Sunday Snaps
Recs and Recap for July & August
Happy Labor Day weekend everyone!
The Spring
It feels like we just had Memorial Day, so trying to wrap my head around the time warp that has been this summer. This time last year I was on my way to Paris to take a writing class in an effort to revive the novel I’d been working on for 5 years only to realize it was beyond resuscitation. (The class didn’t do much to help either…but that’s another story.) When I returned home in mid-September (after another stop in London for Vogue World) I knew I had to find another project, which is when I decided to pursue The Spring. I’d had the idea for a long time and it seemed approachable and actually do-able as a serial, rather than being overwhelmed by a huge manuscript. But, now at 64 chapters long I’m at just over 130,000 words, so here I am with a huge manuscript!
Hello agents and publishers…are you out there?
Thanks again for your support and for reading so closely for 9 months now! I promise Jeannie, Paco & Mark will be sorting out a solution to what happened to Alexa Thomas soon!
Life
July’s Sunday Snaps got overlooked due to July and now August being full of unexpected things and a lot of family matters that have needed attention.
Some fun cocktails were had at Left Door for a friend’s birthday, which I highly recommend for a small gathering or a special date. It’s a very chic little lounge upstairs from Bus Stop with great drinks and bites. Also got to go to the newly-reopened Bar 821 on Divisadero for one of their amaro cocktails and it was lovely. Nice to have them back in the neighborhood.
My friends Meg & Greg had a wedding at Everline Lake Tahoe (formerly the Inn at Squaw Creek), which was wonderful. I hadn’t been to Tahoe in ages, so when I saw the lake finally, I had a lot of recovered memories from childhood summers. The summer nostalgia is real. The weather was incredibly hot, yet the moment we came downstairs for the reception it was pouring rain! Luckily, the event planners were able to open the dinner tent, offer cocktails to everyone, and we got Meg & Greg married after a slightly delay. The rain made the magic happen, and then an epic dance floor happened too…
On the flip side of that weekend’s coin, I received a call from my dog Tillie’s sitter while on the way home, telling me she wasn’t eating or moving well. Tillie had been living with me since January, when my Dad could no longer walk her at night. She’d been having some health issues since early June, but had been rebounding well with a new prescription and some holistic treatments — dog acupuncture is a thing and it works really well! (Tillie was going to A Well-Adjusted Pet in Pacifica for this treatment & I highly recommend them. ) Tillie went to heaven that evening, a few hours after I’d picked her up and brought her home. I felt guilty about leaving her for the weekend, but when I chatted with the Vet, she told me that oftentimes pets will pass when their owners travel. Apparently the thinking is that they feel they can “let go” when they don’t have to stay for their person. It’s awful to think of, but also comforting. I’ve never been with any creature when they died, and it was intense but also beautiful. I really miss her. My apartment is just a one bedroom, but it feels very big and very empty these days. At 11 1/2, I thought she had maybe another year of life; she was loving her senior dog stroller, and really enjoyed coming to supervise my Pilates class, as well as dinner parties, carrots, and hanging out with the girls. She was especially vocal about policing my writing time. I often write in the morning — when she’d huff away under my desk, or late at night — when she’d growl at me if I didn’t start shutting things down for bedtime at a reasonable hour. Life is not the same without her.
Two days after Tillie died, I visited my Endocrinologist who had just completed my testing… I visited her because my OBGYN put me on HRT and while some perimenopause symptoms had gotten better, I still didn’t feel altogether *right*. But, let’s face it, I haven’t felt 100% great for about 10 years now, and I know this is common among a lot of women. The Endocrinologist thought I needed an HRT adjustment (she thought my testosterone would be low), but in the end, she determined I had Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis. This is an auto-immune wherein your immune system is attacking your thyroid, which means your thyroid doesn’t function at all. To be honest, it feels like I’ve had it for a while and while I’ve had my thyroid tested before, no one ever looked as deeply as this latest test. Gratified and relieved, but know I have work to do. Prognosis is really good though, and I have a new Rx, but looking into all things about reducing inflammation, reducing stress, adding supplements, etc…this will be a process. Please let me know if you have any tips about Hashimoto’s!
Seen. Heard. Enjoyed. Still Thinking About.
Attended Fillmore Street Jazz Fest - one of my favorite events of the year - and it delivered yet again. Main stage had Lavay Smith, a local favorite whose 1996 album One Hour Mama still holds up with lots of old dirty jazz tunes. She currently plays weekly at the Royal Cuckoo Organ Lounge with her husband, Chris.
Finally got to Little Original Joe’s on Chestnut Street and it was worth the wait. A big, bright room, plenty of bar seating, banquettes at every table, and a very fun neighborhood vibe. Highly recommend the Black Cherry Spritz and fried zucchini. Made a second visit to Pasta Supply Company on Clement Street and it’s beyond delish — try their “Destroyed Bread” with Early Girl tomatoes and burrata - it’s like a Spanish pan con tomate on cocaine. Any of their pastas are winners, especially the malfaldine (a pasta shape that is becoming my favorite), and the panna cotta with grapefruit for desert was silky, creamy, and unexpected with a dusting of pink peppercorn. Such a fun place for a casual night in the neighborhood.
