostly because we left it until the last fucking minute despite intending to do it all spring. I didn't paint the trim this year so I better be doing that in the fall. We're fully booked until Saturday of Labor Day weekend. We have a few September rentals too and may rent out a bit in October. 

More people but still pulling in treasures. 

I spent a zillion dollars at my car maintenance today, and MFD spent a mil on his inspection last week. Goddamn that hurts, back to back and not expected. I still need two tires also, but I was not getting them there. It has been forever since I bought tires, like literally many many years. Tire City here I come.

The party of law and order doesn't care about law and order if you're an old white grifter bamboozler rapist misogynist who appears rich. Then you can do whatever you want and they'll still vote for your hateful, lying, law breaking ass

Sincerely - fuck the supreme court. Overturn the ban on bump stocks largely supported across the board, sure sure. The fucking MANIACAL LUNACY of guns having more rights than women in this country. You can shove the 4th of July up your fucking ass, Clarence Thomas. These people are bought and paid for, several of their wives are the hateful white ladies upholding patriarchy that memes are based on, and every blessed one of them lied to the American people with their hand in the air saying Roe was settled and they would not disrupt it. This is a rogue court acting on behalf of their billionaire benefactors. Fuck you all, I hope you have the days you deserve and that it comes with incurable crotch rot and dental pain

If your password requirement is like 12+ characters, a number, a character, etc etc to infinity, you can shove it up your butthole. Also, can hackers just like hack the fucking government and big businesses and wipe out mortgages and student loans and medical debt and siphon some off the top of that and not try to place a $99 order on my Grove Collaborative account? I am not personally offended or upset when my credit card gets compromised but like hello when it is the credit card you have hooked to everything and it happens days before things hit like your spotify, home warranty, cat insurance, etc. No thank you. Again, please direct your efforts to cancelling student loan debt, medical debt, and mortgages. Or credit debt itself thank you and good day. I SAID GOOD DAY.

Congrats to all the grads, and happy day to all the dads

SMD

Miscellaneous shit from the past few weeks volume four-ish?

The last time I wrote something like this, it was 34 days until our trip to Europe. Today Europe's been and gone and it's not coming over here from Instagram. I did a feed post every day with 10 pics and some text reactions that will help me remember each day, and if we are personal friends on Facebook you saw that there as well. There's also a corresponding reel of the day that I put into a highlight or that you can just access via my Reels page if you're interested. Our itinerary was Zurich, Munich with a day trip to Innsbruck in Austria, Venice, Florence, Naples with a day trip to Capri, and Rome. People said it was too much and could not be done and it was a lot but we did it and we did it well together for there being six of us of varying ages, thresholds, and personalities. I know that type of trip is not for everyone but I loved it and am so glad we did it. 

Carol of course turned 60 while we were gone, and we were celebrating that and my brother's 40th still. It was nice to be away together.

Admirable sticker and fuck the fascists graffiti throughout.

I will think about eating that folded pizza on a hot night in the street in Naples for the rest of my life. It was amazing. All the food here tastes fake and old now. It Italy specifically they do not allow the chemicals we do in America, largely eat what is local and in season there, and it tastes fresh as fuck. It's also more filling and I ate less throughout the day every day despite doing so much more walking. Even their packaged food was less greasy and gross. 

I didn't find the crowds as bad as people said they were, and we truly lucked out weather-wise. It was hot but not like it's been. Thanks to this solar umbrella also good for rain, Megababe body dust top to toe powder (I do not fuck with the roll on thigh rescue, the powder is far superior), and these Duluth boxer brief underwear for women  - they double as shorts under dresses to eliminate thigh rub, are cool and don't stink no matter how hot it is or how much you walk, and was also quick dry for sink washes. I've always worn shorts under dresses since I started working in Center City in 2008 and these are just superior. I like the regular underwear also for travel. I did this on Instagram already but might as well come clean here - I am sorry for all the times I ripped on Birkenstocks and how ugly they are. I walked over 224,000 steps in Europe, all day every day in these birks except for two days. Those two non-birk days were the days I felt the walking in my body. The rest of the time no pain in my feet, knees, hips, back from walking all day long on unforgiving surfaces. This is my third serious pair (non EVA) and I'm never stopping. I've got the Bostons on order for the winter. 

