Well, I’m writing this post while using my phone as a hotspot, because our WiFi has been out for over 24 hours at this point. I can’t say that it’s exactly how I expected my Memorial Day Weekend to go, but it’s totally out of my control, so there’s not a whole lot that I can do about it! On the plus side, I did finish two books over the long weekend, so I got a really good start on my summer reading. Here’s what the rest of my month has looked like, too.

At the end of April, I went to hear R.F. Kuang talk as part of the Arts and Lectures series here. I’ve been to author talks before on a book release day, where they read an excerpt from their new book and do a moderated Q and A, but this was a much more formal talk. It was pretty academic, actually, but in an incredible way – she said so many things that I’ll be thinking about for a long time, including the place for technology in our lives and the role that representation plays in publishing. It was such an incredible night, and because I am who I am, I was also very into the cape dress that she was wearing.

And then, from a high to a low! The day after going to hear R.F. Kuang speak, we had a freak storm here with super high winds that took out the power of thousands of people here in Pittsburgh. I took this picture (lightened for effect here!) at night when I was still hopeful, with a fully charged iPad and thoughts that maybe we’d get power back before I went to bed that night. Unfortunately, it ended up being a very long, stressful 17 hours without power, which is really stressful when you use a lot of medical equipment that relies on electricity. But this picture of a very bright iPad surrounded by total darkness does make me laugh.

Even though temperatures this past weekend barely topped 60, we have had some really gorgeous days over the past month. Lily and I have both been doing our best to enjoy them! I’ll take my laptop or a book out to the patio, and Lily will sit in the grass, seemingly surveying her domain. It’s pretty funny! And then when she sees a squirrel, all bets are off (though don’t worry, she’s on a tie out and can’t actually get them!).

I read exclusively via ebooks or audiobooks, because physical books are too difficult for me to hold and handle. But I like to have a small collection of physical books, still – a little library of books that I really love. Carley Fortune is an auto-buy author for me, and I love her books enough that they earn a place in my physical library! I got a personalized copy as a preorder and just love it. And I have read this since and can confirm it has earned its place and then some.

A friend is getting married later this summer, and she had a low-key bachelorette a few weeks ago – we did an escape room (my first time!) and then dinner at Lilith. This is my second time eating at Lilith, and wow, it’s so incredible! We ordered almost every appetizer to share, and I got this fish dish as my main, and seriously, every single dish was a standout. The restaurant is pretty small so you want to make a reservation, but it’s absolutely worth the effort.

And that brings us to the present! I had an incredibly restful Memorial Day weekend… partially planned, and partially forced by the no Internet issue. While it was definitely annoying (I had dreams of being really productive on my blog and Substack, and that clearly did not happen), being able to read a few books and enjoy some forced slowness is something that I’m sure I’ll appreciate in hindsight.