halloween festivities, being a scrooge, and a reading update
weekly recap .04
Hey, stranger.
Happy Halloween week! I do need to take a second to share an obligatory photo of my charcuterie board I made for me and R. I wasn’t that proud of the selection of items, but I had to do the best with the challenges I was facing (Trader Joe’s at 5pm on a Tuesday… everything was out of stock). This is the second year I’ve stayed in on Halloween and opted for a movie night with yummy treats and I have to say, it beats going to a random college party, sorry.
Since I openly slandered college parties just a second ago, I thought I’d share some of my feelings towards night life in your 20’s. I, and probably many of you, have always viewed being a 20-something as a montage of drinking, dancing, hungover brunch, and endless gossip. Movies are surely to blame for this weird romanticization of going out, but I also feel a certain amount of pressure from the people around me to always have a party to be going to. But parties suck. I’m not saying all parties suck, but specifically the late-college-recent-graduate genre. When you’re freshly 20 years old, being stuffed into a frat house with 400 other people is fun, but that stops being fun the second you turn 21. Then you’re stuck in a weird limbo state where the bars are the better option for a Friday night but after awhile you start craving a good old fashioned house party… but they haven’t quite caught up.
Obviously, there are exceptions (house show, anyone?), but I have found myself very unsatisfied with the options available to me. Maybe I’m a scrooge (I most definitely am) but I simply cannot dredge up the energy to go to the club, or a house party that is only fun for a brief 15 minute period, or some house show full of 18 year olds. Hence, staying in on Halloween. I would rather go to a wine bar or a dinner party, but that is mostly for the outfits, hehe. Honestly, I don’t know why I feel guilty for not going out, like I’m missing out on something amazing when in reality, when I do go, it’s never life changing. Fun, sometimes, but not more so than staying in and watching Seinfeld for 3 hours. Saying all that, I want to back pedal and make the distinction that I’m talking about social bars or parties, not going dancing. I love to go dancing. But I love to get drunk (or not), dance, go home. I’m not there to hang out. God, I sound like I would wear a shirt that says hell is other people and wear Doc Martens with my jeans tucked in.
my cozy reading set up, and my dermalogica face mask
Moving on. Let’s have a book chat, since I haven’t really updated you on what I’ve been reading, I finished 2 books this week:
01. The Peculiarities by David Liss — this book was strange in so many ways. The writing was fine and the plot was not exactly riveting but had some good mystery elements that kept me hooked. The weird part was there was a few instances of blatant anti-Semitism from the main character, lots of mention of sexual assault in a flippant manner, and overall just a weird amount of mixing current politics with 1890’s London political issues and fantasy elements. Suffice to say, I won’t really be recommending this one.
02. Murder at the Castle by M. B Shaw — this one was actually pretty good. I have really been loving a good murder mystery lately. When I want to take a break from working my way through all 44 of Agatha Christie’s novels, I love a cutesy novel like this one. The story is set in Scotland and involves lots of family drama, old secrets, and a delicious mystery that I couldn’t stop trying to solve whenever I wasn’t reading it. So essentially my perfect book.
I’m still working my way through Boys in the Boat (Daniel Brown), Still Writing (Kurt Vonnegut), and The View From the Cheap Seats (Neil Gaiman). However, I have to admit I’ve been toying with the idea of rereading the Throne of Glass series by SJM… I know, I know. I’ve reread a few of the books but never the whole series in order, which for those who don’t know, it’s an 8 book series. I’m mostly considering it because my friend S is sending me voice memos when she gets to the juicy bits and it’s reminding me just how fun the books are. I also need to do my annual reread of Name of the Wind but I’m waiting for the perfect moment. The problem is, whenever I read those books I am transported to 15-year-old me and have a deep desire to move to the English countryside and own a horse. So maybe I’ll hold off for now.
Anyway, it’s currently Friday afternoon and I am sat at Sip House, a cafe down the block from my apartment, waiting for R to come meet me. I’ve been working on my portfolio website and applying for jobs (what’s new) but I have a fun weekend ahead of me and I thought I’d share, since most of my weekends have been pretty boring lately:
Friday — me and M had coffee together this morning before I went to the gym, had a very nice session, and then we got groceries for tonight’s dinner gathering. We’re having some friends over for smash burgers, which is a new recipe but looks easy and delish.
Saturday — me, R, and O are having a girls night with wine, vodka pasta, and Taylor Swift’s chai cookies. Genuinely such a great line up. During the day I was thinking of shopping in Ballard and grabbing the infamous Seattle Coffee Works Chocolate Chip Banana Bread. A perfect day!
Sunday — S is coming over for soup and apple crumble, which is something I’ve been meaning to make for awhile now. The recipe I use is from my mom, but I’ve made a few modifications so maybe I’ll post the recipe on here sometime! I love having friends over for dessert, and I’m excited to make the apartment cozy for us.
In writing that all out, I realize that I just love making food for people. No matter what variation of it is, food and friends are my favorite things. I have been struggling with the Autumn blues a bit, and being social has felt like a Herculean effort, but I’m surprisingly looking forward to a more social than usual weekend. Small wins, guys.
xoxo, ev