Benediction #62

Alex | Summer is here!

I’m writing this from my favorite chair in my living room. Cardinals baseball is on the TV, and my dog and boyfriend are snoozing the afternoon away after we spent a couple of hours at the pool. The fan is on full blast; I’m a little chilly from a sunburn.

I have always loved summers in Mid-Missouri. When I was a student at Mizzou, I was “forced” to stay here between my freshman and sophomore years in order to work enough to become a Missouri resident and therefore not have to pay in-state tuition for my remaining years. That summer I lived in the Reserve apartment complex off Old 63. I took a couple of classes and worked as much as I could at McAlister’s Deli. In between all of that I laid by the apartment pool, and got to know Columbia in a different way now that I lived off campus. I was hooked.

Every summer after that, I stayed here. I ran on the trails, had river adventures with my work friends. I enjoyed the emptier downtown coffee shops, kept working, kept taking classes, went on my first Missouri float trips. Celebrated my birthday away from my family for the first time. Made friends with people who bought and lit their own fireworks - professional grade stuff! - on the Fourth of July.

Unlike at home (Dallas), Missouri nights are still cool in June and sometimes July. Everything here is so damn green. The people who are left here in the summer feel like they’re my people. It feels like we are in on the same secret. We know that summer Columbia is the best Columbia. Everyone else might be off to their respective “first” homes or at the beach, but we’re the ones who really understand how good we have it here.

I don’t have much else to say about this except I hope you live in a place where at least one of our four seasons feels as good to you as summer in Mid-Missouri feels to me. We all deserve a delicious few months of the year. These are mine.

reading

Remember when I was wishing for a book that I couldn’t put down? I found one! The Last Innocent Year by Daisy Alpert Florin is a campus novel wherein the main character, Isabel, has two very different sexual experiences during her freshman year of college. The story largely revolves around how she deals with these two experiences and explores the often murky waters of consent. She’s an aspiring writer, there’s some writing about the idyllic New England campus, and there are some good side characters in Isabel’s friends. It’s surprisingly deep and character driven, but I couldn’t put it down and flew through it in about three days. I love books about writing, I love coming-of-age stories, and I love dark academia vibes. So this was practically written for me. Selfishly, I would love for some of you to read it so I have someone to discuss it with!

eating

I’ve been trying to save a little money on groceries and add some more vegetarian dishes to my rotation, so I tried Bri McKoy’s cheesy, salsa verde enchilada casserole tonight. For some reason I was worried that it would be too simple, but it turned out really flavorful and came together easily.

You roast a sweet potato and large chunks of bell pepper and onion first. While that’s going in the oven, mix together black beans, salsa, cheese, cumin, salt and pepper. When the veggies are done roasting, you chop them up a little more, mush up the sweet potatoes, and add it to the mixture, then bake it all a little longer with cheese on top.

Dinner and a couple of lunches = made. All for about $12

loving

I’m a never sure if my skin care products are *really* working, or if it’s just a placebo effect, so take this with a grain of salt. But, one time a skincare influencer (Jamie Golden for those who are familiar), mentioned this “BHA Blackhead Power Liquid” from the Korean skincare line CosRX, and I’ve repurchased it a few times because I think it really works. I have an oily T-Zone and large pores, but a splash of this in the morning (along with some blurring loose powder) shrinks them right up. A bottle is about $17 from amazon and lasts me about six months, maybe more.

That’s all from me this week. I hope you have a great one!