Book report #5

My wanderlust kicked in pretty bad this summer, but I managed to keep it at bay with a full stack of novels set in exotic places. I also threw in two non-fiction choices because I'm still plugging away at that New Year's Res to read more non-fic (all the other resolutions have gone to pot, so I can at least try to keep up with that one). What's been on your reading list this summer?

*The Almost Nearly Perfect People (Michael Booth) - an insightful and in-depth anthropological look at the people that make up the five Nordic countries (Norway/Sweden/Finland/Denmark/Iceland). It was a tad (but really, just a tad) bit dry for my liking, but nevertheless a worthwhile dive into cultures and countries I'd never given much thought to beyond my Malm dresser.
*The Sunlight Night (Rebeca Dinerstein) - this beautiful narrative reads like a lyrical prototype to a Wes Anderson screenplay. Captivating, cinematic, and with the slightest twinge of fantasy, this tale of two lost and unsuspecting lives intertwining in the Arctic Circle had me nearly getting on the next flight to northern Norway - and is on track to becoming my favorite book of the year.
*All the Light We Cannot See (Anthony Doerr) - a hefty novel set in Europe during WWII, I thought the initial plot and concept were interesting (a reluctant German soldier! a blind French refugee! and where is that music coming from??) but the end both fizzled out quickly and wrapped up too nicely. It's an easy read despite it's length, so if you're into historical fiction this is a decent choice, but if WWII isn't your favorite era, then this one probably isn't worth it.
*The Diver's Clothes Lie Empty (Vendela Vida) - I read three of Vida's "women in crisis" novels right in a row (when I find an author I like, I tend to read as much of him/her as I can) and this was by far my favorite. It's short (I read it in a day) but intensely compelling, probably aided by the fact that it's written in the 2nd person which was odd at first but then I grew to absolutely love it. Days after I put the book down I found myself still thinking of the protagonist - what I would have done in her situation, what she is "doing" now, and my own personal relationship and reactions to theft and pickpocketing.
*The Lovers (Vendela Vida) - this story was a bit vague and meandering, but it was nonetheless evocative with the slightest touch of psychological thriller thrown in (and not to mention another quick read). The protagonist travels across much of Turkey for the duration of the story, and even the negatively portrayed locations solidified Turkey as one of my must-see destinations.
*Let the Northern Lights Erase Your Name (Vendela Vida) - another story set in the Arctic circle (still not sure why I've been so drawn to that area recently!) this was my least favorite Vida novel, mainly due to the fact that I couldn't easily identify with the protagonist and really couldn't stand the mother character. Vida did however create an interesting cocktail of abandonment issues, the treatment of indigenous peoples, and a stark and barren landscape, which makes this succinct story worth it if you're even a bit interested in any or all of those topics.
*Essentialism (Greg McKeown) - this is a straight-up guidebook to removing the mental clutter from your business so you can focus on the essential (hence the title). Easily digestible yet highly informative, I found myself taking notes and pausing to ponder many of McKeown's points and comments. Even though I don't have my own business per se, there are still dozens of areas in my personal life that would do quite well to go through the selective ringer suggested in this book.

summer vacay

It's mid-August, and I'm finally (finally!) getting a bit of an extended break. I spent the majority of the summer working on a new musical on the upper west side, but by the end of last week things had started to wrap up. I raised one last glass in celebration of a show well done, turned in my keys, hit send on a bunch of final emails and two large side projects, and packed my bags for one full week away from the hustle, bustle, and really smelly summer heat of New York.

My first stop was Chicago, and while the primary goal of the visit was to pick a venue for my wedding next year (and I think we found one!), I also managed to see a bunch of old friends, meet those old friend's new babies, catch a jazz show, try on a bunch of wedding dresses, have one three too many vodka sodas while laughing my face off at a bonfire, marvel at the $3.50 price of beer at a happy hour, obsess over way too many wedding details with my mother, and enjoy one last slice of my favorite pizza in the whole wide world before our beloved pizzeria closes it's oven doors for the last time next month. And that was all in four days.

So needless to say I was ready for a vacation from my vacation. Luckily, I was only a one-way flight away from three days at J's family's lakehouse in northern Tennessee, where our largest struggle was to choose between the pool and the lake (spoiler alert: we managed to do both). We tested out the new kayaks, took a delightfully long boat ride around the lake, grilled out every night, drank too many Leine's (correction: you can never have too many Liene's), and I even remembered to pack the ole' goggles so I could swim a couple of laps, old-school style. I'm in a bit of a weird two-week limbo right now and while it's strange and a bit stressful (the only constant is change...) I am sooo much better prepared to deal with whatever life is throwing at me right now having gotten away for a week. I'm eternally grateful to my family and J's family for always opening their doors (and kitchens) to us, and am already getting excited for next summer's LGA->ORD->TYS->LGA travel marathon.

