Don’t we all love to get lost in a great book?  I’m still old school, preferring to hold the pages in my hands, but my latest obsession with the iPad has me rethinking that habit, especially the convenience of a lighted screen at night after Matt falls asleep (since my favorite thing to do before I fall asleep is read!!)

I struggled with what book to write about today, then turned to the classic that sits on my bookshelf – what I call my “vacation” book – the one I like to tote along with me when I take a few days off.  But of course!  Have you read Anne Morrow Lindbergh’s Gift From the Sea ?  The author was a mother of five and the wife of the famous Charles Lindbergh, she also became a pilot herself and led quite an adventurous life.  The book was originally published back in 1955, but I’m still amazed at how the author’s reflections ring true today!

I discovered this book ten years ago in a little beach boutique in San Diego, and it had such an impact on me, I try to reread it every year.  Lindbergh gives a thoughtful perspective that reflects on the often overwhelming commitments and everyday demands placed on women in the modern home.  The most interesting parts are her analogies of life’s complex issues and relationships to shells found along the beach, an association I’d never make on my own but done so articulately in the 120 pages.

It was written while Anne took a beach vacation alone and away from her family.  The book pulls you to a quiet place, insisting you exist as you read it as if part of the rhythmic tide of the ocean.  I love her perspective on the ‘circus act’ women perform in our everyday lives, between children, keeping up the household, our work, and our volunteer efforts.  It places real value on moments spent alone in order to feed the soul, and the importance of time spent resisting the pressures of the world and being inwardly attentive.   It analyzes our female instinct to give of ourselves to others, but how necessary it is to take moments for ourselves so we can give with purpose.  It offers reflections on marriage and sister relationships that are heartfelt, poignant, and meaningful.

There are so many quotes in the book that I love, here are three I underlined:

“I shall ask into my shell only those friends with whom I can be completely honest.  I find I am shedding the hypocrisy in human relationships… the most exhausting thing in life, I have discovered, is being insincere.”  (Chapter 2)   Do you/we waste too much time invested in false relationships? 

“I believe that true identity is found by going into one’s own ground and knowing oneself.  It is found in creative activity springing from within.  It is found, paradoxically, when one loses oneself.  Woman can best refind herself by losing herself in some kind of creative activity of her own.”  (Chapter 4)  Yes, yes, how true that fulfillment often comes from tapping into our creativity!

“One cannot collect all the beautiful shells on the beach. One can only collect at few, and they are more beautiful if they are few.”  (Chapter 7)   Just like we should not collect too many material possessions in our homes… the focus should be keeping it simple and meaningful.

If you haven’t read it, I recommend picking it up, especially for the next time you take a few days off.  For all those who’ve read it, what did you love about Gift From The Sea? 

Time to share your latest book – link up your reviews!

.

Alright how many of us are on Pinterest, storing up all those great ideas we love and planning on actually tackling them “someday”.  Well friends, that someday is here!  Perhaps you’ve seen this throwdown around the blogosphere before – it was started by co-hosts Sherry of Young House Love and Katie of Bower Power last year and continues today.  Yep, it’s time for another round of the Pinterest Challenge and this is the Summer Edition! 

I’m cohosting with the above mentioned blog friends (who I finally got to meet face to face at Haven – woot!) plus my buddy Michelle from Ten June!  This brunette band of DIY lovin’ ladies is issuing another throwdown, and we hope you’ll say “Game on!”

Time to take a close look at your Pinterest boards and all those projects you’ve been meaning to get to, choose one, and get ‘er done!  I’ve got so many ideas stored up on my boards, but I’m totally obsessed with one in particular, can’t wait to finally make it happen!   

So, what will yours be?  It’s time to try out a new recipe, paint a piece of furniture, craft, create, or sew – all projects are welcome, big or small.  Anything goes as long as the inspiration comes from an idea you spy on Pinterest.

(find all of these these projects and recipes on my Pinterest Boards!) 

I’ve got a ton of ideas saved up, feel free to check out recipes In The Kitchen, plenty of colorful painting ideas exist over at Color Inspiration, and you know I love to collect all those great craft and home improvement projects in my DIY Inspiration board! 

Here’s how it works:  No project is too big or too small!  Pick any project you have pinned or one you have seen on Pinterest and tackle it for your post.  Then write up your completed project and include a link to the Pinterest inspired project on Tuesday, July 10th, you’ve got one week!  Please be sure to link to the original source of the Pinterest inspired project too.  There will be link parties on that day by the co-hosts, so add your Pinterest Challenge project to any or all of them and link back to your hostess too.

