1) Saturday was the 4th of July and usually we can see the Macy’s Fireworks on the East River from our balcony. This year, Macy’s did five smaller fireworks displays across the five boroughs, culminating with fireworks from the top of the Empire State Building. We watched it on TV, and they did a great job editing it together. We saw some fireworks from our weekend retreat just outside the city, and we had the last of our Columbia Restaurant sangria in our America pitcher.
2) To celebrate the 4th weekend, we watched Hamilton the Musical on Disney+. I was lucky enough to see the original cast on Broadway and they did such an amazing job filming it. You got a lot more out of it watching it on the screen. I loved it.
3) I finally finished the latest season of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel on Amazon Prime. Midge teaching Susie how to swim in the Fontainebleau pool was so hilarious! We stayed at the Fontainebleau a few years ago and it was fun to see how they made it look like 1960 again.
4) I read New York Times reporters Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey’s book She Said, about their investigative reporting on the Harvey Weinstein sexual harassment case, and it is phenomenal. Author Adriana Trigiani hosted a Facebook Live with the two reporters this week, and if you read the book, this is a perfect accompaniment. And if you haven’t read the book, read it and then watch. It’s imperative to read about the brave women who came forward at great risk to themselves.
5) In addition to reading She Said, I also read Sarah M. Bloom’s The Yellow House, her memoir about growing up one of 12 children in New Orleans. It’s the story of her and her family as seen through the lens of their small shotgun house, and it is so moving. If you want to read more black voices, this is a good one to add to your list, and it deservedly won the 2019 National Book Award for Nonfiction.
If you are a fan of Netflix’s The Crown, Brynn Turnbull’s debut novel The Woman Before Wallis is for you. It tells the fictional story of a real woman, Thelma Morgan, who became entangled with two scandals in the 1930s. Morgan was the mistress of Edward, the Prince of Wales and next in line to become King of England, before he married Wallis Simpson and abdicated the throne. She was also the twin sister of Gloria Morgan Vanderbilt, mother to Gloria Vanderbilt and who fought a very public custody battle for little Gloria. My full review publishes Tuesday. (Spoiler alert- I really liked it.)
I hope you all stay safe and dry- we’re getting some much needed rain this weekend, but do we really need a tropical storm on top of everything else? #Thanks2020
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