July Mishmash

Making up for the slap dash June version last month!

Jul 31, 2024

I really rushed June’s newsletter, so buckle up!! On behalf of most animals, I’d like to start a petition to stop celebrating the fourth of July with EXPLOSIONS FOR DAYS. We got Remi a new Thundershirt because I realized that the one she came with when we adopted her was just a little small for her. It really does help her when it’s very scary sounding outside. We had fireworks starting on TUESDAY July 2nd, and they went through the weekend, but the 4th was the worst. Not to mention our country is just scary right now so what are we even celebrating?! Okay so, July is peak summer, and I’ve been to three Swimplys, which is frankly not enough Swimplys. If you don’t know what a Swimply is, it’s a pool that you can rent for an hour or two and have a great summery time! Use this link to Sign up for Swimply and get $50 off!

Food!

Flatbread pizza! any old flatbread will do! Smear it with ricotta, maybe add some pesto if you have it, or a little red sauce if you like that. sprinkle a little S&P. then add some toppings. I like to sauté onion until almost caramelized, and a good amount of thickly sliced mushrooms just to take the raw bite out, and add a little garlic. Top the flatbread with the onions and mushrooms and bake until it’s melty and crispy-ish. then remove from the oven and add some finely shredded parm and red pepper flakes if you like those. I also highly recommend tossing some arugula with a little olive oil, lemon juice, and S&P and topping the pizza with that. You could even make this on a grill if you can’t stand to turn on the oven (but somehow standing outside in the heat is better?!). Enjoy, my friends!

Books

You can shop all my recent reads here: https://bookshop.org/shop/michelleflook (Disclosure: I am an affiliate of Bookshop.org and I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.)

I have six books for you this month, one non-fiction and five fiction. There is sort of a theme through some of these, and I find that interesting as it was definitely not intended. Animals feature pretty prominently in four of these books, sisters or female relatives feature prominently in 5 of these books, and there’s a bit of a fairytale like quality to four of these books! My fave of these six was Bear, I just really liked the sisters, the story, the mystery.

Non-fiction:
- Loud by Drew Afualo - A tik-tok star’s feminist manifesto, it’s a great audiobook read by the author and feels like talking to a sister or friend who always has your back. It’s a quick read, and I wish I had read something like this when I was much younger.
Fiction:
- Bear by Julia Phillips - I loved her earlier book, and this one was much different, but I was mesmerized by it all the same. Two sisters living at home, taking care of their dying mother. A bear visits their home and the rest of the story goes from there. I just really liked this story but it might feel a bit slow to some readers.
- Smothermoss by Alisa Alering - another story of sisters, with a little bit more magical mystery elements, and a happier ending than Bear. The audiobook was well read, making good use of accents for the characters, as it’s set in Appalachia country.
- Weyward by Emilia Hart - This is a story of witches through many centuries, told in three distinct voices all of the same family line. I read this for a book club and I liked it but it isn’t something I would typically read.
- Antelope Woman by Louise Erdrich - Only my second of Erdrich’s but I just find her writing wonderful. This is a unique story and I am finding it hard to describe.
- The Very Long, Very Strange Life of Isaac Dahl by Bart Yates - I didn’t find Isaac’s life particularly strange, but I did like this book. Each chapter tells one story from Isaac’s life, a total of 12 stories. It was a good audiobook, and I think people who liked Tom Lake by Ann Patchett would probably like this book!

TV/Movies

Lots of media consumption this month apparently! Check out this whopping list of shows and movies we watched and enjoyed in July!

