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Last weekend was fun for our family. Little sister Laura is now engaged to Reagan, who we all love. And Laura was (almost totally) surprised, but I did have to tell her to put on a little make up for her walk with Reagan. I would highly recommend Brown and Loe for any occasion, but now especially for “post-proposal family lunch.” Also, her ring, her ring is STUNNING. The color is perfect.
I keep thinking about what Sam wrote last week about Bourbon and Twizzlers. What is the simple hedonism I can bring into my life? How can I elevate the mundane just a tiny bit? Do I like Twizzlers or do they just remind me of my mom?
This week, I wrote a mini essay and the working title is, “When John Mulaney got divorced, did you think of me?” And there’s a 80% chance it will be in next week’s subscriber’s e-mail. So sign up below.
Keep using my Outdoor Voices link. This sentence now has links to the my instagram, and old issues of the newsletter.
Number One: Actually, everyone wants to take that class with you
Ok, maybe not everyone. If I’ve learned anything from announcing that we’re all signing up for Adult Beginners Tennis Lessons through JCPRD Tuesday and Thursday mornings from 6:30-7:20am, it’s that a lot of people are willing to consider taking tennis lessons.
I so often think that my wild hair ideas are too wild. But I think most people are just waiting to be included. We all want someone to say, “Hey come do this thing with me.” So why not be that person? A fear of rejection is such a silly (but also I get it) reason to not live a life of fun.
Come take tennis lessons with me, and my other friends. You’ll have a medium amount of fun if you barely know how to hold a tennis racquet and you’ll have a medium amount of fun if you know how to do top spin. You’ll have a medium amount of fun pretty much any way you slice it. This is Johnson County, not Disney World. But it’s fall, so I am going to be pulling off the Princess Di look of bike shorts and sweatshirts. Tennis is a lifetime sport! Also, if you live on the Missouri side, the website is going to make you think you can’t sign up, but you can, you just have to refresh the page, I promise.
Number Two: Ghosts
Around page ten of Ghosts I knew it would be in Five Things. I so thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. Part of me wishes I read it with pen in hand to underline the ways the author so perfectly describes dating/friendship/being an adult with parents/home, but I’m also so grateful I just soaked it in in the moment. I lent my copy to Makenzie, and her review is “this book is so you. I just got to the part where xxxx doesn’t xxxxxx.” And I said, “I know, I was triggered.” And we laughed.
It’s a bit like When Harry Met Sally, it’s a chick-flick but you won’t feel like your brain is actively melting. Five Stars.
Number Three: Rochester Brewing and other Kansas City Recs
If you need a little cup of coffee while you’re paying extra for an oil change at KC Autoworx, I must recommend Rochester Brewing and Roasting company. Great coffee, great vibes, tons of seating. If you’re worn out by the basic girls and long lines at Messenger and aren’t trying to buy a whole loaf of bread, scoot on over to Rochester. Also. Ladies. This is where the men in business casual are reading their Bibles on Friday mornings. A little tip from me to you.
I made my first trip to the movies since February 2020 on Friday night and went to an outdoor showing of Clueless at Armour Theatre. Delightful. Just an entirely good time. I haven’t avoided the movies because of any COVID reasons, I just haven’t been back. They have outdoor movies scheduled through the end of October, grab 4-6 friends and some lawn chairs, and have the time of your life.
If you need a Saturday morning sensory experience, or just some brass candle holders, I have been loving Sentimental Journey Marketplace. I bought a little Sunday morning purse there a few weeks ago, and this morning a woman at church asked me if I got it from Haiti, and I was like, “nope, I got it in Olathe.”
Number Four: Atlantic Article Round Up
I know no one want to read another article on cancel culture, but this piece on the lack of due process and how that’s affecting academia was quite interesting.
I also enjoyed reading this piece on the baby, and now woman, unknowingly caught in the middle of Roe v. Wade. This is going to sound so reductive, but the article really made me think about how in the middle of every current event and news story, in the middle of every heated debate, there’s a person. A person with a story; a person with good days and bad days.
And I used my last free article on this piece about how people who aren’t waiting for their soul mates might actually have more rewarding relationships.
Number Five: 9/12
I’m enjoying listening to 9/12, a podcast about the days, weeks, and months after 9/11. It’s less about the attacks and more about things like, what does satire look like after something so tragic? How do we make sense of a collective grief?
Currently Reading:
Hosea // Exodus // The Secret History // The Supper of the Lamb // The Garden Primer