A lot of you had trip-related questions I might have meant to answer upon returning and lost the threads to so if you did and I didn't answer, feel free to ask again. In general: yes for this trip I booked it all myself/no travel agent etc., yes book early, yes you an do it in a small suitcase and a backpack, do not book attraction tickets through third parties like Viator (i.e. booked direct with Vatican and direct with Colosseum to avoid markup), map everything out on google maps to see what is doable in a day, make sure the must sees are taken care of first, and do not spend a lot of money on your accommodations because when you do a trip like this one you are never in them except to sleep or do a quick load of laundry. For Europe I usually start with Booking.com then book direct if possible. If not, through there is fine. I also used VRBO for the apartment in Florence. 

 

I didn't buy a ton but love and will use what I did buy - a small piece of artwork in Venice that got me a hug from the shopkeeper and is already hanging on my wall at the shore, two frocks for my Mrs. Roper era-collection in Venice, some bookmarks from Librairie Acqua Alta in Venice, a few food items and a leather bag I haggled for at the market in Florence, some soap from Florence and Rome (everywhere I go), a magnet from Capri, a Christmas gift, and some handmade jewelry from a shop near the pantheon in Rome. 

The floors, the doors, the windows, the walking, the ease and accessibility of public transportation, the mid day slow down/pause. I miss them and wish everyone would travel and experience them to see what is possible so we would collectively push for the transportation options and pause here for a healthier life, more connection and community, and better work-life balance. 

Bruce's birthday was two days after we got back and it felt like a sad one this year. There were still birthday cheeseburgers of course, but only two dogs at the dog birthday party felt wrong. Mae's absence seems more pronounced upon our return. The vet called me in Zurich to let me know her ashes were in and I picked them up on Monday. 

The Bruce Springsteen concert my brother and I were taking my Dad to on Wednesday was postponed along with tonight's show due to illness, so I'm anxious to get that new date! Since that was cancelled I came back to the shore Wednesday night with Bruce and Ben to the apartment being the cleanest it's been all year. This shit doesn't run here without a backup and one of my forever friends and her crew held it down here for the two turnover weekends. Thank you thank you thank you Melissa and framily!

And thank you thank you thank you to Vincent for holding it down in Philly with Bruce, Ben, and Billy. It takes a village to travel and we appreciate ours so much. It removes a lot of the worry associated with being away from home.

Pre-trip, I was thrilled to see my BFF Kim while she was down visiting her parents, the same day I got my hair done by Kristi. I was also in the city that week for work, and that meant a solid appointment with my acupuncturist and I did my massage with Sarah at Blossom before I left too. 

I also managed to eke out my July books read list but did not do a post on it, and probably won't circle back to do so at this point. If you want to discuss any of these, let me know. I read four books and started a fifth while we were gone, that I'm still muddling through. Jetlag is not for night readers. 

This week I had Ben at the vet (nothing wrong, just having a bit of a depressive time due to Mae dying followed by us being gone), did all the trip laundry, returned some shit, returned my overdue library books, and am getting regular life shit going again. I'm thankful I was gone at a downtime at work. While I was away, my 15th anniversary with my company hit. The last time I went anywhere without my computer was over 15 years ago. The freedom from the act of sitting in front of a computer for two weeks was amazing mentally and physically. I posted trip updates daily mostly to have for myself because I knew I wouldn't come back and do a blog trip wrap up - but was also largely off of social media and that was also amazing. Happy birthday if you had one, cheers to the good, peace for the bad. 

Loving seeing all the kids move into the dorms around this time. Hugs to the parents going through it!

Happy Friday and happy weekend!

Miscellaneous shit from the past insert period of time here

The third installment no one's been waiting for that's been in draft since the beginning of June, at which time it was the past two weeks then past few weeks and now insert time period will suffice. It remains easier for me to just dash off some photos and thoughts on Instagram stories vs putting together something here. ANYYway hello and how much do I love this mug from Forged & Found Pottery? This is my second piece from her. And the coordination with my ombre orange nails, so good.

Like the coordination of my shades and textures of green bedding at the shore with the walls painted in late spring. Chef's kiss. It would be better if you could see the green muslin blanket topper but just imagine it because we work with the pictures we've got.

My hydrangea is stunning this year.

Mae is all of us on a Tuesday.

I saw Elin Hilderbrand at the Newtown Bookshop! Super well organized event with a quick moving line. The Newtown Bookshop women are pros at author events. My mom came with me and took me out to dinner at Iron Hill after, where we ran into longtime family friend Laura and her family!

