The R.E.P.O.R.T

Read, Eat, Play, Obsess, Recommend, Treat...like a Duchess.

It’s Libra season!!

And you know by now this Duchess loves a season. Even if it lasts a day.

This time though, from September 22nd to October 22nd it’s all about ME!!

Just kidding.

Sort of.

Lawrd I love this time of year.

Not only does my birthday land smack dab in the middle of it (weee!!) as this great article in The Cut describes, it is a season all about “beauty, harmony, and balance.”

This is inevitably the time of year I tend to take stock so it’s not all pumpkin spiced latte’s, apple-picking, jumping into a pile of leaves and rolling around on the grass in the crisp Fall air - although I will do all of that - there is also some pretty heavy head work going on and a lot of woo-woo.

I’ve got an eclipse the day after my birthday. Oof, that’s going to hit hard.

But, to quote The Cut “if your life has felt drab and uninteresting recently, Libra season is the perfect time to make it beautiful again. That can be as small as getting a new haircut, rearranging your furniture, or buying fresh flowers to brighten up your workspace. Libra’s great secret is that sometimes, the solution doesn’t need to be that deep. Making your life more aesthetically appealing isn’t a cure-all, but it can effectively lift your spirits.”

Duchessy.

The weekly R.E.P.O.R.T prevails!

The Duchess READS:

First, in Bridgerton world we’ve gotten a HUGE scoop for Season 4 which is currently filming.

This season will be Benedict’s story.

As a reminder, we are going completely out of Book order as B’s story is Book 3, not 4 (grrrrr).

His “love interest” is Sophie and she is going to be played by, drum roll please…Yerin Ha!

See Instagram screengrab below for the deets and photo.

Yerin is not who is described in the book as Sophie but we’ve expected that by now and we have embraced it and LOVE it. The show takes place in a different universe than the books and we are along for the ride!

Season 4 will be back in 2026 so as I’ve said before, I will get my AARP card before all 8 seasons have aired.

As for reading…I am all in on Darcy Burke. I know I was meh when I started reading her a few weeks ago, and I still pledge allegiance to Julia, Sabrina, and Eloisa first as authors, but I have fallen HARD.

I still cannot find her publisher and it’s killing me but I’m on Book 5 now (out of 12 and yes I’ve read 3 since we last saw each other) of The Untouchables series - The Duke of Defiance.

I’ve already met The Forbidden Duke, The Duke Daring, The Duke of Deception and The Duke of Desire.

Oh, they are GOOOOOD.

I almost have to write down notes to keep track of everything.

There are only so many Duke’s a Duchess can handle!!

For real. It’s a lot of Duke’s.

Also, I heard someone recite this poem on Tik Tok and I haven’t been able to get it out of my head…

“You have to begin.

Go, do it badly at first.

With sweaty palms and shaking limbs and gaps in what you know.

You have to start.

And perhaps you won’t feel ready or like you’ve fully prepared.

Perhaps you’ll feel too late, too small, too scared.

But, it’s okay that you did not appear on earth with all the skills and information.

It’s okay that there are things you’ll have to learn.

It’s okay you won’t be perfect overnight and people might see you try and that getting where you want might take some time.

Please begin.

Because, you could enjoy it.

Because, things just might go right.

Because, the world craves your light.

Because, you want to.

Everyone starts somewhere;

You’ll be in excellent company.

You’ll be so proud looking back, recalling your first step.

Please begin.”

Yes, queen!!

The Duchess EATS:

We are in full Garfield mode in this house as my better half requested lasagna last week and then in a twist of fate my nephew also mentioned how much he loves my lasagna, on the same day. Inspiring my sister to make it for him.

Alas, he still likes mine better.

Why? I don’t know.

I don’t do anything special whether it is cheese, or veggie, or meat and I not so shamefully use No Boil noodles and the directions on the back of the Barilla box.

I do overly season the ricotta, like A LOT, so maybe that is the trick?

Salt, Pepper, Italian Seasoning, Garlic Powder, Chopped Garlic, a handful of shredded Mozz and a big heaping spoonful or two of Pecorino Romano - that all goes in the pool with the ricotta.

My husband only wanted cheese lasagna this time and since he is recovering from a dislocated shoulder I did not sneak in any greens. Lucky guy.

The Duchess PLAYS:

Due to the aforementioned dislocated shoulder this Duchess hasn’t ventured too far lately.

But, I was pulled to the water over the weekend and we drove to New Rochelle and Glen Island Park which suddenly transforms from Westchester County into West Palm Beach.

Yachts and sailboats and a marina and views of City Island.

We went during high tide and there was a coastal flood warning which I pay little attention to living nowhere near a body of water - I’m an air sign! - but the beach was completely gone and water was spilling over the rock wall.

So, heed those warnings.

And, we will be back when all of our limbs are working and the beach is not a deluge.

Made me want to pick up fishing as a hobby.

The Duchess OBSESSES:

OMG.

They have brought the J.Crew catalog back!! It’s a limited edition and I have not been able to score a copy (how is this possible?) but Demi Moore is on the cover and I am OBSESSED.

I can practically feel the stock of the pages between my fingers as I rapidly flip through it to find the latest color of roll neck sweater modeled by Lauren Hutton and the order form that was inconveniently stuck in the middle ruining all of my dog-eared saves.

Pre-internet, it was like writing a letter to Santa filling out that order form and I think I must have enclosed cash (or money order?) because I did not yet have a checking account when I was buying a hunter green henley or rust colored mock turtleneck, or my favorite, a camel colored pea coat, in my teens.

How did it work? I forget!

Bury me in that pea coat.

They had a (re)launch party of the catalog at the New Your Public Library and they had old catalogs and sweaters and ties and socks and oh the glory of it all set up in museum cases as a retrospective!

So cool.

Also, Nicola Coughlan (Penelope Featherington from Bridgerton, Season 3) is doing Kate Spade and I was greeted by a gigantic poster of this on a bus stop on my way to work.

I was not sad about it.

Queen! And, I love this bag.

The Duchess RECOMMENDS:

This week, I’m changing this to the Duchess REMEMBERS.

Nelson DeMille passed away earlier this week and before I read historical romance for many years I made my way through my DeMille’s.

Plum Island.

The Lion’s Game.

Night Fall.

Wild Fire.

The Lion.

John Corey had a strong hold on me.

And, when I worked with publishers a long long time ago Mr. DeMille was very gracious and purchased ad space from me directly. His assistant was the nicest woman I ever spoke with.

RIP.

And of course, James Earl Jones.

While many will remember him most as the voice of Darth Vader and delivering the epic “No, I am your father” in Star Wars Episode V, my favorite JEJ scene will always and forever be from Field of Dreams in the People Will Come scene when he says “the memories will be so thick, they'll have to brush them away from their faces” and then he does this motion with his hands where he is actually brushing the memories away.

Masterful.

I use this quote often, myself.

Probably too much.

JEJ gave the commencement speech to my college graduation and not many people can say the advice they were given was “may the force be with you.”

This explains so much.

It all makes sense now!

The Duchess TREATS:

I caved and bought the Adidas Samba’s that literally every girl in New York is wearing.

I wanted the Green Gazelle’s but I couldn’t find them in my size.

I’ve heard they hurt and have no shock absorption but like a true Libra…fashion.

This all reminds me of the original UGG phase from a decade ago where you were not allowed into Manhattan unless you had a pair.

(Mine were originally knock offs from Old Navy, but no one would know. Who’s gonna know?)

Also no shock absorption and slippery AF in the winter.

That is all.