We’re pretty excited about this, and the opportunity to meet new bloggers through this fun blogosphere par-tay – join us next Tuesday July 10th for the Pinterest Challenge – Summer Edition!   FYI, Pinterest has no clue about this, they’re not a sponsor, this is just a fun idea originated by bloggers and a great way to your bootie in gear and tackle one of your Pinterest “to do” ideas! 

Oh and pssssst.  Since the Pinterest Challenge is Tuesday, I’m moving the Fair Weather Chillin’ and Grillin’ Link Party to Monday instead.  Say what?  Two link parties back to back?  I know, call me crazy.  If you’ve got a great BBQ recipe or picnic sidedish or some tailgaiting tips you’d like to share, link them up here on Monday July 9th.  Link up your Summer Pinterest Challenge project the next day on Tuesday, July 10th. 

Join in the fun!

.

Hello everyone and welcome to the link party all about travel souvenirs! I’ll share a few of my favorites and then it’s your turn to link up.  I have a lot of little things I’ve brought home from our travels, my number one favorite I mentioned here and it is a pair of vintage glasses we brought home from The End of History in New York City ten years ago.  We toast to our anniversary with champagne every year in these amber Empoli mid-century glasses we found tucked away in a corner of the shop.

second image from here

Next up is a special treasure – a black and white sketch and watercolor Matt found at a Paris street faire in 1999 – you can catch a glimpse of Notre Dame in the background where he is talking to the artist Pierre-Yves.  It was so simple and lovely we just had to bring it home!  It’s been framed in classic black and gold and now hangs in our living room.

I’m a dork when it comes to collecting travel tchotchkes and the one I always bring home if I can is a mini monument.  Yes, it’s true I have a “monument collection”!  Don’t mock me, I totally love it, and I can’t stop myself from picking them up from a street vendor or local tourist shop.  We’ve seen a few monuments in our travels from the Coliseum to the Alamo and it’s my crazy way of tying together the memories from the pictures with the actual trip itself.    

But I have to say of all the things I treasure most, it’s my travel journals.  Someone once told me in my early twenties to keep a travel journal on big trips and I’ve always followed that advice.  Before the kids came along we did a lot more traveling abroad and I always kept a journal on the trips – do you do this?

My travel journals are my favorite treasures and that “thing” I name when asked “What would you grab if your house was on fire?”  (Other than the kids and pets of course.)  Inside I’ve jotted down all the memories from the day and with a simple glue stick secured the receipts, maps, napkins from restaurants, and ticket stubs too. The pictures and written notes of the funny moments are the best ‘souvenir’ in my world, better than any thing I could bring home.  I bring them out every few years and we crack up recalling all the sights, sounds, and phrases overheard from those weeks spent in foreign lands and not captured in pictures.  

So friends, what about you?  What treasures have you discovered in your travels? 

Link up your favorite souvenirs, can’t wait to see!  You can link up through May 31st!

.

I love food.  I know I have must have mentioned this before.  Yes, I’m a foodie – gimme gimme some savory sauces and some tasty treats and I’m one happy gal.  So I was playing in the kitchen a few weeks ago and thought up this idea where we all tell about our favorite kitchen gadgets, large and small.

A few others came to mind for me.  My blender for the morning smoothies, my super sharp pizza cutter for the kids frequently cooked cheese versions.  But there are three that once I acquired them, made my world complete and all of them around $10.   Here’s the quick run down three of my favorite kitchen gadgets!

First up, the five blade herb scissors.  I admit, I thought these were just a novelty at first, but after repeated uses with these shears to chop my chives and mince my thyme, I’m sold.  They’re awesome for anything that includes fresh herbs from soups to salads to roast meats and fish and they dice them up super fine in just a few snips. 

I’m a big time egg person.  Is there a label for that?  If there is, well slap it on me because our family goes through two dozen a week on average.  My man makes a fantastic scramble, and I love a soft boiled egg with just salt and pepper, which is why I love this little gadget, a mini nonstick egg poacher that sits inside a frying pan in steaming water.  Eggs Benedict?  Coming right up!  Or let them sit in the poacher in the pan a minute more and you have perfect soft boiled eggs for a loaded Cobb (another favorite meal).

The citrus squeezer or lemon juicer has changed my life forever.  I bow to this gadget.  You simply cut a lemon in half, insert it, and squeeeeeeeze.  Instant lemon juice without any seeds for anything from hot tea to marinade to lemon tart to a personal favorite, a raspberry lemontini!  I will share this recipe soon, pinky swear!  *hiccup*

Read the rest of this entry »