The best of what shaped my month.
Reading Material
Under the Stars by Beatriz Williams — Historical fiction at its finest. My friend Amie and I chose this as our mini travel book club read for our trip to Watch Hill early in the month. The fictional setting of Winthrop Island was based on Fisher Island, just out in the distance. I’ll never forget reading this tale that wove a real-life shipwreck together with art, food, and New England on the breezy deck of our AirBnB, listening to the sound of the waves and the Watch Hill Passage bell buoy off in the distance.
Before the Wind by Jim Lynch — They say never judge a book by its cover, but choosing a book by its cover rarely fails me. Picked up this family sailing saga at the library a few weeks ago, and I enjoyed it so much, I ordered a used copy for the ever-growing collection of books stacked all over my house. My favorite few chapters were the ones I read dozing off in the air-conditioned cabin of a sailboat during the late Saturday afternoon hours of Cape Charles Cup weekend.
Music & Podcasts
Shirley Robertson’s Sailing Podcast: “Cole Brauer – Part 1” & “Cole Brauer – Part 2” — I discovered Cole Brauer right around the same time as a half a million others did—while she was racing solo around the world on First Light, broadcasting her progress every day in an Instagram reel. She was halfway through her race when I clicked the follow button. I continued to track her progress when she sold her boat to another female sailor (Elizabeth Tucker), and the two of them set sail from Spain to Australia. Cole is currently co-skippering a boat competing in The Ocean Race Europe. These in-depth podcast interviews give a glimpse into her life, her fascinating journey to professional and solo sailing, becoming a social media sensation, and assimilating into her current position as part of a male-dominated crew.
The Uncanny Valley podcast by WIRED: “How to Become a Vibe Coder” — If you’ve been using AI to write code or build an app, turns out there’s a term for that. “Vibe coding” is accelerating development and making it more accessible, but what does that mean for actual developers? And what does it mean for the codebase, itself? This short-but-sweet episode features one host’s week-long stint embedded in the engineering team at Notion, where she had the opportunity to rapidly develop and ship code with the help of AI.
My summer playlist that I’ve been adding to since May is finally complete! (Find Landfall 🌀 Summer 2025 on Apple Music or Spotify). So now I’ll be here listening to it on repeat until I get bored and start making a fall one.
Everything in Transit by Jack’s Mannequin — Revisited in honor of its 20-year anniversary. Coincidentally, I listened to it all the way through twice on the exact release date, only realizing later when I saw the lead singer post about it on Instagram. This album was one of my all-time favorites in my early 20s (and still is today). Listening again now feels like flipping through an old photo album—starting the week before I moved out of my parents’ house and ending a few years later, once I’d settled into my life here in Virginia Beach.
Food & Drink
Mushroom, onion, and Swiss omelettes — As a formerly extremely picky eater, I have a dwindling list of foods I’d really like to like. Previous contenders were tomatoes, bananas, blueberries, shrimp. lobster, broccoli—all some of my favorites now, though I used to absolutely despise them, but taught myself to like over the years! At the top of the list of remaining foods I’ve never enjoyed and still hate? Mushrooms. The taste and smell? Perfection. The texture? No way. So when we were in Watch Hill a few weeks ago whipping up breakfast in our Airbnb, and Amie asked me if I wanted some sautéed mushrooms with my scrambled eggs, my answer was, “No, thanks.” Ten minutes later, I changed my mind and scooped a spoonful onto my plate anyway. We ate our breakfast two days in a row out on the balcony, and now I’ll forever associate eating mushrooms with those two peaceful mornings in Rhode Island. I’ve been eating them for breakfast every day since I returned.
Fresh-squeezed orange juice — An Instacart shopper changed my life for the better the day he dropped two bags of oranges on my doorstep instead of two oranges. I juiced them every morning until I ran out, and I’ve been buying two bags a week ever since. 🙂
TV Shows & Movies
The Gilded Age — Exquisite costumes, social scheming, extravagant mansions. It’s a time period I’ve been enamored with ever since reading A Well-Behaved Woman by Therese Ann Fowler, historical fiction based on the Vanderbilt family and Gilded Age New York society. The story lines between the novel and the TV show overlap in quite a few ways, as Alva and Consuelo Vanderbilt were the inspiration for Bertha and Gladys Russell. I’m already looking forward to season 4.
