After coming off such a high from my whirlwind vacation in June (check out my Switzerland, Vienna, and Budapest recaps if you haven’t already!), July was a bit of an adjustment. Having to face real life again was a smack in the face, especially when I realised that it’s been a full year since I graduated. A whole year passed, and it feels like nothing has changed, like my life got put on pause ever since I graduated. This gave me a lot of anxiety, and juxtaposed with my carefree June, made it all the more overwhelming.
My low mood led to a lot of indulgence in compensation (shopping, eating out, lots of iced coffee and bubble tea), and I’ve thrown myself into books and working out (kickboxing and swimming) instead of making real plans for change. But now that I’ve gotten that out of my system, I’m hoping to get back into the swing of things in August.
Read
Becoming by Michelle Obama // ★★★★★ // Michelle Obama is smart, strong, driven, perceptive, and an excellent story teller. The way she weaves together her values, her accomplishments, personal anecdotes, and social issues is seamless, avoiding sounding too preachy. There is so much she cares about, so much she is capable of, and so much she has done. An amazing woman and a blessing to us all! (Full review coming soon)
The Whisper Man by Alex North (eARC) // ★★★★★ // Children are being lured out of their homes by a man whispering at their windows at night. Creepy!! Especially after reading I’ll Be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara, a true crime account of the Golden State Killer. Super creepy, super suspenseful. Definitely give this a try if you’re into thrillers. To be published August 20. (Full review coming soon)
Dark Matter by Blake Crouch // ★★★★★ // Gave this book a read after loving Recursion so much last month. This book plays around with the concept of the multiverse. If you’re into sci-fi, give Blake Crouch a shot (he’s an auto-read author for me now!), though Dark Matter also read heavily like a romance, which I wasn’t opposed to. I was pretty invested in Jason and Daniela reuniting. (Full review coming soon)
Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng // ★★★★☆ // Gave this book a read after loving Little Fires Everywhere so much. Everything I Never Told You is an incredibly subtle and intricate story centering on the Lee family. I especially related to the theme of perfectionism and its darker side. (Full review here)
Ask Again, Yes by Mary Beth Keane // ★★★★☆ // This is a story of two families, but I was particularly invested in the kids of the two families, Kate and Peter. I rooted for them from the start, and wanting to know whether they’d be able to overcome their traumas and ultimately find happiness kept me plowing through the book. I almost read this novel as a romance. (Full review here)
The Crowns of Croswald by DE Night (gifted) // ★★★★☆ // Gave this book a reread before reading the second book in the series, The Girl with the Whispering Shadow, but I didn’t get around to the second book. Hoping to get to that in August! Anywho, this is a middle grade fantasy series. Give it a shot if you need more magical boarding schools in your life! (Full review here)
She Lies in Wait by Gytha Lodge // ★★★☆☆ // A cold case is reopened when the body of a 14-year-old girl, who was last seen camping with six friends, is found thirty years later. The book started off strong, but started to drag on. The detective jumped on every lead, which took away from the suspense. I think this story could have been more interesting psychologically if the group of six friends suspected each other, but it was only the detective that suspected one of them. Nevertheless, I still wanted to know who was responsible, and that kept me reading to the end. (Full review coming soon)
How to be Lovely by Melissa Hellstern // ★★★☆☆ // A collection of Audrey Hepburn quotes that are loosely themed and grouped into chapters. It’s not very concise and there’s lots of repetition in the quotes, but there are lovely pictures and I learned a bit more about Audrey, like how ordinary she thought she was. (Full review here)
No Exit by Taylor Adams // ★★★☆☆ // Darby is stranded at a rest stop with strangers during a storm, and she stumbles upon a girl locked in a cage in one of the vans parked outside. Which stranger does it belong to? This book was more action than suspense, and most of the action was Darby making poor decisions, so I had very little sympathy for the situation. (Full review here)
The Tao of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff // ★★★☆☆ // I thought this would be a charming read, but it was a bit labourious. Admittedly, I never read the original Winnie-the-Pooh growing up, so I didn’t tap into the nostalgia factor. I was hoping for more straightforward clarity with a non-fiction book like this, but the writing was a little roundabout. Still a very cute pocketbook though. (Full review here)
Wilder Girls by Rory Power // ★★☆☆☆ // This cover is gorgeous, but unfortunately, the story just didn’t measure up for me. It’s supposed to be a feminist horror book. The girls at the Raxter School for Girls have been quarantined on their island ever since the Tox hit. I didn’t like any of the characters and found everyone’s condescending air of mystery annoying. (Full review coming soon)
To be read
I decided that instead of sharing my entire monthly TBR, I’ll just share the highlights: ones that I already have in from the library, am most excited about, have ARCs of, or have planned buddy reads for.
Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty // I’m reading this so that I can finally watch the show, which people never seem to stop going on about!
Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid // One of the most popular books of 2019! I was on the wait list for months and finally got my hands on it.
Reasons to Stay Alive by Matt Haig // This is the book I’m most looking forward to reading this month. I bought a new copy (a rarity for me!) and plan to read this with Evie.
