It’s like the Netflix gods have heard my repeated calls for terrible dance movies and they just keep answering them. Thank you Netflix gods, for bringing me these few bright spots in a time of darkness. The latest bad dance movie is called Work It, and to be totally honest, I didn’t hate. It’s got some major problems, obviously, but overall, it was fun, the dancing was good, and Jordan Fisher could read the phone book and I would happily watch it.
Ah July. Normally a month full of celebrations (my birthday, wedding anniversary, and Matt’s birthday), this year was a month of meh. The summer of meh. That’s where I’m at. Despite not getting to truly celebrate, I did some shit during July, here are the highlights.
Disney Plus releasing Hamilton is probably the best thing that’s happened to me since quarantine started. An absolute gift.
My latest quarantine obsession, gardening, kicked off in July. These were some of the first little sprouts that popped up for me, now they’re much bigger!
Maybe the best thing about quarantine is I can post selfies whenever I want because my face is covered by a mask and sunglasses anytime I leave the house. I guess my favorite kind of selfie is the one where you can’t really see my face!
I am lifelong BSC fan so I was so excited to watch the new series on Netflix. It totally blew me away with its awesome wholesomeness and I loved every second of it.
Look! Progress! I planted my little babies out in their permanent home and they have continued to grow, despite the gross heatwave we’ve been having here lately.
For some reason, I continue to turn the calendar pages, even though each month remains as blank as the one before it. Although I guess this is slightly less depressing than when each month just had a bunch of plans crossed out because they were all cancelled. Honestly, I don’t know which is worse.
I can’t really say I had a terrible birthday month because we made the best of it, and above all, we are healthy and safe, with a place to live and food on the table. I know it could be so much worse. But here’s hoping birthday number thirty-eight is a little bit brighter than this one!
Well, July was definitely the weirdest birthday month I’ve ever had, but all things considered, I guess it could have been much worse. Honestly, all the months are starting to blend together at this point, and it seems strange to think about what we would have been doing during a “normal” July. Because what the fuck is normal nowadays? Who knows. Here’s what went down in July:
On the goals front: I actually managed to hit all of my goals, aside from staying sane, which was sort of written in jest, but also not really. And yes, obviously I am literally still sane, but this month was rough and my mental health definitely took a few hits. I had some real bad days in there. I survived, but I probably need to be a little more proactive on the mental self care front this month.
On the reading front: I made it through seventeen books in July, which is actually a little lower than average, but given the density of some of them, I’m giving myself a pass. You can find all of my book reviews at Coffee Books Wine Repeat, and you can read my anti-racism reviews here. In July I reviewed Good Talk and The New Jim Crow.
On the writing front: I actually had a fantastic month in terms of writing. I wrote about 60k words of my new contemporary romance and overall, I’m really happy with the progress I made there. I’m hoping to have the first draft finished by the end of this month and then it’s revisions, revisions, revisions!
On the movie front: I didn’t watch a ton of new movies in July, mostly because I was lazy and watching a lot of Real Housewives of Potomac (not sorry!). But of course I had to give my thoughts on Hamilton on Disney Plus which was probably the highlight of the month. I also really enjoyed The Old Guard on Netflix, and after a dude bro decided to mansplain the rom com to Twitter, I put together this list of totally smart rom coms you can watch right now.
On the self care front: Yeah, didn’t do so great here. I will be making more of an effort this month, and since “school” starts next week, I think being back on a somewhat regular schedule will help. I need some routine and structure if I’m not going to be able to leave the damn house.
So despite my birthday, Matt’s birthday, and our ninth wedding anniversary, the month in general felt a little blah. But don’t all the months feel that way these days? Maybe send me your best self care quarantine tips, friends.
