Monday

Day 3 of 4-day weekend consisted of sleeping very late, cleaning and organizing my closet (good times!), finishing an odd book, watching some tv and going to the market, WHERE – Big Day for Bettye – I got my first-ever SQUEEZE bottle of mayonnaise! Woohoo! Welcome to the….whatever century it is! How do I never know what century it is? It’s been this one for TWENTY YEARS, how can I not remember if we’re in the 20th or 21st? I’m going to guess the 21st…but only cuz I can check with Google before I post this. Okay, yes, 21st. Don’t Be Bettye. Know Your Century.

Tuesday

Day 4 of 4-day weekend (sadface), got up early to get ready for a shoot, was ready to walk out the door and realized my wireless remote and receiver (aka necessities for a self-shoot) were at WORK. UGH. Had to drive all the way to work, then back…setting me back about an hour. Fortunately, it was overcast so I didn’t have to deal with high-in-the-sky sun.

I used to go to Designer Showhouses with my sister when she would come to NY. This is where a bunch of different decorators each decorate one room of a (usually large, amazing) house and then (for the price of a $$ ticket) the public can walk through the house admiring the work, getting ideas, etc. They’ve been off my radar for some time cuz they’re not really cheap. ANYWAY, I saw a new one (second year) advertised in Brooklyn and thought it would be fun, but…tickets were $40 and I was just like nope. BUT, they said they had tickets to give away to the first six people who emailed them…and I got the last ticket! I was very excited, I never win things! I wish my sister was here to go with me.

Wednesday

Back to work today, but the day started out of the office at a breakfast for recipients of donations from a country club’s gala fundraiser this summer. I went with a girl from my office. There was a great breakfast spread (omelette station! freshly juiced juice!) and representatives from all the organizations stood to introduce themselves and the nonprofit they work for. There are so many wonderful organizations out there doing really amazing work.

The country club was very grand.

We had a crazy tropical-esque storm blow through right before the end of the day. It had been 90 degrees today, crazy humid and it went from sunny to black within 5 minutes and then there was high winds and torrential sideways rain. I was hoping the (pretty quick) storm would have blown the humidity away but no. It’s disgusting here this evening.

Finally got to the market (isn’t this just scintillating??), look at this beautiful orange cauliflower!

Thursday

As hot and humid as yesterday was, today was cold and rainy. Ugh. Was a pretty quiet day. Work. Camera club. Home. I actually partially closed a window. I hate closing windows. I feel so cut off from the world.

We had to stay inside for camera club today because of the rain, so we walked around the building next door looking for something to shoot. We found a Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima sculpture.

Today is the 10 year anniversary of leaving my cute little house on Long Island and moving to the wilds of Brooklyn. I can’t believe it’s been 10 years. I can’t believe I’ve moved six times IN that 10 years!

My sweet house…the yard kinda got away from me that last year!

Friday

Two camera club meetups today in two different locations: at the farm, where they were sprucing up for a fall festival this weekend…

Then onto a teaching garden at a local college…

After work a friend and I went to dinner at a place I’ve been following on Instagram for awhile. They had me at cannoli bombolini. Though my friend got a warmed bombolini with chocolate gelato inside…and I can’t wait to go back and get that (sugar detox? what sugar detox?)!

saturday

Weighed Fun Day in Brooklyn against Stay Home and Get Sh*t Done…and GSD won out.

Got an order from H&M, was so disappointed that the Tencel dress I ordered was not shipped. I assumed it was out of stock…but I’m looking at the website right now and it doesn’t say it’s out of stock. I’m going to order it again, but after trying on the two things I did get, I’m wondering if I should down-size.

H&M+ Lyocell Shirt Dress - Denim blue - Ladies | H&M US

I thought this rayon olive green “leopard” tunic would be cute over black leggings and flats in the fall, and over black tights & booties with a black cardi over top for winter. I got a 4x and it’s ginormous. Definitely too long/big for the tunic idea.

I tried it under my black cardi but meh. Better than on its own but…I liked it cuz I thought it could do double-duty. It’s going back.

Then I need a couple “one and done” sweaters for fall/winter and I really liked the color of this one. But. Those balloon sleeves bug me. I’ll always feel self-conscious about them. And it has one of my plus-size pet peeves, a too big neck hole/too deep-v. It’s also going back.

sunday

A quiet day. I slept late. It was overcast. I read and watched a movie.

