Every month, I write about three things I really liked (and sometimes a Super Favourite), as a way to reflect upon the good stuff.
➤ Inventing Anna
Let’s face it, I’ll watch anything in which Shonda Rhimes is involved (except Grey’s Anatomy) and her name is a sufficient guarantee as far as I am concerned. With an opening screen (“This whole story is completely true, except for the parts that are totally made up”) that reminded me of the Fargo disclaimer in its approach to fiction, Inventing Anna (2002) offers an enthralling analysis of influencer culture and high society. The miniseries (with only nine episodes) is fast-paced and packed with information; blink and you’ll miss key elements. It’s not the sort of show that you can watch with your phone in your hand, which is perfect. Inventing Anna also offers brilliant acting performances from Anna Chlumsky (I was so happy to see her; if you’re a 1990s kid you’ll be too), Julia Garner (who was so mesmerising in her role that it took me two episodes to understand that she plays Ruth in Ozark), and Laverne Cox (Orange Is the New Black). Just watch it.
➤ Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly by Anthony Bourdain
This was to be expected from last month’s Favourites: of course, I loved Kitchen Confidential (Bloomsbury, 2000). I’ve only just got around to reading it—20 years after everyone else—but given my long history of being completely obsessed with the ins and outs of food, fine dining, and cooking, I was bound to love it down to the last punctuation mark. And my personal impression is that Anthony Bourdain envisioned his writing very much the same way he envisioned his cooking: his prose is witty, brutally honest, and without any unnecessary flourish. It was a proper masterclass on how to write well. I cried three times, and in the light of his own death, I’ll forever be haunted by the chapter in which he speaks of another cook committing suicide. Other than that, there is a formidable sense of marvel with regard to what food truly is, and it left me with a pressing urge to cook something—anything.
I think it’s going to be like those two long years when I forced all my mates to read How to Be a Woman by Caitlin Moran; many of my friends and family members are going to find Kitchen Confidential underneath the Christmas tree this year.
Three stories you might like if you liked Kitchen Confidential:
- Lunch with M., a wonderful and unsettling piece by John Colapinto on undercover Michelin Guide inspectors. It completely changed my perspective on the guide [The New Yorker, Nov. 2009].
- The Gatekeepers Who Get to Decide What Food is “Disgusting”, a brilliant, compassionate, political, and highly quotable piece by Jiayang Fan [The New Yorker, May 2021].
- Imported from Italy, a deeply poignant short story by Fred Gardaphé about immigration, the cultural nature of food, and culinary identity. [Italian Sons and Daughters of America, 2015].
➤ Sézane
All things considered, I buy very few clothes. A couple of years ago, I went for an entire year without buying any as a challenge to myself, then I bought only secondhand clothes (except underwear, that is) for another year, then we’ve had two years of Covid and various lockdowns during which my uniform was basically sweatpants/jumper in the winder and shorts/t-shirt in the summer. So it was a bit of a surprise to me when I caught myself returning time and time again to Sézane’s online shop this spring.
I finally decided to splurge a little (Sézane ain’t cheap, baby) and to order a couple of things. I got Le Sept handbag in multicolour ochre, which is super nice and can easily carry the seemingly infinite quantity of bits and bobs I need to survive for an afternoon outside, the Gretha jumper (in black, quite uncharacteristically for me), which is super pretty but which I haven’t had the chance to wear so far because it’s been ridiculously hot in Belgium, and the Pippa dress in emerald, for which I’m waiting for an occasion to wear somewhere instead of just parading it around the house. And they sent me a little make-up pouch as a freebie, which makes for a nice Swiss knife/painkillers/tampons/screwdriver container in my handbag. I still have my eye on the Vendôme dress, which has no right to be that gorgeous, but I’ll wait for a bit as it is substantially over the price I usually spend on clothes.
If you’ve missed what happened on Ms Unexpected in June:
I interviewed my friend Mary Pearson about her work as a photographer and her trip to see an active volcano in Iceland. I put together a complete guide of Mons for those of you who’d want to visit Belgium but are already sick of Bruges and Brussels. I shared two bad experiences with cameras and external hard drives in Photography Catastrophes, wrote a short piece about tipping etiquette in Europe, and had some fun with The Question Book.
In July, I’m looking forward to…
… Watching the Tour de France, getting on with my Greece-themed reading list, seeing the baby wrens leave the nest, trying new recipes from The Cottage Kitchen: Cozy Cooking in the English Countryside cookbook, and of course, more wedding shenanigans.
Housekeeping note:
Ms Unexpected now has its own dedicated Instagram account; join me there for some exclusive content!
What are your highlights of the past month? Do you have anything to feel grateful for? What are you looking forward to doing in July? Tell me everything in the comments!
