Getting to know you

Because it’s time I introduced myself

Pull Up A Chair is a weekly newsletter containing all the things I’d like to be chatting about if we could hang out together in real life.

• 📚 Virtual Strangers by Sam Canning. This was a delightful example of the joy of rom-coms being in how the characters get to the end of the plot, rather than what the ending is in itself. The back cover of the book mentions You’ve Got Mail, and mentions the main character, Ada, making a friend at work and a different friend on an Agatha Christie message board… so you know even as you open the cover roughly what the ending will be. It was so much fun following how the threads of the story wove together and were tied up at the end - this is a fantastic debut from Sam Canning. (Bookshop.org | Amazon - affiliate links) 

• 👱‍♀️ Hannah Waddingham, National Treasure. My trip to Liverpool for the start of Eurovision week was every bit as good as I was hoping it would be - a real bucket-list thing to have done. As well as all the musical acts in the evening preview of the first semi final, the person who really stole the show was Hannah Waddingham. It was such a treat to watch everyone else discover how unabashedly she joined in the schmaltz and the silliness of Tuesday’s semi-final, having seen a sneak peek on Monday evening.

• 🎧 Books Unbound podcast. If you were on the bookish side of YouTube ‘back in the day’, the names Ariel Bissett and Raeleen Lemay (‘padfootandprongs07’) might mean something to you - but even if they don’t, I’d highly recommend this podcast. It’s a weekly podcast featuring book news, what Raeleen and Ariel are reading and buying, and some general nonsense, and it’s a tonne of fun. I would divide the podcasts I listen to into a few categories (big ideas, climate policy, books, etc) and this one is both a “books” podcast and “two intelligent ladies having a conversation that you’d love to join in with an iced coffee” podcast. (Spotify | Apple) 

I’m planning on adding a couple of new features to the newsletter, mostly for paying subscribers but occasionally unlocked. One of them is a shameless rip-off of my favourite feature in lots of magazines: the back-page profile of an interesting person and what’s on their mind, from high culture to snacks. The New Statesman’s back-page Q&A, for example, has recently featured people like Russell Tovey, Jim Al-Khalili, and Jack Monroe.  When I say an ‘interesting person’, I mean anyone who is interested in things: just like on my favourite book matchmaking podcast, What Should I Read Next, where guests range from professional writers to ‘everyday readers’.

There’s a saying in product design: ‘eat your own dog food.’ While it’s faintly disgusting, what it means is that designers should be willing to use their own products, because if they’re not, why should anyone else be? In that spirit, the first edition of this will be about myself - a chance to introduce myself to newer readers and to those of you who’ve joined the fun along the way.

By day, Lily works in climate policy at a bank, trying to save the world a little bit every day. In the early mornings and at the weekends, she writes her Substack newsletter, Pull Up A Chair, and romantic fiction. She’s trying to sell her first novel at the moment and is 45,000 words into the second, which has this elevator pitch: What would you do if the friend you’d had an online relationship with during lockdown turned up at your work, and you had to compete with them for a job, while keeping the secret of just how well you knew each other?

Where are you, right now?

In a Costa Coffee in the middle of Edinburgh, listening to a ‘Lofi covers’ playlist on Spotify and watching the world go by. I love indie coffee shops, but for long writing sessions I tend to go to the chains, so I don’t feel guilty for taking up space. 

What’s your ideal weekend day?

Teenage me wouldn’t believe I’m saying this, but it would definitely involve a gym session or a run outdoors. Last summer I was half-marathon training, and it was so nice to spend long stretches of my Sundays jogging through Edinburgh’s beautiful landscapes. Before that, though, I’d have a lie-in with a coffee and a book. In the afternoon, I’d mooch around the shops, or do errands, before meeting friends for a drink or something to eat. Nothing too fancy, but I feel very lucky to be able to do it again, after the lockdown years. 

At the moment I’m in pre-nostalgia because I’m moving away from Edinburgh this summer, so I’m taking pictures in my brain every time I go anywhere. 

What’s your favourite underrated food?

