delights in june
how sweet you us you have been
June whipped by and whilst ever so busy, it was full of gorgeous moments. I stayed with my best friends in Brighton to celebrate one of their birthdays, eating delicious food and enjoying a slower pace. Mum and I got time together seeing the Trooping of the Colours in the Mall in London. My Grandad had a 90th birthday bash full of wine + food + lots of people celebrating their long standing friendships. We looked through old photos as a family - seeing pictures of my parents in Berlin looking as trendy as ever. The theatre with my sister. Hayden had his 34th birthday which saw us eating venison steak, going to alton towers + cooling off in the waters of Margate. It was a busy and extremely hot month, but marked the end of the second quarter beautifully.
If I could wrap up my weekend in Brighton with C+A for A’s birthday, I would say it was heavy on the love language of food. 2 different birthday cakes were made (well actually 3, but one I baked needed to be remade because I didn’t see the method).
A Guinness cake that was fluffy and rich and totally moreish, and a blueberry cheesecake crumble cake were presented - one for saturday and one for sunday.
Then after crudités of tomato and mozzarella and burrata, mortadella and pistachios, a spread of bbq’ed chicken, tomatoes + charred courgettes on ricotta, grilled peach + mozzarella salad, lemon + pistachio linguine and drinks a flowing in gorgeous company.
It’s funny that C+A and I have known each other for 10 years, and a lot has changed, but at the same time, we have all changed together. These moments of celebration remind me to keep the people you hold dear close, and that in a world that is full of dark chaos, we can flip it off with celebration.
After Grandad’s 90th birthday bash and recounting family stories and meeting new (old) family members, we ended up back at my parents digging through photo albums and old school photos. I cannot describe how much I love looking through scrapbooks of images, old holidays, my parents wedding photos — it makes me feel connected to my family + our collective past.
I stumbled across the picture on the left amongst the collection, of my parents in Berlin before they got married. The obsession with this photo is R E A L. It feels like fashion hasn’t really changed all that much since then + I’m looking through a weird warped time machine that I feel like I could bump into my parents in Berlin now and quite happily and easily befriend them. I think the other reason why I love these pictures (especially of my mum) is because I see her in her 20’s and see how much of her is in me now. Like obviously, because she literally birthed me. But I think even choices of clothes, how to pose when your portrait is being taken, and even down to whether to cut a fringe in or not.
The other two goldies that made their way to the top of the pile of favourites alongside my parents in Berlin and mum on her honeymoon is the two above. My granny, mum and I - 3 generations of eldest daughters together, it feels powerful to me not because of anything significant other than being proud of the line of women I come from. Both excellent mothers, pragmatic + problem solving women, wide with their generosity and love, honest (even when not asked for - which is appreciated more in adulthood than when I was a child), and women who are smart, intelligible and have a wicked sense of humour.
The the little photo on the right, I think I may have been two or three? Other than thinking I was a very cute kid, I think seeing images of yourself when you are young, helps you remember moments forgotten. I don’t remember this exact picture, but I remember the camping park we were staying in. The caravan auning. The feeling of my mum putting up my hair. Wearing colours before I took to the monochrome look for a long time. I think seeing photos of yourself young and naive, makes you have more space + kindness for who you are now maybe?
Hayden turned 34 in June, and whilst the main celebration was experiencing vertigo + whiplash simultaneously at Thorpe Park, we shared a pretty damn good meal between us. Even though it was H’s birthday, he wanted to cook up a storm, so the meal was venison steak, grilled pears, a rocket, blue cheese + walnut salad finished with a red wine jus. What followed was Aran bakery’s carrot cake recipe — which single handedly, is the best carrot cake recipe I have ever used. We love food + finding an occasion to make a special meal is constant of our relationship. Whilst Hayden didn’t play my 34 things you’d like to accomplish this next year, we talked about who he felt like he was now + what was important to him for this next year. It felt very wholesome, our tummies were happy, my love was happy + it was a gorgeous simple evening celebrating my favourite person.
Normally I finish (if they are not already littered throughout) with recommendations. But really this month I think my recommendations are more social / emotional reflections? If you can eat with people you love and want to celebrate this month then make it happen. It doesn’t have to be a full dinner spread, it can be come to my home + have shop bought cake or scrambled egg or a fridge clearing quiche. But take time to go to peoples homes or have people in yours. Reintroduce intimacy of having people you love and care about in your / their spaces. Go through your family archives, ask who people are, look at pictures of your parents when they were your age. Be kind to them and to yourself, and remember it is all our first time at living and being alive.