And after the storm...some calm...

What do you know?

I’ve actually been home the last seven nights out of seven after three weeks of wilding up and down the Eastern seaboard. 🤣🤣🤣

It’s not a complaint. It was a great few weeks…*just* a bit of a whirlwind.

Of course, as my dumb luck would have it, all the fun was stacked together and now I’m staring down some very blank calendar pages over the next few months…but even so you won’t catch me wishing summer away, and I’m pretty sure there’ll be no shortage of fun despite a fairly open schedule.

Anyway, besides what I’ve been doing, here’s a rundown on what I’ve been doing.

What I’ve been watching…

The headline news here of late is the Sail Boston 2026 event taking over the city and surrounding waterways, so on opening day, Saturday, I took a ferry from Hingham to Spectacle Island with my mom, sis, b-i-l, and a long-time friend to watch the Parade of Sail. About a week and a half ago tickets went on sale at 10AM. I arrived at 9:15 with my friend in tow, and after waiting for three hours we ultimately scored the hottest tickets in the state.

We took the first ferry (8AM but it left early and we were to the island by 8:15 or so), got settled on a flat viewing area about halfway up the hill on the northern end of the island, and waited for the festivities to start. While we all agreed that seeing The Constitution alone would have been worth it, we had so much fun watching about two thirds of the Tall Ships on parade, reminiscing about our experiences during the same signature event of the bicentennial in 1976, my mom and sis catching up with my friend (lives out of state but happened to be in MA), taking it all in on a perfectly perfect day before making our way back for the 1PM return boat. I think we all would have liked to stay until the end but it was really hot and at that point there were large gaps between vessels so the waiting was a lot. We all agreed that booking the 1 ferry was the right call.

On the TV, I’ve been watching the surging Red Sox (first road trip sweep since the 1970s, ’77 I think), though the All-Star Break might also be a Momentum Break. We shall see. I also watched Wimbledon off and on and have been pretty rabidly following the World Cup—despite Trump ruining the US team’s run by cashing in on his FIFA Peace Prize to challenge a red card. Yeah, the red card was lame, but still. Everything the guy touches turns to shit and TBH I was glad the US lost so I wouldn’t have to listen to President 🐔🌮🤡🐷👶🏼 claim victory as his own. Yesterday’s semifinal was a real shocker, and I’ll be rooting for England today, though I’m not sure how much for the game I’ll be watching. We have dinner in the city and plan to see the fireworks that are part of the aforementioned Sail Boston event—but we’re socked in by wildfire smoke so 🤞🏼 it clears.

You may recall I gave up the Today show but it escalated quickly and I have given up morning news altogether. I don’t miss Al or Craig or any of them. So liberating. But where to get actual factual news these days? Lots of source material for this gal.

For other TV, we watched Project Hail Mary which I enjoyed even though it’s not my genre. A kind of grown-up version of ET (minus the Reese’s Pieces) and Ryan Gosling is excellent. I’m also starting up S2 of Next Gen: NYC, an awful show featuring Real Housewives offspring and other overprivileged kids. It’s one of those guilty pleasures that you watch like a train wreck. And I have it on good account that one of my friends and one of her kids appear somewhere during the season, so now I *have* to watch.

What I’ve been listening to…

I need to mention Mumford & Sons Prizefighter again because I’m obsessed with it— the album is genius start to finish. We’ve also been listening to a lot of Noah Kahan to make up for not getting tickets to one of his four sold out shows at Fenway last week. His work is pretty genius too, and that’s thanks to The Aaron Dessner Effect. Dessner is a founding member of the National (who I also love) who has collaborated with both artists—as well TSwizzle on some of her best albums (folklore, evermore, and The Tortured Poets Department). Also he joined Mumford on stage at Fenway which was pretty cool. And, note to self, I need to add those TSwizzle albums to my collection, stat.

We’ve also been enjoying the latest release from Lord Huron, The Cosmic Selector Vol. 1 which we picked up as a souvenir when we stopped at a record store when we were in Halifax, NS for my nephew’s wedding. We had just seen them with Mumford the day before we left for that and thought getting the album there would make it a more meaningful listen—and it worked. The album is so good and now it’s wrapped up with so many special memories.

When I was in Maine last week, I was introduced to two new artists, Dylan LeBlanc and Ben Kwellar. Ben Kwellar has a tragic backstory—his son died in a car accident a few years back and now he plays music to stay alive. Can you imagine? Reminder that you never know what people are going through. Anyhow, check them out if you’re looking for some chill vibes.

What I’ve been reading…

I finished Culpability (Bruce Holsinger) and while there were some loose ends I wish had been tied up a bit tighter I enjoyed it very much—it raises a lot of issues relevant to today’s times, particularly related to autonomous vehicles and related tech.

Now I’m about 1/4 of the way through The Correspondent by Virginia Evans. So far it’s fine, but I’m hoping that it starts going somewhere soon.

My reading has definitely slowed—just been too busy, but I expect it to pick back up. My “to read” pile is taller than a redwood. 🤦🏼‍♀️

What I’ve been eating and drinking…

We’ve been enjoying the new grill, in particular the full-sized griddle insert. I didn’t get any pics, but last week used it for seared scallops and asparagus with a side of sweet corn risotto in the Instant Pot. It was a summer night griddle (and IP) heaven with my mom, sis, and b-i-l. Those are my fave kinds of nights, though it would have been better if Kerri had been home.

While the insert was still in place I used it for the Cottage Cheese Pancakes that I am hooked on—and they came out fantastic. It was so fun cooking them, and they tasted great. Same as in the house but it was nice to cook the whole batch at once.

I also made the Iced Oatmeal Cookies that I also can’t get enough of. It makes a batch of 15—so easy to make, cook, and eat.

With the explosive diarrhea parasite wending its way through the produce supply chain, I’m grateful for prairie life here. Though I was disheartened when my first tomato fell off the vine during a staking, I put the underdeveloped green ball on the windowsill. And Mother Nature did her thing.

It was delicious.

I’ve picked and frozen some basil in anticipation of making pesto, and have a lot of activity on 5 of my 6 tomato plants, as well as on several of the specialty pepper plants (jalapeño, habanero, serrano, etc.). It’s a little slow with the regular (bell) pepper plants and eggplant, but I’m optimistic. I’ve been tending and watering and have managed to keep the critters out so far, so keep your fingers crossed.

That’s the good word from here. Hope everything is going well for you. I can’t believe it’s mid-July. Gotta start taking advantage of every last bit of summer, so I appreciate you spending a little time with me each week. Hope you’re having some fun wherever you are, with people you love, doing what makes you happy.

Love you too.

Closing thoughts:

Share