I order my essential oils that I use to make hand soap from Your Gypsy Wagon on Emerald Isle and she always packages so nicely and includes extras, which I love. I got away from making soaps in the main shore house during rental season but I'm going to return to it. I hate buying hand soaps.

Absolutely unprepared for peri-menopausal periods. I assume the world speaks about this in hushed tones for the comfort and convenience of men? You know what is uncomfortable and inconvenient regarding periods throughout life, but especially now? How long do we have?

Wawa in Ocean City finally got smart and started making more than one pepperoni and provolone bagel. For the people!

Recent dinners have been veggies and dip and this nachos a la MFD. Summer, and the living's easy.

Wearing some oldie but goodie tees recently

The audacity of people to hate women so much but support a grifter conman hobgoblin person who is under several zillion indictments or a rising Floridian Fascist. Call me when we're ready for the actual revolution.

Philly scenes from the last time I was at my office which is about a month ago now. Time flies.

One of my favorite places to grab lunch on the go or for the beach in Ocean City is The Farm Stand at 14th. If you're coming to OC this summer, try it! It's on the street directly off the boardwalk at 14th (same corner as Bob's). greeneggs from Philly has taken over brunch at the Chatterbox and the food is just as good as it is in town. We had breakfast there with Dad & Carol at the beginning of June. Go!

Had myself a day yesterday - walked to the post office and did all other errands on foot at lunch, stood in the ocean at the end of the work day, sat on the porch reading as a summer thunderstorm rolled over the island, ate veggies and dip for dinner. It really is the small things. And the small things really are the big things. Always. Life is short. I'm going to have myself a day when I can.

Something I've been more cognizant of recently. Again, life is short. 

I've written weekend posts of the past four because that's sort of my life diary, but I don't think I've shared. My brother's 40th weekend, Doyle family weekend, the weekend after that, and this past weekend.

Substack post of walking through the house last week. I thought I'd publish much more observation stuff like that or one to three line musings on the fly there and last posted something in March. The best laid plans. 

34 days until Europe.

Happy birthday to my brother-in-law Mark today! And happy anniversary to Kim & Steve.

Peace.

A few weeks of miscellaneous shit

So good to get an impromptu visit from Frank and Amanda last week!

Dad and Carol were here for a quick visit this week and they changed out the contact paper on the island for me. The befores are with the teal wooden stools - they show the old floors too. Now I want new kitchen counters and MFD was like no.

We're nearing the end of dogs on the regular beach season and we are not okay. Look at this unbridled joy.

It's been beautiful.

Pets pets pets. 

I think this is gorgeous. 

Button from Aubrey and coaster from my mom are both very me

Two trips to my office from the shore in the three plus weeks I've been down here made me extra happy for Old City office - ease of getting into the city from the Ben and the ability to park on the street

I saw this in a public bathroom and wondered if I was getting invited to the Matrix. First of all, I fucking hate the Matrix movies and secondly MFD says the red pill represents the alt-right and I certainly am not accepting an invitation to that missile ride to hell.

Some books I've added to my to read list recently:

I'm very thankful to John and Gisele Fetterman for talking openly about depression and mental health. No matter who you are or where you fall on the political spectrum, please recognize how this helps all of us talk about something that is still so stigmatized. It has been a topic in our house forever, one that was not always as openly spoken about as it is now - one that was self medicated for a long time, and brushed off as melancholic episodes like Fetterman's depression was when he was younger. It is so important for us to recognize the need in others to take a step back and address their mental health. Depression is not a weakness or a character defect. It is a matter of health to be talked about and dealt with like you'd deal with any physical health issue: with care, and with an eye on both how you feel now and how you want to feel in the future. 

I'm not getting into the abortion pill debacle, the people who have been shot doing regular mistake things like going to the wrong door or turning around in a driveway, the erasure of trans people, the rise in anti-Semitism, how anti-american and anti-democracy and morally bankrupt the christofascists are, the white supremacist war on democracy in the Tennessee state house, the absolute pittance Dominion settled for with Fox News in lieu of going through a public trial, or any of the other depravity happening across this country. It is exhausting out there right now. Hold tight to yourselves, stand up for each other and anyone in communities under attack, and find joy every day. Otherwise what is the point.

Happy birthday to Gail yesterday and Evil Stephanie #1 today!

I've got a personal and professional to do list that's a mile long like everyone else right now so I'm going to skedaddle. Peace in the east.