Things I've been meaning to tell you 4.19.2024

1. Is the AI robot coming up with the names for my spotify daylists okay? Happy Tortured Poet's Department Day to all who celebrate. I'm not a Swiftie or a member of the Beyhive but I've enjoyed both recently released albums and have favorites from both. 

2. We are booked for the summer season at the shore but have a rare long weekend in early June open (possible dates are June 5-9). That's typically our weekend with MFD's fam and there's a family wedding so we moved the weekend up leaving that one free. I also have the first weekend in October open and some weekdays in Sept and Oct too if you know anyone interested. You can see the listing here. 

3. I'm open to renting a little extra than usual to cover some upcoming expenses and things I forgot needed to happen, like replacing stair carpet. Fall Us excel as a couple at saying, "we'll do that in the spring" then suddenly it's April and there's a looootttt of things to do. So far I've gotten the supplies we keep in our apartment and outside organized, bought the majority of household supplies that will hopefully get us through to August before I need to re-stock, and ordered 80 rolls of TP. I've been leaning into the Dollar General $5 off on Saturday coupon to pick some of the cleaning/household supplies up on the cheap. This week I also got the outdoor shower fixed and ordered the replacement carpet for the stairs from the main floor to the second floor.We last did that project in spring 2017 and that carpet was a dark blue and is riddled with bleach. I remove all bleach cleaners before the season starts but people bring their own and I can't control that. This time we're going with aloe and a different type of carpet so hoping for longer more than six years out of it but we'll see. It is a high traffic area with lots of barefoot people in a town with a lot of dark sand. Next weekend is touch up painting weekend and all Touch Up Painters are invited. I'm sure no hands are raised.

4. I've also been getting rid of things we no longer need at the shore on Freecycle and what kind of psycho says they want something for free then doesn't pick it up? I always check back in with people like hey are you coming? After that they're out, we do not play by the three strike rule here. When they claim an item and don't show I block them. Toodles, go waste someone else's time. 

5. Big fan of getting every last drop. I have stuck with this facial cleanser at night for years at this point (I use a milder one in the morning). I am less likely to upset the facial apple cart as I age. If it works it works. Also of course I don't just use a plastic shower curtain, I'm not a serial killer. Mr. Rooney peed on the fabric one so it had to come down.

6. Monthly massage at Blossom coming up on Wednesday and I am in extra need this month - have you considered doing a monthly massage for wellness? I highly recommend Sarah. 

7. I am enraged with Netflix. I had everyone on my account in the allotted slots and paid for it for years. They got kicked off one by one. Then I could not access Netflix IN MY OWN HOME because it said I was not in my household since one household is in NJ and one is in PA. I explained this - I am absolutely not the only one who operates out of two places - and they gave me a work around and it stopped working. I had to change the household every time, there was no more option for "I'm traveling." So I cancelled it outright have not re-upped it. I was a continual netflix customer since 2004 I think, when we got the DVDs in the mail. No, I do not want two fucking accounts for one service so I can use it in two places. That's how people get overcharged and miss it. 

8. Weekends gone by paragraph recaps because I seem to be unable to quit that habit. I do for a while, successfully, then feel driven to make a note. 

9. Big into this mixed with some Topo Chico and a lime. If you live in the land of legal weed in these parts (NJ), this is in the...liquor store. But it has no alcohol. 

10. Beach scenes of late

Happy birthday to Gail today! And happy Friday to all

SMD

Things I've been meaning to tell you 3.21.2024

1. Items of interest from last weekend: I turned 47 Friday and celebrated by doing exactly what I woke up and wanted to do that day which included: semi-annual library used book sale, lunch at Lobster House, trolling around ReStore and TJMaxx/HomeGoods, overspending at the bakery, getting groceries, walking on the beach, putting my feet in the ocean, a quick drive to the dispensary, MFD picking up takeout from my favorite Italian restaurant in town and eating it on the couch in pajamas, MFD putting together the new cabinet I wanted (to have a third shelf where there used to be two in a small efficiency apartment with no storage? a dream), and my favorite comfort watch The Office. Thanks for all the birthday wishes - I typically share thoughts on my actual birthday and you can find them here. Saturday we met our new attached neighbors at the shore, I got the new loveseat I wanted for our porch from Big Lots, and we headed back to Philly for an impromptu fire pit night with my brother and the kids, MFD's brother and SIL and Harry, and Jared and Amy complete with a funfetti birthday cake a la Jared that was delicious. Sunday started with coffee outside then a pedicure, Lisa Gardner in conversation with Liz Moore, and the traditional St. Patrick's Day meal. I had myself a Sunday, which is not always the case. The boundary between Sunday and Monday is a hard one for me to hold most weeks.

