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!

Friday Files 2.10.2023

The  simple luxury of an everything bagel, toasted, with a liberal application of cream cheese, topped with a layer of cucumbers and sprinkled with Himalayan salt is chef's kiss. Happy Friday, everyone!

I switched to this brush a few months ago after my friend and hairstylist of forever Kristi at Salon Harmony used it on me while I was getting my hair done. I don't dry or style my hair and I certainly do not wash it daily so the brushing is important LOL. This really reduces static and helps with tangles which I always have in the back of my head. It's $10 at Target.

Once again I am a fool who is sitting at 50% read of a book at 11 pm and stays up to finish it. More of a fool last night because this was hair raising in multiple places. I know a lot of you love the thriller genre also. This comes out in May and you should know that I paused in several spots because the description of violence specifically regarding women and children was graphic - I read books like this all the time and if I'm pausing over it, I should do the courtesy of giving others a content warning heads up. 

Last night was the perfect night to return to the beach for the first time since January 29. 

I've got a lot of balls in the air personally and professionally but juggling schedules and sharing a car is no longer one of them. On the 55th day after his car was totaled, MFD purchased one yesterday and the universe wept with relief. I'm not a sharer in general, and I'm really not a check in with someone else before I schedule things person. I've also gotten used to being a person who does not live with their spouse full time and that has been a bit of a shock to go back to. Next week is a nightmare schedule-wise so this is perfectly timed. Say goodbye to your viewing post, Billy Hicks. Philly doors that were ordered in August - and have needed to be replaced for many years - are being replaced next week. 

It is clear that the person who feeds dogs off of plates does not eat in peace and the person who does not feed dogs off of plates does eat in peace.

I assume you've seen or heard of the absolutely unhinged blackface video courtesy of Northeast Philly white girls as it's viral now. I posted about it on Instagram as soon as I saw it and when I woke up the next morning the three stories were gone. Instagram had removed it for hate speech. No shit. White people wonderwhining(tm) why everything is still about race should pay particular attention. This is why, numbnuts. Because this shit still happens. Because this country was built off the backs of the unpaid labor of Black people who were enslaved by white people and we've never reckoned with it or paid for it. Because Jim Crow never ended it just became Jim Crow 2.0 and Jim Crow 3.0. Because the prison system in this country is the current iteration. Because we excuse and protect and tsk tsk white kids who do stupid shit and vilify and incarcerate and harm Black kids who do stupid shit. Because racist white folks elected by racist white folks are attempting to whitewash history and remove Black history from schools so what they teach their kids at home - that shit like this is acceptable or funny or excusable or kids will be kids - sticks and carries through the generations versus being ripped out at the fucking root and discarded.  

I am not going to go into how fucking unhinged Marjorie Taylor Green is, and how unable she is to function as an adult in society. 

My favorite sheet pan dinner is kielbasa, red onion, bell pepper, banana peppers, and sweet or red potatoes. 

Crew this week

Even I use the standard Go Birds greeting/pleasantry/hi/bye and watch the Super Bowl when the hometown team is in the Super Bowl.

Have a great weekend!

Thursday Thoughts - Within the glow that weaves a cloak of delight there moves a thread that has no end

Forever mood in tee form from yesterday

Forever mood in mug form from Tuesday

Forever mood in regards to Confederate flag and pride

Recommend: Colored Girls Bike Too doing work on the ground in Buffalo after the murder of Black people grocery shopping last week. Access their white supremacy culture resources here. We can either get comfortable being uncomfortable as we sit in the tension to destroy this or we can support white supremacy and racism. Those are the only two choices

Recommend: deprogramming and civics/government education. These people are from absolute hell and care not a fucking whit about what they have convinced you they care about. If you say anything like "Biden's FDA" you do not know not who is responsible for what in government and what actual agencies like FDA have domain over. 

Recommend: bar keeper's friend for so many things. This was rust on a tile floor. 

I'm partial to this photo from last weekend.

Partial to purple too, as you can see. 

Voters gotta vote. Turnout in the PA primary tells me people don't know we're sliding into fascism or do not care, which is going to be a shame when we are fully there. The Republican candidate for governor is for treasonous overthrowing of elections, suppressing the vote, and banning abortion. Why in the shit fuck would anyone vote for anyone of any party who has proven they would not accept the result of democratic elections? Do the recount or whatever, but if ya lose ya lose. Fascist treasonous anti-American anti-Democratic fucks who participate in stop the steal chicanery should not hold government office. For that reason and others, we'd all better vote for the democrat candidate Josh Shapiro, who is honestly republican lite in many ways but will absolutely safeguard the right to abortions. Abortion is healthcare and it is a private matter. If you don't agree with abortion don't get one, but stay out of other people's bodies. No matter who is the republican Senate candidate, the choice is Fetterman. He's not endorsed by democrat politicians because he's not establishment, he's for the people. Republicans allegedly value that so place that value in the box in the form of your vote for Fetterman in the November election. 