So happy to get to Stern Grove Festival again this season, especially to see Poolside and Sylvan Esso last weekend. It was very hot and sunny, but everyone was there to dance. The best part of Stern Grove shows is going with friends and then meeting up with more friends when you’re there! It’s the place to be…already looking forward to next year’s lineup.
Screen time these weeks was primarily occupied by the Paris Olympics, just like most everyone else. Paris really showed off with mostly gorgeous weather and gorgeous scenery. It’s a city that really understands scale and splendor, so it’s no surprise the sports photography was incredible. Did anyone see the fencing at the Grand Palais? Cycling on the streets of Montmartre? Triathlon in the Seine? Loved watching the Team USA basketball - both men’s and women’s. The games against both Serbia and France were tense, but incredibly exciting.
Gratified that Netflix planned for our Paris hangover/come down by supplying us with a (half) new season of Emily in Paris. True to form, season 4 is silly, idiotic, romantic, clever, satirical, glossy, and generally dumb…but, as with most fans, there is nothing that will stop me from watching it. There it is, that’s my review.
Enjoyed season 3 of The Bear, but clearly this was a plot builder toward the 4th season still to come. Beautiful, tense, and of course fantastic music in the soundtrack. Eddie Vedder’s acoustic version of The English Beat’s Sooner or Later (one of my all-time favorite tunes) is heart-wrenching.
I have been trying to re-watch a few classics I haven’t screened in a while, so was very happy to catch Le Ballon Rouge on TCM one night. This film is still so gorgeous and transporting, and really says something about good old-fashioned analog effects. This was a film we used to watch on the reel-to-reel in school, and has always been a favorite — I always felt so badly for the balloon when the bullies kill it, and then thrilled when all the balloons come at the end. It’s lovely.
With the death of Alain Delon, I re-watched Plein Soleil — Purple Noon in English — which is the original film versions of Patricia Highsmith’s The Talented Mister Ripley, and boy is it a doozy. The colors, the atmosphere, the rooms, the clothes… It’s casual-chic Italian vacation, and contemporary to the setting; the book was published in 1955 and this version came out in 1960. I think every telling of the Ripley story has their own merits visually and structurally, but this one has such a different ending (and it really sneaks up on you) that it holds tight in your mind. Also, Alain Delon has never looked better…unless it’s in La Piscine from 1969.
Really enjoyed Elizabeth Taylor: The Lost Tapes on HBO/Max. I love Elizabeth Taylor, although I don’t always love her films and I cannot explain why. But as a person she was incredibly smart and full of fun, and always had incredible integrity and grit, no more so than when she led the charge for AIDS awareness in the late 80s at the height of the crisis. This film lets her talk…its based on interviews she did in the 1960s, and its lovely to hear her voice, her jokes, her insights about her work and relationships.
Tried & Liked
My friend Genevieve and I took a mini road trip to Petaluma a few weeks ago to visit some antique shops, but in the end we found the amazing store Estuary, and spent plenty of time going over everything in stock. It was there that I found this amazing dish drying mat from the Sonoma Wool Company. As someone who is constantly doing dishes and is sick of damp bar towels, I was curious about this… It’s a felted wool pad covered by a natural linen sleeve. You just plop it on your countertop and you’re done, and the linen sleeve is easily washed. It’s lovely to look at, absorbent, and naturally resists mold and mildew. Plus, no plastics! This might be a gift for everyone this coming holiday…I love it.
With the Hashimoto’s diagnosis I’m looking at everything that could be an endocrine disruptor. Plastics are a big culprit, but so are the many chemicals that are found in our laundry detergents. I’ve used Tide Free & Clear for years, but after some research I found that it wasn’t so free nor so clear…so I read some reviews and took a chance on Dirty Labs. I’m so glad I did! I love it. So efficient and everything is very clean and soft after a wash. I even like their Signature Scent (magnolia, bergamot, cedar), but love the unscented too. Plus it’s super concentrated so you only need 8ml per load.
I am also now wearing an Oura Ring to keep track of my heart rate, stress, sleep, activity…basically everything. They even track my body temp. It’s kind of crazy what this little ring can do. I do wish it rated Pilates workouts as a bit more effort-full than a “light” workout, but oh well. My muscles know it was work! As someone who has never slept well, this also shows me which nights work the best and how to maintain them. You get a sizing kit when you order to sort out what fits you best, and the ring is incredibly comfortable.
Until next month! Hope you have a great end of summer…
xxxx
anniew
Follow me on Instagram @anniewilsonwrites as well!