/Shoulders/

Used as a means of communication. Used to carry.

My shoulders hurt

all the time.

My muscles are knotted and tender,

all the time.

I think this is partly due to how I sleep, which is on my stomach with my neck all crooked.

It’s also partly due to my stress, anxiety, and general tension.

It’s due to my computer and phone use.

It’s due to my lifting heavy boxes at work.

It’s due to my hyperflexibility and the number of times my shoulder pops out of its socket… and then pops back in.

It’s due to the totes and crossbodies and backpacks that support themselves on my unsupportive shoulders, day in and day out.

Somehow, though — despite the knots and the tenderness — my shoulder muscles are able to shimmy.

I shimmy my shoulders when I’m annoyed and telling someone how it is.

My coworker and dear friend Zoila let me in on this fact. As an actress, she’s very good at reading and imitating people’s body language. My most imitable body language, apparently, is whenever I’m correcting someone or letting them “have it”: my shoulders shake and my hands clap together. I shimmy my shoulders to prove my point, and I never even knew it.

Sometimes, learning about your little idiosyncrasies and weird habits — the ones you don’t already know about — can be funny. It’s this sensation of: “Wow… I didn’t know that about myself. How crazy and silly!”.

Sometimes, though, learning about these quirks can be a bit scary. What remains can be the sensation of: “Wow… what other strange things do I not know about myself? What other things do I not notice?”

This shoulder scenario is all fun and games, though. Zoila asked another one of my coworkers about my shoulder-dancing-while-annoyed habit, and the other coworker agreed: I take no bullshit, and neither do my shoulders.

On that note…

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/Sugars/

Maple syrup. Corn syrup. Honey. Cane.

I have a sweet tooth. This is something I know for sure about myself.

At work, I’m always chomping away on yogurt pretzels and slurping down sweet coffee.

I will always gravitate toward the sweet, or the salty-and-sweet, over just salty.

A go-to combination for me recently has been maple and salt in my cold foam. I’ll add some dark maple syrup and sea salt to cream and whizz it up, immediately pouring it over cold brew. I tried a honey-sweetened cold foam recently, too. That one was not as good. I think the caramelly notes of the maple were more suited to the coffee-and-cream application here. Honey, I’ve noticed, is more delicious in teas or fruity-fresh drinks.

Along with salty-and-sweet, I also love sweet-and-sour. Mixing sweetness with one of the other basic tastes; whether it's salty, sour, or even bitter; is my favorite kind of flavor experience. I love a sweet combo. That’s probably why my favorite drink is simple, classic lemonade. Ideally, every glass would be ice-cold, speckled with condensation, lip-puckeringly tart and lemony, and just sweet enough… but not toooooo sugary.

I’ve discovered, however, that despite the love I have for my ideal glass of lemonade, I’ll take a lemonade in just about whatever form it’s presented to me. I’ll accept the worst of the worst, just to get a hint, a glimmer, a nod toward the lemony goodness I so deeply crave. I will literally drink sugar-water masquerading as lemonade.

I will drink
high fructose corn syrup that calls itself lemonade
that does not taste like lemons
and drink it up.

What is wrong with me?

It could be Lemonade Loyalty™.

It could beeeeeeeee the fact that it's nostalgic.

It could be that any lemonade is better than no lemonade! (except… I don’t like British lemonade, it’s just Sprite 😖)

It could be a bunch of different things.

What I do know for a fact

is that lemonade made with three (four) simple ingredients

(lemon juice, water, cane sugar [and salt])

poured over ice

is better than any other lemonade you could find.

I know lemonade. I understand lemonade.

On that note…

/Shish Kebabs/

Skewered cubes of meat found in Mediterranean cuisine.

I sort of know shish kebabs.

I’ve had them a few times, always liking them… enough.

I’ve never been a superfan of Mediterranean cuisine. It’s never been my first choice. People around me have adored it, and I’ve dabbled— tried a halloumi dish here, a salatim selection there, a couple bowls of hummus— but most of the Mediterranean restaurants I’ve been to just haven’t wowed me the way other cuisines have.

Lately, though, I’ve come to recognize that writing off an entire cuisine (an umbrella category made up of many different regional cuisines) is pretty closed-minded, and honestly, a little unfair. For Mother’s Day, my sister Julia decided to take all of us (and my mother, of course) to a restaurant she likes called Mezza in Livingston, NJ. She told me I’d love it. I really did.

We all shared crispy cauliflower with raisins, tahini, and scallions; Julia’s favorite strawberry mango salad; hummus; Matbucha; Turkish Ezme; branzino “tacos” on pita; and, of course, marinated chicken shish kebabs that were layered with bell peppers and onions.

It was all impeccable. I was particularly impressed with the cauliflower and the salad, as well as the dips and the shish kebabs. The chicken was so juicy and the vegetables were well-cooked, too.

At the end, we shared pistachio baklava which came with pistachio ice cream, and some halva ice cream which was deliciously sesame-forward.

I left the Mother’s Day feast super well-fed, super happy, and standing super corrected when it comes to Mediterranean food and how much I enjoy it.

Mezza was great. Highly recommend.

On that note… self-discovery is a never-ending process. Learn new things about yourself. Find new things to love.

/Parting Words/

A song on repeat:

A snack I’m liking lately:

Baby carrots and crunchy pita chips dipped in garlic hummus!!

A drink I’m liking lately:

Lemonade. Always. ❤️

A random thing I enjoy:

Nilüfer Yanya is opening for Lorde on tour???????? In the UK only, but still that’s crazy.

A thing I’m reading or watching:

Abbott Elementary

A clothing item I find fun:

Julia’s new florally, business-casual skirt we found at the thrift store this week.

With love and appreciation,

Annabelle