Plot Points #45 💌
Collective wonder, opening shop, old cookbooks, and buying too much coffee (if there is such a thing)
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Hello and a very happy Friday to you all!
We are surrounded by boxes; hemmed in on all sides, but thankfully not crushed. Since we downsized, some of our furniture is in the garage awaiting donation because it doesn’t fit anymore, while new furniture to fit the more compact space is en route. I always forget how bloody expensive moving is, but the movers we hired this time around were well worth the money. It’s funny because our new home looks bigger from the outside since it’s two stories high and has a big, open yard, but it’s actually just 1500 square feet. The ranch we sold had a full finished basement that gave it a surprisingly large amount of guest space and we’ve given up most of that. Our fourth bedroom here was once a laundry area that barely fits my desk and chair, so we’re hoping to remodel half the garage into a den for guests at some point.
There’s always something about a home that isn’t perfect, right? Our old house had everything we wanted and a quick commute for Pierce, but it was way more expensive and took a bajillion years to get anywhere outside the city. (Or in the city, for that matter.) This house means a long commute for P, but it’s half the cost of our previous mortgage and such an easy drive to family! We still have a long way to go before we’re fully unpacked, but neither of us are in a hurry. Now that we’re here we have nothing but time.
I hope you all have a beautiful weekend! Thanks for spending some of your day here with me.
Point #1: Even in grief, there is beauty.
This beautiful post from a man who recently lost his brother explores wounds that cannot be cured from the perspective of Tolkien and his beloved characters, Sam and Frodo. I’ve never lost a sibling, but I’ve certainly lost loved ones to various sorts of grief and have had to ask myself how to get back to what once was. The answer? I can’t. We can’t. But it doesn’t mean there isn’t beauty waiting for us anyway.
Point #2: The music we love tells stories about who we are.
Gosh, I loved this conversation between one of my favorite Substackers and Rachel Sherlock on the wonder of our “collective experience” with Taylor Swift’s music. It’s a great chat even for people who aren’t Swifties because it explores how our synchronous enjoyment of a thing, or a person, helps foster healthier, more unified communities. Can’t go wrong there.
Point #3: I want to open a bookstore.
For now, I’ll settle for living vicariously through this man and his family who just opened a sweet bookshop called Nooks. (LOVE IT!) Read his story if you want to feel all warm and cozy inside…and maybe get inspired to do something grand of your own?
Point #4: Don’t tell me what to eat. Show me in the pages of an old church cookbook.
I loved this thoughtful essay on the timelessness and nostalgia of an old cookbook passed down from one person to another. The embodied experience of feeding ourselves via our communities—or even another community if you, like me, love a thrift store cookbook—is quite literally good for our bodies and our souls.
Word of the Week ✍🏻
Fika: (v.) Drinking coffee while eating something sweet. (See also: my favorite pastime.)
Receipts from a No-Buy Year 🧾
Want more updates from my no-buy 2024? Catch up on all the posts right here.
Coffee: $17.01
While my mom was here helping out this week, I grabbed coffee a couple of times for me and Theo. (I mean, not Theo. He got a pink drink.) I have such a hard time saying no to outside coffee that I almost feel compelled to give up on not buying it altogether, but I’ll keep trying. Even a few nos are better than constant yeses.
Clothing: $54.21
In an attempt to rescue my favorite tee from grease stains, I inadvertently bleached a huge spot on the chest. T’was not cute. Then I ripped my favorite (cheap AF) H&M skinny jeans down the thigh. You might be tempted to think a ripped thigh is cool, but not when it’s clear you split the already existing hole wide open almost down to the knee. Fun times. To replace them both, I bought a pair of cropped wide-leg Levi’s from Target and a striped tee from Amazon when the closest Goodwill came up with nothing. (Gasp!) Hopefully, I’ll get lots of good wear out of them.
Books: $0.00
Like I said, the library has been busy.
House Stuff: ???
We’ve spent a lot of money on furniture and appliances lately, but as far as my personal spending goes I’ve bought zero things. ZERO. Supes proud.
Total: $71.22 (Eek!)
Reading in The Nook 📚
After we snagged our new library cards last week, I picked up two historical rom-coms, as is my wont. Never Met a Duke Like You by Amalie Howard was so quirky and fun, with lots of dry humor and sexual tension, but it definitely leaned more erotic novel than run-of-the-mill romance. (Pun not intended 😜.)
Every Duke Has His Day by Suzanne Enoch, which is more cozy romantic mystery than steamy romance, was a little slower but still an enjoyable read if you’re in the market for this genre. I’m also eagerly awaiting India Holton’s newest The Secret Service of Tea and Treason because she combines sweeping Victorian fiction with fantasy and humor in the very best way, but—alas!—I have three holds ahead of me.
I sometimes wonder if I should be reading more “serious” fiction, but then I remember that’s just internalized misogyny and “serious” does not always equal better. All reading is good reading, even if not all books are great books, so cuddle up on your couch this weekend and enjoy that lighthearted romance novel without guilt, my friend. (I’m talking to me.)
What’s on your TBR right now? 👇
“It must often be so, Sam, when things are in danger: some one has to give them up, lose them, so that others may keep them.”
—J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King—
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Thanks for the shoutout Wendi! Happy Release Day :)