đ· palate no. 12 - a box for winter
packing up all of my favorites from recent months
mornings in phoenix are so beautiful right now. while, i can do without the 85Âș days in february, iâm beginning to see all of the signs of my favorite season. spring in arizona feels like a constant dose of serotonin â the sun sets later, the cacti start blooming, and thereâs just something about the aura of the full city.
i think iâm going to plan a little fĂȘte critical mass bike ride in march so keep your eye out for that in the coming weeks.
but today, weâre catching up on february and every little thing iâm loving from the last few weeks.
music marathons
i mentioned last week that i went to mj lendermann in tucson this month, and then the very next night saw christian lee hutson at valley bar. it was a marathon, but so fun and so worth it just to hit a couple of restaurants in tucson.
while we were driving down there, my friend kylie was playing box for buddy, box for star by this is lorelei and it was part of the pre-show playlist at the venue. iâve been jamming to it ever since.
the other album i havenât been able to stop listening to is notes on a conditional form by the 1975. iâve always loved this record, but i donât think i appreciated it enough before and i now iâve listened to it every week for the last three months. this album has it all â genius pop songs, ambient tracks i actually enjoy, and a hilarious callback to another song in the first verse of nothing revealed / everything denied.
and as always, no season could come to an end without a playlist. here is my winter playlist of everything that iâve been listening to since december. of course i included songs about idaho.
on my nightstand:
iâm a bit embarassed to admit i havenât finished a book yet this year, but i am reading two at the same time. every weekend i say iâll knock them both out but itâs the end of february and that hasnât happened.
book number one is lolita. a few months ago, i found myself in a conversation about classic literature that would have sounded so pretentious to anyone walking by but it gave me a list of classics that are worth the read (can we start admitting that most classics are boring?). so far, that suggestions have been two for three with how much i loved the sun also rises and slouching toward bethlehem. iâm not really excited to admit that iâve been chipping away at lolita because wellâŠitâs creepy, but iâll report back nonetheless.
the second book iâve been listening to on walks and cleaning days is big swiss. this book is one of those cool-girl-lit-club-always-checked-out-of-the-library novels so i decided to start the audiobook on spotify a few weeks ago. i showed up for the unique plot, i stayed to see what insane thing every character was going to do next. no one in this book is a good person, and for once, iâm okay with that.
sippy sippy
during kylie and iâs music marathon day, we spent some time sipping on a bottle of pinot blanc at valentine between the shows. maybe it was just the vibe of having a random wednesday off and the tea that we spilled, but this wine was sooo good. i would redo that entire happy hour all over again. same place, same bottle.
earlier in the month, i had an afternoon adventure when i decided to walk downtown from my place in midtown. the journey included a few chapters of my audiobook, a stop at monsoon market, and an impromptu girl scout cookie purchase that came with a free banana leaf. by the time i got to my destination, my npr tote bag was overflowing, but the wine i picked up at monsoon ended up being my favorite wine i had this month. this guy was a blend of cinsault, grenache, and counoise and so delish.
thatâs all! i hope you all had a very sweet february <3
as always, thank you for reading!
your friend,
lauren