Lovely Little Things, 23

This week’s lovely little things.

weekend fun

Visitors always bring us out of the house and into weekend fun. Without people we feel we have to entertain and dazzle with the sights of our town, we tend to hide away under trips to the grocery store and laundry and yard work. But our town is quite dazzling, as the nation’s capital should be, and there is so much to do and see and so much we really should get into more often. Last weekend, M’s father visited and so we went to the zoo and to the harbor and we rode the carousel and had lunch by the water and ice cream before noon. It makes me wish for more visitors.

soft endings to rough mondays

We both were having a rough one. We happened to be emailing (probably because we happen to be emailing most days) and we came to the conclusion together that the end of this particular Monday needed  a blanket on the front lawn and some bubbles. She changed her plans, I dropped out of the day a bit early and we ended that rough Monday the way it needed to end: with bubbles and chalk and little girl’s running around in their mommy’s shoes.

emails from friends

I read a lot of email these days. I write a lot of email too. I’m sending things and responding to things and looking for things. I’m subscribing to a lot just to get ideas and inspiration and examples of things I might do. I’m pretty much tired of email but I keep checking anyway because that’s where the next check might be. But every so often, I get an email from a friend. A sweet few sentences that make me pause, and breathe, and smile. I got two of those such emails this week in short succession and it made for such a lovely, happy morning.

markers and construction paper

Last year, following a rejection that hit me pretty hard, a friend advised me to make my own opportunities. And in this season of sending my words and heart out and hoping people latch on and take us somewhere, and having some lovely success and some not quite success, this idea of making my own opportunity is intriguing. So this week, I borrowed my children’s construction paper and markers and got to work on a few ideas that have been bouncing around in my brain. And it’s exciting.

dreaming of next summer

The fourth of July always makes me realize how swiftly summer is passing. It marks some sort of mid-point to me, a reminder to live it up now because this season is already halfway gone. It’s also a reminder to start planning for next summer. Wardrobe-wise. For the past couple of years, I’ve been shopping the end-of-season sales in next year’s sizes for threads to put away. It’s my favorite budget-saving technique.

Tea Collection’s semi-annual sale (which is on now and continues through Monday) is one of my favorites. Sweet dresses, tees, onesies and more all filled with the rich colors and intricate patterns of faraway Morocco. Simply use the promo code: MORE40 when you checkout. Here’s a glimpse of what I’ll be checking out with. What’s in your bag?

favorite words

This weekend, go enjoy some books and some summertime.

Happy Independence Day!