2. I never did the weekend before either it appears. I was still in the spin cycle with insane work hours and deadlines. I watched Major League for the first time in an eternity and damn this movie holds up. I spent many hours on a rainy Saturday doing some trip planning, had a nice impromptu birthday week dinner at Mom & Rich's, Sunday I went to my first ever professional lacrosse game and it was definitely more fun than I expected. Enjoyable Wings game thanks to Tiffany and Brandon, followed by dinner at Chickies with Stephen and Aubrey and the kids. MFD met us there. Solid weekend!

3. The first quarter of the year was an hours and deadline trial by fire at work. I actually spent part of three days in Philly a few weeks back, which is rare these days. I still can't believe how different work life is post-pandemic March 2020. It's literally transformed my life in ways I never imagined before March 2020.

4. Yesterday was a banner sun ray through the clouds day - I saw it in Philly and later at the beach. It was a great reflection day as well. Clear skies with no clouds are my least favorite. I prefer a blue sky but clouds for interest, always.

5. This beauty is from last week. Clouds make a sunrise and sunset.

6. I'm this person now with reading glasses. They're everywhere yet sometimes I can't find them so now they can always be with me. 

7. Recent pet photos I like.

8. My bedside table project turned out as I wanted at the shore. Both have shelves in the middle for books which I loaded up on at the library book sale so I'll be populating them this weekend.

9. Watching: Just finished True Detective Night Country. Reading: Sally Hepworth's Darling Girls, which publishes April 23. 

10. Happy spring, folks. If the spring temps could come back, that would be fantastic.

I'm out here trying to stay in the day, present every day. To feel and welcome joy in the small moments. Living in a world where no one agrees on a damn thing and you can see that every second online is not easy. 

I cannot wrap my head around how we cannot at the least agree that people who are hungry should have access to food. I hate knowing people are hungry in America because they can't afford food and people cannot distinguish between inflation and corporate greed; that people are being starved in Gaza, including hostages, because food is not allowed in by land; that people are starving in Sudan because of six years of violence coupled with flooding and population displacement; that 25 years of violence and displacement and climate change has made hunger an ongoing fact of life in the Congo; and I could go on. If we cannot agree to feed people as a basic human right and have countries and corporations conduct themselves in a way that allows the earth to remain habitable for all of us, we are not going to agree to jack shit. 

Off to take Bruce to the vet for a weird irritated drooping eyeball. Wish us luck.

SMD

Things I've been meaning to tell you 3.6.2024

1. Items of interest from last weekend: My first do nothing weekend and non-working weekend of the year. It's been a battle out here, I am already 12 full days over for the year that I have to flex somewhere. My niece and nephew came over Friday night and MFD, Jared, and I took them to Nifty Fifty's. I was on the couch all day Saturday and it was fucking glorious. Sunday was a repeat with just some more laundry and organizing and blondies. I finally placed an order to update some wall photo canvases we have in Philly. 

2. A moment of appreciation for these fantastic athleisure shoes.

3. Flowers for all of us here in America on the heels of Super Tuesday. I don't think I've ever wished more for two alternative candidates for president. And yes, folks, there are only two candidates who have a chance to win in November. I found this on my phone and have no clue where to attribute. 

4. Things I miss the most overseas: iced coffee. American eggs. 

5. Spotted in transit. Flaubert for fun? Grow up. Also look, Air France, an airline I was never supposed to be on but ended up on thanks to Air Canada's shit assery stranding they still will not address with me.

6. Photos I take of my husband vs photos he takes of me. LOL Just kidding on the middle one but really. Redeemed by the end one. I almost returned that pink dress and it was my favorite. 

7. Many people asked and no, I did not plan this trip. We went on a tour with Exottica  so the route was set and it was fine - we did everything we wanted to do, in the amount of days we wanted to do it in. It would have been nice to have a full first day as planned but that's on Air Canada. I am happy with the decision to not go to Morocco on a DIY trip - there are a lot of customs and interactions/payments expected etc that we relied heavily on an english speaking guide to help us navigate. There are guides who do small group tours and individual tours if you want to go that way, but if you are going and traveling around the country I'd definitely lean on a local guide, or get a local guide in each city.

8. What I brought home:This fucking fantastic hand done copper and metal mirror with leather backings. A little art piece from a village. Pottery from the art school in Fes. Protective hamsas for all. A baller bracelet I haggled the shit out of. Beauty products including prickly pear cactus oil. Rocks from everywhere and sand from the Sahara. Not pictured: a super thin "rug" that I'm using as a topper for our bed. 