What I Read

A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers. I can’t quite make up my mind about this. In the beginning, I was digging the writing style. It kind of felt like me. But it became one of those books that started with A Big Thing, then was just this happened then this happened then this happened the end. And SO much of it was just the guy’s thoughts. Correction, his overthinking, crazy thoughts. They went on for pages. 

Okay, so four “kids” – three in their 20s, one 8 years old – their parents both die within a very short time of one another. They sell the house, take the insurance money and move to California. The 21-year-old essentially becomes the 8-year-old’s parent, even though he’s not much more mature than the younger boy. So they do a lot of aimless dumb stuff. It started feeling a little Catcher in the Rye-ish about halfway in and I’m actually not a big fan of that book. One thumb for originality, I guess. I did laugh out loud at some things. 3.25/5.

Oh, and what’s really funny, is right in the beginning there are all these notes to the reader from the author about how the book gets boring in the middle and really, you might want to just read the first 4 or 5 chapters and think of it as a novella, cuz after that it’s pretty boring…and he was right! 
The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom. Uhm. I didn’t love this as much as many people. Part of it might have been the whole A Christmas Carol-esqueness of it, with the main character meeting dead people (like the Ghost of Christmas Past, etc) from his past and beyond. It’s that un-real aspect that just…usually kills things for me. Aside from that, it does offer good messages about how you never know how far-reaching your actions may be, and (a personal favorite of mine) how no event is ever all good or all bad, it’s just based on perspective. You may never know the other side of the story or that there even was one (trust me, there is always another side to every story – at least one!). I would recommend, if just for the messages. I think I liked his book Tuesdays with Morrie better. I remember crying.
Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Truman Capote. I often forget that Breakfast at Tiffany’s was actually a book – well, a short story – before it was a movie. And that Truman Capote was the author just seemed impossible to me. So I decided it was time to give it a read. Turns out the story is quite different than the movie, though I probably need to watch the movie again as it’s possible I’m forgetting some plotlines it’s been a long time. Holly Golightly is not a particularly likeable character in the book, in fact she’s a downright user B. And the ending was completely different than the book. I wonder if Audrey Hepburn had not been the leading lady, if the movie would have been as iconic as it is. I have yet to read the other stories in the book (it’s a collection of short stories and there’s another one that’s supposedly the “best” one, better then BaT). I’m giving it one thumb. And a 3/5.
Educated by Tara Westover. The memoir of a girl born and raised in Idaho into a Mormon family. Dad is a survivalist (The Sky is Falling! The Sky is Falling!) and a hard man, putting his children into dangerous situations over and over again to help with his work (junkyards and scrapping). The children are “homeschooled,” which meant…they were never sent to school, but the parents didn’t do much educating, either. The father and one brother were abusive. There was no family loyalty unless you agreed with Dad. Horrible stories…which Tara digs herself out of with little help or support from any family members. In the end, she earned a Masters degree and PhD from Cambridge University in England and Harvard, respectively. The book is the story of her struggles with her family, with herself…to get out of the life she was in as a youngster and into a peaceful, reasonable, respectful life. It’s an amazing story. Two thumbs up. 4.65/5.

What I Watched

In A Relationship, with Emma Roberts and several other minorly-recognizable people but whose names I wouldn’t know. Reasonably entertaining in a 30-something, single-person, California-lifestyle kind of way. It passed the time while I (really really really) enjoyed my cheat day lasagna dinner.

Love, Rosie. A formulaic love story, but sweet. Two people who love one another but can never get the timing right. The characters were likable. Some tears were shed. I recommend if you like romance stories about people half (or a third) your age. Lily Collins is adorable.

Call Me By Your Name. I’ve been waiting to see this for what seems like years. I missed it at the theater and then it’s been too expensive to rent. But this morning I noticed “YouTube Movies.” Some are free, some you pay for, but this one was considerably less than Amazon Prime so I ordered it while the ordering was good. And I’m glad I did. It’s an understated story of first love and first experiences. It was quiet and took its time. It was lovely. Two thumbs up.

What I Listened to

The most interesting podcast I listened to this week was an NPR This American Life episode called “Ten Sessions,” about a type of “speed therapy” that could help you heal from major trauma in just 10 sessions. Cognitive processing therapy (CPT) was designed for survivors of sexual assault and is also used for veterans with PTSD symptoms. Jaime Lowe is a writer who was sexually assaulted when she was 13 and as an adult underwent CPT and recorded the sessions. It was so interesting to hear the traumatic memories extinguish themselves through the exercises they did throughout the week.