My trends for 2023
Because I’ve never seen a bandwagon I didn’t want to jump on
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.
📚 Single in the Snow: Helen Whitaker. This winter sports romance was pitched as perfect for fans of Chalet Girl and I 100% agree. Some heavy themes in there but with a positive resolution and a happy-ever-after. (Bookshop.org affiliate link)
🎧 Sentimental Garbage Christmas Special: Little Women. Listening to Caroline O’Donoghue and Ella Risbridger dissect Louisa May Alcott’s most famous book and all the various adaptations of it made for an absolutely joyful hour and a quarter earlier this week. If you’re new to this podcast, I highly recommend going through the back catalogue too.
🎲 Kluster. I first tried this magnet placing game at a friend’s birthday party and absolutely loved the simplicity (and difficulty) of it. I picked up a set at John Lewis and brought it home for Christmas - it went down surprisingly well with my usually board-game-resistant family.
(Inspired by this piece about Leslie Stephens’ Morning Person newsletter, I’m trying a new format for the newsletter this year - let me know what you think?)
A few weeks ago, I wrote: This year has been one of reflection and decision-making for me, as I think it has been for a lot of us: what parts of my 2019 life do I want back? What about the scaffolding of my life no longer serves me in this new world? What new experiences do I want to seek out? What’s important to me? How should I be spending my time? One reader asked to see more about this, and I’ve been rolling the questions around in my head ever since. I always spend the first month of the year in a reflective mood, because my birthday falls at the start of February and because the whole month marks another year since the most difficult time of the nervous breakdown I had in my 2nd year of uni, so I’m sure this isn’t the last attempt of mine you’ll see to answer those questions.
If your Instagram feed is anything like mine, you’ve seen countless lists of what’s ‘in’ and ‘out’ for 2023. Putting together one of my own has helped me start to answer that.
In for 2023
Dancing
Croissants & baguettes
Reading in cafes
Embroidery
Broccoli
Gentleness
Real butter & jam
Hearty salads
Evening swims
Hot chocolate
Morning pages
Greek yoghurt
Out for 2023
Uncomfortable shoes
Making bread
Reading the news at night
Twitter
Kale
Situationships
Calorie counting
Bagged salad leaves
Evening swims
Feeling inferior
Cheap chocolate
Morning scrolling
Fruity cocktails
Also check out: Doree, Lilly, Arianna, Amy.
What’s in and out for you in the coming year?
Speak soon,
Lily