Monthly Recap | April & May 2019

I wasn’t able to get my April monthly recap up before my trip, so I decided I would combine April and May into one recap. I thought it would make this post a lot longer than it actually is, but it’s a pretty normal size. Yay! Let’s dive in:

READING

I read 21 books between April and May – whew! This puts me at 53 books read for the year, so I’m well on my way to crushing my yearly goal of reading 100 books. Not sure if I’ll beat last year’s record of 134 books, but maybe! Here were my top three favorites:

• On the Come Up by Angie Thomas, which was such a unique story about a girl trying to become a rapper and the complexities that provides.
• All Fall Down by Jennifer Weiner, which was a story that gripped me from beginning to end. It’s a story about drug addiction from the perspective of a white, middle-class woman, and was incredibly powerful.
• The Heart’s Invisible Furies by John Boyne, which is going on my shelf of all-time favorites. It’s about a gay man named Cyril who was born in Ireland in the 1940s and follows him throughout his life as he comes to terms with the feelings he has for his best friend as well as what it means to be gay in a society that believes homosexuality is a criminal act.

WATCHING

• Jim Gaffigan, Noble Ape – I watched Jim Gaffigan’s latest comedy special on the plane to Ireland where I had to do a lot of silent laughing with tears streaming down my cheeks. I highly recommend his special, but also recommend watching it in the safety of your own home where you are free to laugh as loudly as you need to.
• Schitt’s Creek, season 1 – I watched a good majority of season 1 on my plane rides and then finished it up in early May. I thought I would like it more than I do, which is disappointing. However, I heard from a friend that season 1 isn’t great so I’m hopeful I’ll start loving the show more as I go.
• Mad Men, season 5 – I breezed through the majority of season 5 in May (I have two episodes left!). It’s so, so good. Jon Hamm is everything to me.
• Nailed It! – I watched seasons 2 and 3 in May, and this show is just such a delight. If you haven’t watched it yet, give it a try!
• Cheers, season 2 – I’m slowly working my way through season 2 of Cheers and still in love with Sam Malone. Although I have to say that Carla might have my heart most of all. Her sarcastic one-liners are everything!
• Wine Country – I watched this Netflix movie with some friends on a Friday night, where we drank lots of wine and talked through most of the movie. Ha. The movie is… not great, lol, so watch it with friends + wine if you do give it a try!

BUYING

• YAMIU 7-piece packing cubes – On the recommendation of many friends, I bought a set of packing cubes for my Ireland trip. At first, I was uncertain if a set of seven cubes could hold everything I wanted for a seven-day international trip but I was proven completely wrong. The packing cubes were perfect and I didn’t even need all seven (I used five of them). Since I lived out of my suitcase during the trip, it was so helpful to know exactly where everything was. I didn’t have to go scrounging around for underwear or a T-shirt. I’m a fan and will be using them for all my trips going forward.
• Catit bench scratcher – I bought this bench scratcher for Eloise’s birthday in April, knowing she’d love it. She’s always seemed to prefer sleeping on scratchers than cat beds for reasons I can’t understand. She loves this bench scratcher but so does Lila – so much so that Lila will sometimes force Ellie off it so she can sit on it herself. Guess I need to buy a second one!
• Johanna Basford “World of Flowers” coloring book – I’m rather obsessed with adult coloring books. I finished my last one in mid-April and had to immediately buy a new one. This is from the same artist as my last one, and I’m really enjoying it.

LISTENING TO…

• Over My Dead Body – True-crime podcast series are everywhere now and I’ve just started keeping a list of the ones I hear about so I can go back to listen to them when I have time. I listened to this series in May and while I found the ending a little confusing, I really liked it! It was about this perfect couple who end up having a pretty volatile divorce that leads to a murder – but you don’t know who was murdered or why.
• Cold – This investigative podcast follows the disappearance of Susan Powell and the subsequent murder-suicide of her husband and two young sons. It’s fascinating and super well-researched. I’ve never heard of this case, but man, it’s sad and I’m infuriated by Susan’s husband. What a monster.
• Throughline – I could have sworn that I have talked about this podcast before on my blog, but a search doesn’t bring any results, so apparently not? It’s such a great podcast, though, for news junkies like me. It takes present-day news headlines and discusses how we got here by looking at it through the lens of history. The tagline is, “We go back in time to understand the present.” I haven’t always followed the news as closely as I do now so there is a lot of background info I’m missing, and this podcast does a great job of explaining things like how China became a superpower and how Mitch McConnell has won eight consecutive elections when he’s demonstrably unpopular.

THE HIGHS

• A friend getting married – It was a joy to watch one of my dearest friends marry the love of her life. She asked me to photograph her low-key wedding, which I was so happy to do for her, and then we all celebrated their marriage the following weekend at her reception. The best!
• IRELAND – Obviously. The highest high ever! Ireland was amazing and everything I could have wanted. The weather was beautiful, the sights were lovely, and the company was fantastic. I can’t wait to go back!
• Wine and cheese night – I got together with some coworkers on a Friday night to enjoy lots of wine, cheese and apps, and the movie Wine Country. As expressed above, the movie wasn’t great but the night itself was exactly what I needed.
• Big moves – Two big moves happened in May: my brother and his wife became homeowners and moved into their new house, and my mom and stepdad moved into an apartment closer to me (with a much easier parking situation, as her old place had very little visitor parking and it was ALWAYS a crapshoot if I’d find a spot!)

THE LOWS

• Extreme anxiety – I discussed this when I was recapping my Ireland trip but May was a month of lots of anxiety due to being off my meds for two weeks. That period of time reminded me how much I need to be on my meds, and what a stabilizing force they are for me.
• The news – The news was pretty fucking depressing in May with abortion ban after abortion ban being passed. It’s so upsetting, and I can just hope and pray that nothing comes of these bans. I signed up to volunteer with my local Planned Parenthood because I want to do more than just be angered by the headlines, so I’m hoping I’ll receive some info about that soon!
• Getting back into the dating scene – After taking a year off the dating apps in 2018, I’m back on them (and off them, and on them… it’s not a great scene out there, friends). I went on a date with someone in April and it was pretty damn lackluster and his message to me after the date was… not great, so it’s a bit discouraging.

Anticipating

• Attending a Silent Reading Party – I’ve been wanting to attend one of these parties for a few months now, and I have been too intimidated to go on my own. I brought it up to a group of friends so hopefully one or two of them can come along and I can finally make this happen!
• Going to a friend’s pool party – My dear friend, B., is hosting a fun pool party at her house and I cannot wait to hang out and have a good time.
• Brunch at The Library – This is our book club meeting spot for June, and I’m looking forward to finally experiencing this restaurant that’s inside our local children’s hospital and built to look like you’re dining inside a beautiful library. Is there a more perfect place to have book club?!

Tell me something good that happened to you in May!