I love Brussels sprouts - which I know can be deeply controversial. This Gimme Some Oven recipe for gnocchi with chicken sausage, Brussels sprouts, and pesto was a gateway drug for me back in 2015 and I’ve not stopped eating them since. In the same family, I adore broccoli - whether sautéed in florets or raw and shredded, I can’t get enough. Basically all brassicas. 

What is the book or film that made you you?

I love The History Boys (2006), the film adaptation of Alan Bennett’s National Theatre production of the same name. I was 16 or 17 when I first saw it - a very impressionable age - and I found its discussion of the ‘turning points’ of history - and of our own lives - to be fantastically compelling. Plus, it is a Who’s Who of British acting of the 2000s, with one of the most memorable lines coming courtesy of Frances de la Tour, who plays Mrs Lintott, the History teacher: ‘Durham [University] was very good for history. It’s where I had my first pizza. Other things too, of course, but it’s the pizza that stands out.”

What’s the last book that you read and can’t stop talking about? 

Lucy Easthope’s When The Dust Settles. I wasn’t prepared for just how life-affirming this book on emergency planning and disaster management could be. As I mentioned when I wrote about this book in February, there’s a section about what it’s like being a woman in her field which I found extremely relatable: she writes about being ‘constantly accused of overreaction, of too much thinking and emotion.’ It’s something I battle with at work too and I found it incredibly validating - though at the same time depressing - to hear that she still has to deal with it. 

What’s the under £15 luxury item you’d recommend to everyone?

I don’t think I’ve ever used a Joseph Joseph product I didn’t like, but in particular I want to rave about the Scoop Plus; it’s essentially a massive scoop that’s also a colander. Imagine the love child of a serving spoon and a colander, if you will. I have had mine for at least seven years (I know I had it before I finished university) and use it on an almost daily basis for serving out pasta or stews, getting veg or eggs out of boiling water, anything like that. 

Do you have an album or a podcast you’d like to recommend?

I’m going to use this opportunity to be extremely hipster and recommend a relatively small artist: Maddy Hicks. Her newest album is called Situationships, and last week she released a new single, Roster. It’s about trying to give the impression of a cool girl when it comes to relationships, but always getting hurt. 

You've heard of a 'fantasy dinner party'; now what's your fantasy biscuit barrel/ cookie jar? Six biscuits/cookies, for the rest of your life, in unlimited quantities.

My answer is different every time I get asked this, but right now:

Fig rolls, Viennese fingers, chocolate chip shortbread rounds, dark chocolate digestives, Bourbon biscuits, and… fruit Shortcakes.

What is something that everyone else has done but you?

A Jägerbomb. For the uninitiated, this is a shot of Jägermeister in a drink of Red Bull, or the students’ answer to the Espresso martini. They’re a rite of passage at UK universities, but somehow I managed to make it through a four-year degree without ever having one. 

Do you have a favourite Dad Joke?

I love dad jokes. My current favourite is this:

Did you hear they found another mummy in Egypt?

Yes, this one was covered in chocolate and hazelnuts… it’s a Pharoah Rocher. 

Inspired by Kendra Adachi/ The Lazy Genius, what’s saving your life right now?

The fact that Spring finally seems to have sprung is a big one - it’s well and truly iced coffee season, and I’m loving that. I’m not ‘meal prepping’ or batch cooking in any sort of organised way, but I’ve been making big batches of salads or veg-forwards meals (like Caroline Chambers’ cauliflower and white bean bowls) and popping them in the fridge. I’ve also remembered how much I love overnight oats, and have been making up a couple at a time in empty Pip & Nut peanut butter jars (I’m a ‘smooth’ girl). And as ever, my Kindle Paperwhite is working overtime - more than a third of my reading so far this year has been in ebook format. 

If you’d like to be featured, just drop me a comment or reply to this newsletter!

Speak soon,

Lily

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A quick housekeeping note: I’ve switched paid subscriptions on for the newsletter. That’s partly to reflect the work that I put into it, and partly because there are some things I’d like to write about that I’m not sure I want to be as Google-able, so tucking them behind a paywall is helpful. If you’d like to subscribe but can’t afford to, do ping me an email and I’ll happily give you free access.