Pet pics of the week. It's the Billy and Ben show. This is why we will spend time and money tracking down a no longer sold BarkBox sheep. He got one from Treat Lady and I got him a backup. How cute is this. Ben also matches my car perfectly. The outside is white and the inside is Ben colored.

Huge congrats to our friend Frank who got his masters in Ed from Rutgers this week. You all know Frank from his annual birthday blogs in July, of course. Frank is going to kill it as an elementary school teacher! 

Happy birthday to Laura's MBD tomorrow! 

Second girls weekend this weekend with my original met you on the Internet friends of about 22 years now. Out of office tomorrow! Second four day work week in a row. 

What appears beyond the hyphen in Thursday Thoughts titles is what I'm listening to when I'm starting this - this week is All of My Love by Led Zeppelin

Friday Five - Recommendations

Happy Friday! I actually have something to do this weekend and next while the world screams and seethes around us. No talk of pandemic, late stage capitalism, ineffective government in a dying republic, why people like Pete Davidson and Machine Gun Kelly, mean girls, possible cat UTIs, dog eyes not healing, dirty houses, the cost of everything, or anything else unpleasing today. It's Friday and I need a break from swimming in reality for a minute so I'm sharing five recent recommendations.

1. Increase veggie intake - I know, groundbreaking. But it is insane how much better it feels to live in a body that is doing this

2. Herr's Fire Roasted Sweet Corn - because we're not only here for good for you things

3. Homemade vanilla pudding - see the flecks in the recipe photo? Pudding packet schmackit, it is easy and delicious to make at home. Vanilla paste - I bought a jar of it last year and it is chefs kiss in ways I did not imagine. I also have a cake recipe that calls for vanilla paste. It is depth and deliciousness. 

4. Fleece lined leggings from Old Navy - If you spend any amount of time outside in the winter - or would like to but are always too cold - you need these. Mid-Atlantic region winter, not like Alaska winter. They are the real MVP. They are warm but not too warm to wear comfortably inside, and they don't fall down or ride up. Fabulous. 

5. These socks in style B or style A (affiliate links) - I don't know how to talk about these without sounding like I'm over the edge. My mother in law got these for everyone her last Christmas and I was like socks, cool, because I like socks. When I started wearing them I was like THESE ARE MAGIC SOCKS. They fit your foot firmly, don't slide around, are warm but not too warm, feel thick but don't inhibit foot in shoe fitting. I never asked where she got them but came across them on amazon and they are them! Recommend, highly. The ones she and I bought again are style B and I'm confident style A feel the same. Can't vouch for the rest yet. They look so low rent when they come but they are awesome. Also in this photo I am holding recommendation #5 while wearing recommendation #4. 

You only get actual recommendations here that are well used and loved. You got any recommendations for me? 

Happy weekend!

Thursday Thoughts - summer's long, but I guess it ain't very sweet around here anymore

1.I feel like my brain looks like this. Yesterday was my 10th day in a row of work during which I logged 100 hours in advance of a deadline for a document. I went to bed thinking about it, woke up thinking about it, had dreams about it, worked through the entire Fourth weekend for it. It feels weird to let it go but also nice to return to being a balanced person. 

2. When receipt was confirmed, I floated out of my house on autopilot and did a bunch of shit that I had not been doing the past 10 days. I returned something to TJ Maxx, picked up storage bins and outlet covers from Lowe's, returned shit to Target and got a few things, picked up a few things from Aldi. And since I was cutting through Feasterville to avoid traffic I popped into Trevose Pizza and had a slice. Penndel Pizza forever but as always Trevose will do.

3. Still in the process of getting shit together upstairs. This artful shot was taken while I was laying down at the end of the day referenced in the two bullets above. This is our old room, which is now a guest room, but right now specifically will be my Dad & Carol's room/has all their stuff in it. Still need to hang curtains and some stuff on the walls and remove some extraneous shit like MFD's freaking moon pod from in there. All of my Grandmom's bedroom furniture is in here and I love it so much. I am thrilled to have it. The other spare room is completely empty. We will likely get the floors done in there before the twin bed that is temporarily in this room to make one large bed goes back in there. Maybe paint? I don't know. The walls probably just need to be cleaned. No one ever goes in there. 

