Novis Newsletter - May Edition

A month featuring time travel, heavy nostalgia, paint fumes, pages from my diary and making the most of sunny London

Spring in London — Quickfire Edition

I spent exactly 14 days in London this month, but I made it my mission to make the most of the nice weather and (mostly) free time. Al fresco drinks and dining, entire afternoons soaking up the sun in the park, seeing my corporately employed friends on the weekend. A friend’s birthday made me extra jealous of people who were born on warmer months, as we played rounders and volleyball in the park until closing time. My mom also came to visit for a few days, which had me back in my favourite role, playing tour guide. A couple of nights out at The Bar were also in the diary, as well as seeing my favourite Ballet, Romeo and Juliet, at the Royal Ballet and Opera, and Andrea Bocelli in concert at the O2 (this month was all about showing my range).

Mother-daughter tour time and making the most of the weather

I took the Eurostar and travelled five years back in time

My High School five-year reunion featured all the usual suspects (read: the people I’ve stayed in touch with and see on a semi-regular basis) as well as the people I hadn’t seen since the night of graduation. In a surprisingly wholesome afternoon, I realised I’m a bigger extrovert than I thought, and the high of catching up with everyone bled into the entire weekend (hi to Agathe and Calypso if you’re reading). Time flew as I tried to get up to speed with what everyone was doing, feeling comforted by most of us not having things fully figured out. I re-discovered forgotten parts of myself as I walked through the campus I called home for six years. Outing myself as a former theatre kid here, I was thrown back to my middle school days and simultaneously reminded of how much time has passed as my old drama teacher showed us pictures of his baby son whilst we leafed through old programmes (we were babies!!!).

Class of 2020 looking good 5 years later (also RIP to the digicam for now, pretty sure it stayed behind in Brussels)

I’m Michelangelo if he painted walls and not the Sistine Chapel, Yves Klein if he had a penchant for white over blue

As part of my mother’s moving saga, I extended my time in Brussels and spent a week painting the walls of my old apartment. I discovered a new skill, but the novelty quickly wore off, and I felt like I was reenacting my own version of Groundhog Day. This was, however, the perfect opportunity to sit in silence with my thoughts (scary), the poor man’s multitasking version of a silent retreat. I’m not sure if I reached Nirvana, but I’ve included a few journal entries for your voyeuristic enjoyment below (I’m afraid another week of this and it would have taken a turn to something more akin to The Shining).

in my painting era and the deterioration of my love of painting (and mental state)

Julia’s May Recommendations - To Read, To Watch and To Eat

To Read - Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger

• I covered The Catcher in the Rye in tenth-grade English, and that was as far as I ever got with Salinger. I didn’t particularly relate to Holden Caulfield’s boyish angst, and it took me reading My Salinger Year last month to revisit the author. I was quickly captivated by the Glass family, and enjoyed having company as I also navigated a bit of an existential crisis. This easily takes a spot as one of my favourite reads this year (so far). At just 160 pages, it’s the perfect book to read over a quiet weekend holed up at home, or to bring to the park and soak up the sun.

To Watch - The Sirens on Netflix

• I love shows about rich people doing rich people things, and have been a fan of Meghann Fahy since The Bold Type. I binged this in one day, very similar vibes to [the also very bingeable] The Perfect Couple, which came out last year. Would highly recommend it for anyone looking for some escapism via TV. I know I should probably get around to watching The White Lotus, but I don’t have an HBO subscription and am already navigating the pop ups on sketchy streaming website to watch Girls (I know I’m the last person on the planet to watch it, but I was pre-teen in the golden era of the First Person Industrial Complex and am still playing catch-up)

To Eat - My hyperfixation butterbean, olive and artichoke salad

• This is my take on the internet’s favourite food trend atm, the dense bean salad. A lazy girl’s dream (I’m not sure this constitutes cooking), I made a huge batch of this at the beginning of the week and lunch was sorted. You can have it by itself, or if you’re feeling fancy, toss it with some arugula, throw in some grilled chicken for extra protein and top it with parmesan:

  Ingredients:

  • 1 can butter beans rinsed (you can also do canellini or chickpeas but I like a large bean for this)

  • 1 can artichoke hearts in water, drained

  • 1 can pitted olives of your choice

  • 1 bunch fresh herbs (I always have parsley in the fridge but dill also works)

  • Generous glug of nice olive oil (the stuff you use to dress salads or dip bread)

  • A pinch of Maldon Smoked Salt (you can totally use regular salt but this stuff is life changing, I put it on everything)

  • A squeeze of lemon juice (you can also use some apple cider vinegar instead if you’re in a pinch)

  Quarter the artichoke hearts and roughly chop the olives and herbs. Mix everything in a large bowl and transfer to a container (this will fit perfectly into a quart-sized deli container). Let it ~marinate~ overnight and enjoy.

an essential for any hot girl fridge

Honourable mentions…

go to Stoner by John Williams, it had been a while since anything I read evoked so many thoughts and feelings, and to the Alison Roman browned butter almond cake cake (I shouted out at the end of my November newsletter, I’ve subbed in every fruit in existence), which is still maybe one of the best things I’ve ever made and I keep feeding it to all my friends (I split the recipe into two tiny cakes, would highly recommend).

I recently got a mandolin, thinly sliced apples worked very well here (not the prettiest but very tasty)

What I wrote this month

Besides this very newsletter, I professed my love for London and how you know you’re becoming a local once the city starts to feel small, reflected on my year of financial responsibility so far and how I’ve cut back on expensive shampoo, I wrote my way through ending a situationship and pondered the ethics of writing about your relationships, and finally added to the chatter on how AI is making us all stupid (whilst under paint-fume influence).