New format! I have too much to say about books to lump them in my monthly recaps, so look out for my monthly reading update on Thursday! I’ve embedded my song of the month if you’d like to give it a listen whilst we catch up with each other here. We’ve got a whole ~experience~ going on *:･ﾟ✧
I first listened to “Pulse” in 2017 but this month I’ve become re-obsessed with it. It’s my perfect ambient autumnal chill track. Another one of IDER’s songs I’m loving is “Mirror.” For more of the same vibe, I’ve also been playing “Stories” – Refs, “Apprehension” – MaJLo, and “North Face” – ODIE. A slightly more muted track for cosy autumn evenings is “Nothing” – Bruno Major. I first heard the song when he premiered it in Philly on this North American tour in April, and now in September he’s finally released it. The lyrics are so cute/sweet/dorky!
My room at 5:30PM. The days are getting shorter. I’m keeping a close eye on when the light streams into my room best. Gotta figure out a new time to take photos for bookstagram in the autumn hehe.
September has been adjusting to autumn. It’s been a week of summer followed by a week of autumn followed by another week of summer. Getting my fix of ice cream trucks before they hibernate for the colder months.
My birthday was at the end of last month, but I had one more birthday freebie to redeem. Got these mocha bites (almond and peanut butter flavoured) from Nook Bakery. The tables are small but the baristas are so friendly.
The weather outside is still making up its mind about autumn, but this household has given into it full force! Baked my favourite noble apricot rosemary currant scones. Please excuse their shape; I thought baking them in a muffin tin would be easier.
Stumbled upon a flea market. I was tempted to buy so many wooden crates–god knows, I do need organisational and storage solutions–but I didn’t know how I’d be able to clean them, and even if I did, I’d probably be too lazy to. I was also tempted to buy so many vintage books, but I reeled myself in and only bought one: a first edition of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith for $10.
One of those hauls… You know how it be.
Spent an afternoon at Metropolitan Bakery. The cappuccino was hugeeee (this photo doesn’t properly convey it’s size!); love getting my money’s worth. Had a little fig roll, directly inspired by the latest episode of Great British Bake Off that I watched.
I’ve been really getting into my disposables, inspired by Abby, who shoots exclusively on film! The weekend after she visited me in Philly, I brought disposables with me when I celebrated my birthday in NYC. A few weeks later, I wandered around Philly by myself, recreating my day with Abby on my disposables. I don’t think these turned out as well as the ones I took in NYC, and there were some mix-ups with obtaining the e-copies of these new disposables, so I’m still figuring that out, but hopefully I’ll be able to scrap up a blog post with them.
Randomly craved pancakes one night; I made them for dessert after dinner. I didn’t have eggs, so I looked up this eggless pancake recipe. They turned out pretty good! Whipped up a rooibos latte (rooibos has no caffeine so it’s perfect for when I’m craving a coffee at night!) to go with it and watched Love in the Afternoon for the first time. Thanks for the recommendation Macey!
Heaven. Jk, just the autumnal decor aisle of a random craft store. There were several wooden crates, decorative boxes, yarn, garlands, and ceramic pumpkins I almost bought, but thinking about how cramped my room already is, I resisted. I’ll need to do some more decluttering if I want to make room for autumnal decor!
Now this is an autumnal haul I can get behind without guilt! I’ll eat it all so it won’t take up space in the apartment for long hehe. Thank you Reddit for your autumnal Trader Joe’s recommendations.
Pumpkin caramel Danish kringle (the filling is so good, it’s like I’m eating pie!), spiced cider (classic), pecan pumpkin oatmeal (disgusting), butternut squash mac and cheese (everyone raves about it, but I think it’s just fine, but then again, my golden standard for mac and cheese is Kraft’s instant mac), pumpkin pancake and waffle mix (yum), pumpkin bagels (more cinnamon-y than pumpkin-y but I’ll take it), pumpkin cream cheese spread (yum), cinnamon bun spread (haven’t tried this yet, but plan to have it with my last pumpkin bagel and spread on my pumpkin pancakes).
I just realised that my seat assignment looks like 69 on the ticket hehe (it was G9). Most people I’ve heard from who watched Hustlers thought it was sooooo good. I enjoyed the movie and found it entertaining, but not super stand-out. Except for JLo. JLo was amazinggg. There wasn’t as much pole dancing as I thought there’d be, considering the trailer. I went home and read the article the movie was inspired by. Whilst the movie wasn’t stand-out, I was fascinated by the case.
I realised that the journalist who wrote that article also wrote the article about Anna Delvey, the scammer who posed as a German heiress; I happened to read a book about Anna Delvey by former Vanity Fair photo editor Rachel DeLoache Williams, who was friends with Anna until Anna conned her out of $62,000. Yeah, that’ll ruin a friendship.
Checked out Louise’s new apartment and caught up with her Scottish Fold Earl.
Went to a Sofar Sounds concert hosted at Midnight Iris. It was my second Sofar experience; my first was last summer in NYC. Sofar curates intimate gigs. They send out newsletters about the dates of upcoming gigs in your city (check out their website to see if there’s a Sofar in your city!), and you can sign up to enter the lottery for a ticket. They don’t tell you the exact address of the gig until the day before (but they do tell you the general neighbourhood beforehand in that initial newsletter), and you don’t find out who the artists are (all local) until you show up on the day.
Kat came to visit for a few days! Took a fun self-timer pic to capture the contrast in our outfits. Who dressed best for the weather? We’ll never know. Autumn be like that.
City Hall at night. String lights make everything magical. The festivities are coming!
What was your highlight of September? What are you looking forward to in October?