An unexpected benefit of joining a CSA

Over the course of one hour and five G-chat lines a couple of months ago, my friend Kristen and I decided to "go halfsies" on a summer CSA. Then we did the math and realized that we'd save ourselves $100 if we added a third person to the mix, so we convinced our other friend Claire that her life would be sorely incomplete if she did not also receive a bag of organic vegetables once a week. And with the click of one "purchase" button and a few other "send money now" buttons, we had ourselves one full share of the Astoria CSA via Golden Earthworm Farm.

Having been the recipient of a few friends' CSA hauls while they were out of town in summers past, I knew that I was in for a treat - giant heads of lettuce, beautiful zucchini, handfuls of ripe tomatoes, and probably even some previously-unknown-to-me veggies that I couldn't wait to learn to love (I'm looking at you, kohlrabi). I immediately envisioned healthy salads, colorful sautés, infused oils, and probably a flavored drink or three. But there was something I didn't anticipate - the heightened burst of friendship that accompanies each CSA delivery.

See, Kristen, Claire, and I all have insanely complicated schedules. We are all freelancers with irregular schedules and Kristen and Claire have had frequent upstate gigs all summer. In sharp contrast, the organizers of the CSA have a very strict pick-up time - between 4:30 and 7:30 every Thursday - no exceptions. Latecomers' food will be donated. That time slot is about 10 minutes away from being in direct conflict with my show schedule, and either one or both of my share partners have managed to be otherwise occupied almost every Thursday evening since the CSA began.

But we are not ones to shy away from a silly obstacle like time. Being the Type-A overachievers that the three of us are, we not only have a shared Google calendar reminding us of the veggie pick-ups, but also stay in near-constant contact regarding a.) who will do that week's pickup and b.) when and where the other two of us will pick up our remaining thirds of the share. It is too much work and schlepping for a few cucumbers? Yes. Is it worth it? Absolutely.

In a normal, non-CSA month, I would probably see my friends once if I was lucky. We'd make a grand plan to grab a drink or a bagel, but that plan would change at the last minute because someone would cancel and we'd reschedule and then it would be another three weeks before we all got our lives together well enough to function outside of our personal bubbles. And this is without any of us having kids! Who knows how little I'll engage in meaningful adult conversations once children start showing up?

But with the presence of the CSA looming over our heads like old Ms. Harrington in 1st grade telling us that we'd better eat our veggies or else, we have to do the pickups and drop-offs each and every week - and that means we get to see each other each and every week. It's not always for a long time - sometimes Kirsten drops by for 5 minutes on a Saturday morning on her way to teaching a yoga class and really only has time to see how much Swiss chard she yet again has to incorporate into her meals. But for those five minutes, she and I connect and check in and she asks me how my show is going and I ask her how her new business is shaping up - a necessary personal, human interaction that has become one of my new favorite ways to start a Saturday.

And other times I run over to Claire's to grab my veggies and she says "shall we grab a bagel?" And because the answer is alway yes, we go to the bagel place and flirt with the bagel guy and catch up on each other's week and remind ourselves that community and friendship are the pillars of surviving in this big, scary world.

And still there are other times when the three of us work to find that elusive evening when we are all free and otherwise unoccupied, so we gather in someone's kitchen and proceed to make the tastiest CSA potluck seen on this side of Ditmars Blvd. Kristen picks up some goat cheese on the way over, I bring the walnuts that I've been meaning to use up anyway, and Claire roasts the beets and chops the fennel and onion and stirs up a vinaigrette and next thing we know we've got the most wonderful summer salad set before us; we pop open a bottle of something cold (because it's like 100 degrees in that kitchen) and enjoy a healthy, delicious, communal meal.

This post is way too long and with too few pictures (somehow it never felt right grabbing my phone for even a quick pic; one or all of us are usually sweaty and shiny from this damn heat anyway), and it doesn't have a real point other than for me to, in pleasant surprise, acknowledge how wonderful this CSA has been. Yes these are some expensive veggies, and yes it's a hassle to coordinate the logistics of getting these veggies, but it's ultimately a small price to pay for the strengthening of friendship over a handful of kale.

around here

Summer is in full swing here in New York, and after a horribly humid first few weeks of July, we've finally gotten some relief and have been treated to the most loveliest of sunny and breezy afternoons. The farmer's market is overflowing with giant berries and stone fruits, my CSA is providing me with more zucchini's than I know what to do with (but chocolate chip zucchini bread is a good start), I took myself on a solo one-day staycation to Rockaway Beach and gorged on books and tacos, there's a bizarrely cool art installation in Madison Square Park that I was finally able to check out, and long walks to work and on weekend dinner breaks have not only helped me dominate my Fitbit step count but also given me the urban eye candy this city is so well known for. Getting organized is the name of the game for me these days - I took an entire afternoon to obsessively reorganize the kitchen cabinets while once and for all telling the Tupperware who's boss, and I'm already making wedding to-do lists and schedules like it's my job (because it kind of actually is). There's only one more week left of the show I've been working on since April and then I'm taking a month off from theater to recharge and reassess a whole bunch of career stuff - a terrifying undertaking, but a necessary step that is long overdue. Until then, though, I'll be soaking up every last ray of sunshine I can get my hands (and face and tank-topped shoulders) on - happy summer!

