Heading into Crunch Time
☕ Lovecrumbs, Edinburgh. Yesterday I made my final visit to my favourite Edinburgh coffee-shop-and-bakery, Lovecrumbs, before I move house at the start of August (I do intend to still get the next couple of newsletters out on time, but if they’re short or late… that’s why). Hollie and her team have created an absolutely gorgeous, homey, cafe space (the best seat is the one in the window space, where you can watch the world go by while enjoying your cake and the banging playlists). Check out the instagram at hellolovecrumbs - but maybe best not to if you’re hungry!
📚 Year of Yes by Shonda Rhimes. If you like memoirs on audiobook, read by the author, you’ll love this. Shonda Rhimes, the showrunner behind Gray’s Anatomy, Scandal, and Bridgerton lets us into a secret at the start of this book: although, outwardly, she appeared to be a successful woman who was at the top of her game, inside she was terrified of everything and said ‘no’ to anything that was optional. So she set herself a challenge: say ‘yes’ to things, just for one year. Of course, it changed her life, or she wouldn’t have written such a popular book about it. I really enjoyed this - on audio, producers were able to drop in recordings from a couple of speeches she gave, so I could hear the original audience’s reaction. Just what I needed as I gear up for this Very Big Change. (Bookshop.org | Audible - affiliate links)
🎧 Live From Pemberley. Hot and Bothered podcasts are brought to us by Vanessa Zoltan, who you may have heard of in connection with Harry Potter and the Sacred Text, and their mission statement is this: We treat reading and writing Romance novels as a sacred practice. Season Four, which has been running since March 2022, is an in-depth exploration of why Pride & Prejudice is the romance novel, why it’s the book mothers give to their daughters, and the classic novel that’s spawned a million adaptations and retellings. I’ve so enjoyed the chapter-by-chapter discussion of the social and financial issues raised by Austen in the book, and exploring it with a range of experts from around the world. This week, host Vanessa Zoltan interviewed author Curtis Sittenfeld about her P&P retelling, Eligible (which I loved), and about her new book Romantic Comedy which I had a great time reading earlier this year. Side note: if anyone knows why the Austen Project appears to have stalled out at four books, I’d love to hear why!
This week has mostly been about preparing to move. (I’m sure you’re all as tired of hearing about it as I am of being in limbo). My flat suddenly feels emptier than it had in years, as if I’ve just arrived, and every room has a bin bag and a charity shop bag on the go at all times. Last night I had friends around for a ‘flatcooling’ party, in which the goal was to empty out my drinks cupboard. Sure enough: my recycling bin is a lot heavier than it was this time yesterday.
The one thing that’s making this period of time more doable than it might otherwise have been is this: taking everything as easy as humanly possible, and being extremely kind and gentle with myself. So, rather than going to the gym as much as possible to make the most of my final week of being a member, I’ve been for easy low-impact workouts a couple of times this week, and I’m just about to go for a swim once I’ve sent this out to you all.
To live as gently and easily as possible, I’ve been simplifying as much as I can. This coming week is crunch time for the move - the goal is to get a few boxes packed per day, so that next weekend can be as easy as possible.
Wish me luck?
Speak soon,
Lily
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. If you’d like to access paid content, but can’t afford to, do ping me an email and I’ll happily give you free access.
PS: The Amazon affiliate links above only work to give me commission if you click through from the Substack app or website, rather than directly from your email program. Other ways to support this newsletter include liking, commenting, and sharing it with a friend who you think might like it. Thanks in advance!