September is a great month for baking and cooking. I love the squeezing in of summery recipes I didn’t get around to earlier and the slow trickle of cooler days that let you start dipping into comforting, cozy favorites. Here are the notables from our homes and ones we are itching to try in October.
Read MoreSummer days. This is when quick & easy meals are a Godsend. When there is no turning on the oven, even better. This is also when I wish I was much more competent at grilling….
Read MoreSummer is lazily flying by. How that happens, I’m not sure. But, if it is getting away from you, here are some ways to continue savoring the leisure and relaxation.
Read MoreWe’re already well into wedding season, but chances are you still have a number of weddings left to attend (late summer into early fall is when wedding season really seems to pick up).
Read MoreWe are in full-on summer mode and we are loving it! I wish my kids would add sleeping in to the mix but they must love life so much they can’t wait to get at it again every morning - or at least that’s what I tell myself when 6:30 rolls around every morning and they’re (literally) springing out of bed. At first our utter lack of routine and responsibilities unnerved me - I felt like I had to impose a schedule and create a checklist just to keep some kind of regularity in our days. That totally tanked. Turns out homeschooling moms enjoy summer as much as the kids do. But we did end up finding a rhythm of sorts and it’s wonderful. Breakfast, outside play before it’s too hot, inside play while baby naps, lunch together, pool, dinner, evening walk... Same things every day. Simple and wonderful.
Now for some links!
Fun and interesting
Check out these perfectly timed shots: this, this, this, this, and this. I could look at this kind of thing forever.
This hovering backpack kind of blows my mind. It is mesmerizing!
“Very impressive starling murmurations” is kind of an understatement, imho.
These quizzes are so gimmicky. Unless they come out so right, haha. (I got snowy.)
Thought provoking reads:
Smash the Wellness Industry. Lots of good thoughts here. I’m not sure I agree with the author on the cause of the problem, but it’s definitely a problem and one I think women have to be conscious of and fight on a daily basis. “Women, can two or more of us get together without mentioning our bodies and diets? It would be a small act of resistance and a kindness to ourselves.” It seems simple enough, but I bet it would make big changes!
The babushkas who stuck around after Chernobyl. The risk of radiation poisoning vs leaving the only home you’ve ever known.
I got sucked in to this food blogger’s account of her experience of hyperemesis gravidarum and swore up and down afterwards that I would never again complain about my relatively slight morning sickness when/if I get pregnant again.
The durable feeling that a child is always at risk, but from the perspective of a physician.
For this holiday weekend:
How fireworks work. It’s time you understand it.
Assuming you go to a picnic this weekend, here are some best bbq sides that you can bring!
It’s good to reflect on the sacrifices made by the signers of the Declaration of Independence.
With summer heat in full swing, we’ve been noticing a switch in what looks appealing. Warm, cozy comfort food isn’t nearly as enticing as fresh, bright meals that require minimal oven time. Here are some recent bakes & makes and new recipes we are eyeing.
Read MoreGetting into a groove of summer reading and leisure is something of a challenge having kids. It used to be that once school was over, I could sit down with a book and read nonstop. Many times all three of us would read a book in a day, take a small breather, and dive right into another. A cousin who lived across the street was often frustrated…begging us to come out and play soccer or jump on the trampoline or do something active!
Read MoreSummer is in full swing! I’d love to know how you all do your summers. Do you just let the days run their course or do you have a daily schedule? I have to admit, I don’t achieve my ideal summer day every day, which I envision as a balance of scheduled and free time. Schedule takes discipline and that just seems to go out the window when there’s no external accountability for it (like school.) Tips would be appreciated!
For now, I’m going to seize this lazy Saturday morning and browse these links. Join me!
Read MoreI, for one, have hit a bit of slump as far as reading goes this past month. Maybe because it was the end of the school year and activities were in full swing. I’m certainly looking forward to summer when reading is such a pleasurable, leisurely pastime. We’ve also become engrossed in a TV show, so movies have fallen to the wayside (ah, the tangles of shows!). But again, summer is a great time to pick a list of movies to work through over the more relaxed season. Yes, perhaps I’m purposefully forgetting that life only picks up during summer time, especially for farmers, but still, I’m resolved to carve out more time for reading, watching, and listening the next few months. They’re just too good to do without!
Read MoreBecause it’s May, and I’ve been thinking eagerly about packing away the cashmere and boots in favor of flowing floral dresses, billowing tops, and bright prints, I thought this time around it’d be fun to “dress” from head to toe in some exciting summer looks.
Humor me, please, because snow and chilly temps have been in the forecast and I. Just. Can’t.
Read MoreHello lovely readers.
I hope your week was a good one and that you can enjoy these two days of rest, or whatever we Americans call weekends. They’re hardly restful. But hopefully they’re rejuvenating!
My week was … well … about the same as every other week. Kids do school, kids do soccer, kids play, we get outside, we see friends, I clean, I cook, I resolve conflicts, I negotiate hostage situations talk down toddler tantrums, etc. Some days I do it pretty well, some days I fall pretty low. Those highs and lows seems to be part and parcel of the gig. Sometimes it’s easy; other times, I’ll be honest, my love tank runs on almost empty. There’s a lot of self talk for times like that, but maybe the simplest is, well, someone did it for me. Maybe that’s what we can celebrate this Mother’s Day, that our mothers showed up even when they were low on sleep, stretched thin, over touched, tired of cleaning, or whatever it was. They showed us what it was to love even when they weren’t really feeling the love. I know that’s not the stuff of the grocery store flowers and sappy Hallmark cards, but it maybe it’s more meaningful for all that?
Read MoreHappy end of April! Another month gone by. Easter brought a bustle of baking, and we’re looking forward to continuing the celebration.
Read MoreEaster Season is nearly here, and Deirdre over at DaedalShop crafts intricate and inspired Pysanky eggs. We commissioned one for our “babcia” (grandma) several years ago and were blown away by the creativity and attention to detail that she brought to the project.
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Hello! It’s April!
YES. It is. And with it comes all the promise of spring and sunshine!
I love when Easter falls this late in April. It just feels so in step with the seasons. Spring starts to peek through the dismal long cold and then all of a sudden it’s busting out all over. It’s so refreshing and revitalizing, which, of course, is the promise of Easter.
Now grab some coffee and joins us for some links!
Where are GBBO winners now? I’m going to go find all those blogs!
Literary critique from unlikely places. Amazon really does have everything.
These abstract portraits are incredible.
Good for a laugh. But seriously, it's ridiculous!
Don't text with good grammar! People might think you're being a jerk.
Bad diets, cigarettes, wine, sugar, lack of exercise. It's all killing us. But we're all going to die anyway...
There are just no words. Breath taken.
I'm intrigued. Would it catch, I wonder?
March seemed to fly by, but not so fast that we didn’t savor the slow thawing of the earth and the promise of warmer days to come. There is something marvelous when the color of budding leaves makes its appearance on the trees, seemingly overnight. All of a sudden, there is an abundant chirping of birds and cacophony of frogs too. A striking shift that creeps in unawares. It never ceases to surprise.
Read MoreHappy Saturday! We have a decent spread this month’s Mixed Media, and we’re hoping some conversations might begin. We found more than a single gem, which we hope you will enjoy as well. And don’t miss the final note to honor St. Patrick’s Day!
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