The September Edit

(September 1-25, 2024: pre-Hurricane Helene)

If you’re a new reader, the monthly edit is a brain dump of everything I consumed (or consumed me) during the month. This newsletter is filled with recommendations that I hope will add value to your life.

I wrote this newsletter draft before Hurricane Helene hit my city on September 26th. It captures my thoughts and feelings up until that time. We will be dealing with the aftermath of the hurricane damage for quite some time but I still want to share little glimpses of JOY from the first part of the month. September was a FULL month before Helene even came into the equation. Mother Nature certainly helped me prioritize what’s important to me.

I’ve been brainstorming about the direction of this substack and have some fun tweaks coming to next month’s report. For now, let’s kick things off with a mood board.

What I Read

Reading felt slow and laborious this month. My attention was easily strayed. My mind was tired. Still, I managed to finish a handful of books that were worth the extra mental effort. I posted my September reading recap earlier in the week.

Sri shared some background on the Hindu goddess of knowledge and how she’s instilling a love of reading in her kids.

Everyone is publishing their Fall TBR lists and I love to see the recommendations roll in. Here are a few I especially enjoyed reading:

• A perfect fall book list: what to read to help you cozy into a new season by Alli Hoff Kosik

• Caitlyn’s recommendations for gothic literature and classic horror books

• Children’s Books for Fall from Sarah of Can We Read?

• Renee’s roundup of Fall 2024 Book Lists
  

The Watch List

I finished the second season of Maestro in Blue and it ended in another epic cliffhanger. I’m not sure if I’ll continue with Season 3 if it is announced. My attention strayed a lot.

My husband and I flew through the first three episodes of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power when they were released and then waited patiently for the weekly releases.

Of course, I started Emily in Paris before all the episodes were released and immediately regretted it after the Episode 5 cliffhanger. It’s such a bingeable show and I just knew it was going to leave me hanging yet I watched anyway.

After watching the first episode of Season 4 of Only Murders in the Building, I immediately texted a friend that they were back in the best possible way. Incredibly, they’ve been able to churn out an amazing production on a yearly production timeline. It’s one of the most entertaining TV shows available on streaming.

We decided to wait on Kaos, a new Netflix mythological dark-comedy starring Jeff Goldblum as Zeus until we finish up The Rings of Power. We’re in a season of life that doesn’t allow for much time to watch TV together and it made sense to focus on one nighttime show at a time.

I’m the queen of watching TV shows instead of reading the entire series of books sitting on my Kindle shelf. My latest is the Netflix adaptation of A Good Girls Guide to Murder. I have a feeling the overall vibe of the TV show is not similar to the book but I absolutely loved it. The actors were so charming and I can’t resist a cozy British setting.

After finishing A Good Girls Guide to Murder, Netflix suggested A Discovery of Witches. I watched the entire first season in a day. I can’t believe this TV adaptation and book series was not on my radar. I’ve never heard anyone talk about it until I posted to my IG stories about the TV show and had people popping left and right into my DMs telling me I’d love the books! I’m obsessed.

Purchases + Wish List

I’m feeling inspired to start a daily journaling habit so I purchased a planner on clearance from the Rifle Paper Co. sale over Labor Day weekend. I wasn’t expecting it to be a pocket planner so I’m going to gift it for Christmas. I have my eyes on a 5-year one-line-a-day diary now. It seems easy enough to actually commit to until I muster up the courage to try more creative journaling. My Nana has been encouraging me to get back to my artwork. It’s been years since I’ve truly created something just for myself. Some of my favorite planner/journaling creators to follow are cestmackenzie, Abbey Sy, By Amber Burns, and shelbyonpaper. Along the same lines, Petya published a guide to annotating books this month that is particularly helpful.

I also bought a few yards of fabric to dabble in sewing projects again. Seeing my friend Maggie create handmade items for Hello Sunday House has been a huge inspiration for me to pick up some new hobbies.

Did you see the Lenox Spice Village is coming back? I don’t think this would be a practical purchase for our home but I enjoy looking at it and dreaming of a future cottage home on the lake all the same.

I hit 500 subscribers on Substack and want to give a huge THANK YOU to all of you for being here, restacking, and sharing my work. I’d love to hit 750 subscribers by this time next year. My big ask from you is — Can you help me reach that goal by sharing this newsletter with a friend you think would enjoy my writing?

Organization + Cleaning

I got the urge to do a bit of fall cleaning and finally hung some things on the wall that have been propped up for months, came up with a storage solution for all of my kids’ bath toys (this tension rod kit), and culled through my clothes. I was able to clear out two dresser drawers that I never open to organize folded clothes and clear out some closet space.

After a day of software training at work, my husband entertained the kids for an hour and I rage-cleaned our pantry. It’s much more organized, although it still needs some additional shelves. Wire shelving is the worst. That experience ended in me instituting a new household rule — no buying new snacks until our current boxes are empty. I trashed an embarrassing amount of expired food.

Yummy Bites

I prepped a quick dinner at home using Trader Joe’s frozen General Tsao’s chicken, brussel sprouts, and squiggly noodles. It was tasty and my husband liked it. I’m still working on getting my kids to expand their palettes. It left them asking for “real” ramen.

Highs + Lows

The first week of September brought a false fall with it. I am always grateful for the reminder that the daily highs will eventually cool down. It was glorious waking up to a breeze and a few 64-degree mornings before the rain brought the humidity back with it.

I ordered the wrong size drip tray replacement for our air fryer and I don’t think they produce our specific model anymore. I’m looking for your best tips on how to clean what Barkeeper’s Secret won’t seem to touch and promising myself I won’t let it happen again.

In high school, I studied Latin and French. I was a bit of a Latin nerd and competed in Junior Classical League competitions with my closest friends and classmates, excelling in Latin derivatives. I continued my French studies for a couple of years in College before taking a semester of Spanish. While Spanish is certainly more practical, I’ve always felt drawn to French through my study of literature and art, and of course my familial connections to Canada. This month, I surpassed a 365-day streak on Duolingo and it has been a joy to dive back into my French studies. A lot of what I’m working on in my current unit of study in Duolingo is a refresher from my earlier studies, but I’m quickly approaching the A2 CEFR level and it’s something I look forward to being challenged by each day.

Confession: I am awful about remembering to wear my glasses. My Rx is low but I have an astigmatism in both eyes. There was one day this month I knew I was going to have to sit in a conference room looking at an Excel spreadsheet from 25 feet away for 8 hours so I made sure to wear my glasses. I even went back in the house after them (because of course, I hurried out the door and forgot them). When I got home that night, my family plopped down on the sofa in front of the TV to watch a show with our dinner as we usually do. Sorry, but we’re just not the eat at the dinner table type. We’ve got one of those Frame TVs where you can set custom artwork as the background when it is in sleep mode. I moved my glasses to the side for a moment to wipe my eyes and when I put them back on, it was like seeing colors for the first time as I noticed the level of detail in one of Van Gogh’s sunflower paintings on our screen. The brush strokes! The texture! All the details I missed because I haven’t been wearing my glasses. It was a rare moment of audible awe, laughter, and wonder from me. Let this comical misstep be a lesson to all of you that need four eyes.

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