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You're my favorite today (3)

Dear 52 …

In a few days, I’ll turn 52, and I’ll be honest, other than the fact that when I open my camera app to take a photo and it’s pointing at me so I see my neck and face from a very frightening, unflattering angle (which never fails to shock me into reality and make me…

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9 Month Quarantine Check-In: How you doin’?

Yep, that’s right, folks.According to my calendar and the tally marks I’ve been keeping with Cheetos, we’re at NINE MONTHS of quarantining. Well, some of us. Others gave up mid-April and have been galavanting around with friends and family with whom they do not live as if none of this applies to them. I didn’t…

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2020 Favorites: Lessons Learned From A Weird AF Year

Listen, I get it.“2020” and “Favorites” don’t really go together. An oxymoron of epic proportions, right? But as this shitshow of a year draws to a close, I’ve been reflecting on all the aspects of it. As many of us are wont to do as one year draws to a close and a fresh, shiny…

My Favorite

(You’re my) Favorite THINGS!

That’s right, friends! For today at least, YMFT stands for “You’re My Favorite THINGS!” And while all of you are certainly my favorite things, that’s not what I’m talking about. Wah wah. Do you have little things you use all the time (if not every day) that quickly get taken for granted? Things you love…

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Sugared Walnuts … The Recipe (and the memory) Lives On

My mother-in-law was a great cook.When my husband and I were dating in college, we’d often go to his parents’ house on Sundays for dinner — rich spaghetti sauce that had been simmering all day on the stove, chicken breasts baked in a buttery crust of Bisquick, a moist, decadent chocolate-chip Bundt cake straight from…

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How An Article On Fangirling Turned Me Into A Podcast Host

In the summer of 2020 I’d hit a wall with my writing (it’s fine, it happens about once a year). The COVID pandemic had been going on for much longer than we expected, and by July I had comfortably settled into the habits I’d started in April when quarantine felt like a vacation: sleeping in,…

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Using My Space (A rant and some Favorites to distract you right now)

It’s been (more than a) hot minute since I’ve given the blog any love, but this week I thought we could use some Favorites on a day that is not even Friday, am I right?? via GIPHY Before I get to the fun stuff to distract you from the pain of the past few days,…

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Friday Favorites – (Very early) Fall Edition

Happy Fall, everyone. No, really, here in Minnesota, summer apparently has had enough of 2020 and once September arrived was like SEE YA, SUCKERS, I’M OUT OF HERE.I mean, we can’t blame it, can we? You guys, last week it was in the 80s and the forecast this week is in the 50s and 60s.As…

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The Closet Of Broken Dreams

I’m standing in my closet, looking for something to wear that’s not pajamas, leggings, or a combination of both. The comfy, lived in, just-got-out-of-bed look I’ve been rocking all day, every day since mid-March has become uninspiring. Ignoring the stacks of jeans, knowing the physical — not to mention emotional — struggle will be too…

Stuck in Our Stories

Stuck In My Story

I’ve been reading more than ever lately. While I haven’t been spending money on fancy coffees or lunches out since March, I’ve more than eclipsed the amount I’ve saved on books. (Totally worth it, IMO.) If we’re supposed to look for silver linings during this difficult period in time, rediscovering my passion for reading has…

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Mid-Summer Book Review!

What’s that, you say? Mid-summer has long passed? via GIPHY Sure, mid-August might not typically be considered mid-summer, but this year it is, because around here at least — summer is going to lastf o r e v e r! Or at least until the end of September when we will have a few glorious…

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Craving Order in the Disorder

I love order. If you looked in the storage area of our basement you might have a hard time believing it, but I do. Order, predictability, planning … I strive for structure in all areas of my life, and have since I was little. I’ve always said it didn’t take a therapist to tell me…