👟👠 Bonjour.... !(#103)

Hi ! Welcome back. It’s end of May, and we have officially crossed 40% of the year mark. Today I am writing about empty nesting, Paris apartments, knowing what you want, book selections and crocheting (maybe). - Eve D.❣️

What I did this week (and last)…

I’ve said it before, but I am going to say it again: writing this newsletter makes me realise how every day blends into the other. I haven’t written for three weeks, and I am seriously scratching my head as to what happened over the past 21 days that is even mildly interesting, and worth mentioning here. But (and this is the part I have talked about before), days don’t have to be extra super-duper exciting to be meaningful and memorable. Sometimes just being present in the moment, and savouring it, is enough. This is important, because if we are forever chasing some grand old schemes, we might miss out that perfect little life happening to us, right now.

🥾 I postponed my Leopard Trail to late June. There is still no road access to the actual trail, and it will take much longer than a month to rebuild a road. But we are optimistic that the road will be 4x4 capable, which is of some help but not total help since we are flying in and have rented the smallest car possible. The plan is that the trail organisers will ferry us to basecamp. From there, we walk. Also, it’s going to be freezing. Prepare to hear lots of complaints on this from me. But overall, I am excited.

🎙️ I took my kids (and G) to watch a Richard Mulholland talk Get Fired Last. All about how AI is affecting the workspace, and what we should do about it. It was a fun evening on many counts: kids got to hear a good speaker, we had lots to discuss on the drive home, and I ran into a few of my old, old, old-time friends back from when we were still on Twitter and part of the original South African startup space (including Rich himself!). Memories! I hadn’t seen some of those people in a decade.

😀 G and I stumbled on our meal of the year, by pure chance. We were debating where to go for dinner, or even whether we should go out at all, and we eventually settled on a somewhat unpretentious restaurant (known for simply selling bread and pastries). The food blew us away, and we have already been back…twice. Each time it’s just as good. If you are in the Joburg area, this is the place. (Also…it’s French! Keep that in mind as you read more below…)

🥇 Did a fun walk as a charity drive in my neighbourhood. Got a (participation) medal. Am not starting a collection.

🧵 Laura and I are cooking up something new and fun. Have I mentioned it before? We are still keeping it quiet, but here is a teaser and you can follow us on Instagram (@thelocalthreadsa), although please don’t expect much activity there for a while.

🖥️ I’m slowly chipping away at my website…I’m now adding the books I’ve read and the shows I’ve watched, as well as links to worthwhile people/articles/products etc. I am also writing there , but much less than I’d like to be. I’m still in love with the idea of having a quiet, hidden corner of the Internet that I can call just mine. Intentional posting, not in search of clicks. Novel idea.

⚽️ The World Cup is starting soon. I am going to crochet something while I watch all the games? My kids and I are knee-deep in compiling our Fifa Panini books, which are the digital versions of the pack of player stickers we would buy to stick into books…did you ever do that when you were a child? You can still do the physical books if you want, but it will cost about £2,000 to fill the book (yes, seriously) so we are doing the free version 🤣 . Also, I read a BBC article about how people are changing their online passwords to show team support (GO_RONALDO@^!*!)…and unsurprisingly it is not a good idea.

What I’ve been reading…

Sometimes you read a book that blows you away, and you add it to your “OMG, everyone should read this” list. A clear contender for this is Secret History by Donna Tartt (I read this years ago). And now The Correspondent, a book I finished recently, joins the list too. I loved this book…it was original and clever, sad and hilarious and I didn’t want it to end.

Also, an observation: I read books mostly on recommendation, but I now realise that I am not select enough about who I take those recommendations from ie. TikTok should probably not my ideal source of inspiration. I have particular likes when it comes to books, and high standards as to plot tightness, character depth and plot architecture. And, of course, I have different personal moods which affect how tolerant I will be of a light frivolous book versus a more serious tome. So with all those complexities, finding good books is difficult. During the last three weeks I have given up on 3 books (all highly rated by others), each of which I read to more than 25% and then tossed. It’s annoying. If you think you and I enjoy similar books, please send me recommendations. I look at most of what you suggest and have found gorgeous gems from you. (Just hit reply on the email).

