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the highlights reel
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Summer has been a whirlwind, and since this has been the state for virtually every person I know it is hardly worth mentioning. Except that I am now going to use this space to both apologize for being absent from The Daily Grace / Grace Notes for so long, and also to hit the highlights of what has shaped up to be the Summer of '21.
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New blonde me, having just had my make-up done at Pout.
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This was my fourth year being a part of this esteemed gathering of writers at the Hindman Settlement School in Hindman, Kentucky, and while I attended virtually, the experience was everything I knew it would be. Classes in fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction and short story in the mornings and afternoons; late-in-the-day sessions on the publishing industry, Appalachian Foodways with chef Ouita Michel, and ever delightful Gurney Norman reading from Kinfolks. I was delighted to study with Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle, author of Even as We Breathe, and the Keynote was delivered by the inimitable Adriana Trigiani. What a great week!
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I've had my head down most days working on the grand edit of my novel-in-progress, The Story of Elizabeth Young. My best estimate is that I've reached the 90% point of what I'm considering a new first draft, and no matter what happens with the work once it is complete I FEEL PROUD to have kept at it, all these years in. It would have been SO MUCH EASIER to quit. Cross your fingers with me that when I hit THE END I'll find all the storylines have actually converged and resolved and that I'll have a tome worth editing.
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Some painterly friends and I made the trek to Charlotte for a delightful lunch and this incredible exhibit. I so enjoyed the experience. If you have an interest in art, it is way cool and such a fascinating way to step inside the work of a master.
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You know my sweet Eliza married her sweet love, Preston, in May. Then just last week Tim and I traveled to Washington, DC to attend the nuptials of the daughter of our dear, dear friends. It was a beautiful and elegant affair, the reception on a rooftop in the heart of the city, surrounded by those lovely, awe-inspiring monuments. We drank champagne, we danced, we celebrated until they kicked us out. (You can clearly see who won Had The Most Fun.)
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6. The RP Girls Visit Catsmountain
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When these are your work pals, how can you not love your work?
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We finished this weeks ago and I'm still not over it. Kate Winslet is a wonder.
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Not perfect, but we certainly enjoyed it. I love a Broadway show, and a show about a Broadway show is okay by me!
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This has been a treadmill show for me, meaning I only watch it on the treadmill thus it is both a treat (!) and an incentive. I particularly loved this season of the fashion designer competition, where they've finally made the insightful decision to cut most of the silly melodrama (and the ridiculous Heidi Klum/Tim Gunn skit things) and focus on the creative process of these incredibly talented designers. And I am a little obsessed with the work of contestant Gary Graham. He's also a great follow on Instagram.
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(rather than my very faves, this is a list of summer reads for me)
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I've had this classic on my list for a long, long time. So happy I finally took an afternoon to read it!
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A book about writers and books and a stolen plot. I enjoyed.
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I like a good page-turner in the summer, and this one fit the bill. A nicely woven tale about a woman whose husband disappears in the midst of a corporate scheme, leaving her to solve the mystery and deal with his teenage daughter.
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Another page-turner. I liked it fine—I will note for you it requires a bit of willing suspension. I definitely kept reading, though, and finished it.
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Made this last night for dinner; ate it for lunch again today. So fresh and good.
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FROM THE DAILY GRACE ARCHIVES
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Six years ago we took Eliza for her freshman year of college and a shocking wave of sadness overtook me. I have a message for parents dealing with the same emotion: There is hope!
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#Catsmountain this morning. 8.22.21, 7:04 am
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Be love. Get vaccinated. Wear a mask.
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