friday evening report

a documentary worth seeing, a romance book lifting my spirits, and the best way to eat peaches this summer

Hello hello!

What a week. If you’re looking for ways to help support the immigrant communities who are actively being dehumanized by the ICE raids, please consider groups such as Immigrant Defenders Law Center and The Florence Project.

My week has been a mixed bag with some incredibly sweet moments, which I’ll get into later, but also some not-so-sweet anxiety. My tell-tale signs are increased scrolling, snacking, and overthinking. What are yours? I know my mental health is not at its best when I script a conversation that hasn’t happened yet, replaying a possible scenario in my head over and over again.

🌈self-care activated!🌈

I deleted Instagram. ✅

I’m practicing “urge surfing” with the snacking (and leaning heavily on all the delicious fruit that’s in season!). ✅

Anjali conveniently sent me this article titled, “A Guide to Emotional Hygiene for Overthinkers.” ✅

When I’m ruminating on a future possible conversation, I’ll write a “script” in my Notes App and tell myself that if the future possible conversation comes to fruition, I can whip out my phone and read from there. No need to spend the entire day rehearsing something that hasn’t happened yet, and possibly never will. ✅

I’m prioritizing 8 hours of sleep and daily movement. ✅

here’s what I’ve been up to:

READING // It's a Love Story by Annabel Monaghan

I went to a book event at The Ripped Bodice (a more perfect name does not exist for a romance-themed bookstore!!!) and listened to a delightful conversation between

Becca Freeman

and

Annabel Monaghan

. This book has been chicken soup for my anxious soul. Annabel said that Dan, one of the lead characters, is her favorite guy she’s ever written. Annabel, if you see this, I understand. Also, Becca, Adam Driver is great casting. I also think Miles Teller or Andrew Garfield!?

EATING // 🍑🍑🍑

My advice: the next time you have a ripe peach, sauté that bad boy in a pan drizzled with extra virgin olive oil and a sprinkle of brown sugar. Then, as it’s cooling on your plate, add a tiny bit of flaky sea salt. Then come back to this newsletter and tell me how freaking DELICIOUS it is. We all deserve to eat outrageously delicious things!!!

WATCHING // Come See Me in The Good Light + Mission Impossible

Come See Me in The Good Light is a documentary “centered on poets Andrea Gibson and Megan Falley, who face an incurable cancer diagnosis with joy, wit and an unshakable partnership.” I saw this at the Tribeca Film Festival and, you guessed it, bawled my eyes out. It’s a profound example of how to love and stay rooted in gratitude for every waking moment we have. It had such a profound effect on me that I respectfully skipped the Q+A because I wanted to return home to Austin and our pets as quickly as possible; I didn’t want to miss another moment of my life with them. Come See Me in The Good Light will be available to stream this fall on Apple+!

Mission Impossible was a total blast, and let’s face it, if I’m going to sit through a 3-hour film, it better be packed with action, or be Wicked.

THINKING ABOUT // The French Open Final between Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner.

So, basically…Carlos stunned the world and won this match, giving us one of the greatest comebacks in tennis history. Carlos didn’t give up. He played the point in front of him. This match was the definition of “it’s not over until it’s over,” and I feel so lucky to have watched it live. His self-belief is so inspiring!!!

BEAUTY OF THE WEEK // little moments

Moments of beauty from my morning walks:

• A pregnant woman sitting on a bench with her partner sitting next to her, holding an open notebook, pen poised and ready. My guess is she was in active labor!

• Two adult dogs teaching a puppy how to roll in the grass.

Moments of beauty from work:

• A guest telling me, “I love your smile!” as I walked them to their table.

• A birthday party for a 1-year-old.

WEEKEND PLANS // running and writing

I’m running a 10K here in New York and then spending the remainder of my time writing my next newsletter, a reflection on my first year of marriage!! Our anniversary is on Sunday, June 15th. We’re celebrating on Monday and I’ll tell you all about it in next week’s report!

What are your weekend plans?

xo,
alexa