#74. 15 things about August

weddings, BMO's, luxury resellers, and feeling MET Gala ready.

Somehow, someway, it’s September 10th. I’m back from vacation and settling into a slower month at home. The seasons are definitely shifting but it doesn’t feel like they are in a rush to change completely at the moment. The weekend was warm and I spent a lot of it outside, swimming, biking, running, wandering, existing, et cetera.

August delivered. Copenhagen delivered! As suspected, I loved my time there and understand the appeal that everyone talks about. In general, the baseline for almost everything just seems elevated. It’s the way people dress, the way people commute, the way people use public space, the way everyones English is literally perfect. Most people know that there is a huge biking culture in Copenhagen, but a lesser known fact is that Copenhagener’s love to swim, and do so year round. And how could they not when the city offers such beautiful swimming docks all over the metropolitan. We lucked out with the weather being particularly gorgeous, but the amount of (good looking) people outside enjoying the sunshine and swimming in the ocean was pretty inspiring. Some of the docks had built in saunas that people who have “Winter Swimming” memberships can use, post cold dip.

The shopping was outstanding. Most notable was the amount of luxury resellers/second hand stores in this city. Hundreds. My favourite street for this type of elevated thrifting was Gammel Kongevej in Frederiksberg and the best stores were I Blame Lulu, 2nd Rag, Flot, Paloma Vintage and Tú a Tú (this one was in Nørrebro). But by far the best bang for your buck are the outdoor clothing/flea markets, which seemed to be plentiful. These markets were extremely overwhelming, with what seems like hundreds of individuals selling their personal wardrobe pieces in a public outdoor space. If you have the time and patience to dig around, you’re guaranteed to score some gems for next to nothing. I went to the Veras Market, which happens every Sunday in Nørrebro. That’s were I got these cute Stine Goya shorts for $30:

The food was also excellent; there were endless restaurants I wanted to try, but I actually didn’t eat out a ton. I was staying with my friend Alex and we ate in most nights. I did however hit up many bakeries. I don’t make pastries a routine thing at home, but they take top priority while I’m traveling, and this city definitely provided some top notch pastries. Every bakery had a cardamom bun, cinnamon bun and traditional buns that are smeared with butter and a slice of cheese. Danes call these “BMO" (bolle med ost) which means bun with cheese. I don’t know the stats but most Danes probably eat one of these for their daily breakfast. So simple, but the 3 ingredients have to be perfect for it to convince. There is apparently even a nation wide shortage for a particular type of cheese for these BMO’s. I’ve listed my favourite bakeries and what I recommend getting from them below.

I’ll definitely be going back to Copenhagen, especially while two of my dear friends still live there. But for now, I’m home, with no plans of going away again anytime soon. Dare I say I’m looking forward to nesting a bit this fall/winter? We’ll see how long this feeling lasts, but without further adieu, here is everything I was to share with you about August.

a peep at my monthly Wishlist, which I share links to for all paid subscribers.

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1. EAT 🍽️ - the thing I ate the most in August was definitely the “Monica Padman Salad”. If you’re an Archerrie, you might have heard Monica talk about this salad on a Fact Check. It’s the simplest recipe in the world, in fact, it’s not much of a recipe at all as the portions are completely arbitrary. All you need is arugula, celery, apple, parmesan, chives, and chicken (I like to BBQ chicken thighs, but a rotisserie chicken works too). I’m posting a Reel about this soon 😋

   

2. READ 📚 - this month in reading was very light. I was too distracted eating pasteries, thrifting, and biking all over Copenhagen to really settle down and put my nose in a book. I am, however, currently 100 pages into a book called “The Door” by Magda Szabó, which is a book I’ve tried to check out from the library many times, but it was always on hold for weeks. It’s an old book, written in 1987 by a Hungarian author, and later translated to English in 1995. It’s about an author, the narrator, and her housekeeper, Emerence, who is a fiercely independent and enigmatic figure with a mysterious past. As their relationship develops, the author becomes increasingly fascinated and troubled by Emerence's secrets, her tough exterior, and her deep loyalty to her own life principles. So far, I’m finding it delightfully odd, and interesting. I’ll follow up next month, so stay tuned!

   

3. WATCH 🎥 - Despite the fact that I watched over 5 wonderful movies in August (check out my top 10 movies I can rewatch over and over here), I have to hand this category to the most unlikely candidate: Love Island USA Season 6. I had heard a lot of talk about this show all summer long but had zero interest in indulging in it. However, right before boarding my flight to Copenhagen, I thought it would be wise to download some TV shows onto my phone. Having access to only Crave, I quickly downloaded the first 3 episodes while in line to board. Y’alllllllll. I’m ashamed to admit that I literally had to buy wifi on my flight so that I could download a couple more episodes mid-flight. No, like… these people… they are my family now. I’m still in a full blown hyper fixation over this show and specifically over the controversial snake wrangler character, Rob Rausch #iykyk

4. LISTEN 🎧 - I’m in a bit of a podcast rut. Got any recommendations? Instead I’ve just been listening to music, specifically this “run” playlist I recently put together, which could also interchangeably be called “drive” because it always gets me grooving in the car too.

   Stand out songs are: BRAND NEW BITCH, DEVIL IS A LIE, Prada, BerwynGesaffNeighbours, Saturn, Sun Came Up and Red Wine Supernova.

5. WEAR 👗 - I wore a lot of fun outfits in August but this dress definitely stole the show. It’s the Lexi Gown from Mr Larkin, a Danish designer, and I felt like I was going to the MET Gala when I put it on. I paired it with some baby blue tights, as suggested by the store owner, and Poppy Barely’s Lindsay Heeled Sandal in citrus. This dress was definitely a conversation starter and felt special to wear.

   

   

   

6. Mr friend Layne and I took the train from Copenhagen to the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, which was an absolute treat and perfect day trip. The building itself is quite architecturally beautiful, and is situated right on the ocean, with plenty of green space to enjoy a sit down reprieve after taking in all the beautiful art. The photorealism exhibit blew my mind. Later we trained home and decided to get pasta from Fabro’s. The curbside orange wine and snacks helped pass the time waiting for a highly saut after table. It was a lively night, filled with incredible people watching and outfit admiring. The pasta was great, too.

   

7. As you might have picked up on by now, I have this tendency to get hyper fixated on things. Before Love Island was ever even part of my lexicon, I was knee deep in the Olympics. I work from home, and had it playing in the background all day, every day. I talked incessantly about the opening ceremony, and later the closing ceremony (sans US portion). My top 3 favourite Olympic moments, you ask? Beaugrand winning the triathlon, Summer McIntosh and Leon Marchand in their respective 400 IM races, and of course all of Canada’s Beach Volleyball games. Watching Melissa and Brandie fight their way from a tough start to winning a silver medal for Canada was exceptional. Hi Melissa 👋, we adore you :)