So. It’s October 8th, y’all. And I have zero ideas for the September list. The following is what I can come up with in the next little bit….

1) I volunteered at Detroit Abloom, something I haven’t done in a long time. Butterflies everywhere. I deadheaded Mexican sunflowers and it was lovely.

2) And then one afternoon, my daughter asks me to come outside to look at something. Reluctantly (I don’t remember what I was doing, but I remember not wanting to tear myself away from whatever it was), I follow her to the backyard, where I see about over 20 butterflies, fluttering among our hemlocks. It was amazing, and this photo is a very bad attempt at capturing them.

3) I had to let go of some things that were on my plate, in order to free up bandwidth for mental wellness. I gave up some freelance work and also my position on the board at Detroit Abloom. I still plan on volunteering there when I can. I hope I make myself make time for it.

4) And then my favorite client calls and says can you please take over our Instagram and I can’t say no, even though some of the work I gave up was with said client. What is wrong with me don’t answer that.

Shameless plug: please follow Ahee Jewelers on Instagram! @aheejewelers
It is a wonderful family-owned business, staffed by some of the nicest people in the world.

5) I picked beets from the garden (Detroit Abloom) and roasted them. They were delicious.

6) My youngest turned eight. We had a backyard party and I made coconut cupcakes.

I made the first batch of cream cheese frosting with some weird type of sugar. Not coconut sugar….I can’t remember now, but some kind of sugar that’s not sugarcane. It was disgusting and the “no aftertaste” label on the front of the bag was completely wrong. So I went to the store and bought regular powdered sugar and the frosting came put perfectly.

7) When we went out for her birthday dinner, she found a heart in her ranch dressing.

8) My old San Francisco roomie Liz came to visit! It was amazing! We haven’t seen each other in about six years. We went to Eastern Market, where we got caught in a downpour, went to the Heidelberg Project (finally. I’d never been) and hung out on the Riverwalk on the windiest day ever, went to my new favorite restaurant, Marrow, and talked forever about everything.

9) Heidelberg Project was ridiculous. It was quirky and fun, which is what I’d expected, but it was also very….. I can’t come up with the word. Let’s say I imagined it to be slightly more highbrow. But of course I’m glad I went and Liz was the perfect person to go with. We laughed a lot. For those not in the know, it is a street that doubles as an art installation project. Google it!

10) We did a huge puzzle. Mostly I did it, but the girls helped too and I think even my husband put in several pieces. I listened to In the Dark podcast Season 2 while I was puzzling. Holy cow. About the case of Curtis Flowers. Highly recommend. It was really soothing to me. Blocking out the world, listening to a reporter talking, while working on a puzzle. You should try it. Also please ignore the nearly dead flowers in the vase.

11) A former co-worker of mine from SF Weekly wrote a book and I read it. “Task Lyst” by Scott Hylbert. I was pleasantly surprised! It was fast-paced with an interesting plot, and the characters went to so many of my old Bay Area haunts and neighborhoods.

I’m always so impressed when someone I know writes a book. I know thousands upon thousands of people do so every year, but it is not an easy feat. I’ve tried it and it’s not something I think I can do. So kuddos to all of you out there who have accomplished that or are working on one!

12) I also read “Three Women” by Lisa Taddeo. And yes, lots of sex, like a LOT and very descriptive, but I wouldn’t call it gratuitous. It’s a book about desire, so it makes sense there would be a lot of sex in it. The author is a reporter and basically it’s a case study that reads like a novel, purposely crafted as such. The writing is really, really good. Stories are raw and real and heartbreaking. I do recommend it. It is not always an easy read, although it reads quickly.

I’m posting this last photo, because Facebook has been pulling the last photo on my list for my post cover pic and I don’t want it to be a book cover. It’s my favorite drink at The Charlevoix. Hot Hot Heat.

I could go deep on my feelings about September, it was kind of a big month emotionally (no catastrophic event to justify that, just the course of my life), but I’ve run out of time (lucky you). Happy, Happy October, everyone!