#2 — The True Effects of Summer
Felt the true effects of summer this past weekend in a way I don’t think I really had yet this season. Daniel and I lazed around watching Five Star Chef on Netflix for much of Friday night and Saturday morning, basking in the newfound coziness of our apartment that we’ve been working on. We’re still designing and discussing what projects are worth undertaking for a rental, but every now and then my eyes drift from whatever I’m doing and bounce around the room with small joy at our little space. There is so much potential I was once overwhelmed by, because I’m really good at planning but I’m not that great at executing? At least not consistently. So when Daniel hangs a shelf or something as if it’s so easy (and I hear it is), I could cry. I DO cry. Plus, seeing our personalities come together in the form of home decor has seriously reignited my passion in making a home for myself. For a while I wasn’t sure anymore if I could have something like that here in New York. I think I’ll save those feelings for another post, but it’s coming together.
Saturday night I went to an art gallery IN MY NEIGHBORHOOD. If you know where I live, then you know this is huge as I had no idea an art gallery could ever exist here. It’s just not really the vibe of the neighborhood — and yet, a sliver of light! I don’t think I ever would’ve known about it had it not been for Emma telling us her sister Isabella’s work (of which I am a huge fan) would be on display, along with two of her artist friends, and Emma even wrote a beautiful essay on Barbra Streisand’s fingernails for the hand-bound book they made for the show. I’ll include the details to the gallery at the bottom of this post. I invited Georgia to come out to to see it with me and hang out at the apartment afterwards. On the walk back, Georgia and I commented on the houses and life. We put on a Kate Bush record and noted we want to implement some experimental vocals on the side music project we’re working on with Ryan (more on that someday as well.) We bonded over our shared love for Greta Gerwig, our disdain for people making you feel like you’re weird for not liking something, and how we don’t want to produce waste with our art. We ate popcorn with no salt or oil and discussed our past romantic history. I said I’ve never seriously dated a water or fire sun sign, only earth and air, and Georgia said she’s only ever seriously dated water signs! We hugged and pressed our hands together while expressing how glad we were to do this because we’re still just getting to know each other before she left.
Suddenly, I was up at 8:30 AM on a Sunday to go to the beach. Daniel and I drove to Jackson Heights to pick up Jeremy, Sebastian and Marilyn. We drove an hour to Long Beach, stopping along the way for some hard and non-hard seltzers. The weather at the beach was perfect, and I was impressed by Sebastian and Marilyn’s gear. While Daniel and I threw a couple of towels and sunscreen in a bag and called it a day before leaving that morning, they had an umbrella, a blanket, chairs, a cooler, a portable speaker, a ball and Uno! We ran into the water like children, bracing ourselves for how cold the water would be and giggling through being right.
I fell asleep on the car ride back, thankfully, because Daniel’s dad wanted to see Oppenheimer and I knew if I didn’t get a nap in it would happen sometime during the movie. I won’t go on about the film itself here but it was honestly great and I learned a lot. Daniel and I got Chipotle and discussed our thoughts on it on the car ride home, and then we ended the weekend how we started: watching Five Star Chef. 💌
The exhibit I mentioned is called ‘Mouthing a Star Shaped Grave’ and it will be on display throughout August and some of September at Underland Gallery in Bay Ridge.