Here's What You Missed.

Sunny Side Up #37

It’s been so long since I wrote a Sunny Side Up article I was worried that I’d have to dust off some cobwebs.

It almost feels like the start of a new season of a TV show, when they do a sort of recap of everything you missed during the break? I don’t have much to tell you, which is good news, because it means we can just jump straight in to the sunny stuff.

Literally.

Because we’re starting today’s catch up in Portugal.

Isn’t it gorgeous? The knots in my shoulders are coming undone just looking at it.

This is the most perfect example of pictures versus reality, because I spent the entire journey there riding the waves of motion sickness. I had never had motion sickness before, and it’s not something I’d like to revisit. You know what they say - what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.

I’ll be honest with you, I really needed this holiday. I was at the point where my eyelids were growing heavy at two in the afternoon, and I could hardly pry them open by the time I got home after work. My well of inspiration had dried up, too - writing felt like an impossible task. All I wanted to do in my free time was sleep. The only solution was a sun lounger, tasty food, and a stack of books.

I was lucky with my reading list this holiday - each novel was either a four or five star rating for me!

• The Thursday Murder Club needed to be read sooner rather than later because I want to watch the film, but didn’t want it hanging over me when I read the book. Couldn’t stop picturing Phil Davis as Ron?? Loved it, 10/10 British humour.

• I know a book is good when I immediately order the next one. I’d never read anything by Sophie Irwin before, but A Lady’s Guide to Fortune Hunting is definitely one to put on your list if you want to fill a Bridgerton-shaped hole. (Although, honestly, I liked this better). It’s warm, funny, and makes you kick your feet and giggle.

• I had to laugh when I saw that

  Soph
  was reading Wrong Place Wrong Time at the exact same time I was! I am a big fan of Gillian McAllister, and recently read her 2023 novel Just Another Missing Person. I have to say I preferred that one ever so slightly more to Wrong Place Wrong Time, which is why it’s a four star, but I’d still recommend it if you’re in the mood for a page turning thriller!

• Believe me when I say I tried to save Rewitched by Lucy Jane Wood for autumn, but the desire for cosiness was too overpowering! I’m only a couple of chapters in, but I just adore her writing style. Every time I pick up this book I am immediately immersed in this witchy world.

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, the excitement doesn’t end there.

What would Sunny Side Up be without a good old fashioned joy list?

• I had a craving the other day for toasted bagels topped with strawberry jam and I felt unbelievably fortunate that I actually had bagels at home. How often do you have the exact thing that you’re craving in the house?! 10/10 classic.

• A couple of weeks ago I met my friend Beth in London and we had the nicest day ever. You’d never know how long it had been since we last saw each other! She is the brightest jellybean! This day also saw the return of one of those weird things that I can’t explain - I always seem to get free hot chocolates in train stations. I don’t know why, but it started once on a cold November evening when I was trying to get back home from St Pancras. I had ordered a hot chocolate from Pret, but all of a sudden the kitchen flooded (???) so I got the drink for free. Magic! I then went through a phase of somehow getting hot choccys for free on a regular basis, for some reason or other. This luck went on hiatus until a couple of weeks ago, when Beth and I were in Gail’s, also in St Pancras, and the guy gave me my hot chocolate for free. So there you have it, folks. If you want a free hot choc, I’m the girl to call.

• Perhaps the happiest day of my life was the day that Graham and Maria’s new podcast Wanging On came out. As a long-time fan of Grill Graham, this has put all the broken pieces of my heart back together.

• I finally met

  Soph
  !!! I never thought this day would come, mainly because I was always warned about stranger danger at school. I can now confirm that Soph is not strange or dangerous. We had the nicest time mooching around a big garden on a sunny day. If you’ve got a Substack friend that you’ve been longing to take into the real world, do it girlies!!

• In a previous post I wrote that my new year’s resolution was to wear my nice shoes. Reader, I am happy to report that I have stuck to my resolution, and as a special treat picked up a new pair of special shoes in the Sezane sale. I will be clip-clopping around in my purple Paula’s for the foreseeable.

Please tell me your happy moments recently <3

My favourite part of a Sunny Side Up is always the part where I bookmark my favourite substack posts so I never lose them. You should read these, too!

• we were never going to look seventeen forever by

  faith zapata

• Substack isn’t solving anti-intellectualism by

  Freya

• You’re Screening Out Your Soulmate by

  Caroline Beuley

• Can Emily Henry Write Her Way Out of the Box TikTok Built? by

  Smart Romance by Rena Rani

• Burdened by the aesthetics of things by

  Alanna Duffield

• you’re not a girl’s girl by

  sarah cucchiara

• Substack, thanks for the friends by

  Soph

Thank you for reading!! 💓