Bitesize #18
Berets, bears and boetry (that's poetry but with a b)
Happy Friday! It’s just about nine o’clock and I’m already dreaming of resting my head on my pillow. It’s been a good yet looong week. School has kicked right back into gear, I’ve began my new job at our university library and we’re currently hosting my sister and her family which includes a puppy and a 3-year-old. Both lovely, funny and highly energetic. I haven’t been this tired since… well, our dog was a puppy. But I wouldn’t have it any other way.
(I also might be taking a two-hour-long nap tomorrow while the rest of the fam visits a train museum.)
How are you?
Temperatures are finally dropping in Stockholm!! Which means we get to wear layers, sneakers, long-sleeved pyjamas and socks. These chilly mornings are really bringing out my inner Gilmore Girl, so much so that I bought myself a grey wool beret yesterday. I always fancied myself a Lorelai but maybe I’m a Rory? I look forward to pairing my new beret firstly with my leather jacket or my sage trenchcoat, and then later maybe even with my down jacket? Might be a little on the nose to wear it with a wool coat, but who knows — I might be fully converted come December.
We’re currently working with poems in school, or rather how to incorporate poetry in our own teaching to help students with language (reading and writing) development. Might not sound like the sexiest thing to be discussing with your fellow classmates but I must say it’s awoken a longing for beautiful writing. I have a couple of books by Rupi Kaur on my book shelf than I’m feeling called to pick up again and I even started thinking about the analysis we did on The Waste Land by T.S Eliot in school. I remember I loved exploring the different passages, and our teacher was really brilliant at introducing different themes and inferences to spark curiosity in us. I hope I can do the same for my students in the future.
How many pieces of clothing are too many pieces of clothing? I think I’m currently on about 171 registered clothes, shoes and bags in my Indyx wardrobe and I haven’t yet brought up my “winter clothes” from the basement. I’m guessing there’s at least 30 pieces there. Frankly — I don’t want to own 200 pieces of clothing. 200 feels like too much. So I’ve got my work cut out for me, clearing out somewhere around 30–75 items when I make the swap to my official fall/winter wardrobe. This is my reminder to myself that if I have that amount of clothing that I want to get rid of then I don’t need anymore items going in! until! it’s! done!
Speaking of how I don’t need to shop, here’s what I *want* to shop. I’m only human after all. Do these wishlist items make sense? Some maybe, others absolutely not. But the heart wants what the heart wants.
These Miu Miu sunglasses. Yes puh-lease. Pure 90s minimalism perfection.
These Toteme boots look like something I want to live in Nov–April. (Currently on sale if you’ve just found €550 lying around).
One thing that I actually don’t currently own that would make a lot of sense for a Northerner like me is a wool coat. And I love the sleeves as well as the colours of something like this.
Jane Pope Jewelry makes my favourite rings of all time and this citrine XL prong ring is right at the top of my wishlist. I mean, just look at it.
I’m still on my current book On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong which I wrote about in last week’s Bitesize. This is because I’m also reading Winnie the Pooh (for school, together with like, 8 different pedagogical books). And I must admit that the old classic tale of the bear and his friends holds up really well. There’s some true wisdom to be found in the adventures they share. If you haven’t yet read Winnie the Pooh, honestly what are you even doing? Grab a kid nearby and enjoy.
I feel like I’ve been a bit M.I.A here on Substack, due to the sheer intensity of my whole back-to-school experience. Oh and did I mention I’m practically a librarian now since I work the information desk in our uni library? That’s a story for another time. But I do want to say that my ambition is to post 2–3 times a week with one unpaid post, one paid post and one Bitesize. Writing here is one of my favourite things to do and I want to provide fun/interesting/thoughtful posts without losing track of my studies or watering down my topics. Idk maybe these aren’t interesting to you as a reader but I want to clearly communicate my ambitions so that we’re on the same page. I honestly can’t believe there are so many of you wanting to read my meanderings!! Thank you thank you thank you.
Tomorrow I’ll be a) sleeping in, b) making waffles for breakfast for my nephew and c) catching up on my favourite Substacks. I can’t effing wait.
What does your weekend look like? Let’s chat in the comments!
Ciao!!!
Alas sleeping in didn’t work out for me due to my dogs demands for breakfast being more regular and loud than any alarm clock. But now I’m back in bed with a coffee catching up on Substack and deciding what to bake for breakfast 🥞 or 🧇. Enjoy your Sunday!