Trail running, Ursula Le Guin, and San Francisco Recs

The Week That Was

Aug 21, 2024

‘The Week That Was’ is a free weekly Monday* newsletter that includes a selection of things on my mind (books, art, culture, slow life(style), global affairs, learnings, travel, etc.) as well as articles and podcasts I enjoyed during the week, an album of the week, and other recommendations. If you enjoy these topics, consider becoming a paid subscriber. For $5 a month, you will have access to the rest of the We, Renaissance Women content, including my monthly book round-up, a monthly style digest, travel guides, slow life(style) essays and interviews, and the country bulletin series.

*I have received an influx of subscribers (both free and paid) over the past couple of weeks, which I am over the moon about, and I am so excited to connect with you all and see this community grow. Thank you for being here!!

I am still trying to figure out my flow for being able to consistently write these newsletters, so I am experimenting with some different publishing days. Moving forward, The Week That Was will be published on a Monday (instead of a Sunday), and paid subscribers will receive additional newsletters on Thursday and Saturday.

1. Trail Running in the Appalachians

Two weekends ago, we packed the car with our tent, sleeping bags, running shoes, and extra rain gear to go to Big Bear Lake Camplands in the Appalachians, West Virginia. The nine-ish-hour drive seemed long, but not when compared with what awaited us…trail running for 24 hours.

Ragnar races happen across the country throughout the year, and the premise is simple - a relay race. In a team of eight, you each complete three loops (ranked hard, medium, easy) with your runs spread out across a 24-hour-plus period. You camp, sleep, eat, stretch, and hang out with your team when you are not running, and then head back out to put in more miles. In total, I ran (and hiked) 14.5 miles at this Ragnar, dodging branches, climbing over boulders, and attempting not to slip in all the mud.

If it sounds a little crazy, it is. While I do lots of cardio, I generally do not run, making this endeavour a challenge. When I was out on the trail in the pitch black with my headlamp on and legs that could barely move, I asked myself more than once, “What on earth am I doing here?!” But, inevitably, once it was done, I was eager to plan for next year.

Something about being on the team, pushing yourself beyond your beliefs, and spending time in nature makes these events such a great time.

2. A Mini Office Outfit Challenge

Left: secondhand J.Crew shirt, *old* Zara pants, LL Bean tote. Middle: secondhand Uniqlo x Inès de La Fressange blazer, *old* linen blouse, secondhand Banana Republic trousers. Right: secondhand J.Crew silk shift dress

As we edge towards the end of summer, I am paying close attention to any item that I have not yet worn this season or have not worn as much as I want to before the spring/summer clothes get packed away. Especially during the week, when I am quickly getting ready to go to work, I end up falling back on easy go-tos. So, this week, I decided to prioritize wearing one item that needs a little boost in my wardrobe tracking data.

Monday (Left): The pink trousers in the left photo have been in my closet since 2017. I vividly remember the purchase and feeling so sophisticated in a wide-leg tailored pant. I was less sophisticated in the styling, creating various colourful combinations usually involving a strappy little piece of material attempting to be a top - those were my mid-20s, LA days. As a result, I have never really ushered the trousers into my early 30s styling. On Monday, I decided they would be my choice, and it did not take much thinking to style with a go-to blue and pink striped shirt and blue suede loafers. Easy. A low, messy bun and my work tote, and we were off to the races.

Tuesday (Middle): This linen embroidered shirt is another item I have had for years and never take the time to style - an obvious choice for day two of this mini-challenge. Part of the reason I think I do not wear it is that I find myself classifying items as “office wear” or “weekend wear” and then keeping them separate. An area of styling for me to work on. To make it less beach-y, I styled it with a pair of straight-leg black pants (low-waist to work with the top’s billowiness) and a linen blazer I already wear at least once a week.

Wednesday (Right): This silk J. Crew shift dress came new with tags from Thredup and has become one of my favourite summer purchases. I have really been enjoying this style of dress and always style it the same, with my black ballet flats. Styling items in different ways is important for getting the most use out of pieces in your wardrobe, but just wearing the same outfit is also very much part of my dressing philosophy.

