The Road to Tender Hearts
I'm a Stage Mom now.
Is there a theater equivalent of a dance mom?? Because that is officially me (a friend tells me it’s a Stage Mom!!). My sweet Faye spent the past two weeks at a drama camp with Cafeteria Kids. If you’re local, I cannot recommend it enough for the 8+. Then, on the last day, they put on two full performances of Madagascar, the musical, on an actual stage with actual set design and costume changes and a music director. It was PHENOMENAL. The kids with the main parts belong on Broadway!! The talent!
Madagascar was so, so good and I was incredibly proud of my brave girl up there with the lights shining down, having memorized the songs and the steps.
When I was her age, I was desperate to be a theater kid. But after an audition for the Jungle Book landed me with the role of Tree #2, I quit because my ego couldn’t take the shame. And, no, Faye did not have a main part, not even a supporting character. She was a “foosa” and a “New Yorker” and “person at the zoo” and she loved every darn minute.
We brought flowers (again, dance mom energy) and took her out for a fancy dinner. The most fun.
On Sunday the girls and I headed to the Calistoga community pool — a hands down favorite. It feels completely nostalgic, like you’re in a scene from The Sandlot. While they stood in line for the diving board, the ice cream truck pulled up playing its old timey horn. The girls got monster sized cookie dough ice cream and I read on a towel in the grass.
We’re latching onto moments of joy with all we’ve got.
The forever brilliant
talked about creativity in her recent solo episode and it so closely mirrors my response to the news cycle. Phil Stutz and his belief that “creativity is the antidote to evil.”Because when we are scared or operating from a place of guilt or fear or shame, creativity cannot thrive. And it’s so important at this moment to tap into that creativity. I’ve been on a real writing spree and tearing through manuscript rewrites. I have a few fun things cooking at the store that I can’t wait to share. There’s this lovely space that satisfies me to no end. Maybe it feels frivolous when the world is on fire, but it also feels good to create something in spite of. Or because of.
Stumped? I find a good ol’ jigsaw puzzle is the brain break I need.
This AirBnb in Puglia!! Bags are packed and passport at the ready in case anyone wants to book it and needs a buddy!
How pretty is this $15 plate??
We’re all watching Season 4 of The Bear, right?? Also, the soundtrack consistently crushes.
My fish obsession is not strictly limited to jewelry. Enter, this ringer tee.
Things are heating up over at Massimo Dutti! Take this Atonement-worthy silk green dress or these luxe linen pants or this sleek, sexy take on aviators.
The Road to Tender Hearts by Annie Hartnett
This book!! The title says it all. So full of heart. Completely delightful and funny and moving and tender. I really loved it. After I described it at the bookstore to two different people, they both said, “Oh, it’s like Little Miss Sunshine.” Exactly! If Alan Arkin’s character was more of a jolly Santa Claus type.
For a book so full of tragedy, it is also brimming with joy. PJ, a 63 year old lottery winner, is a lovable underachiever who’s had a series of terrible things happen to him: the sudden death of his oldest daughter and the unraveling of a marriage to the love of his life. Plus, he’s an alcoholic with three heart attacks under his belt.
But then PJ reads an obituary and realizes this high school crush is single again. Suddenly PJ has a sense of purpose! He’s going to drive across country to the Tender Hearts Retirement Community in Tucson to win her back.
But before he leaves, another tragedy strikes and he finds himself the unexpected guardian of his estranged brother’s grandchildren. Together with PJ’s adult daughter and the newly orphaned kids, the motley crew sets off on a road trip that will have you laughing and crying.
It’s also quirky as hell. There’s a cat that can sense when someone is going to die. A baseball hat that whispers to the wearer.
I tore through it and even read the acknowledgement pages and I never read those. To give you a sense of the author and the general tone of her novel, here’s what Annie Hartnett wrote to her daughter:
This book is dedicated to Leora, who is five years old as I write this. I love you more than I ever thought possible, and I was already a person who loved with great zeal. The very best thing about having an only child is there is only one person I love the most, the single person I love more than anyone else on the planet, much more than all those jokers I listed above. You are the most joyful corner of my heart, the part of my body where all the sweetness lives.
I mean… !!
I absolutely would have picked up some merch on the trip to Niagara Falls, like this vintage sweatshirt.
PJ wears his dead daughter’s high school softball team hat. Obviously, this Getty cap isn’t quite the same, but it achieves the same goal.
PJ is a shorts and sandals kind of guy. I’d channel the look with this coffee colored pair of Birks in the lightweight, waterproof EVA style.
Sophie, the goth daughter, wears a “Satan is My Daddy” tee out running and I think this Burn it All shirt with the adorable puppy would work just as well.
For all of Sophie’s late night runs, a new pair of shorts.
And these no-frills shoes that look like something a chic Parisian would wear.
Denim shorts with a longer hem (no bootie shorts around these parts!) to wear with your Niagara Falls sweatshirt.
Ollie discovering the pleasures of a McDonald’s milkshake warms my heart.
I love a Volvo wagon ♥️ And it’s a bit of a minor character in this novel.
Pancakes the cat is the real star of the show here!! Let’s give him a cozy place to curl up when he isn’t busy running around as an agent of death.
My absolute favorite scissors — I use them daily for who knows what — would be helpful for cutting out of all of the terrible news stories in the morning paper, leaving the good stuff behind.
Hope you’re reading something good!
"The Road to Tender Hears" has been added to my wishlist. The cover itself is beautiful, great review.
Love the pic. Congrats to your daughter. Such a lovely time of motherhood when you drive them around and they get to do the creative things they love and you get to buy them flowers 🌺 also glad to hear u are writing!