Alexander and the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad summer

"I just need something in the W column," I told my husband this morning.

Do you ever feel like there's a mounting number of L's in the Losses column and not enough W's in the wins column?

That's how I've been feeling this summer.

Just this week:

*I got passed up for story assignments and don't know why

*I didn't even get an interview for a local job for which I thought I was perfectly suited

* The dentist said I need braces

*My cookies this morning came out flat

*Everything is either annoying me or disappointing me

We've decided to head up north for a few days to see if I can salvage this bad summer.

I need to dip my toes into Lake Michigan's cooling waters.

We're going to see the Dale Chihuly exhibit at the Frederik Meijer Gardens in Grand Rapids. We'll head to Holland for a little sight seeing and beach time. And we'll spend as much time dining outdoors as possible, with drinks in hand.

In the meantime, I'm trying to catch beauty when I can find it.

A hummingbird in mid flight at my butterfly bush.

Lush gardens filled with buzzing bees.

I'm coming up with a plan on how to fill my future days with some good things. Music, writing, time connecting with people.

In the meantime, this too shall pass. Brighter days ahead, and all things autumnal to look forward to very soon.

 

A Bookish Birthday

 

One of my sisters-in-law is a big reader, like me. And she is having a BIG birthday this week...you know, one of those birthdays where the age ends in 0. I decided she needed a bookish birthday card.

My brother still hasn't forgiven me for telling her about the huge quarterly book sale at my local fairgrounds. She attends every sale, too! And now my brother has to build her more bookshelves. ha ha ha!

This card was super easy to assemble, thanks to a little pre-stamping.

I found a bunch of pre-stamped and die cut images in the storage sleeve and was able to use them to make the card. Thank you, smart self!

The "bookshelf" is from a Hello Bluebird Gallery frame die, and the streamers are from Mama Elephant. I thought the streamers and sequins made it more festive.

I'm mailing this one off with a cute bookmark today.

And here's one more bookish thing I found this week: this coffee cup and book stack air freshener for the car from Bath and Body Works. Cute!

Hope your day is stacked for fun.

A Cozy Reading Nook

 

I've been fluffing in the library this week. The Library. That's what I'm now calling Sam's old basement level bedroom. And why not? When you are an empty nester, you can shake things up in the house and use it as you see fit.

I told my husband that I needed a chair for this room.

"Why don't you use the chair in the corner of the basement movie area? We hardly ever use it there."

And he was right!

The only thing it needed was an ottoman to put your feet up. So I went to Target, and Ta Da! The perfect ottoman, and on sale, too. 

I snagged it before one of the college kids grabbed it for their dorm.

In my town, the next week becomes super crazy as kids from all over the country (and the world!) descend upon Ann Arbor for move-in day at the University of Michigan. The Target associate told me "Don't come next week unless you want to be trampled!" ha ha

I pulled a floor lamp from the basement and moved it here in this corner, too.

(The door behind the lamp leads to a very small utility closet that we rarely use.)

We are starting to clean out my Mom's house. This weekend, I found some pretty magazines to take home and enjoy. This newspaper/magazine rack was a curbside find from ten years ago.

This room also serves as the guest room when the kids come home to visit. I'm calling the design choice "Dark Academia with a woodland twist". 

My next project will be to build the Book Nook that my son, Sam gave me for my birthday this year. It will look perfect on these shelves!

I'm definitely going to enjoy this space in the days ahead. I'll add a candle, a comfort dog, a cozy blanket and a up of coffee for the perfect afternoon retreat.

The Growing Library

 

Newsflash! I love books.

Okay, maybe that isn't newsworthy. But I do love reading, and I've been accumulating books in recent years.

Here's the back story.

I once had a home in Pittsburgh that had bookshelves everywhere. In the family room, in the living room, in the craft room. It was wonderful. And those shelves were filled, easily.

And then we moved to a house in the Chicago burbs that had, maybe, one teeny shelf. And I got brutal with the book collection. I gave away hundreds...to the local library, to little free libraries. Gone.

And honestly, I didn't really miss them. If I'd read them, I felt they needed to go. And if I hadn't read them, there must've been a reason. If the kids had outgrown them, then why was I hanging on to them?

I do love my local libraries and use them often. But sometimes, owning a book is preferable. Cookbooks are one example.

And old, out of print, hard to find books are another example.

I've been transforming what was formerly Sam's bedroom into a guest room library, and this week I found another shelving unit from Target that perfectly matched the others.

So now my books have room the breathe, and I'm organizing by category. Here are my mystery shelves.

This summer, I've been enjoying Agatha Christie novels. I will read one and then see if Britbox has a movie adaptation after I finish. Sometimes, they are spot on. And other times, they change the story to insert some totally unnecessary modern take/storyline of a character. 

I'm happy to report that of the twenty books I read for the summer program, fifteen were from my own shelves.

I'm going to add a chair and a nice, cozy reading corner to this room soon.

The next big warehouse book sale is in September. Oh boy! I better get my updated list ready. Who knows what treasures will await me there?

One Week Later

It's been one week since my Mom's funeral, and I'm still processing through the grief and the joy, the loss and the victory.

It was a beautiful service where my mother gave her last confession of faith to her friends and family. And let me tell you, for being 92 and outliving many friends and family, she had a lot of people who came and shared their stories and memories. It was a testament to her love.

I've received so many beautiful cards and words. Thank you!

My siblings and I are starting the process of cleaning and sorting Mom's things...slowly. It will take time. You touch a thing, and it brings back a memory. Lots of talking. Lots of feelings.

A funny thing has happened this week. I dream of Mom every night. Nothing momentous. No earth-shattering revelations. Just Mom, quietly inserted into my dreams. Drinking coffee. Making tea. Holding a baby. Always there, for all the moments.

And that was my Mom. There for all the moments. 

And that will continue to be my Mom. There, in my heart, for all of my life's moments. 

What a blessing, and what a comfort.

 

Rustic Bouquet-Inspired

 

Concord and 9th had some pretty autumnal stamps and dies this month. Rustic Bouquet is one of them. A watering can with florals and a doily mat. What's not to love?

I decided to re-create the look using items from my stash:

*Watering can die (The Greetery)

*Fall flowers dies (Sunflower Botanicuts from The Greetery)

*Doily mat dies ( My Favorite Things)

I had these stamped backgrounds at my desk (CP stamps, probably made them last fall!) and decided to use them. I made the watering cans look like enamelware with some ink splattering.

I think these look like end-of-summer bouquets, don't you?

Next up: Autumn bouquets!

I changed the color palette and flowers for these.

*Marigold dies (SU)

*Wheat dies (Concord and 9th)

This time, I made the watering cans look like galvanized metal, and added a rusty element with some copper spray.

Four versatile cards to add to my stash. 

New is pretty, and new is fun. But new is not always necessary when you have old treasures waiting to be used and loved.

Aug-tober

 

Have you heard of Aug-tober? It's that feeling that comes when you are done with summer and ready to roll into autumn.

I'm ready for Aug-tober. And I've been seeing signs of Aug-tober everywhere.

I've been organizing my craft room by pulling out the fall-ish stamp sets and paper packs.

New fall releases from Concord and 9th and Catherine Pooler have me reaching for some older products for inspiration. I plan on doing some therapeutic crafting today.