The September Sundaze
Oversharing about everything that I wrote, read, did, ate and beyond in September.
Sundaze Book Café is the home of everyday magic, joyful living and conversations likely to be had over a hot drink with a friend in your favourite café, capturing the syrup-slow feel and glow of a Sunday. I’m Michelle, and I’ll be your host this Sunday.
Happy Sundaze, my loves!
We are truly in the -ber months, which means that everything I’ve done has been accompanied by a soundtrack of Gilmore girls in the background. Contrary to popular belief, autumn isn’t my favourite season: I’m actually one of those supremely annoying people that romanticises the entire year.
But, I do so love this moment of the year when suddenly you step out one morning and the breeze is more of a chill that absolutely warrants a jacket and perhaps a scarf. It’s been a great month for books – both writing and reading – too. I’ve been deliberately taking it slower, since my family and I are headed on a big trip back to Asia (my parents are from Hong Kong and Malaysia) next month, and I wanted to save money and energy, plus chuck more effort at the gym.
Doing
V&A Taylor Swift Songbook Trail: One of my best friends and I spent the very first day of September at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London for the much-talked about Taylor Swift Songbook Trail. It was a lovely way to spend an hour or two: I’m honestly the world’s biggest Swiftie so I loved seeing some of Taylor’s most famous costumes on display. There’s lots of extra bits too, and I also thought it was a nice way to see more of the V&A. I’ve visited plenty of times before, but got to see some rooms that I would’ve never otherwise stumbled upon. This free exhibition has closed now, but I’m anticipating another one post-The Eras Tour.
Barbie: The Exhibition at the Design Museum: We also trekked over to the Design Museum for the Barbie: The Exhibition and it was an absolute joy! I really recommend paying it a visit. We reminisced on our childhood Barbie dolls, got to learn more about the making-of process, saw design patterns for infamous outfits, and even got to see glorious Barbie dream houses and cars. I loved the comments on diversity and inclusion – a well-rounded exhibit for new and old Barbie fans.
Our first country pub voyage of the season: My boyfriend and I were very excited indeed to venture out for our first country pub date of the season. It was just wondrous to soak in the crisp autumn air and enjoy lunch at one of our favourite local-ish pubs. Good food, good company, and a long dog walk afterwards to round it all off.
Writing
Untitled fiction manuscript: September has been gloriously productive for writing. After work most evenings, I’ll fix dinner and then grab my laptop and settle in for an hour or two of writing. My manuscript is teetering on the 8,000 words mark now! Having penned many starts-of-novels, I’m taking things super slowly and casually this time. It’s very much a skeleton draft with a handful of more fleshed-out scenes, and I’m finding this to be a more motivating way to write. My novel is tentatively magical realism with themes of identity, loss and friendship thrown in there. I suppose these are my favourite topics recently, so it makes sense that a 2024 novel of mine swings that way too.
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