Today is my sweet, wonderful husband’s birthday. How lucky are we to get to have another turn around the sun, especially during times like these.
We celebrated with small presents, some nerdy awesome home-made gifts by the kids (a kernel extension that creates ASCII cake and a game that guides you through a confetti filled room.) and a lovely, fancy brunch.
Here’s us on the way home from brunch. I am so grateful for my family. I am so grateful for this man who has spent the last 27 years with me. He sees me, he loves me, he fills my life with light.
Helen Hoang is a very talented writer. She knows how to create characters that are flawed and 3-dimensional and really lovable and real. You empathize with her characters, their struggle, and you feel their feelings alongside them. You cheer for them. This book is no exception. Outside of the beautiful romance, it also tackles caring for the elderly and how it can take its toll on you, asking for help, adult ASD diagnostic and how it can affect your life, depression and more.
This book is absolutely wonderful. It’s a quiet book about a single mom and her daughter as they struggle with poverty and homelessness while they work hard to make their way through the world. The force with which this mom loves her daughter and the genuine struggles of the choices she is faced with and trying to understand how to do what’s right by her daughter make for a meaningful read. I kept waiting for some insane twist or terrible disaster to befall them which is a sentiment to how over the top books have been lately. Sad things happen in this book but it’s not flashy, it’s not trying to mess with your emotions, it’s quiet and real and absolutely beautiful.
I love color and really enjoy books that talk about color, so when I saw this book, I knew I would love it but, as it worked out, I had no idea how much I would love it.
I don’t know this artist and had never seen any of her work. This book contains sections on color theory and then some example step by step projects, many of which I really loved. As i read it, i felt really inspired to create and found myself filled with excitement and joy.
with gratitude to quarto books and edelweiss for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
If you’d like to start drawing but don’t know where to start or if you’re stuck in general, this is such a gentle book to help you get started. it has 21 lessons, with several different styles and drawing tools (graphite pencil, colored pencil, and ink)
It contains art by the author and by some of her students so you can see a variety and range.
I really enjoyed the encouraging voice of the book and would recommend it to anyone who is itching to get started.
with gratitude to edelweiss and Quarry Books – Quarto for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review
This lovely book is full of encouragement to let go of any of your preconceived rules and regulations around creating art. It encourages you to let loose, jump in with both feet and just have fun.
There is a great tutorial on binding your own art journal and then a lot of lovely ideas for art journal pages. These ideas vary in range and mediums they use but they are each filled with joy and relatively easy to get your creative juices flowing.
If you’ve wanted to start art journaling and didn’t know how, this book will be a fantastic start. If you’re stuck, if you need a good pep talk, if you want a friend cheering you on, this is the book for you!
with gratitude to quarry books and edelweiss for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review
“She has learned from his dying that there is much she can do. She has also learned some things are unfixable. Which is this?”
This book takes place in the small town of Wharton, Connecticut and moves around different characters who are connected to each other, some loosely, some tightly. It tackles a lot of life events like cancer, addiction, suicide, loneliness, and more.
The characters are so real in this quiet and lovely book that it reminded me of both Anne Tyler’s novels and Olive Kitteridge. It’s a similar feeling of getting more and more attached these ordinary characters who are experiencing ordinary and tough life situations and they are so real that you can’t help but feel their feelings alongside them.
“Good for them, Freddie thinks. Good for them. She could write an essay about forgiving Greg for anything if it meant they could get to Alex and Kay’s age. She could get over any single thing—an affair, a gambling problem. Two affairs even. She never felt that way before, but now she knows, without hesitation, she could get past anything. She could forgive Greg for a whole list of things, except dying.”
I loved every single second I spent with this book. I cannot recommend it enough.
with gratitude to Scribner, netgalley and edelweiss for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review
This is an absolutely predictable, completely delightful read. Just the exact right thing when you want something sweet, uncomplicated, soft and tender. I loved it.
this little book packs in oodles of wisdom. it contains 52 aphorisms broken into seasons with beautiful illustrations and reminds the reader to focus on the present moment. these are the types of reminders we need again and again and it’s the kind of book you can grab and open up into any one section and quickly feel grounded. helpful for the anxious and all others.
with gratitude to tuttle publishing and edelweiss for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review
I can’t remember where she said this but I once heard Brené Brown talk about how from the moment our feet touch the floor in the morning, we already feel “behind.” And I remember how strongly that resonated with me.
I have lists of things to do all week and all weekend. Even my fun time is a to-do list item. I plan to read this many books or do this many drawings during the weekend and if someone or something gets in the way I get demonstrably agitated.
I have no patience or space for the other person. Because they are basically in the way of my ability to check off items on my list.
Yes I know this is crazy.
And it’s partly how I make time to do things I love to do. So I don’t want to get rid of it completely.
I do want to release some of the unnecessary stress. I do want to create space for the unexpected or the spontaneous. I want to have room for both.
So I’ve been working on that a lot recently.
Like most things, for me, it starts with a change in mentality.
Little boy and I have been playing a new super-fun video game called “baba is you” it’s the kind of game that was designed for someone like me. It is like a logic puzzle and creative thinking rolled up in one.
I don’t usually take time to play games with kids so it’s extra fun to get to share this with him.
This morning I did not want to ride the bike. I was tired and sleepy and had a lot of work and just wasn’t in the mood.
Instead of not doing it, I told myself it was ok to get on and do it poorly. Do it slowly. Just do it any which way.
It’s so easy to have black or white thinking. Do or don’t do some exercise is better than no exercise. Some good nutrition is better than none. Some art, some writing, some work, some connection. All of these are better than none.
I got on the bike and I did it. I didn’t do as well as I usually do and I didn’t get to do the rest of my exercise because I ran out of time. But I did go climbing.
Most of life is in the gray. I’m reminding myself to show up. Even when I don’t want to. Even if it’s half-ass.
