‘Tis my forking birth month, bitchez — inchressting times.
And before anything else — HAPPY PRIDE MONTH, MY THEYDIES AND GENTLETHEMS! 🏳️🌈🏳️🌈🏳️🌈
There’s obviously a whole post for this trip, but naturally had to make this part of the June post for obvious reasons, so sharing a few snippets from my trip to Paris and Brussels this month.
More to come on two separate entries (one for Paree, one for Bruxelles) — including seeing! THE! Beyoncé! Giselle! Knowles! Carter! and Bey Manager, Blue! Ivy! in the flesh! + Celine Song! I know! Major! I haven’t moved on from it!
We celebrated Wendy’s birthday at their new apartment in Abu Dhabi — it was a real nice evening where I would once again, waste a bottle of Stella by not downing the whole bottle (I’m sorry). It was my second time hanging out with Claudia (stood next to me in the group photo), and I just love it when you find your people like this — we get along so well, bless her.
Our Resident Senior pupper, Ivan, crossed the rainbow bridge a few months ago — grateful for Eclair’s life and her presence in Wendy’s and Shane’s. She a spicy mawma.
It was an extremely chill weekend in Abu Dhabi, spent the next day at Carlo’s (the entire day, just lounging about, as one does) and then went straight to work on Monday (yes, to Dubai — which surprisingly, Vince and I preferred).
Also, what is up with stray Bengal cats in Abu Dhabi???
Other June tings (with photos) :
Other June tings (without photos) :
- THE BEAR IS FORKING BACK, WE ARE SO BACK, BEYBI! Down to the last 6mins of episode 1, I was screaming just that at the telly : WE ARE SO BACK, BEYYYYYBIIIIIII. This show has always been a hug to the heart, I just love it so much, can’t stress it enough. I also think this is the most number of times I actually bawled over several episodes. Whoever’s talking crap about this season doesn’t know shit about grief. The reason why we love The Bear so much is that it isn’t afraid to gaze at us long enough to be there with the characters. Donna’s monologue? Syd losing it at the hospital? THAT LAST EPISODE? A FUCKEN MASTERPIECE, THAT’S WHAT IT IS. Not to mention they release Season 4 on the 24th — a great birthday gift. I wasn’t able to see it ’til I was back in Dubai though, but that’s not the point. Thanks, FX.
- June is a big month for me — the Tony’s happened this month and I could not get over the HAMILTEN reunion with the OBC. I can’t believe it’s been 10 years, from the moment I watched the bootleg footage of their R.Rodgers run, up to seeing it live on the West End in 2018, and then the proshot in 2020, and then live again in Abu Dhabi in 2023. Like, did I spend the entire afternoon during the long (Eid) weekend to rewatch Hamilton about three times? … What is this, amateur hour?
- HAIM’S NEW ALBUM IS OUT!!!! LORDE’S NEW ALBUM IS OUT!!!! NEW ETHEL CAIN IS OUT!!!!
- I really don’t think I will ever stop yapping about seeing Celine Song for two consecutive days, but that’ll go in the next post.
My song of the month, undoubtedly :
I mean, it’s Sondheim x Streisand.
also …
I was on a Broadway high, what can I say?
… and of course, noting that I saw Beyoncé this month (I KNOW, I WILL TALK ALL ABOUT IT ON THE NEXT POST)
My top 4 favourite (first-watch) films of June :
So proud of myself for seeing 5 films at the cinema in Paris this month : Materialists (with Celine Song in the audience, because she premiered it at the Champs-Élysées Film Festival — I KNOW), The Phoenician Scheme (Wes, the LOML), The Life of Chuck, Daguerréotypes, and 28 Years Later.
There’s also this fun poll that The NYT ran, to vote for the hundred best movies of the 21st Century. If you know me, you should know how troubling I thought this was, and I am well aware that IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE should be on this list, or EEAAO, or PHANTOM THREAD — but a lot of people have been giving them love. I rated them based on overall impact [for me] you know, the ones that made me sit in silence post-viewing, or just stare in awe at the screen as the credits rolled.
Speaking of which — if you fancy giving me a follow on Letterboxd : Abbie’s Letterboxd account.
A few things I reflected on this month :
1.) Do you wanna see something hilarious? I found this in my extremely private Twitter account (extremely, because it only has 20ish followers) :
Thanks to insomnia for making me go through old tweets, I forgot I even tweeted it. I think it took a lot of courage for me to able to finally admit it then, and at the same time, manage my expectations.
Important emphasis on me wanting to have one with my actual person. I wasn’t out there making procreation my priority in finding a partner. Things would have been very different for me if that were the case.
I didn’t put myself under pressure, I didn’t spend time thinking that it was a goal, but knowing that I was open to it made things easier for me — a balancing act on a tightrope, if I may.
I reflected real hard on what this means to me now that I’m inching towards my 40s, and I stand by my decision of not settling for less just so I could tick this off my list. A child is serious business. Who I mould my kid with is fucking serious business. I’m also a pattern / cycle-breaker, as I refuse to raise my child the way boomers were raised (because look at the way they raised us millenials — if it weren’t for us doing the work, we would repeat the same shit they pulled on us — and no, thank you).
2.) Time is … definitely the ultimate truth-teller. It’s on no one’s side, but … if there’s one thing “time” does — is that it reveals.
3.) I realised that I don’t hate all slow walkers. I hate slow walkers in a packed mall / area. In general, I love slow walking because it regulates my nervous system. So … I guess I hate crowds. Yeah, I guess it’s crowds I hate. Also people who stand in the middle of walkways and escalator entry and exit points — generally just people who are not considerate of others in a public space. This isn’t a park. This is the walkway at the Mall of the Emirates — please discuss your dinner plans on the side. You can tell this was a very important shower thought / euphoric moment, lol.
Anyway, lezzgo July — LET IT RIP.
thatgirlabbie.com 
Leave a comment