Bonjour…

I get bees in my bonnet, I am well aware. Wanting an apartment in Paris is my new one. It started with a Instagram account where a woman bought a teeny tiny Parisian 25m2 apartment and is going to be renovating it. She even started a Youtube channel and everything. (Now, if it was me…I would have that renovation done in one weekend and furnished the day after and then I’d be done. ..25m2 is literally only two thirds the size of my current bedroom). But her apartment is dreamy, and the floor-to-ceiling windows are to die for, and it got me thinking…would I maybe want a 25m2 apartment in Paris? Why not? I can easily imagine myself escaping to the city couple of times per year, losing myself in the ambiance of croissants and pretentious art, learning French and wearing berets. So me, ha ha.

When I went to look on property sites, in news that won’t surprise anyone, I quickly decided that I would need more than 25 squares. More like, two bedrooms, maybe? The best part is we don’t even have to worry about the price, because this scatter-brained idea of mine will slowly evaporate over the next couple of months, so it really makes no difference. But if you are curious: you need about €500k to €1m to make it good. I have no idea what taxes, transfers, monthly rates etc are. I reminded myself that for that money I could get a lot more bang in Cape Town.

So, which one would you take? Paris or Cape Town? (Tell you what: if you choose Cape Town, I’ll take Paris, and we can house swop twice a year and save so much money! #Girlmath!)

Small Talk …

🌼 Andrew Tate, the misogynystic creep, urgh, urgh, urgh, joined Substack and got a million subscribers in days. I don’t understand the world we live in, is all I am trying to say.

🌼 Pop of colour. Speaking of small aprtments (or any apartments for that matter)…isn’t it amazing how a pop of colour can just magically transform a place? This is the same apartment/room before somebody took a brush of whimsey and swept it right across every layer…

🌼 My kids (both of them!) might be leaving the house sooner than I thought. Micole is obviously finding her feet and might be moving to Europe, Cape Town or who-knows-where for work (she’s exploring/interviewing) and Zac might will be (??) going to weekly boarding school to do his A levels - and a year sooner than I thought. I am going to have a completely child-free house way before I scheduled this. I mention it here briefly, but you know I am freaking out internally and will write much much more on this in the future. (Should I buy that Paris apartment, 🥳 ??)

🌼 I loved this segment from Rita Wilson. It’s simple, and real. A big secret in life is knowing what you want, because as she says (quoting Oprah)…it’s only when you know what you want that you can take the steps to get there. It’s astonishing that we are spending so much of our energy everyday to live and survive, but few of us know exactly what it is that we are working toward. I was made aware of this when I started contemplating what I want my life to look like when kids are no longer an every-day thing…and I am horrified to admit that I have no clue. How can I not know what I want?? (Do I want that Paris apartment or not??)

What I watched:  

My movie partner is holidaying so we haven’t watched any movies in a while. But G and I did watch the Deepmind documentary, which I strongly recommend, and Micole has just finished watching Sir David Attenborough's full Life in Colour series, and she cannot stop raving about it.

Also, I am just about to finish the last episode of Margo’s Got Money Problems (Apple TV) and it’s just as good as I thought it’d be, but to be fair I will watch anything with Michelle Pheiffer in it. (Nicole Kidman is also in it, and so is Ron from Parks and Recreations). There is some surprising outstanding acting in this show, and I recommend it.

I see Four Seasons 2 is out on Netflix, so maybe I will watch that too. Love Tina Fey.

Next week:

Next week is back to walking and training for the trail, and going deep, hard focus on at work. So very boring.

Thanks for reading!

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P.S.