4. Speaking of home items, aside from the Target threshold printed sheets (NOT the solid sheets), the Tommy Bahama stone washed (There are a few different types of these and I like them all. NOT other random Tommy Bahama sheets, only the stone washed) are my favorite. They are hard to find and definitely a Marshalls/TJMaxx/HomeGoods score when found. 100% cotton or death. 

5. When my brain can take in information again...I'll finish out The Sinful Lives of Trophy Wives from Netgalley. I tried reading it last night and 10 minutes in I was like what am I reading? So I put that down. LOL Show Us Your Books is Tuesday! I need to get my ass to the library to pick up some holds too. That's on my list for this afternoon or tomorrow. 

6. We've come to the point in the summer where I'm ready to throw out all annuals. It comes earlier every year. These are gaillardia perennials. I planted them and they didn't come in. The next year I planted annuals over them. This year, here they are. 

7. There was a weird incident out front Tuesday night in which a Penske rental truck that had been parked immediately in front of our house since like 2 pm was half in and out of the road, apparently ran out of gas? It was a huge thing and now there is a fucking river of gas on the street. I am convinced it was a mobile meth lab. The picture is blurry but it sets the scene. 

8. Not even a thin line of iced tea in this pitcher. This is, of course, and act of war.

9. Reminder: It's just not. Art via Letter Shoppe, a lettering artist & shirt designer in Michigan. I just bought a poster of another image for my office. 

10.  Ecards: Can the humidity not.

What appears beyond the hyphen in Thursday Thoughts titles is what I'm listening to or most recently heard when I'm starting this - this week is Incident on 57th Street by Bruce 

Thursday Thoughts - and if you want to find me I'll be out in the sandbox

Loving yard art, this is from Hearth & Sole in Ocean City and I adore them

Urging you to check out this book, Fuel Your Best, by my friend Jen - I got one for my niece and one for the shore house kids library. She's a great person and this has a great message for kids and for us!

Monitoring baby bird status out back as the mother has squatted in my begonia and killed it because she doesn't like us to water it

Congratulating all teachers, admin and school staff, kids, and parents for making it through not the easiest of school years

Repurposing election signs to hang solar lanterns from this year to complement the mini shepherd hooks

Recommending this, I get it at Marshalls usually. It's only $7 there and that is much friendlier than Living Proof's price. Living Proof is still my favorite dry shampoo, but this is entirely serviceable most days. This is my fourth bottle.

Swapping desks, bringing the bigger one into my office and moving the smaller one into the back basement room. I need room. I'm finally getting my home office as I want it just in time for my office office to officially reopen. We have no you have to be in a certain number of days thing. I'm aiming for one day a week or one every other at least. 

Hanging out with dogs

Handing dog duty over to MFD as he's been working from the shore this week both on his actual work and on becoming Tan Mom using the sun instead of tanning beds

Arguing with people on the internet again. This time on the our shore town owner’s Facebook page with people who speculated houses are being left in poor condition upon checkout because it’s people using stimulus money. Excuse me what now? 

I told them this was classism. They told me this was not classism even though they were grouping people together by income level and assigning certain behaviors to them. They were sorry I was offended. I said I’m not offended but I’m disappointed you’re blowing smoke at me acting like issues between classes don’t exist and like you are not grouping people together by income level and ascribing behaviors to that group. 

The moderator turned off comments and deleted all of the ones under the person saying she heard the renters were bad this year assuming because they used stimulus money. One person said he doesn't think these people understand the ethics of renting a vacation home. When I tell you I lost my fucking mind, I am not exaggerating. 

Imagine being like this. Just because people make less money does not mean they do not deserve material comforts, joy, or vacations. They do not need to do with their money what you think they should do with their money. We are not here to work until we die and punching down does not put you closer to billionaires.   

Reading Two library books this week. It's been a lot of advanced reader copies from Netgalley on the kindle so library books felt good. Both were recommended in the Show Us Your Books linkup (who recommended After the Fire? and definitely Laura from Alabama + Graffiti on Milk Fed), and Milk Fed was a timely read for Pride month.

Reminding us all that making Juneteenth a federal holiday actually does nothing for Black people. How about we press the government for 1) Passing the John Lewis Voting Rights Act for protection and expansion of voting rights 2) teach accurate history in schools and stop fucking wilding out over Critical Race Theory 3) Passing the goddamn Emmett Till Antilynching Act to make lynching a federal hate crime 4) Halting the destabilization of COVID relief efforts 5) reimagining public safety 6) reparations 7) Legalize cannabis 8) Decriminalize drug possession, expunge drug records, end the war on drugs  

What's new with you?

What appears beyond the hyphen in Thursday Thoughts titles is what I'm listening to when I'm starting this - this week is Brian Wilson by Barenaked Ladies