What are you up to this week? I'm continuing to savor the last sweet days of summer. I'm also excitedly preparing for my new collaboration with interiors store Past Basket. I can't wait to put on my styling hat, and I will hopefully see you at Past Basket on Saturday, September 8 from 11am - 3pm for the kickoff party. In the meantime, check out my favorite links from around the web this week...
Read moreHow I Procrastinated This Week 08.13.18
Is it really the middle of August? The short summer in Wisconsin always flies by. In just a few weeks kids will be heading back to school, the days will be getting shorter, and I will start planning for Halloween. Until then, I am going to soak up the remaining days of summer. What are your plans for the end of summer? In the meantime, check out my favorite links from around the web this week...
Read moreHow I Procrastinated This Week 08.07.18
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about living on a farm someday. I dream of a bucolic country life gardening, raising chickens, and having acres to roam. What do you dream of? If you need a little extra daydreaming, check out my favorite links from around the web this week...
Read moreHow I Procrastinated This Week 07.23.18
I’m looking forward to attending a writing retreat later this week. I can’t wait to be inspired and recharge my creativity. What do you do to reignite your creative spark? I’d love to hear your ideas! I won’t be sending out a newsletter this week, but in the meantime until I return, check out my favorite links from around the web this week…
Read moreHow I Procrastinated This Week 07.16.18
It is going to be a beautiful, sunny week in Milwaukee. I have to remind myself that these quintessential summer days are fleeting In Wisconsin and take some time for a long walk on the beach and dinner on the patio. If you need a little break, check out my favorite links from around the web this week...
Read moreHow I Procrastinated This Week 07.09.18
It feels so good to be at home and back to my normal routine after quite a bit of travel the past few weeks. Sometimes it’s nice to just stay put for a while and enjoy the wonderful things close to home. If you need a little break after the long Fourth of July weekend, check out my favorite links from around the web this week…
Read moreHow I Procrastinated This Week 06.18.18
I am off this week, but I hope you are enjoying beautiful summer days wherever you are. In the meantime until I return, check out my favorite links from around the web this week...
Read moreHow I Procrastinated This Week 06.11.18
I am off to Paris in a few days to attend the wedding of a beautiful couple. Could there be a more romantic place to get married? I plan to hit a few markets and antique stores while I am there and consume my weight in pain au chocolat! What are your summer vacation plans? If you need a little break sooner than later, check out my favorite links from around the web this week...
How I Procrastinated This Week 06.04.18
The beginning of June always has me dreaming of my summer camp days. How I long to return to those carefree and blissful days. If you need a little time with your head in the clouds, check out my favorite links from around the web this week…
Read moreHow I Procrastinated This Week 05.28.18
I hope you had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend filled with beautiful weather and some downtime to unwind and relax. If you need a little procrastination before diving into the week ahead, here are some of my favorite links from around the web...
Read moreHow I Procrastinated This Week 05.21.18
The heart-warming and beautifully groundbreaking wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle this past weekend seemed to lift everyone’s spirits. If you’re looking for even more inspiration and joy, here are a few of my favorite links from around the web this week…
Read moreHow I Procrastinated This Week 05.14.18
What are you looking forward to this week? I’m meeting up with my son’s ex-girlfriend for coffee. Is that odd? They are no longer a couple but she and I have stayed in touch. Plus, I love being around millennials and giving them crap face-to-face, which they richly deserve. (Okay, kind of kidding.) Honestly, I do believe that the secret to brain elasticity is learning from young people.
Here are my procrastination links from Friday’s post if you need a little break from your week…
Read moreHow I Procrastinated This Week 04.30.18
Every week, I go to the ends of the Internet so you don't have to. Here are the highlights of my wanderings:
Read moreContests! I Love Contests! Part Two
Remember that writing contest I entered two months ago? I had eight days to write a 2,500-word short story using an assigned genre (action/adventure), a subject (a boat race), and a character (a biographer)? How excited I was?
Well, here is an updated confessional on that whole experiment. I spent a week writing drafts, getting feedback, and then ripping everything apart. Not since 1975 when I penned an ambitious junior high version of "Looking for Mr. Goodbar" have I dabbled in fiction. It was hard!
Read moreHelp Wanted: I'm Buried!
Well, this has been coming for some time now. I'm up to my eyeballs. Overwhelmed. As I get busier with some larger long-term projects and some outside work, I need someone to assist with the day-to-day running of my blog and shop.
If you don't mind working with a perpetual procrastinator, if you have a sense of humor, if you don't shy away from smoke bombs, please consider applying. This position will be 10-15 hours / week with some hours spent in my at-home studio and some hours spent working remotely.
Read moreThursday Night Fights: Mithra vs. The Pre-crastinator
I am a procrastinator, and maybe you are too. We are everywhere. Did you know that Charles Darwin took twenty years to write "Origin of Species"? Experts refer to the time between his voyage on The Beagle and the publication of his masterpiece as "the incredible procrastination."
My husband Gary -- sound asleep in the photo above -- is what is known as a pre-crastinator. He finishes assignments ahead of schedule, which according to his defective internal clock, is finishing on time. He loves order, punctuality, regularity.
Read moreContests! I Love Contests!
Last week on the blog, I sponsored a contest with delicious salted caramel chocolate brownies for a prize. This week, I entered a contest myself. It's all very exciting! It is a writing contest, and my entry is due on Saturday at the stroke of midnight. Very Marty McFly, isn't it?
Read moreA Duck Comedy Assignment
This week, a friend sent a link to a humor writing contest. Called the Royal Nonesuch Humor Writing Contest, it is sponsored by the Mark Twain Museum in Hartford, Connecticut. The deadline is next week, so click here to enter. Full disclosure, you have to pay $23 to submit, but I strongly encourage you to give it a try, as one of the prizes is a gift certificate to the Mark Twain store in Hartford, Connecticut. The "Cat in the Ruff" laminated bookmark is super cute.
Read moreYou People Crack Me Up!
Every week, I work hard to write witty posts for you people and I hit 'send' and I'm happy. Then you open the email and write me back. Or you post a comment on the blog. Or on Facebook or Instagram. And let me tell you, you're a bunch of memoir-reading, NPR-listening, SNL-watching, kombucha-sipping smarty pants. This is my teasing way of saying that your comments are wonderful! You seem to be a very well-rounded crowd. Interesting. Funny. Worldly.
Read moreA Dinner Party with Strangers from the Internet
WARNING: The first two paragraphs are long-form procrastination and not necessary to the story of the dinner party. If you have a short attention span, go directly to paragraph #3.
Do you procrastinate? Ugh, don't you hate yourself when you do? I publish a blog post every Friday morning. But on Thursdays, because I am a compulsive procrastinator, I put off the process of writing the blog post for as long as possible. Today I monkeyed around by looking at color swatches painted on the side of Patrick's house. For hours. It was the perfect procrastination activity because the task was concrete (pick a color), non-urgent (pick a color soon), and challenging enough to be a satisfactory way to procrastinate (pick a good color).
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