Little Things #15
The best month of the year!
We are halfway through the best month of the year and for not the first time in my life, I am wishing I could pause time. Are the days as lovely where you are, too? It’s all dappled light and fresh mornings and dreamy afternoons. The pollen count is high but so are my spirits, despite a bout of ill health’s very best attempt at bringing me down.
I am perhaps more romantic than usual as I have emerged from the love-fueled haze of witnessing two of my best friends get married. It’s been a dizzying dance of a seaside hen-do with girlfriends, wedding day joy, late night dancing with besties, followed by a final, indulgent friend-escape to Paris before the happy couple embarked on their honeymoon. Sometimes, and not very often, the very best days of our lives pass before us slow enough for us to clock them. When things get tough - as they inevitably do - it will be the warmth of this particular May that will remind me that life gets bright as surely as it does get dark.
A few little things for you, then, from me.
Watch | Two good films.
Some months pass with nothing interesting to see, but this month had two. Conclave gripped me from start to finish, while A Real Pain stayed with me long after it ended. Both are so clever in their own ways with how they use sound and colour to tell complex stories. I highly recommend both.
Read | All Fours by Miranda July
Listen | The Vernon Spring, ‘Under A Familiar Sun’
One of my favourite neo-classical artists released their new album this month. It’s more experimental than the last one, but no less hypnotizing. Also performing at Kings Place on 28 May for just £20, if you fancy seeing it live.
If that’s not your thing, I have enjoyed a return to Common Saints’ 2024 album, ‘Cinema 3000’. So many good tracks for a dreamy, sunny soundtrack.
Eat | Delicious things in Margate
A glorious girls weekend in Margate for the bride-to-be included a lunch at Sète, run by friend and founder of Ladies of Restaurants, Natalia Ribbe. A simple and memorable meal of slow roast lamb shoulder with romesco sauce, little gem salad, hispi cabbage with cafe de paris butter and potato dauphinois. Followed by parfait and a stout and date cake in the sunshine. A veritable feast in an exceedingly charming space by the sea.
Whilst we are talking about delicious things in Margate, add to your list:
Forts for coffee and toasted sandwiches
Sargasso for natural wine and small bites
Dory’s for fun seafood
Off Licence for brilliant cocktails
Poetry | by me!
I wrote this for two of other dear friends on their wedding day. I attempted to read it during their service and only just made it through. The love I have been able to witness over the last few weeks has meant this piece has been on my mind once more. I thought it time to share with you all.
New Maps For Emma and Chris on their wedding day I can't give you the beginning. You were not there for it. So, let me tell you: about those wide trees that burn lilac each November and the air, thick with heat and salt, sticking to your skin and those long, breathless days that burst in to sound and colour in the still of the night. It was the high noon of our youth. North beach, Suncoast. Joe Kool's, Taco Zulu. A hot thing. A fever dream. Our scrappy paradise by the sea. Some of us leave. We find corners of the world that feel like a promise and we find ways to live Without it. Except for this: on warm days in that new place we can close our eyes and believe that when we open them we might see the curve of forgotten roads: Essenwood. Manning. Bulwer. Florida. Old prayers on our tongues. This is how it feels for a while. Until, and it might be anything- Blue eyes across a crowd Warm smile in a winter wonderland A hand in yours that you can't let go of. It could be anything. This is how when we close our eyes in the warmth or the cold it is them we want to see when we open them. And so, Maps are rewritten. And so, new prayers find our lips. I cant give you the beginning because, you were not here for it. But the ending, my Darling, the ending is you.
Nice things | Jewels by Deej
Our clever friend is making wearable joy. I have bought two necklaces and intend to buy more. Go go go.
Inspiration | Dries Van Noten Mens S/S 1994 fashion show
So clever, so beautiful. I think I have shared this before but on searching the Little Things archive, I couldn’t seem to find it. Mentioned again for good measure because it really is feel good art.
Happy May. Chat soon with a Long Read about friendship, dumplings and the first warm days.
With love,
Anna