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley // I bought not one but two copies of this book secondhand last month–the 25th printing and 33rd printing editions. They were only a quarter each! I plan to read this with Emily.
Twice in a Blue Moon by Christina Lauren (eARC) // Lauren is author of The Unhoneymooners, another super popular book of 2019. I haven’t read The Unhoneymooners yet, but I was 115/243 on the library wait list for the e-book, but, clever me, I kept checking the library for a physical copy to come in, and now I’m 1/10 on the wait list for that! Anywho, seeing the hype surrounding The Unhoneymooners, I was excited to get my hands on Twice in a Blue Moon, even though I admittedly don’t know anything about it.
Music
I’ve been listening to Let’s Fall in Love for the Night by FINNEAS on repeat this month. I didn’t know he was Billie Eilish’s older brother until later!
Shopping haul
Curse the Independence Day weekend sales, taking advantage of my vulnerable emotional and mental state!! I am ashamed. I am not allowed to buy anymore clothes this year!!
Ban.do: Got this cute colour pop work jacket on sale! It still wasn’t the cheapest after the sale, but was a good price if you consider the original price. Ya, this one was a bit of an indulgence. I thought it would be nice to add to my wardrobe because it gives me an alternative to my one oversized denim jacket. Besides that, my only other jackets/coats are light athletic jackets or heavier coats.
J.Crew: Got this striped tie-waist shirt dress in white/navy on sale. Again, not the cheapest after the sale, but was a good price if you consider the original price. But I have been looking for a shirt dress like this for awhile, so no guilt about this one! I don’t have anything similar in my wardrobe.
Madewell: Madewell had a massive 40% off sale sale (no, not a typo. Like, a sale for sale items). I bought a denim shirt dress (with big pockets!), button slit linen midi skirt in ivory, sweater tee in mustard (I own a similar one in a solid cinnamon colour), and two two-pack socks (I already own these and they’re some of my favourite socks). Now, the socks were a steal!! They’re originally $13 for a pack of two, on sale for $10, but you can get them 20% if you buy two or more (which I did) (so that’s $8 for a pack of two), and an additional 40% off sale sale, which comes to $4.80 for a pack of two!
Modcloth: Modcloth also had a massive 40% off sale sale and I bought two dresses: a casual daytime dynamo shirt dress in pink and a fancier timeless magnetism a-line dress. Unfortunately the sizes I got them in are a little snug at the shoulders and torso (and I have a small waist), but the length of the dresses and flare of the skirts are good. No returns or exchanges, so I’m making do with them! I just gotta make sure I’m wearing them on days I’m not moving around too much.
Omoi Zakka: Omoi Zakka is a local business that curates amazing products, including lots of Japanese stationary. I’ve been eyeing their “Emotional Baggage” tote in khaki from The School of Life for a year now, and considering my current emotional and mental state, I thought it was time for me to finally buy it, even though it wasn’t on sale. Unfortunately, this purchase also led me to purchasing this net bag in marigold from Baggu and this citrus pouch from Baggu. I have no excuses.
Speedo: I only have one swim suit, and it’s been wearing thin as I’ve been swimming 3x/wk since January, so I took advantage of Speedo’s sale and bought two new suits: solid super pro in black (same style I currently wear), solid propel back in black (with snazzy multi-coloured straps, cheaper in this colour than the super pro).
IKEA: utility cart, full length mirror, seagrass basket, wire basket, comforter, duvet cover.
Books: Spare Room by Dreda Say Mitchell ($10), A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara ($3), 1984 by George Orwell ($6), Brave New World by Aldous Huxley ($0.25), The Fellowship of the Ring by JRR Tolkien ($0.25), Papillon by Henri Charrière ($1), Frankenstein by Mary Shelley ($1), The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James ($1), Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert ($1). I buy a lot of classics for someone who doesn’t read classics. It’s not that I don’t like classics; I just keep putting them off as I get distracted by the hype of new releases. What I have to say for myself is that I buy these secondhand and look for unique older editions that are usually mass market copies, which my secondhand bookstore sells at $1, or even $0.25 if they have a sale going on. The outlier of these books is Spare Room, which I bought new off Amazon because my reading buddy wanted to read it and I couldn’t find it in the library.
Lately
I really don’t need to be buying more books, but my favourite secondhand bookstore, Book Corner, is right next to my library, and it’s so hard to resist, especially when there’s Chaucer (pictured) and Catticus to visit, and Book Corner has the best prices ($3 hardback, $2 paperback, $1 mass market, unless otherwise tagged). I swiped a copy of A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara for $3. Afterward, I went to a cafe and had this book out, and a dude told me he loved that book as he was leaving with his coffee. “Harrowing,” he said. Not sure when I’ll get around to reading it, but hopefully in the next few months!
Made my second visit to Martabak Ok! The shopkeepers are so friendly, remembered me from my first visit, asked how I was doing, and gave me a free drink, which was especially lovely because it was such a hot day. This time I visited, they added mini martabak to their menu, which was nice, because I could taste test more flavours. I went for the pandan martabak with cheese and corn like I did last time, and also tried their red velvet martabak with crushed Oreos and cream cheese.