These are the days

of late morning bagels and early afternoon pita pizzas 

   and izzy sodas all day long

of wedding planning and venue visiting

   and Pinteresting until way too late

of CSA pickups and fresh summer veggies

   and leafy greens for days

of binging on bad tv and reading trashy mags

   and not feeling bad about any of it

of long walks to work and short walks around the house

   just to make those 10,000 steps

of job hunting and vacation planning

   and saving my pennies because of both

of rooting for the cubs and cheering for the mets

   and knowing that they'll get 'em next year

of dancing backstage and whisky in the office

   and celebrating an extra two weeks of work

of loving the heat and the sun and the crazy long days

   even if I only see the sun set through a corner of a hallway window

of sleeping in and staying out late

   and knowing that these days won't last forever

   because things change

   and people grow

   so I'm going to enjoy them while they last.

Balcony Garden 2015

Herbs are the name of the game this summer. While last year I poured my heart and soul into both herbs and veggies, I was left ultimately underwhelmed by the vegetable production. I yielded just one teeny tiny eggplant that was too cute too cook and a total of seven grape tomatoes - hardly enough for a sandwich, let alone the vat of fresh tomato sauce I had envisioned when setting up the garden. So this year, I decided to not even spend my energy on vegetables and instead focus on herbs - basil, rosemary, dill, oregano, spearmint, and lavender*. (*Yep, lavender is considered to be both a flower and an herb). I have to admit, though, that while last year I started everything from seedlings, I went the easy route this time around and bought these guys from the green market when they were toddlers. Why? Part laziness, part schedule, part crappy weather throughout most of pre-growing season. I only feel the slightest bit guilty about it, but then I realize that not growing your balcony garden from seedlings and instead buying your plants from the local farmer's market is a really silly thing to feel guilty about, so I get over it pretty quickly. Anyway, it's already July - how is my garden growing?

Basil - I'm having a slightly hard time with this one. There were some gorgeous leaves right away that I made sure to put on every pizza and dish of pasta in the tri-state area, but then it started to grow and flower, which I eventually learned is something I should not let happen to a basil plant. And then I heard on a podcast that once your basil starts to flower, the leaves are bitter and almost unusable. So is this a lost cause? Will I not have the spoonfuls of pesto I so longingly envisioned? I'm still watering every day and removing each tiny flower as soon as I see it, but I'm a bit confused as to how to proceed.

Rosemary - doing great! There are two decently-sized stalks(?) that are full and fragrant. Every now and then I pull off a couple of leaves and throw them into whatever I'm cooking, and the dish tastes fresh and wonderful. Good job, rosemary.

Dill - I think the dill has started to flower as well. And/or I don't know how to harvest fresh dill. AND whatever is there is so think and wispy I couldn't take a picture of it. DISCLAIMER - I plant things as if I know what I'm doing, but then never actually take the time to read or learn about the things I just planted, assuming that if my forefathers could survive off the land then I can grown some measly herbs. DISCLAIMER #2 - My forefathers did not, in fact, successfully survive off of the land, they instead took the first boat out of Italy when the going got tough and settled in urban Chicago, effectively removing any necessity of ever living off the land again. So clearly I come from hearty farmer stock. But back to the dill - what the heck do I do with this dill plant??

Oregano - flourishing. I'll probably need to repot this at some point, because it's threatening to take over my balcony. Anyone need any fresh oregano?

Spearmint - I have nearly killed and then miraculously revived this particular "Kentucky Colonel" like five times already. I secretly think my spearmint plant is punishing me for leaving Louisville six years ago (I lived there for three years and almost-but-not-really stayed for good), but I show him who's boss by adding a sprig to my bourbon while dreaming of simpler times when men were men and ladies carried parasols.

Lavender - so I haven't exactly turned my balcony into an idyllic and sun-streaked Provençal garden like Pinterest told me would happen, but I do have a solitary flower that smells delightful and is oh so pretty to look at. While I suppose my lavender sachet business will have to wait another year (which sucks because I already bought the domain to Spadoni'sScentedSachets.com), that little lavender bud is a constant reminder that hardships can be overcome and to always reach for the stars.

What are you growing this summer? Want to kick it grade-school-style and trade me half of your Lunchable for some oregano?