I hope you are staying warm and safe if you are in the midst of our most recent Wisconsin snowstorm. If you need a way to pass the time while snowbound, check out my favorite links from around the web this week…
Read moreProcrastination Links 01.21.19
Hope you are taking some time today to honor the incredible life of Martin Luther King Jr. If you are looking for a little break this week, check out my favorite links from around the web…
Read moreThe State of the Blog: Year Five
Ah yes, here I am, staring into space, contemplating what comes next and how to like it. (One of the best books I read in 2018, by the way: “What Comes Next and How to Like It.”)
This week, The Bubble Joy is turning five. I’d rather not dwell on the bizarro fact that I’m entering my sixth year as a blogger because what is there to say? We all know that the subject of time flying is so dull.
You know what subject is not dull? Syphilis.
Read moreProcrastination Links 01.14.19
I’ve so appreciated the outpouring of support and comments on my post on An Eternity of Dry Januarys and How to Cope. It is comforting to know that I am not alone on this journey, and I am so grateful for our community of online readers. If you need a little distraction this week, check out my favorite procrastination links from around the web…
Read moreThe Inspiring Mother and Daughter Story of Sister Golden
There is so much here in today’s post. I’m convinced that you will appreciate some aspect of this story. If you are a Wisconsinite, or if you enjoy Door County, if you believe in the power of Instagram, if you love art, if you run your own business, if you accept that millennials are very smart, if you are over fifty and your kankles get tired, then promise me you won’t simply look at the pretty photos. Swear to me you’ll read these paragraphs.
This is the story of Vicki Rawlins (left), a fifty-something woman who has been a practising artist her entire life. She has worked in clay, fabric, watercolor, metal, pastel, oil, acrylic, and lately, flower petals. Certainly, Vicki is open to experimentation, yet it is her business partner, her millennial daughter, Brooke (right), who sometimes pushes her to think differently and take risks.
Read moreProcrastination Links 01.07.19
I hope your January is off to a good start. I had such a delightful holiday season with all of my kids home and everyone enjoying and savoring each other’s company. I’m looking forward to what 2019 has in store! If you need a little break from the start of the new year, check out my favorite links from around the web this week…
Read moreAn Eternity of Dry Januarys and How to Cope
That’s me in the photo above, happily-not happily sipping my favorite non-alcoholic cocktail, the Moscow Maiden. Recipe will follow at the bottom of the page. But really, today’s post is about living without alcohol. It has been 19 months since I’ve felt tipsy.
Maybe you want to try “Dry January.” Maybe you and alcohol just don’t get along very well. Maybe my experience will be of interest to you.
Read moreProcrastination Links 12.31.18
Happy New Year! Wishing you and yours health and happiness in 2019. If you need a little break from the New Year’s festivities, check out my favorite links from around the web this week…
Read moreProcrastination Links 12.24.18
I hope you are having a happy and relaxing holiday. If you need a little break from the entertaining, endless piles of dishes, and visiting relatives, check out my favorite links from around the web this week…
Read moreTo Make Or Not to Make?
Happy is the hobbyist in December. When the weather drives you indoors to your workbench or your sewing room. When the holidays provide you the opportunity to share your craft with loved ones. This is the time of year when those who can, do. And those who can’t, say thank you to their industrious friends.
Read moreProcrastination Links 12.17.18
Some unexpected farm business kept me busy last week. My husband and I continue to be giddy with excitement thinking about next year when we’ll get to enjoy our first winter at the farm. In the meantime, I’ll be dreaming about the renovations and projects we’ll soon be embarking on. If you need a little break this week, check out my favorite links from around the web…
Read moreThe Tureen Is Dead. Long Live the Tureen.
Why are tureens obsolete? When did that happen? Was it before I was born? I mean, I’ve been around the block a few times. I know how to use a payphone and I’ve eaten at a Ground Round (Homecoming ‘79). Yet I have no recollection of seeing a host or hostess use a tureen. EVER. That includes my friend Wendy who is a Daughter of the American Revolution and owns finger bowls.
Last month at a small dinner, my friend Susan set her table with her mother’s china and sterling silver, and then ladled her delicious vichyssoise out of a Tupperware from the fridge. So burping plastic survived the leap to Y2K but not the elegant and functional tureen?
Read moreProcrastination Links 12.10.18
I hope you are enjoying the beauty and wonder of the holiday season. If you need a little break from holiday parties and gift buying, check out my favorite links from around the web this week…
Read moreA Christmas Story
My dad grew up in Hamadan, Iran, one of the oldest cities in the world. Situated in the shadow of the Zagros Mountains, Hamadan has one of the harshest climates in Iran. My dad remembers winters so frigid, the dead could not be buried.
So when he moved to Chicago for medical school, the weather didn’t completely shock him, though he did question the fear of a tornado - it's just wind! - until the day
Read moreProcrastination Links 12.03.18
Happy Hanukkah to all of you celebrating the festival of lights! If you need a little break this week from the hectic holiday season, check out my favorite links from around the web…
Read moreShopping Small Makes You Big
For nearly fifty years, my grandfather owned and operated a small grocery store in Gurnee, Illinois. It had two cash registers, a produce department, a freezer aisle, a couple of bakery cases, and a very well-regarded meat market. All seven of my mother’s siblings and their spouses worked at Welton’s Food Mart, and when I turned fourteen, I became the first of twenty-one grandkids to join the team. My grandfather paid me $1.25 an hour to paint signs, face soup cans, bag groceries, and eventually run a cash register.
It was such an old-fashioned place. We knew every shopper by name, knew their favorite cut of meat, their brand of cigarettes, whether their pets ate Alpo, Purina, or Gravy Train.
Read moreProcrastination Links 11.26.18
I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving and are enjoying some fabulous Cyber Monday sales. As many of you know, I will be closing my shop, Finder Not Keeper, next month, and it feels so good to be shopping today rather than worrying about the shop. I will continue to source and sell vintage finds, and they will be available locally at Past Basket and to my style clients. If you need a little break from surfing the web for deals today, check out my favorite links from around the web this week…
Read moreHolidays, Adult Children, and Gratitude
I’ve had a few conversations with friends whose words really stuck with me. This morning, before you unload the dishwasher for the umpteenth time, take a moment to read their thoughts.
My walking friend let out this lament:
Read moreI remember the days when Thanksgiving meant, ‘Is someone going to put something in my mouth? Is someone going to make me a very special pie?’ I want to be the person waited on, not the person doing the waiting on. I miss those years and I want my mama back.
Procrastination Links 11.19.18
Thanksgiving is the perfect time to take a step back, reflect, and relax. Hoping you enjoy this special day with family and friends. If you need a little break from the hustle and bustle, check out my favorite links from around the web this week…
Read moreCrime and Punishment
When I was sixteen, I spent a month canoeing with a bunch of juvenile delinquents from New York. This was through a program called Outward Bound, which I had signed up for of my own volition. They, on the other hand, had been sent to the boundary waters of Minnesota by a judge who ordered “wilderness training” as an alternative to juvie jail.
My group of young criminals included a skinny dude with a peach-fuzz chin and lifeless eyes, a cruel rich boy and his toady sidekick, and a big shaggy guy who looked and sounded like Jack Nicholson. The four of them were horribly mean to me and the other two women, and when I wasn’t cowering from their bullying, I was plotting ways to get even.
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