Happy Friday! With daylight savings beginning this weekend, it feels like summer will be rapidly approaching and this, of course, turns my thoughts to vacation planning. We don't actually take very many vacations. Mostly it's because M's work schedule is unpredictable and this makes it tricky to plan trips. One of loveliest family vacations we took was to Roche Harbor on San Juan Island with M's parents a few years ago. We rented a cottage that K called the "trip house", and the atmosphere as a …
illustration
Criticism and How I Got a Book Deal
I started and stopped several light and easy posts for today, but I've been stuck on this idea of criticisms so I decided to just go with it even though it's neither light nor easy. It's also not a short read, so I've inserted random illustrations I've been painting these days to break up the text. When I was in my early twenties, I quietly mentioned to someone I respected -- a much older woman -- that I might want to be a writer or a "creative" of some sort. She leveled her world-weary eyes …
Alternative Exercise
I've been slowly incorporating yoga into my exercise routine. I can't say that I'm a complete convert yet and K likes to mock me while I attempt the different poses ("You're doing it wrong, Mommy!" screams my yoga coach from the sidelines. It does dampen the serenity a bit), but I'm definitely warming up to the whole concept. When I made my 2014 list of non-resolutions, my aim was to do yoga at least once a week. Surprisingly, except for one week, I've kept it up. Some lovely readers recommended …
Happy Friday + Randomness
Happy Friday! Mid-winter break is about to end, and K and I have been having a grand old time. It's been a great blend of relaxed lounging around, quite a few impromptu playdates, tons of arts and crafts, and a couple of bike rides thrown in. I tend to dread these school breaks without any structured activities planned because I'm type A like that, but this time, it was no problemo. Because I had to do a lot of painting, it was a handy excuse to keep K occupied with assorted art supplies. I've …
And Then There Was Love
It's Valentine's Day tomorrow and I have love on the mind. Let me start by saying that I've always been a late bloomer. I didn't have my first kiss or boyfriend until I was seventeen (I somehow managed to miss out on the requisite pre-adolescent spin-the-bottle games). The other stuff came much, much, much later. I was angst-y in my twenties, and I'm certain that I emitted a "stay away from me" vibe for most of that decade. It was terribly confusing to me that I sailed through my prime dating …