TRAVEL / TYPING / TRYING
This week, we thrive.
/Travel/
Getting out of your space can get you out of your head.
Hi all!
Last time I wrote you, I blabbed about my Mexico travels (from three months prior).
This time, I’ll blab about my frolicking in England and France (a month ago…
much more recent….
heheh..heh😬).
My March 2026 was spent across the pond with my dear friend Zoila
as we visited many of my loved ones.
Having studied in Manchester, I’m lucky enough to have plenty of friends in England to visit. With my sister Julia abroad in Aix-en-Provence (the south of France) for the semester, it was the perfect opportunity to hop on a plane
and try
to get the hell
out of my brain.
Let me tell you,
it worked.
This trip was super healing.
Markets and strawberries, madeleines and sunshine!
Dancing and tea, debriefs and tears!
I had such a phenomenal time.
On that note…
/Typing/
Typewriter Poetry Updates
I told you I’d tell you about all things typewriter!
Over the past few months, I’ve been lucky enough to tap keycaps in all sorts of venues,
from glamorous spots like The Plaza Hotel and the legendary Players Club,
to fabulous weddings and brand pop-ups,
and now, upcoming small-business events and fairs!
With the help of the wick ed ly ta len ted Skyler Jones, I updated my headshots
and I’m all set to write for you at:
[Words] Bookstore
Independent Bookstore Day - TOMORROW, Saturday, April 25 - 1pm-2pm
Perch Home
Maker Days - Saturday, May 2 - 10am-4pm
The Co-Lab
Mother’s Day Weekend - Saturday, May 9 - 12pm-4pm
The Baker Street Spring Flea
DO NOT miss this one! - Saturday, May 16 - 11am-5pm
Yesterday, I was named PSNY’s Typewriter Poet of the Month on Instagram! WEEEEEEEEE!
I have so much more exciting poetry stuff on the horizon, too.
It feels like I’m constructing a life that little Annabelle, with her thick eyeglasses and Google Docs of stories, would be overjoyed by,
and I’m doing it
by just DOING IT (all rights reserved to evil Nike, of course).
It feels really fake, but I keep going.
(Impostor syndrome
is my life’s motif,
but its continuous return to me
has evolved from
a chronic haunting demon
into more of a
nagging neighbor.
I can tune the pests out for a bit
and remember the
hard work
that goes into all of it.
Like,
By The WAYE is publishing me again in their third issue. TWO poems, so stay tuned!
More print!
Plus, I’m hosting a reading for Brooklyn Women’s Writing Group at the New York City Poetry Festival. The festival is on Governor’s Island on the weekend of July 18th and 19th, and the BWWG reading will be Saturday at 1pm on the Beckett Stage. This year’s theme is A Modern Odyssey, and headliners include Hanif Abdurraqib and Natalie Diaz!
On that note…
/Trying/
Experimenting with flavor, like I was meant to!
I’ve been returning to myself.
Really and truly.
And I can tell
because I’m returning to the things I loved as a child.
In all the ways.
In flavor.
For passover, I made spatchcocked chicken.
I roasted it on a bed of leeks, little gold potatoes, little purple potatoes, rainbow baby carrots, pearl onions, and a few pieces of torn garlic.
EVERYTHING was smothered in a compound butter made by immersion-blending fresh scallions, garlic cloves, fresh parsley, paprika, capers, honey, lemon zest, Herbs de Provence—which I picked up at a market in Aix-en-Provence —and olive oil into butter.
Blending the seasonings into smithereens
directly in the butter
helped the herbs, garlic, etc from burning in the oven
and created a lovely flavor base
for the veggies to stew in.
After roasting, it was topped with a marinated mixture of chopped-and-salted cherry tomatoes, basil, scallions, dill, capers, olive oil, and cracked black pepper.
I made my mom a super fun ice cream cake for her birthday,
experimenting with a homemade WHITE chocolate fudge layer that was studded with roasted almonds.
The frosting job was a mess, but what could you expect with the ticking “melt” clock after me?
I was inspired by a sandwich I had in Aix,
and added stracciatella to my sandwich.
Herbed focaccia, heirloom tomato, stracciatella (basically just burrata filling), parm, pesto, arugula, and turkey.
I used my stracciatella in many ways over the week,
One morning, adding it to a salad beside a Japanese sweet potato and eggs for a YUMMY breakfast.
I randomly decided to make poached fish, too,
which is new for me.
Cod was simmered coconut milk and chicken stock
infused with ginger, garlic, fish sauce, soy sauce, chilis, red onion, lemongrass, lime zest, and lime juice,
and topped with chili oil and scallions, served with jasmine rice and bok choy.
I’m too obsessed w the fact it’s basically tomato season,
so I’ve been making Baby Hands Bakes’ tomato lemonade, testing out proportions and combinations,
and,
trust me,
it’s actually okay!
On that note… things get better and better,
and then they get worse and worse,
and then better and better and better again.
/Parting Words/
A(nother) song on repeat:
A snack I’m liking lately:
Japanese sweet potato and eggs.
A drink I’m liking lately:
You know what I’m gonna sayyyyy! TOMATO LEMONADE!
A random thing I enjoy:
Obsessing over plans.
A thing I’m reading or watching:
You Got Older, stage play by Clare Barron. (I was lucky enough to see the production at A24’s Cherry Lane Theatre, too).
Clothing I find fun:
Juice Ceramics necklaces.
With love and appreciation,
Annabelle
