THIS WEEKEND we watched Sofia Coppola's new film, On the Rocks, and on Sunday, ordered a Sunday roast takeaway from the pub up the street, since we've stopped going to pubs a few weeks ago now, after the numbers of covid cases began climbing again. It's unsettling times and everything seems up in the air, but we're both extremely resilient and used to going with the flow and adapting, and we have the crazy stories to prove it ...
P TOLD ME THAT the wife of a film director we know left him after reading Eat, Pray, Love. I laughed because I thought he was making a joke, but apparently, according to the director, that's exactly what happened. What on earth could possibly be in that book to create such a dramatic reaction? I know that right now, living during this pandemic, people have really begun to take stock of their lives, trying to figure what it is they are really here for, what it is they that really want to do and who it is they want to do it with ...
LAST WEEK I HAD my first hair salon appointment for the first time in over 6 months. The last time my hair was cut was in April, which I was forced to do myself, using a Youtube video for help. We ended up spending the day in the city, drinking really good takeaway coffee, visiting new neighbourhoods, discovering a lovely pub and finding a kimchi place for dinner ...
THERE IS AN URGENCY to life here in the UK, that we didn't find in Spain and it seems to be directly dependent on the weather. It's an urgency that's not only sensible, but necessary to help manage the disappointment that will inevitably come during the course of a British summer ...
THIS PAST SUNDAY we booked in for lunch at our favourite pub for the first time in many months. There is a rose garden with socially distanced tables set up and a very efficient system in place that made us feel comfortable and safe venturing out into the world again after so many weeks of lockdown.
P AND I ALWAYS HAVE all of these interesting conversations about everything and often I think, I have to tell them this, or I have to tell them that, but when it comes time to tell you, here on Mondays, I can't remember a thing. The world feels even crazier these past few days than it has before (I know it hardly seems possible) ...
ON FRIDAY there was a salon appointment in the city, so we decided to spend the day. We stopped in for flat whites at our favourite coffee shop, did a little shopping, visited the art gallery and stopped in for oysters at a fancy food hall ...
P IS READING an article to me about how the pandemic has most likely changed NYC forever. People have moved away to second and third tier cities; favourite restaurants have closed for good, and buildings where 8,000 people once worked now have only 100 who are not working virtually and still come in everyday.
JUST FINISHED reading "Little Fires Everywhere" by Celeste Ng and didn't really like it. After finishing Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens, which was beautifully written, Little Fires seemed much more utilitarian in its writing style, which is fine if things hadn't ended so abruptly and with so many things unresolved.
ON SATURDAY NIGHT, we went to the one pub in town that was open, our first time out in over 15 weeks of lockdown. There was a roaring fire, friendly people, even a happy black lab. It wasn't exactly the same as always, of course, with hand sanitiser stations and social distancing, but everyone was nevertheless in good spirits, happy to finally see other people around, even if from a safe distance.
THIS WEEKEND WAS a whirl of films and books and music, all set to the backdrop of a roaring fire, the cottage cosy while outside, leaves fell. We've been talking a lot about everything that has been going on in the world and it can be a bit overwhelming to think about it all, but right now ...
THIS WEEKEND WE watched films and drank wine and skipped our workouts. We also discovered the best sourdough toasties at a tiny sandwich shop in the center of town and went back for more the next day. I honestly can't stop thinking about these sandwiches and can't wait until the shop reopens again on Wednesday ...
AWOKE ON SUNDAY morning believing that it was Monday, already in the sleepy morning cobwebs of my mind planning ambitiously, the week ahead before P let me know that it was Sunday. Immediately all thoughts of industry were forgotten and an easy, somnolent mood set back in. It's all mindset, you see, and for some inexplicable reason, I'd lost an entire day and gained it back again just in time to fully enjoy an "extra" day of the weekend
AT THE END of last week we went to Scotland to visit P’s grandmother for the first time in months due to the lockdown. It was wonderful to see her again, as well as neighbours who popped in, but we all continued to keep two meters apart and wore masks to every shop we visited ...
IT HAS BECOME one of these typical British summers, with the weather suddenly turning chilly and rainy and even blustery and stormy at times. We had about three glorious days of summertime last week and made the most of it by spending as much time outside as possible, knowing that it couldn't last.
