The Little Things #20 – Summer, Cinema, and Paddle Boarding

Paddle boarding in Sausalito
Summer, is that you? June supposedly heralds the start of summer but in San Francisco that means foggy skies six days out of seven. This is the one time of year when I feel a pinch of envy looking at the tweets and Instagram posts of friends back home, especially as Britain seems to be holding on to its current heatwave with a steadfast grip.

 

Having said that, there have been some sunny days this month, and plenty of Little Things to bright up June, including…
 
Blogging about: Triathlons and my irrational fear of open water, and the pleasures and occasionally mild perils of owning a vintage car.
Watching: This month was all about the cinema for me (hello, MoviePass!) and I took myself to the pictures several times, for The Gospel According to Andre to reminisce about my brush with ALT, Ocean’s 8, because I’m all about supporting all-female casts, and Adrift, due to a weird fascination with drama at sea. Notorious RBG restored my faith in humanity a little, and Westwood: Punk, Icon, Activist reminded me how much of a badass Vivienne Westwood is. I’m also several episodes deep into The Staircase (he totally did it, right!?) and watched the film Revenge at a recent movie night, which was beautifully shot, if very gory. As if that wasn’t enough, this weekend I finally got around to watching Pixar’s Coco, and predictably bawled like a baby.
Making: An effort to be patient.
Buying: British magazines (yay!) two months out of date (boo!) because the newsagents here seem to take ages to get international copies in stock.
Reading: A book on fashion curation, and Reni Eddo-Lodge’s Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race, which was thought-provoking to say the least. I’ve also just finished A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab, which a gripping antidote to all the non-fiction I’ve been reading lately. I’ve also been lapping up every article about the outfits from Ocean’s 8, with this one from Broadly being a particular favourite.
Listening to: Janelle Monáe perform live at The Masonic in San Francisco. M and I saw her a few years ago in London and it was one of the best gigs I’ve ever been to. This performance didn’t disappoint – her outfits were divine, her dancers were flawless and the crowd was energized – I almost lost my voice from singing along.
Wearing: All the colours of the rainbow, in celebration of Pride weekend.
Eating: Brunch with gal pals, watermelon and feta salads, poke bowls, and homemade apple and cinnamon bread.
Enjoying: Flexing my creative muscles and teaching myself new skills. Adjacent to the new skill thing, I went paddle boarding this month (my fourth time ever) and enjoyed it so much that I’ve already arranged to go again next weekend. I also refuse to give up on getting over my fear of climbing. M and I went again this month but the walls didn’t have many beginner options, so I (literally) didn’t make much progress.
Looking forward to: Using my manual SLR more this month, and seeing our friends who are visiting from Vietnam.
Follow:

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *