#002: Nobody Asked - Back to it!
Back to school, analog, and summer's greatest hits
Our just-about-6-year-old started school last week, and I’ve been on full-time tomato toast duty. There’s kale at the markets for the first time in 8 months and last night I wished I had a sweater to wear when I was biking home from dinner with friends. It looks like fall, it smells like fall, and even though it’s going to be 32 degrees (Celsius!) today, Berlin is, indeed, hiccuping her way into fall.
This edition is about getting back to things, as this season seems to nudge us all to do.
On Adult Hobbies
Photography has been a hobby of mine since I was a teenager. I owned a Pentax 35mm in high school, months before DSLRs hit, and have not shot film in over 25 years. After Uma was born and I’d started to find my bearings again, I dug into photography as a post-children job - now I shoot 3-5 families a week and to be honest, it’s changed my relationship digital. I love my work. But it’s work.
To that end, when it comes to my own family, I don’t usually reach for the ‘real’ camera. It often feels like it just adds to the queue because of the processing.
For a couple months, I’ve had this idea of just having an analog camera around the house. Something quick to pull out when you see the moment. I bought an old Canon AE-1 with a 50mm and these photos are from the first roll of film I shot. I literally had dreams about the photos before I saw them. The whole relationship between taking a photo but not knowing what it looks like until weeks later is (apparently) exhilarating to me. I feel like I’ve learned more from this single roll of film than I have in 3 years (25 years?) of trying to hone my digital work.
For those in Berlin, Fotomeyer does a 2-day turn around for film and you can get a roll developed for around 15 Euros (for the record, that feels very cheap to me!) with high-res digital scans.
Of Note // Summer’s Greatest Hits
1. Two slam-dunk Alison Roman tarts
Tomato Tart
This was a transcendent weeknight dinner experience, simple to make (the only downside being you have to think about it a couple of hours before you make it which as anyone with children knows is sometimes impossible), and the perfect combination of crunchy and tomatoey. Adam and I ate the entire thing while the kids watched on and ate plain pasta (don’t get me started).
Blueberry Tart
I worry that this one going second and not having a picture is doing it injustice, but like Alison says, this is impossible to mess up and it a super simple, absolutely perfect summer dessert that will have your friends and family wondering how you have time to bake (tada!). The secret ingredients in this recipe are the apple cider vinegar and enough salt. I have made this three times this summer and I have exactly zero photos to show for it because it went so fast.
2. Undereye Corrector (*2)
Instagram sold me this tube from DRMTLGY and I just bought a second tube. It has SPF 41 which is good because I truly have terrible skincare habits (like, I do not wash my face before going to bed. Do you want to keep reading?). It makes me look like I slept 8 hours instead of 6 and it has a fancy golden applicator thing that adds curb appeal.
3. Desk Planners
Okay, I could write an entire post about calendars and day-planners, but I’ll try to keep this short. I’ve been using the Table Talk Weekly Planner for three years because I am obsessed with a particular layout which is vertical days, one week per spread, and a space for notes.
And I like a dated planner, ideally S-S but because I’ve lived in Europe for close to a decade, I can stomach a Monday start. The internet recently fed me the Mishmash planner and now that the kids have more going on, the time slots definitely appealed to me. Also, it goest August to August - talk dirty to me. After two weeks of using the Mishmash, I am probably converting, even though I miss the big notes space of the Table Talk. Remember, absolutely nobody asked me about this.
Found on the Internet
Just when you think the world is falling apart, it gives you Jaques Monneraud. You can follow him on Instagram to see what I think most people wish they looked like when they were wheel throwing.
Do your kids have Lego or anything else small enough to cause a lower-back spasm when you step on it? These Swoop bags are made in the US, come in all sorts of colors to match your play space, and are terrific quality. I paid a little extra for shipping to the EU, and no regrets!
Wishing you all smooth transitions to sweater weather (😬), and thanks for reading!
x Alana
P.S. If you are still thinking about that dress from the last newsletter, you can use code TREATYOURSELF for 10% off.
Footnotes
*1 Actually, the Germans take these giant cones and fill them up with candy(!!) and materialistic stuff not unlike a Christmas stocking, to give it to their first graders on their ‘graduation’ INTO first grade. That cone alone cost me 29 Euros and I DID NOT fill it with candy. Plus, I had to buy a smaller 19 Euro cone for my 4-year-old because it’s all very unfair!
*2 Do not make the mistake of concealing any more. CORRECT.
OMG I want family photos on film! So gorgeous, you are so talented. xx