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. Every week, I start with three things I’ve enjoyed, and then write in more detail about something I’ve been thinking about.
👄 Squeezy lip balms. I’m back on a lip balm habit, partly because slathering salve all over my mouth is a much better way of passing time than scrolling through the internet (Farewell, ‘app formerly known as Twitter’!). In particular, I like the kind that comes in a squeezy tube; unlike a stick or a pot, I can carry them in my jeans pocket without worrying about them melting. Particular favourites are the M&S Apothecary lip balm (annoyingly, out of stock at the time of writing) and the L’Occitane Ultra Rich lip balm.
👖 M&S Lily Slim leg jeans. As a kid whose name was never on any of those ‘personalised’ key rings, headbands, placemats, or what have you, I’m a sucker for things with my name on as an adult. So I was really happy to discover how much I like the fit of M&S’s Lily jeans. (I’m not being paid by M&S - I really should be!). They’re really cheap but last just as long as more expensive pairs of jeans (other members of the thick-thighs club will understand when I say: I consider jeans to be a consumable), come in loads of colours and a really good size range. They’re not as skinny as the super-skinny jeans of 15 years ago, but they still make my inner indie kid happy.
📕 The Electricity of Every Living Thing - Katherine May. You may have heard of Katherine May’s smash hit book Wintering, or follow her here on Substack. This book came out a few years before Wintering, and it follows May as she walks the South West Coast Path and - alongside - figures out some more about herself and her neurodivergence. It’s not Wild - there’s no snakes, or bears, or mountain passes. But I tell you what - it made me want to buy walking boots and go for a yomp across the country myself (or is that just because I’m approaching 30?). (Amazon | Bookshop.org - AD - affiliate links)
A week and a half ago I felt like I was staving off autumn’s approach like Canute trying to hold back the tide (and yes, I did just have to Google that reference to check I had it right). Going back to work in a new city had filled me with back-to-school energy, and every day when I opened my mailbox I half expected to find a bouquet of freshly-sharpened pencils.
And then. I spent last weekend in the forest, surrounded by people dressed as woodland creatures and/or overgrown scouts - it’s not a cult - and now I feel ready for another few weeks of sunshine. I’m wearing my shortie dungarees as soon as they come out of the washing machine - long sleeves and short shorts will always be one of my favourite outfit combinations for days that are warm but not blazing hot - and sitting out on my balcony at the start and end of every day.
My balcony.
I feel so lucky to have been able to find a flat with a tiny patch of outside space that’s mine. I’ve spent hours sitting there with a book, a coffee (or a wine…), and a cushion, listening to the sounds of the city waking up, enjoying itself, or falling asleep. I’ve watched the air ambulance flying laps around the city centre, seen hot air balloons pass over, and tracked the sun from right to left in the sky overhead.
This morning, I chucked a cosy hoodie and thermal socks on over my pyjamas, made a quick breakfast, and took a book and blanket outside to enjoy the stillness of the weekend morning.
Squeezing every bit of juice out of summer, even as it gives way to the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness. There will be time enough for apple crumbles and roast dinners. But not quite yet.
Speak soon,
Lily
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23c here in East Lothian! I’ve got all the washing on the line.
Love your balcony!