Vol. 38: Vacation reads & reality checks

Does anyone else struggle with prioritizing? There’s so much I want to accomplish in the next month - exercising, journaling, reading, budgeting, reconnecting with my friends after two months (mostly) indoors. I know the most sustainable way to build & achieve goals is to focus your energy, but I’m realizing just how much I haven’t made space for yet this year.

I spent the past week in the sun with my family in Jamaica, moving from beach chair to pool chair to hammock, from pina colada to rum punch. I read three books, vigorously reapplied SPF, and spent time with loved ones. It was much needed, and a privilege to have time away for which I’m incredibly grateful.

Initially, I came home from vacation super motivated and ready to take on the world. Having time to relax when you are burnt out will really do that. And on top of that, I unexpectedly got to see two long distance friends in person on Sunday (an absolute delight!). I’m writing this on Monday night, my final day off after 6 business days OOTO. I started today walking the dog for an hour, meal planning, buying groceries, creating a long to-do list, and pretty quickly hit a wall. 

In the kickoff episode for season 2 of Thank You For Asking, Amber says that these days, tasks you think will take one hour, take the full day (I’m not quoting verbatim here - you just have to listen to the full episode, it was so good!). That happened to me today. I am feeling more rested & relaxed than I have in awhile, and I’m also feeling the creeping dread that comes from knowing there is shit on the backburner that needs to get dealt with sometime & somehow.

The truth is, as embarrassing and funny as it is to admit, whenever I have a “show” that I’m watching, I don’t read, exercise rarely, and don’t sleep enough. So my first step is to find other ways to deal with my mental health that don’t involve watching 5 hours of bad How I Met Your Mother episodes.

Books, books, books

Recent reads

• I reread Plain Truth thanks to my Jodi Picoult Little Free Library neighbor friend. I think it finally kicked my Jodi Picoult reread streak. The story is compelling - a newborn baby is found dead in an Amish barn and a Philadelphia lawyer goes to live with the family of the accused murderer, her young, distant cousin - but it’s not the best writing and I could have done without the racialized “Philadelphia crack baby” comments. A decent vacation read, good but not great.

• I picked up Stacey Abrams’ political thriller While Justice Sleeps at the airport bookstore during my layover and it was an excellent decision. I love a book set in DC, and she’s an incredible storyteller. It took me a minute to get into but I was hooked! (p.s. If you're not a hardcover fan, paperback comes out in April!)

• My favorite vacation read award goes to D’Vaughn and Kris Plan a Wedding. OMFG. This book was absolutely delightful. Obviously I had to pick it up based on the premise: A queer rom-com featuring a couple paired together during an instant wedding reality TV show. I wasn’t expecting a coming out while wedding planning narrative and ahem it felt a little close to home having just planned our wedding last year. Not only are D'Vaughn and Kris an adorable couple, this book felt so authentic & meaningful. I cannot recommend it enough.

Currently Reading

• My book club book for March is Imbolo Mbue’s How Beautiful We Were. I’m doing a mix of audio and physical copy for this one. I loved her first novel Behold the Dreamers. This is quite different but excellent all the same. How Beautiful We Were is a novel portraying the fictional village Kosawa as it grapples with the death & destruction from an overseas oil company Pexton, featuring rich characters and strong commentary on colonialism. The audiobook narrators do a great job, as well! (Thanks to Libro.Fm for the gifted audiobook! Join Libro.FM using my affiliate link here).

• I read half of Lacy Crawford’s Notes on a Silencing on vacation. This is a memoir about Lacy’s teenage years at the elite St. Paul’s boarding school, her sexual assault and the aftermath. While it’s very difficult to read at times, I can’t remember the last time I resonated so much with someone’s high school experience. Even though our lives were so different, Lacy’s portrayal of a girl grappling with insecurities, desperate to build community while perpetually feeling like an outsider is so well done.

New Releases

• I just picked up Girls Can Kiss Now after seeing some queer bookstagram friends rave about it. I can’t wait to dive in!
   

Small Business Corner

• I love how many of you shopped at WET FOR HER during February! This is a queer woman owned sex toy shop featuring size inclusive & gender affirming gear of all kinds. You can use my code ALLISONREADSDC for 10% off your order!

• When I asked on IG for everyone’s favorite Etsy shops, someone submitted El Itis and I can’t believe I didn’t think of this myself (though I may have featured it in the newsie back in the day?)! I LOVE El Itis fermented chili sauce - it goes on everything savory and adds heat without being overly spicy. It makes a great gift, too! Shoutout to Nicole W. for putting me on.

• And thanks to Nicole C. for suggesting A is for Avery, a Black woman-owned business out of my hometown, Ann Arbor! She has gorgeous earrings and now I really must have this pink print despite having nowhere to put it.

Self Care & Community Care

Between the war in Ukraine, the terrifying anti-trans and anti-LGBTQ legislation across the country, all while we're weeks away from the second anniversary of when COVID-19 first shut down states across the U.S., I honestly haven’t quite processed everything happening across the world and how it shows up within my everyday actions. Instead, I’m leaving you with this piece from Anela Malik that I resonated with so much: “What if everything is always on fire?”

If you have a cause you’re donating to for any of the above concerns and want to include it in a future newsletter, please send it my way!

Vulnerability Corner

I did promise I was going to be more vulnerable in year 2 of the newsletter, so here goes: I applied for a newsletter writing fellowship and didn’t get it. I’m very proud of myself for applying, but I’m also sad!

I think that’s why writing this edition has felt like such a drag. I was terrified of getting the fellowship and bringing my writing to an even wider audience, but I also really wanted it. The good news is I came up with a lot of pitches for future newsletter editions through the application process that I now get to bring to all of you. Stay tuned.

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