A Family Affair

This past weekend, my grandparents came to visit!

We had a fun time playing games, enjoying the first cook-out of the season, and exploring all that Concord has to offer.

The weather couldn't have been more perfect, and we had a splendid time outside in the sunshine.

We peered into shops, admired the beauty of spring, ate yummy ice cream cones, and met a golden-doodle named Teddy who stole our hearts!

It was a great visit, and a lovely reminder of why I love my family so much!

Mmmm Monday

Yesterday I was visited at work by a lovely, cupcake baking friend. Normally I would use other adjectives than "cupcake baking" to describe her, but take a look at this...

See what I mean?

Look how excited I was....

Yep, I'm a dork.

But I got to eat the cupcake, and you didn't, so there. :)

Summertime, and the Living is Fine

I don't know about you, but a beautiful summer day is about all it takes to make me blissfully happy.



Today it's supposed to be in the 70's and tomorrow on through the beginning of next week we're looking at temps in the 80's - yippie! This is pretty remarkable for April in New England, but I'm not going to question it for fear that I might scare it away.

I can't wait to get my little pale self out into the sunshine, and soak up some of this gloriousness.

Now just to get through the workday...

(Image via Resolved 2 Worship)

Thank You Netflix

Last week I was sick and confined mostly to bed.

(My bosses told me I was "pathetic" and ordered me to go home and do nothing but sleep.   My roommates didn't want the plague either, and preferred that I stay quarantined in the bedroom.)

I'm not particularly good at staying in bed.  If it's daylight outside, I'd much rather be up and about - doing anything but lying in our tiny bedroom.  But orders are orders, and to be quite honest, I was too tired (and yes, pathetic) to do much else.

It was Netflix that saved the day.  

Not only are there numerous movies available to watch instantly, I have found two of my favorite British television series - "Keeping Up Appearances" and "As Time Goes By."

I've spent hours over the last couple of weeks laughing at Hyacinth's antics, and falling back in love with Jean and Lionel.  The two shows are completely different, but I enjoy both the slapstick, almost painful humor of one and the dry, understated humor of the other.  

Watching them again reminds me of the many Friday nights that our family spent watching these on PBS, and how much we always laughed at them together.  And while they might not be as popular as many television shows now, but they have made this sickie feel much better.  

A Good Read

I recently picked up a book at Barnes & Noble on a whim.  

I do this quite frequently, and sometimes it works out better than others.  I don't know what it is about being in a place with so many books - it almost puts me into a frenzy.  (Don't worry, it's a quiet, internal frenzy - I'm quite safe to take along to a bookstore.)

People always talk about going to a bookshop to relax, but I find myself wanting to touch and look at as many books as possible.  Maybe it's my indecisive nature - or my perfectionism manifesting itself in a weird way - but I want to be certain that I'm taking home something really good.  Something that will draw me in and just absorb me into another world.

This one did exactly that.

This is a story about family, friendship and love - and how all three can get mixed up together and create something rather lovely but a bit muddy.  It's a story about summer, and all the social norms and traditions that come along with / fall away during that glorious season.  It's a story about the intersection of past and future, and the pull that both exert on you in separate directions.

Ann Brashares gently and eloquently explores family dynamics, social and economic status, and tragedy without making any of them the focus of this novel.  I was swept away by her ability to express emotion and deep, personal thoughts in a natural and powerful way without sounding trite.  

But be warned - if you're anything like me, you'll cry.

And then you'll feel better.  

It just makes me happy...

Have you ever bought art?  

Was it a painting or a drawing that you fell in love with?  A notecard that you framed and hung on the wall?  That piece of pottery that just had to come home with you?  

For me (most recently) it was this piece by Marcus Michels:

It's called Term Paper, and I love it.  It hangs in our living room, and from where I sit on the couch, every time I look up - there it is.  

I find new colors in it regularly, and depending on my mood, I see the scene differently.  Some times I want to get right up close to it and get lost in the brush strokes.  Other days, I love standing across the room and seeing the scene more coherently.  

I've since forgotten what I paid for it, or how I agonized over bringing it home.  Now that it's a part of our home, and something I look at everyday, it just makes me happy. 

And really, isn't that what art is supposed to do?