Ten things to make life better

Because I’m not above a listicle

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. 

• 📕 Same Time Next Summer by Annabel Monaghan. I enjoyed Monaghan’s debut, Nora Goes Off Script, so I was really excited to read her next book. It was super enjoyable! She captures really well the odd sort of relationships and friendships we have with people we see in the summer, when we step out of our ‘normal’ lives. And I’ll always love a storyline involving creatives misunderstanding each other, and realising that the path you’re following isn’t the right one for you. (Bookshop.org | Amazon)

• 🍺 Radler (shandy). Perfect for this record-breaking heatwave we’re having (no, it’s not adding to my climate anxiety, why do you ask…?), I spent most of last Sunday outside in a courtyard watching robots fighting each other and drinking deliciously zesty Radler - i.e. beer topped up with lemonade.

• 🎵 There it Goes by Maisie Peters. A song made for this time of year. We made it to September, gang! 

 Inspired by Arwa Mahdawi in the Guardian, I wanted to share with you ten small ways I make life better:

1. Keeping a jug of water in the fridge for cold, crisp water whenever I want it without feeling wasteful running the tap.

2. Buying mangetout or sugar-snap peas in almost every food shop, for deliciously crunchy snacking.

3. Bringing my Kindle everywhere. It’s almost impossible to get pissed off about missing a bus or having to wait for someone when I have a book to read. 

4. Extra-long universal phone charging cables. One in my bedroom, one in my work bag. Relatedly, always carrying a charging block with an ‘octopus cable’ in it.

5. Always having a snack in my bag; usually this is a bag or small pot of dates.

6. Pret subscription! I pay £30 a month for up-to-five coffees per day, and 20% off everything else on the menu. What I get for that, though, is guilt-free space to sit and write for as long as I want on weekend days. 

7. Whenever I notice that I’m running even slightly low on tights, making an M&S or Snag order (in my world, tights are a consumable). 

8. Texting myself with any small thought or ‘note to self’, especially if it’s something I want to put in my journal later when I have time to think about it properly. 

9. Pip & Nut peanut butter cups. 

10. Alcohol-free beers, Italian aperitivo drinks in little bottles, or fancy mixers in the fridge, so I can always have a drink to mark the end of the day, without having to have a drink. 

What are your little treats to make life better? 

Speak soon,

Lily

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