Poonie came to visit me from NYC before she left for vacation in Hong Kong! This was the second time she ever visited me in Philly; the first time was during our sophomore year, and I pretty much only took her to Chinatown. Now more familiar with Philly, I was able to give her a more varied tour of the city. We started with lunch in Chinatown (noodles), walked to Old City, cooled down with iced matcha lattes at Menagerie Coffee, walked to South Street and browsed several vintage shops (I bought a vintage copy of 1984 by George Orwell for $6, and she almost bought some kind of drip coffee maker), walked to Spruce St. Harbour, cooled down with lemonade by the river, caught a Lyft to Rittenhouse, and had dessert at Parc. An eventful day!
I’ve been kickboxing 6:00-7:00AM and swimming 7:30AM-8:30AM 3x/wk! Admittedly, I usually take an afternoon nap on days I get up early for kickboxing, but I don’t want to do the next available session at 11:30AM session in the middle of the day, so 6:00AM it is. But when the days get shorter, I’ll need to figure out my new schedule, because I don’t want to be walking to kickboxing class in the dark.
Oh yeah, one day we got free breakfast samples after our kickboxing session. I sampled Kettlebell Kitchen’s kale, bacon, chicken, almond, grape salad. It was pretty good.
I volunteered at the library for the second time in my life! This time it was for the author event with Mary Pope Osborne and her sister Natalie Pope Boyce! This was really exciting because I grew up reading Magic Tree House. I can’t believe that Mary Pope Osborne is still churning out books, and I didn’t know that she has a sister who writes alongside her. Natalie Pope Boyce writes the Magic Tree House Fact Checker series, the non-fiction series accompanying the fictional Magic Tree House series. Lots of families with kids attended this event, and they were such a fun, energetic, and interactive audience. So many laughs. One kid gave his suggestion for the next book, involving a chicken sidekick. Another kid asked, “If no time passes while Jack and Annie are in the Magic Tree House, how come in one book they started their adventure in the morning, and then when they finished it was time for lunch?”
Kat came to visit! One morning we checked out the summer book sale at Book Corner, rested at the Rodin Museum garden with iced coffee and lemonade, and then headed to the gym together. A wholesome morning. Another morning we had brunch at Walnut St. Cafe (I had burgers and fries), and another morning we had coffee at Green Engine Coffee (I also got avocado toast; Green Engine does the best avocado toast I’ve ever had). It was especially nostalgic visiting Green Engine together, because the apartment we shared in college was right by it, and we used to go to Green Engine all the time.
I also dragged Kat to IKEA while she visited, and a week later she surprised me by ordering me the IKEA stuffed shark!!!!!! :’)
Blogger meet up with Mei x Ice Pandora!! I have no idea how long we’ve known each other, but it feels like a long time, and we finally got a chance to meet in person while she was vacationing in NYC. We got ice cream at Milkbar, which promptly melted into milk and cereal as we chatted away in Union Square Park. We got roped into testing new Google Pixels whilst at Union Square Park, but we got Starbucks gift cards out of it, so that was cool. A healthy lunch at Citizens of Gramercy. And a browse through The Strand, where I spotted a signed first edition of Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng, one of my favourite books of all time. I was tempted to buy it, but I already own a copy of Little Fires Everywhere, which I thrifted for $5, and this copy was $50…
Julia came to visit for her birthday! We pretty much just spent the whole weekend in Chinatown. Bomi also came to join us for dinner (and bubble tea) one night.
It’s been super hot this month and it doesn’t look like it’ll let up until mid-September, but there was a drop in temperature one day in July, and I got super excited. I pulled out my long jeans even though it definitely wasn’t cool enough for that yet, and treated myself to lunch at iPho and afternoon coffee at Menagerie Coffee.
Happy hour with Bomi at Sampan! Pretty hilarious for two people who don’t drink to go to a happy hour together. We ordered a cocktail, kimchi fried rice, Korean BBQ beef skewers with kimchi, and pork belly buns off their happy hour menu. It came to a total of $25, which wasn’t bad at all split in half, and if we didn’t order the cocktail (which we nervously sipped and kept telling the other person to finish), it would have totaled $15, which we would have split in half. Notably, I was not carded.
I was nostalgic for my June vacation days, so I treated myself to some gelato and a cappuccino at Gran Caffe L’Aquila. The cafe is part cafe, part restaurant. Before I got my gelato, there was still cafe seating left, but after I got my gelato there wasn’t. When the barista came over with my coffee, he was like, “You can come sit at the bar and talk to me!” Luckily a normal spot opened up for me, but that was very sweet and wholesome of him! :’)
I watched a Buzzfeed video with a waffle in it and then I craved waffles, so I popped by Happily Ever After for this strawberry Nutella masterpiece.
Hmm, after putting together this blog post, I’m feeling much better about July and am more hopeful for August.
What was your highlight of July? What are you looking forward to in August?