9. Since I just returned from a trip, it's about time to plan the next one - heading out west in the fall! It's been right about nine years since we've been out that way. 

10. I'm dying to get back to the shore, but I had to be in the city yesterday and back tomorrow and Friday and I have something here on Sunday so that'll be on hold until next week. Not that it would be enjoyable with this fucking hideous rain. Relentless out there today.

SMD

Things I've been meaning to tell you 2.7.2024

For years I was blogging four to five times a week, then three, then committing to still documenting weekends and monthly reads, then a substack post here and there, then stopping even the weekends and monthly reads the weekend after Thanksgiving…and I stopped with no regrets. I didn't want to sit at my computer any longer than necessary. I didn't feel like I had the capacity for it. Since then it’s been like having all the things I shared regularly for so long bottling up in my brain causing a traffic jam. I never thought not putting a blog out would add to my mental load instead of subtract from it, but that's what happened. I am a creature of habit and continued adding any little unimportant thought that flew through to a mental list until my brain felt like the scene in a movie where a pillow bursts and the asshole down feathers that are a PITA to clean up are everywhere.

I'm going to try for a weekly round up, which I will start immediately with no expectations and achieve with varying degrees of success. Let us begin.

1. I’m so glad Tracy Chapman is getting all her flowers for Fast Car. Now let’s do Talkin’ Bout a Revolution.

2. Then let’s actually have a revolution where the needs of actual every day people are met over the need to return profits to shareholders or fund the military industrial complex, which America does without care for how it impacts and erases actual every day people, scorches the earth, and does lasting damage to our shared humanity. Too many of us do not realize our entire lives are attributable to the luck of being born where we were born. Related: let's Make America Go Back to When Congress Produced Things Aside From Sound Bytes Again. Do nothing motherfuckers owned by corporate and/or foreign interests, the lot of them

3. White women powers, activate! Form of: the same shield around Black and Brown women - celebrity or not - we use to surround Taylor Swift. This isn’t a dig on TS, it’s a reminder to us white ladies that white supremacy AND patriarchy are not the shark, they are the water we swim in. And a lot of the time, us white ladies are the lifeguards who focus so hard on some swimmers that we’re just letting non-white women drown. Plenty of Black women have more to say on this than me, and plenty of white women are slamming the door on it because they are sick of the beating Taylor Swift has taken because the NFL shows her on the screen which, ladies, I’m with you. Two things can be true at once. If you read shit like this and get defensive, stop and discuss with yourself. I immediately stop and ask why I’m getting defensive. And as a rule and lifelong commitment to my authentic self, I am ruthlessly honest with my answers. It is okay to change your thought process or to have a realization that sparks a change in how you see the world at any time. If you find yourself stuck, you might be dead.

4. Some of you right now: Back on her bullshit, why did I start reading this

5. I spent two hours on a combo of live chat and phone chat with the bastard Xfinity this morning to lower our shore internet only cost from $160 to $102. How the shit they justify Internet Only at $160 when it was $85 in 2020 is one of the world's greediest mysteries. The cost of utilities in general is absolutely insane globally. Also why isn't Internet fucking free. 

6. Free deodorizer for dog beds, blankets, etc: sunshine. The same thing that kept the Ingalls family from smelling like old crotches through most of the winter. Have you ever read The Long Winter as an adult? If not, recommend.

7. I'm thrilled with how  table originally purchased for $20 from ReStore turned out in Philly - this is Modern Masters Metallic Paint in Amethyst over All in One Paint in Thistle. My niece critiqued it while it was in progress, prompting an additional coat I was not going to do but she was correct. I still need to add a lacquer top coat. More metallic painting shit coming this weekend at the shore. Who knows how that will turn out, because I'll be damned if I'm letting the rest of the thistle go to waste so it will be the base for the two smaller tables I'm doing at the shore as well. Different metallic paints are going on top of that but they are not in the same color family so the end results will be a surprise to both you and me. 

8. Items of note from last weekend: Mr. Rooney's first $$$ emergency vet visit. Face time with a good friend is always comforting and fantastic. Bruce is back on his coffee bullshit. A two hour walk on a windless Sunday in February feels like an amazing dream.

9. Have I mentioned I'm putting my feet in the water every day I'm at the shore, winter included? The water's not bad, really. I need to ground myself in all seasons, and also I'm a pisces what do we expect

10. Woman who is always saying, "I rarely watch movies," has recently watched movies.

I'm coming back next week, I swear.

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.