Well, this post is a little late. I guess that’s what happens when you get COVID…
I’m on the road to recovery now, but at the very end of May, COVID hit me for the second time. And this time was bad. We had the paramedics out for my asthma, oxygen monitoring for a week, and days of burning fever and hacking coughing. I felt so awful, it scared me to think how bad it would have been if I wasn’t triple vaxxed. It’s been two weeks since I first tested positive and I’m only just beginning to feel like myself again. I’m still lethargic and can’t shake the cough, and don’t even get me started on the COVID brain fog! But at least I’ve got some semblance of myself and my creativity back, and can finally get this post out into the world.
Despite ending on a sickly low, May was actually a rather lovely month. It was full of wed-min, food tasting, guest list shuffling, bottle cleaning, email sending, and décor making, and that’s without even getting into the registry office bits! Still, amongst the wedding preparation and general wading through life, there have been pure moments of joy and always good to celebrate them. Without further ado, here are my May 2022 favourites.
Books and Podcasts
Ohhh we are back, baby! The reading slump is over, ring the bells and shout it from the rooftops! We’ve had a few false starts, but I am back having read two brilliant books and choosing my third today. The first book I inhaled was The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides. It was always coming up online as recommended reading for those who enjoyed The Bell Jar (aka people like me). In reading The Virgin Suicides, I do get the similarities regarding the modernist aspects and approach to mental health, but it does also have the twinkle of contemporary literature and a dollop of the male gaze. Whilst I am planning on watching the film adaptation shortly and can imagine a re-read in a few years, the second book I read this month stole my soul. Stole it in a good way, I might add.
Klara and the Sun is the most recent novel by Kazuo Ishiguro, the author behind another favourite of mine, Never Let Me Go. Having read his work before and seeing the list of accolades Klara and the Sun had picked up, I went into this novel with high hopes. High hopes that were indeed met. I was fully immersed in the world Ishiguro had created and allowed the weight of that world to tug at my heart strings and crush me entirely. Whilst Never Let Me Go is still my favourite Ishiguro novel, I already know that Klara and the Sun will be making its way onto my end of year favourites.
Anyone out there on Goodreads? Come and say hi!
Entertainment | No Spoilers!
May has been a month of entertainment. Whilst the Marvel film Dr Strange and the Multiverse of Madness and the TV series Moon Knight were both fantastic, there is one piece of entertainment that made my May. Season 4 of Stranger Things. It was honestly such incredible television. It kept me guessing, made me laugh, made me cry, and made me jump out of my seat. Plus, you know the cast are my comfort characters – I would die for Steve Harrington. If you haven’t watched Stranger Things yet, start all the way at the beginning with Season 1. You won’t be disappointed.
Style
To no-one’s surprise, I am still living in my Joanie dress from last month’s favourites. But for this month’s favourite? It’s a dress I haven’t even worn yet and can’t wear until this weekend. That’s right, I’m talking about my hen party dress! This is the Lace & Beads embroidered mini dress with sheer sleeves in white daisy. I mean, I have worn it to try it on and make sure it fits, but it has not left the house. Apart from realising I am going to need a strapless and supportive stick-on bra, it’s perfect. It’s the ideal amount of cottagecore to make it all Rosie, yet the right colour, length and ostentatiousness to scream “I’m the briiiiiide ya’ll!” And don’t you worry, this dress will not be a one-wear thing. I’ll be wearing this at every chance I get.
Wildcard
A bit of a strange one but I accidentally found myself performing in a show! Whoops. My fiancé, Rory, was cast in a production of The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Unfortunately, two of the cast members had to drop out due to sickness, and they needed a reliable and loud female singer. Lo and behold, here I am. Initially, I was just meant to be mic’d up off stage, sat reading from the score. How that ended up with me having costumes, dance numbers, and lines, I will not know. I’ve always been nervous to sing in front of other people. As a teen, I had a bout of laryngitis that wrecked my singing voice completely, and I had to build it back up from scratch. But this show showed me how much my voice has grown and strengthened, and I felt pure joy at being able to perform again. But alas, I could only do two of the shows before COVID set its claws in me…
And so, that was May! Days one to thirty were superb – let’s just forget about the last day of the month and the start of June. Thankfully, we are now halfway through June. Apart from the obvious, it’s turning out swell, if not stressful! It’s the month before my wedding, the month of my hen do, and we’re in the week where I move into my temporary promotion. Second half of June, please treat me gently…
Tell me, how was your May? What were your favourites? I’d love to know.
Rosie x
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