Because summer is my absolute least favorite season, and I'm getting a bit grumpy about it, I've decided to end August with a list of things I loved this month.
1 The Forest: Stay Focused App
But I've already blogged about this one.
2 The Victoria Series One Score
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oonCCJCbxKU&w=560&h=315]
I fell in love with this television show last September. The romance! The costumes! The cinematography! The color palette! That score! The opening theme is so spine-tingling. It's haunting and beautiful and exciting, full of choral glorianas and alleluias and flutes and drums and swells. The song The King is Dead has ominous trumpets blaring to the undertone of suspenseful violin beat, and somehow the song ends in a light, hopeful melody.
I've just discovered that the full soundtrack was released back in January and I've been listening to it on repeat ever since.
Martin Phipps, the composer, takes up a great deal of real estate on all of my writing playlists. He's also done the scores to War & Peace and North & South, both of which are phenomenal.
The second series began airing yesterday and I can't wait to listen to its soundtrack too.
3 Pumpkin Mugs
My old Jack-o-Lantern mug (R.I.P.), shattered over a year ago. I've missed it dearly ever since, and this month I've finally replaced it, snagging a set of four pumpkin shaped mugs from Pottery Barn while they were on sale. I'm not a morning person, so a coffee mug that makes me smile can do a lot to start my day off right.
This is my first set of matching coffee mugs, and that makes me feel very grown up.
4 The Shades of Magic series by V.E. Schwab
I read the first Shades of Magic book earlier this year. It featured magic and London (four Londons, actually) and adventure and Mad King George. That was enough to sell me on the book. This month, I finally finished the last two books in the trilogy, and I can't faithfully capture how delightful and fun they were in words except to say this: they are the sort of books that can keep you up until dawn if you're in the habit of reading before bed.
I'll leave the opening lines here:
Kell wore a very peculiar coat. It had neither one side, which would be conventional, nor two, which would be unexpected, but several, which was, of course, impossible.
5 Harry Potter in Concert
I was lucky enough to get the chance to see Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone with the score performed live by the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra a few days ago. Like most young adults who grew up in the early 2000s, Hedwig's Theme is a defining anthem of my childhood. The live orchestra gave the movie an extra breath of life, filling the room with an energy that could very easily be described as magical. In fact, I believe it was Dumbledore himself who said, "Ah, music. A magic beyond all we do here!"
I will admit to having a little photoshoot with my concert outfit beforehand. My starry skirt was a gift from a dear friend, and I only bring it out for special occasions, but I think it'll make a reappearance soon. Last night finally gave me an idea for my halloween costume: the enchanted ceiling of the Hogwarts great hall. I'm going to wear a crown of floating candles and a purple Hogwarts banner, and the skirt. It'll look fantastic. Trust me.
Look! The pumpkin mugs make another appearance!
This HP concert series is all over the world. They're planning on showing all eight films, in some cities, so even if you missed the first movie, you may get a chance to see another. (I personally can't wait for the Prisoner of Azkaban, which has my favorite score.) Find out if there's a screening near you here!
6 This D.I.Y. Wall Hanging
I moved into a big, empty house last November and haven't succeeded in filling it. Most of my walls are completely empty. I wanted to find a way to fill them with beautiful things on a very small budget, so I looked into a bunch of DIY vintage "Pull-down" style wall hangings on Pinterest. Most were a little too complicated for me, so I ended up devising my own, simpler way of crafting them.
Just how budget friendly is this project?
The "framing" supplies cost me about $30 total. It was enough to make five poster-sized wall hangings.
I used sheets of wrapping paper to fill my DIY wall hangings. Wrapping sheets usually cost between $3 and $6 and can be just as gorgeous as an art print that costs 10x as much. I bought mine at Paper Source, which has a fantastical collection of sheets by designers like Rifle Paper Co. and Cavallini. Paper Source will also ship your wrapping sheets in a flat box for an extra $6 so you don't have to worry about the paper curling against the wall.
I think I also paid about $30 for all five sheets, making the total cost for five wall hangings about $60.
The supplies
- flat-headed tacks
- 1/2" square wooden dowels
- steel wool
- white vinegar
- leather cord
- a poster or sheet of wrapping paper
The method
- Make the steel wool and vinegar wood stain by putting both ingredients in a jar and letting them sit overnight.
- Cut the dowels an inch longer than the width of your poster. Or buy your dowels from Home Depot and have them do it. (They will!) I had my dad do this for me, as the sharpest thing I own is a kitchen knife.
- Stain the dowels by brushing on the vinegar. At first, there won't be any drastic difference in the color of the wood, but after 20 mins it should be as dark as the dowel in the picture above.
- Attach the leather cord to one end of the dowel with a tack. Attach it to the top edge of the dowel, with the length of the cord running towards where the dowel will meet the wall. This will ensure the dowel hangs flush with the wall. A hammer isn't necessary for this, but it will make the process slightly easier.
- Measure and cut the cord. Before attaching the other end of the cord to the dowel, take the dowel to the place you'll hang the poster and figure out what length the cord needs to be so your poster hangs at the desired height (close to eye level is recommended). Cut the cord at that length and tack it to the dowel.
- Tack your poster to the dowels. I used between three and five tacks on each dowel. A hammer isn't necessary for this either, but will make the process quicker. Regardless, it's a very quick process. I won't give you a system for making sure it's straight and symmetrical, because I did it by eye.
Honourable Mention: Broccoli and Stilton soup
[No picture included because it looks like green sludge.]
When I lived in England, the Co-op around the corner from my house had the best soups I've ever tasted in my life. My favorites were the butternut squash, carrot, and coriander soup; the Thai green chicken noodle soup; and the broccoli and stilton soup. I lived on these soups. I ate soup at least five days a week. I've tried to recreate the butternut squash and Thai chicken soups since moving back to New Orleans, but as someone who still has trouble boiling spaghetti noodles, they're out of my league.
The broccoli soup, however, is much easier to recreate. Last week, I tried the BBC GoodFood version and my entire family loved it. Next, I'm going to try Gordon Ramsay's Broccoli Soup. His is broccoli and goat cheese, which sounds amazing.
What made you happy this month? Did you discover anything new and wonderful? Are you going to try anything I mentioned here? Let me know in the comments below!