3. A Must-Read Author: Ursula Le Guin

Over the weekend, I was reminded of how wonderful it is to be introduced to Ursula Le Guin. Last year, I bought my sister’s boyfriend The Left Hand of Darkness for his birthday, and upon finishing it, he went on to immediately read five more of her books. (I think that means he has read more of her books than me…) Alas, I am not surprised at his reaction; when it comes to science fiction/speculative fiction, Le Guin is the best of the best.

Although her work was first published in 1959, it was the release of A Wizard of Earthsea (the first in The Earthsea Cycle) in 1968, and The Left Hand of Darkness in 1969 really put her on the map. The Earthsea Cycle is set in a world held together by water and magic. The Left Hand of Darkness is set on the planet Gethen in the middle of an ice age, where fixed sex does not exist, and instead, the inhabitants live in an asexual, androgynous state, except for one week a month when they sprout organs and copulate. The catch - the organs they sprout are different each time. Genius.

Then there is her more philosophical The Dispossessed, or the one set on a planet inhabited by forest-dwelling people, The Word for World Is Forest, and a nonfiction book about her feminism, Dancing at the Edge of the World: Thoughts on Words, Women, Places. As well as many other novels, short stories, volumes of poetry, and essay collections for you to dive into.

Armed with a powerful imagination and influenced heavily by cultural anthropology, Taoism, feminism, and Carl Jung's writings, Le Guin’s books are unlike any other that I have read. It is not just my sister’s boyfriend and I who adore her; during her lifetime, she won six Nebula Awards, seven Hugo Awards, and SFWA’s Grand Master.

Before you run off and start reading one of her books, LitHub has a great series of short videos about her, including about her writing process and writing characters of colour (she was one of the few white authors at the time who dared to conceive protagonists who weren’t white men). And, if she really inspires you, you could write in her former Portland home.

Happy reading!!

4. Vintage Magazine Covers For My Walls

How beautiful are these vintage magazine covers?! They are originals from issues of The Saturday Evening Post in 1931 and 1932! My parents gifted four of them to me after cleaning out my stepdad's mum’s home, which makes them even more special. The Saturday Evening Post was a huge American magazine published weekly from 1897 until 1963, then every other week until 1969 (now six times a year). The covers were just as important as the interior pages and launched the careers of numerous artists, including, most famously, Norman Rockwell.

They are in great condition and even have the original mailing address sticker on them (to my stepdad’s great aunt’s home in Kentucky). I am currently unsure where in our home these are going to be hung - possibly the entranceway - but regardless, they are a much-appreciated and great addition to my ever-expanding wall art collection.

5. A Home Honouring Indian Design & Decorative Arts

Speaking of awe-inspiring decor, the latest issue of Architectural Digest features some of the most inspiring interiors I have seen in a long time. There is novelist Plum Sykes’s Cotswold oasis, designer Aurora James’s Laurel Canyon home, and several more. But, it is Bollywood star Sonam Kapoor’s Mumbai home that made me shriek with glee.

“I had been longing for a base in which to curate all the things I have collected while filming in far-flung locations over the years,” says Kapoor.

The home is a stunning ode to Indian design and decorative arts. Kapoor collected many of the pieces over the past two decades and sought out others through an array of artisans and designers across the country. She had renowned Jaipur-based fresco artist Vikas Soni paint the walls in renditions of traditional motifs, Kashmiri jamawar shawls made into cushions and draped over ottomans, and a collection of Thanjavur paintings that would not look out of place in a museum.

The colour in this home is magical, and every inch (of the photos) looks intriguing. This is the kind of decor I love! The craftsmanship, the fabrics, the history—absolutely delightful.

“I am the fourth generation of women in love with the crafts of India, and this home is as much a celebration of them as our personal space, and,” she pauses, “beyond them, beyond me, all those artisans who have worked on every single thread, tile, or brushstroke that makes this space so very beautiful—it is also a love song to them.”