7 Things That Brought Me Joy This Week
I was in Boston for work all last week, and sadly didn’t get to spend much time outside even though it was pretty mild and sunny there. I came back and everything here was green and gorgeous. It’s full-blown spring in St. Louis, but all of the new green leaves mean allergies are terrible. Everything is coated in that awful yellow dust and there are pollen ropes just littering all the side-walks. As a result, I’ve been largely admiring the beauty of the season from our windows (which probably makes the neighbors think I’m being a curtain peeper, when in actuality I’m being mesmerized by the blooms). We’re almost at the peak so hopefully the sniffles and itchy eyes back off soon! Until then, it feels like FOMO because I desperately just want to lie outside in the grass all day.
I took Friday off to recoup from a lot of brain power used up in meetings, socializing, and travelling, and hung out horizontally all day to get back to normal state. This paid off because we were really productive and went through all of drawers and closets yesterday to pack up out of season clothes. The process actually wasn’t that bad and I feel very accomplished packing away 2.5 totes, and a bag or so of donations which freed up a lot of room in all my storage areas. We’ve sold a lot of random things we don’t want to move cross country as well, so the pre-work has been paying off!
I came back with a lot of post-travel anxiety that I’ve been dealing with. I don’t speak face to face with a lot of people in my day-to-day life, and having to be “on” and perceived in person all week as well as travel with stressful conditions wore me out. For me, it’s been playing over the conversations in my head and finding reasons to be upset at myself, audibly groaning and David asking me what’s wrong. It’s a lot of trying to get comfortable living in the area between “I probably did nothing personally embarrassing,” and “If I did, who cares?” No one thinks about me this much besides me!
I’m keeping it light for the Sunday Slowdown this week with a list of 7 things that brought me joy recently as a way to combat the self-imposed rehashment of anything I could’ve possibly said or done wrong over the last week.
The MO’s Trans Healthcare “tip line” made the rounds on Twitter last week when we all found out that the MO AG was trying to pursue providers who do gender affirming care. We spammed it to the point it got taken down, which is a nice small win among all the horror taking place lately; now there’s one less surveillance opportunity for the state to use against people. Please continue to support and follow local Trans orgs like STL Metro Trans Umbrella Group.
Our first trip of the season to Tower Grove Farmer’s Market: It’s wild to see how much it has grown over the last 5 or so years. Every time we go it seems bigger with a larger variety of vendors. We treated ourselves to some Chai lattes and biscuit sandwiches as we wandered through the park to figure out what we wanted to get. We ended up with some shiitake and chestnut mushrooms from Ozark Forest Mushroom for dinner, a bunch of treats from Sedara Sweets, and I obviously had to get a happy spring bouquet (including a lot of un-bloomed poppies) from Urban Buds. I’ve been watching the poppies bloom in their vase over the last 24 hours and I’m amazed every time.
Jury Duty (the show): I don’t know why, but it gave me a sense of hope and confirmation that people are largely good. Ronald seems like the most genuinely good-natured, loyal, wholesome soul. I loved his line reading with James Marsden, and when he took leadership as foreman to drive to a verdict. I was tearing up on the final episode, the cast seems so sweet and I’m glad they’re honoring the connections they forged with him! If you like groups of misfits/big personalities coming together, forming bonds, and reality TV, then this is a watch for you. The show’s vibe kind of reminds me of one of my favorite episodes of Nathan for You.
This dress from J.Crew: I think I have a version of this dress for every season now after this one arrived, and was laughing at myself as I packed the other ones away yesterday. I have a brown plaid for fall, a red tartan for winter, and a white one for summer in addition to this pretty and casual gingham. I love them all for the pockets, the snaps on the sleeves for straps, and the flattering style, and I always get compliments when I wear them out! Keep ‘em coming, J.Crew.
Splitting a pitcher of margs: I think I forget how perfect splitting a pitcher of margaritas is for a date night. We went out on Friday, got a ton of tacos, and sipped our drinks as we caught up on the last week. I’m glad we were sat in an emptier back section because I definitely was getting a little too loud about my passionate Succession theories and takes on subscription-based companies (the topics weren’t related).
Rushmore (1998): I can’t believe we had never watched it before! It was on our Letterboxd list of 52 Criterion Collection movies to get through this year and we picked it on a whim last night. I’m so glad we did! I’m a huge sucker for stylized movies with sad, precocious kids with one track minds; hence why I love Wes Anderson movies.
The NYT Daily Crossword: I had a year and a half streak of doing the NYT Daily Crossword, Mini, and Spelling Bee starting in 2020. For some reason I became inconsistent with it in late 2021, and then dropped almost completely last year (I kept up with Spelling Bee along with Wordle much longer but fell off those too eventually). I decided to pick them all back up as part of my morning routine, and it’s become incredibly satisfying to get back in the groove! If you haven’t done many crosswords, it not necessarily knowing all the random 40 year-old pop culture references made by boomer crossword editors, but instead understanding how to break down a clue and some of the patterns/hints frequently used by writers. I finished my first Saturday crossword in a while yesterday and am feeling quite pleased with myself. :)
I’m going to spend the rest of the day listening to my updated playlist as I meal prep a bit, tidy up, and then get cozy for the next episode of Succession tonight. I’m also thinking about things I want to do for fun this spring once allergies calm down! I’d love to know what’s on your lists, because right now I just have visit the garden to see the irises bloom and dine out on a patio. Send your cozy spring ideas my way!