July Recap

Time feels a bit meaningless during these days of a pandemic that feels never-ending. July flew by and I can’t believe there’s still no end in sight to this weird, new way of life. It’s all starting to feel normal, you know? I saw someone inside Publix without a mask on and he looked so… weird. (Also, wear your damn mask, sir!) August will be an interesting month with many school districts back in session. Who knows what will happen once teachers and administrators and students have to report back to school? I’m nervous about it and my heart aches for the teachers and parents who are worried and anxious and stressed. Oof.

Before I get too melancholy, let’s switch gears and look back to July. It was a good month for me, I have to say. Pandemic fatigue was at an all-time low and for that, I am oh-so-grateful.

READING

I read 14 books in July, bringing my total to 92 books read so far in 2020. Woop! This is going to be one massive reading year for me. That’s pandemic life for ya! My top three books were:

• So You Want to Talk about Race by Ijeoma Oluo, a book that should be at the top of your antiracist education list.
• Down with Love by Kate Meader, a really fun romance that made me giggle numerous times.
• The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes, a propulsive historical fiction novel about the Packhorse Librarians of Kentucky.

WATCHING

• The Baby-Sitter’s Club (Netflix) – I’ll admit: I didn’t get super excited when I heard Netflix would be releasing a new and improved version of The Baby-Sitter’s Club. There’s no way it could live up to my beloved novels! But, you guys, IT IS SO GOOD. All of the actresses are ridiculously adorable and I have such fondness for them. The storylines are great, and I especially love how diverse and inclusive it is. I’m watching it on a week-by-week basis to keep up with my beloved BSC podcast (The Baby-Sitter’s Club Club) and I love being able to savor the season this way.
• Golden Girls, season 3 (Hulu) – I’m still trucking along with the Golden Girls! I’ll admit that some of the humor feels so tasteless now in 2020 (so much fatphobia!) and the acting isn’t always great, but it’s fun and silly and just what I need most days.
• The West Wing, season 1 (Netflix) – I started watching The West Wing! I’ve never seen it! I’m about six episodes in and I love it. All of the actors are excellent and all of their walk-and-talks are truly epic.

LISTENING TO

• That’s the Ticket by Pod Save America – I loved this miniseries by the Crooked Media team, diving into the vice president selection process. It’s only three episodes long, hosted by two of my faves, Dan Pfeiffer and Alyssa Mastromonaco, and Alyssa actually has firsthand experience with this selection process so it was really interesting to hear her views.
• The West Wing Weekly – As soon as I finish an episode of The West Wing, I download the accompanying episode recap and it’s been such a good companion to the show.
• Dr. Fauci on America Dissected – The man of the hour came onto America Dissected to discuss COVID-19. While the discussion was more about the public health side of things and how to communicate complex scientific facts to regular people, I still really enjoyed this discussion.

BUYING

• Acrylic necklace keeper ($22) – I was ecstatic to find this necklace stand during one of my trips to The Container Store in July. I wanted a way to display my necklaces but keep them out of the girls’ reach (imagine how much fun they’d have batting my necklaces into a twisted mess!). This necklace keeper has an acrylic case that goes right over the stand. Perfect!
• Face masks x 4 ($30ish) – I bought a lot of cloth face masks this month to build up my collection. I have seven now, four I bought off Etsy, and three I bought from my friend who is making masks. (Her masks are, by far, my favorite. They cling perfectly to my face and stay put easily.)
• Key holder with organizer ($30) – I wanted a new key holder for my new apartment, one that I could also use for organizing mail and other odds and ends that I like to keep by the front door. This one seems perfect and I can’t wait to put it up in my new place!

MOMENTS

> It was so lovely to see my Georgia family early in July. I got to meet the newest member of our clan, my cousin’s baby who was born in April. He was adorable, although he slept through the entirety of dinner!

> I had a bit of FOMO missing out on my family’s Fourth of July party, but I made the tough decision to sit this one out because of COVID-19. We had a huge group this year and I just didn’t feel comfortable about going.

> I took a day off work to celebrate my mom’s birthday and it was such a lovely day! We got pedicures, went to a restaurant on the water for lunch, and did a little bit of furniture shopping. Then, my brother and nephews came over for dinner!

> I signed a lease on a new apartment! I am so excited about my move next month. The new apartment will add 200 more square feet of space and have an updated kitchen and bathroom and oooh, I am so ready for it!

> I started an Instagram for my cats because that’s the kind of person I am, haha. But I just have soooo many pictures of them and wanted a place where I could put up a picture a day without feeling like I was overwhelming my personal feed. It’s been fun so far! (It may be giving Ellie a big head, though, as all she ever talks about now are Instagram stats and becoming a “catfluencer”!)

> I went back to the office last month, just to pick up some of my personal belongings I had left back in mid-March when I expected quarantine to only last a few weeks. (HAHAHAHAHA. Oh, sweetie.) Everything about being back in the office felt so strange and surreal, a stark reminder of how much life has changed in these past few months. (I finally got to bring home my cat calendar, too, which is why it’s showing March 13th—that was my last day in the office!)

> I had to do a little repair to my bookshelf last week when I realized half the shelves weren’t sitting flat on the hardware anymore. I’m not sure if I was putting too many books on one shelf or if the way I had previously shoved books onto the shelf caused the backing to become misaligned, but I had to take all my books off their shelves, take off the shelves themselves, and then lower the bookshelf to the floor to realign the backing. Oof. It was quite the process but I got it fixed and now the shelves are sitting perfectly! I’m trying to be more careful with how I shelve my books and not stuff each shelf too full.

> Throughout the bookshelf fiasco, I was able to pare down my book collection a bit! I wouldn’t say I’m a book hoarder (I only started collecting books in the past few years, actually!) but I do have enough books to nearly fill up a five-shelf bookcase. So while taking books off my shelf, I decided to set aside any books I’d like to donate. I ended up with 50 books to donate, whew! I was able to sell 26 of those to a local used bookstore and stuffed 4 more into a Little Free Library, so now I need to decide what to do about the other 20 books. Hmm.

> I got to visit with my book club friends this month when we surprised one of our ladies for her birthday. It had been almost two months since I had last seen them and it was so nice to catch up with everyone. We haven’t been having regular book club meetings since finding books to read is a lot more difficult these days, considering most of us are library users and/or don’t read e-books. Hopefully, we can bring back (socially distanced) book club meetings soon, now that the library is back up and running (albeit at a limited capacity).

> Pool days at my mom’s new place became a standard weekend activity for me. Sometimes alone, sometimes with my mom. It’s the only way to enjoy being outside these days! I’m so glad to have my mom’s pool to enjoy, especially this summer with COVID-19 and not feeling comfortable being at my apartment’s pool. It’s quiet and peaceful and refreshing. Ahh!

Tell me about your July! What was the best book you read and your top highlight of the month?