I am out of town this week, but I am looking forward to the next blog post on a book you’ll definitely want to read. Keep sharing those book and website recs with me! In the meantime, check out my favorite links from around the web this week…
Read moreRiding Shotgun at an Estate Sale
Have you ever attended an estate sale? Recently, my assistant, Alicia, joined me for her first ever estate sale. Expect the unexpected is what I told her. And never let the outside of a house lead you to make presumptions about the inside of a house. You can’t judge a book by its cover.
Read moreProcrastination Links 02.04.19
How did you spend your days during our recent snowstorm and cold snap? The long days at home had me thinking about all of the ways we filled time when we were children just playing games, conducting experiments, and doing arts and crafts. Is this what kids still do on snow days? If you’re looking to fill a little time this week, check out my favorite links from around the web…
Read moreA Bathroom for ManBearPigs Plus Jane
Technically, this post is about the rehab of our hall bathroom. In actuality, I’m excited to delve into some of the grittier aspects of bathrooms and boys. You have been warned.
For twenty years, our four sons, aka our ManBearPigs, shared a small bathroom that measured 8 x 8. Thinking back on those days, it was quite manageable. When they were little, they loved communal bath time so much that the promise of bubbles in the tub was strong incentive for good behavior. And while I was forever straining to clean that weird spot on the base of the toilet with my stubby T-Rex arms, I don’t recall things getting rough until the middle school years.
Read moreProcrastination Links 01.28.19
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
Photo by Carla Coulson.
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.
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