The Bear (Season 3) on Hulu. I know everyone loves this show but I really liked this season. At first I was a bit annoyed with it, I felt it was too indulgent, trying very had to be artsy, but ultimately I think it was my favorite season yet.
Eric on Netflix. This show was really well done and crams a lot into a drama about a missing child in NY in the 80s. Cumberbatch strikes again, he’s amazing, but everyone in this show was really great.
The Jinx (Season 2) on MAX. We watched this with my sister when she was visiting, since we watched Season 1 with her years and years ago (2015!)! Going into this I thought what else can they tell us, how can there be a full new season, but there were some surprises, some people that came out and spoke about things that weren’t featured in season 1. They definitely set it up for a season 3 as well, but we will see!
The 8 Show on Netflix. This is a wild show and if you enjoyed Squid Game, you will love this one!
The Mole (Season 2) on Netflix. Matthew watched season 1 with me and we liked it, so somehow I convinced him to watch season 2 with me! Definitely a fun reality show to watch, as it uses tons of strategy, and I would be so awful at a strategy competition.
The Devil’s Plan on Netflix. After watching The 8 Show, a friend recommended this show, and we loved it!! It’s a South Korean reality competition show in which a group of extremely smart people compete and work together in various games that involve strategy, probability, math, collaboration, etc. I have never enjoyed a show that makes me feel so stupid this much. They already have a season 2 in the works and we are looking forward to it!
Perfect Match (Season 2) on Netflix. A silly summery reality show that I love. various reality show rejects, I mean cast members, compete in a strategy-based dating show to be crowned the Perfect Match. It’s ridiculous and drama-filled, and I love it. It’s like Bachelor in Paradise but with people who sometimes use their brains.
The Man with 1000 Kids on Netflix. This documentary is a fascinating story, and from the first few minutes I was completely absorbed in this crazy story about black market sperm donors.
Brats on Netflix. This is a documentary about the brat pack, you know—the kids from Sixteen Candles, Pretty in Pink, the Breakfast Club, etc! Andrew McCarthy is kind of the narrator/main character, but others are involved, and I really enjoyed this documentary!
Infinity Pool - This is an extremely disturbing movie that will be living in my brain rent free for a long time. It’s sort of a moral quandary kind of story from David Cronenburg’s son, so I knew it was going to mess with my head and be a bit grotesque going in, but I could not predict anything else that occurred in this movie. Check it out if you have the stomach for upsetting horror movies!
Abigail - A great and fun horror movie about a vampire ballerina. It’s as ridiculous as it sounds, not too scary, and I highly recommend watching it with a group!
Lisa Frankenstein - I absolutely loved this movie, it’s so silly and fun and clever! We actually watched this in June but I forgot to include it last month!! I linked to the trailer but I think it’s probably better if you go into watching it without having watched the trailer. It’s just weird and wonderful!!!

Projects!

I am working on a sample for my next quilt pattern! I am using some ice-dyed fabrics from Dust and Waves, along with some really pretty fall colors. It’s going to be so pretty!! Here’s a little sneak peak of the design, the fabrics I’m using for my sample, and the first block sewn up! It’s going to be so pretty!!!
Finally got some pics of my Lemon Blossom Quilt! This was a mystery quilt along (there’s also a book club that goes along with this - Weyward was the book we read, see above!) and it was so much fun and I learned a lot. This was my first time sewing curves in a quilt and probably not my last! There’s a new mystery quilt along starting this week with a new guest designer, so I am figuring out what fabric I want to use for that!

Miscellaneous!

It’s an election year, and things are starting to get wild. I am all in for Kamala now that Joe stepped down, but I am terrified of a Trump/Vance presidency. I don’t want to get into it much more than that, but PLEASE VOTE FOR KAMALA!!!
I got new glasses in June but forgot to share about that! See them in all the photos below! They’re big and chunky and pink/mauve (what a weird word)? I like them a lot. 🤓
My sister visited and we ate all the things, visited Hopscotch PDX, had a scary movie night with a few friends, and it was a few days full of lots of laughs. She loves horror movies, so we watched a few. I don’t normally watch much horror! She loves crime documentaries, as do I, so we watched lots of that. We went swimming. We drank a lot of kombucha. We ate at Ps and Qs 3 times! I love her so much and it was a great visit.
Sisters! (&Matthew!)
I got to go to the ADIDAS friends and family party and Run DMC performed!! It was perfect weather, a really fun evening, I got to wear my fancy ADIDAS+Marimekko sneakers that I bought a few years ago and never wear, I straightened my hair, and we got this very cool photo:
ADIDAS party!
I treated myself to this gorgeous print from an artist I have followed for a long time, Jenny K of Living Pattern. We have another print of hers in our bathroom of a fern of some sort, and in our bedroom we have three paintings on canvas. They’re all really pretty and she has been branching out into this more loose watercolor style and poppies are my fave, so I had to get this one!! It makes me smile!!
Drag Brunch! Always a blast, and this time was no exception.