April is for parties and puddles.
No. 81 And how I found my new mantra for life.
Pepper is staring wistfully out the window as rain continues to fall on the table on our deck. She’s soggy from her walk and yet she would go run in the mud if we would allow it. Too bad for Pepper; her owners are a bit wiser than she. I know this month brings more showers than flowers, but I’ve noticed a rough pattern with the weather as of late: it’s always cloudy or rainy. Come on spring, bring us the goodness and sunshine we know is possible. We all could use it!
Well, friends, April has arrived and the month kicked off with a 1-2 birthday bonanza: our niece turned 2(!) and my dad had his birthday yesterday as well! Their birthdays are one day (and 74 years) apart so I have a feeling these semi-combined celebrations will be happening for quite a while. Or until our niece decides she wants a different type of birthday party with all of her friends to go do their own thing - someday! For the moment, however, it is extremely cute and delightful to celebrate them both at the same time. :)
With far less than 24-hours notice, my sister invited everyone to her house and threw a birthday party that looked like it took far more than 12 hours to put together. Kudos to her! While my weekday work requires constant planning and changes in short timeframes, I’m not sure even I could have pulled this off. There was food for everyone, decor galore, treats for every age group, presents, two cakes, and goodies for the kids to take home. As they say in the performing world (I think?), brava!
Normally, I would be a bit more…wary…of the under-24-hour party plan, but given this year, I get it. Everyone is working. A lot. Everyone is super busy. Everyone has a lot happening and rather than throw the option to have a party out the window, she dove head first into the decision, made it happen in the most adorable way, and now our niece’s second birthday has a permanent spot in the history books, er, photo albums, er, digital albums, on our phones. I think she had a fantastic time! Not to mention that she and her younger sister were in matching Ralph Lauren denim dresses, the outfits were, not surprising to anyone, perfection as well. :)
As we move along in April, it is not lost on me that we’re marching right through 2025 and yes - you guessed it - I am being way too dramatic about my birthday this summer. However, with my sister’s last-second party planning coming together seamlessly, it makes me feel a whole lot better about the lack of planning for my own summer celebration.
Yes, I’d like to do something with friends. But I just don’t know what that will look like. I may send a ‘save the date’ and just tell them that the details will be revealed way later, like, maybe the day before. Ha! No way. But possibly. My impending fortieth currently feels like FORTY and that feels like a big OMG to me.
Seth kindly ordered me a new cookbook last week, despite our far-less-structured meal planning these days, and it’s still on the kitchen table. I haven’t moved it to the shelf of books. I have barely flipped through the pages. But I do stare at the cover every morning. You Got This is the title and is what I’ve been saying to myself each day.
I feel as though this year, so far, is filled with curveballs and some weeks are, simply put, very hard. So while I have not even bothered to find recipes to try from this new book, I have found the title quite comforting and necessary.
You Got This. Through whatever is thrown your way, each week, each day, or each moment, you got this. But it may help if the sun came out more often, too. ;)
In other (TV) news…
I am very excited for ‘The White Lotus’ finale tonight! Will you be watching?
Over on Apple TV, ‘The Studio,’ starring Seth Rogen is my new breezy and funny favorite. It’s so good and fun!
‘Hacks’ returns this week for season four on April 10 and I cannot wait to see how the new season unfolds. This show is superb.
Back to Apple TV, Jon Hamm stars in ‘Your Friends and Neighbors’ which also premieres this week and looks quite good. Drama, thriller, and comedy, I think?
One more plug for ‘Running Point’ over on Netflix if you haven’t yet watched. Another win for the fabulous Mindy Kaling which stars Kate Hudson and is a perfect rainy afternoon show.
Last but not least, you need to watch ‘Shrinking’ - it’s phenomenal - so you’re ready whenever the next season is released. I cannot wait.
A few of you had reached out last week when I had not sent out this newsletter, which was so kind! These weeks are quite full so when Sunday morning rolls around, I’m not always up to writing it all out. However, I strongly believe in sticking to my word regarding writing so most weeks, I will be writing!
Thank you for checking in and asking if it had accidentally landed in your spam folder. Nope! I just skipped a week. Fear not, readers near and far, I’ll see you back here again, next Sunday. :)
Cheers and joy,
Mollie