Big Brother — This show has been my summer staple for more than 20 years. I first got hooked in 2004, when I was visiting a friend in Richmond while interviewing for jobs. For years after I moved to Virginia Beach, it became a summer bonding ritual with my roommates. It’s the only reality show I’ve ever stuck with. Honestly, I don’t even think it’s that good — but now three nights a week, it’s my go-to way to unwind with my dog when it’s too hot for long evening walks.
Billy Joel: And So It Goes — I’m only halfway through this HBO documentary, but I love it so far. Billy Joel is brilliant. Hearing his personal stories unfold alongside the songs he wrote in those exact moments feels like one long epiphany. Interpreting songs with intricate lyrics is fun, but I’ve always appreciated knowing exactly what they are about. His perspective adds a refreshing clarity.
Styles & Products
I’ve been living in this Sunspel linen shirt the past few weeks. Since earning a hanger in my closet in mid-July, it has become one of my most-worn summer items. Something about the second half of summer makes me subconsciously lean towards whites and neutrals and blues and navy.
I used up my bottle of Vichy Hyaluronic Acid Serum and must replace it ASAP. When I first started using this, I thought it wouldn’t compare to the expensive crap I was using before. And it didn’t — it was 10x better. This has been a perfect lightweight plumping and hydrating layer under my daily sunscreen, and I also use it at night. I’m ordering a new bottle right this second.
Acquisitions
North Country Wind Bells Chesapeake Bell® Wind Chime — I’d been wanting one of these American-made buoy bell wind chimes forever, but I could never decide which one to choose. While it was the closest to home (and I loved the sound), the Chesapeake Bell struck me as an odd choice because I never actually spent much time on the Chesapeake Bay. That changed this year. I visited St. Michael’s in May, and I’ve been sailing on the bay nearly every Wednesday night this summer. So when I remembered a few weeks ago that I wanted one, the decision was easy this time. Now I’ve got a giant wind chime on my back deck, sounding off a few nautical dings every time a strong breeze comes my way.
Travel & Experiences
Traveled to Watch Hill — My fourth time visiting and my third for longer than an hour. It’s a small village, so I found myself repeating many of my favorite things to do there: introducing Amie to my favorite little lighthouse; stealing glances of Taylor Swift’s house from the beach (and the road); sailing aboard Trim Again with Captain Jack; sipping a margarita on the porch at Ocean House; dinner at Olympia Tea Room; and a BBQ at Weekapaug Inn. This trip had a few new experiences, too. It was my first time staying in an Airbnb instead of a hotel, falling asleep with the window open as the red and white lighthouse beams bounced across the wall. We also walked the full 1.5 miles of Napatree Point and back along the water’s edge, a beach I hadn’t explored before. And one evening, we attended a free aquaculture lecture by Perry Raso, owner of Matunuck Oyster Bar, at the historic Lanphear Livery.
Raced on a sailboat in the Cape Charles Cup — When the captain of the boat I’ve been crewing on all summer invited me to join them for a two-day race up to Cape Charles and back, I was so excited. I somehow graduated from sailing Harbor 20s on the river to spending two full days in the Chesapeake Bay aboard a 43 foot boat? That doesn’t even sound real when I say it out loud. Saturday’s race was sunny, breezy, choppy, and fast. We stayed on the boat at Oyster Farm Marina, attended the party Saturday night, and were back out on the bay early the next morning. On Sunday, there was no wind, so we sailed back instead of participating in the second race, but it was still a two-day adventure that was so much fun!
Presented our idea for 2200 Parks Ave. to the City of Virginia Beach — Back in June, we responded to the City of Virginia Beach’s RFI for the lease of 2200 Parks Avenue, the building Virginia MOCA is vacating in a few months. Our proposed concept is Arrival, a flagship destination where innovation, creativity, and community converge at the gateway to Virginia Beach’s Oceanfront Resort District. It’s a next iteration of what we had at 1701. Ours was among five proposals down-selected by the city to present our idea in person this past Friday. We interviewed with an eight-person evaluation committee, who will be making a recommendation to City Council at some point next month. I’ll keep you posted!
Lessons Learned
Action > perfection — I’ve wanted to write another post here for months, but nothing I thought of seemed good enough. This format wasn’t what I had in mind, but now that it’s done, I love it. I’ve got a template for next month, and I feel accomplished AF.
Originally posted to my Substack. Subscribe here for future posts.
