It’s May and next month we’ll be halfway through the year! Holy moly. April was a time of big change for us, with the move to Auckland, school holidays, the start of the second term of school, and of course, all the house renovations. We’ve started to feel a bit more settled as the month ended and Amelie returned to school, but one step at a time…I suspect it won’t be until after winter that we really feel like we’re in our groove and we know how we live here. My focus for May is trying to start that routine (based on what we know now!) and set good habits that we can maintain as everyday life gets busier in a more…well, everyday way. April was messy, necessarily so, so the highlights are pretty random – but pretty great, also!
1. Succession
I am very late to the (mostly well-dressed, highly dysfunctional) party that is Succession, so just bear with me – pretend it’s 2018 if you like. What a great show! I mean, painful to watch obviously, yet I find myself laughing out loud multiple times in each episode. Let’s not dig too deep into what that might say about me. I don’t only watch Succession though – I devour articles about the fashion also, meaning that even though watching-wise, I’m only in the first few episodes of the second season, fashion-wise I’m right there in season four with the rest of you. I even subscribed to Back Row by Amy Odell just for the Succession fashion breakdowns (although the rest of her content is excellent also). I suspect it might have been said, once or twice maybe, by people way more clued-in than me – but we really are living in a golden age of television, aren’t we? Funnily enough, I don’t actually watch a lot of television (hence being five years late to that Succession party!) which makes it all the sweeter that when I do watch television, I have such good shows to choose from.
2. Local ice-cream shops
This is what living by the beach is all about! We’re so lucky to live close to some really wonderful ice cream shops. Even though it’s been a pretty wet April we’ve done them justice, trying them all out. Hard work but someone’s got to do it.
3. Little Greece
While I’m talking about food…we had some friends who live close by over for drinks the other day, and we had a merry old time talking about all the amazing food stores in the area! One of them that I was excited to share was Little Greece, which is in Browns Bay, and which my brother and sister-in-law frequent regularly. I stopped in there recently to pick up some wraps for dinner, and ended up walking out with such delicious pita bread, olive oil, olives, and a giant block of halloumi. As someone who makes a habit of visiting local supermarkets when I go on holiday (like, as a tourist destination) I’m loving having such good options close by.
4. Some new, city-appropriate wardrobe additions
I…haven’t really bought clothes for the last few years, apart from replacing things as they needed replacing! And I didn’t really realise either, which is pretty shocking for me. Such is country life, I guess! Being back in the city, though, it quickly became apparent that I need to update my wardrobe. This Rixo dress has been stalking me around the internet for several months, and I promised myself I could get it when I achieved a certain milestone. In the last few days of April I did just that and I promptly ordered the dress…I am happy to say it’s almost even better in person! I can’t share a photo of me in it yet though, because we don’t have a full-length mirror yet, haha. I bought this Leon & Harper dress also but that’s going back (it looks so good on the model but it runs big – my usual size hangs off me and I look like too much like a Victorian chimneysweep in it for my liking) so there’s room in my wardrobe for more to come!
5. Feeling pretty!
This is so lame but hear me out. As you may have gleaned from the previous item, I haven’t had too much to dress up for as of late. I’ve also been getting stuck into the renovations at home so most days I am in dusty, paint-y clothes, hair up in a real ‘Mum bun’, and with no makeup on. My skin’s been hard to manage since the move (it’s either the change of season or the town supply water – I know it’ll settle down eventually but it’s not fun right now!) and I went through a few weeks of sleeping really badly. All of it combined meant I’ve not felt great when I happen to catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror (which hasn’t happened much, thankfully, as we not only don’t have a full-length mirror, we have hardly any mirrors in the new place yet!) – so when my parents-in-law were in town and took us out for dinner, I relished the opportunity to do myself up a little. I am wearing just a little makeup here (I’m a fan of the five minute face!) but even just that, plus doing my hair, made me feel really good about myself. As a former smart kid I’ve long found it hard to reconcile my love of fashion, makeup, and general desire to look ‘pretty’ (there’s a loaded word, am I right?) with my desire to be taken seriously. I’m trying hard to be less apologetic about who I am, though! After all, we contain multitudes, all of us. So yes, a highlight of April was doing myself up and feeling pretty.
The Judd Crew 