Loving the beauty of Fall once again, but not the weather, which has felt more like winter this week with temps in the 30s and 40s. Make it stop.

1) October is my birthday month and I’ve always loved birthdays up until my 45th. Now I’m so-so about them. I am grateful to be healthy and alive, of course. Of COURSE. But count me out on embracing aging.

For my birthday, I was craving the pistachio gelato from Shewolf and luckily there was a spot open that evening, so I did get my birthday wish.

2) In case anyone is wondering, I am FORTY NINE and I look not very 49 here because my friend Erin took a lovely photo of me and also I’m a great photo editor. Also, shoutout to Erin, who always takes photos of me and if not for her, I might not exist except for selfies.

3) Unlike last year, Halloween was not canceled this year, so the girls dressed up and went trick-or-treating. Thankfully, it didn’t rain (I can’t remember a Halloween in Grosse Pointe when it hasn’t rained or snowed), so I happily (sort of) walked along with their trick-or-treating crew.

As is NOT customary, I let the girls eat a bunch of candy. I’m not sure why. Okay, I do know why and it’s because I didn’t want to deal with any of it and so I ignored it. And I also indulged in a Twix bar myself. Which does not seem like a big deal, but I REALLY try not to eat candy, so it is a big deal. Also please note that candy is not ice cream or French pastries. If people gave out ice cream or croissants on Halloween, I would be a mess.

4) The 7th grader went as Moana, but sadly wouldn’t let me put ANY makeup on her, not even a touch of eyeliner. The 10-year-old went as Dorothy and was adamant that I curled her hair just right and let me put on as much makeup as I wanted to. She rocked those ruby slippers.

5) I worked on the bookshop a bunch this month. We met with a couple potential cafe vendors and secured one. Learned a lot about coffee and coffee machines, too.

6) Made a few site visits. Sometimes Obi comes along, since it’s walking distance from the house (a great perk!).

7) The exterior brickwork is nearly done. This is part of the the rooftop bar area.

8) Our youngest took a 24-hour trip to Canada to visit with her bestie who moved to Florida (but whose grandparents live in Canada). The whole Covid test-taking part of traveling is so nervewracking to me. Getting to the testing site, waiting in line, the actual test (which we did ourselves in the the car) and then the waiting. UGH. The worst.

It was a huge relief to get the negative results, even though neither of us felt sick. I was nervous about driving her over as well. Downloading the Canada app, waiting as they scrutinized our paperwork. Ay carumba. It was all worth it. She had a blast.

We are hoping to get to Hawaii over Thanksgiving, but again the freaking tests! It’s weeks away and I’m already at peak anxiety levels over it. Send prayers and good energy our way!!

9) I went to an epilepsy fundraiser this month at the most beautiful location. A garden house/greenhouse of sorts (I think officially called the Palm House or something like that?) along Lake St. Clair.

To support, athleisure wear from The Corner Studio was available for purchase, which was perfect because I needed some new gear and everything was so cute. I pretty much live in athleisure wear now AND it’s my birthday month AND it was for a good cause. Done and done.

The spread from Thyme & Honey though, right? I mean, come ON. (I grabbed the photo from her Insta, as you can see). Next level charcuterie board.

10) Fast forward…..it’s now been three days since I started writing The October List and can’t come up with another list item. Not one. I’ve been staring at the screen for so long. I’m burnt out. On what, I don’t know. I’m only working a handful of hours per week (all from home, in my athleisure gear), the kids are normal (no disorders, no special needs, doing well at school), I’m feeling physically well. So what gives?

My girlfriend says it’s the culmination of the universe’s something or other (sorry, I don’t understand it all, yet I’m completely sold), energy, stars, planets, once in X amount of years and so on. Which in layman’s terms means it’s a crazy flipping time for our world right now. So. I’m just going to give myself a break and focus on what I can handle in the moment. Which lately does not equate to much.

I will also say that for the last 12 years, like many, many of you, I have been nonstop, full speed ahead, working, parenting, partnering and dealing with all of life’s curveballs along with it – trauma, panic, grief, etc. I’ve always said that when I go on vacation, after a few days I lean into it and then my body just collapses. Like I’ve never been so tired as I am when I’m on vacation because my body knows it doesn’t have to be ON. And I feel like I’m still building back all the the energy and bandwidth spent on the last decade. And it’s a lot, this building back. I honestly don’t know how I handled it all before. Maybe I handled it all because life was so fast. Go go go, over and over, day after day and I didn’t have time to think about it.

I DON’T KNOW. All I will say is that part of the description of this photo which came from Getty stock, says “brain melting into lines,” which pretty much sums it up.

11) This is how my dog sleeps.

12) Oh, I know what I can tell you. I finished watching “The Serpent” on Neflix. A true crime series about a notorious serial killer of the 1970s (mainly). It was visually intoxicating (strong word, but can’t think of another one) and suspenseful and the characters feel like they’ve been pulled out of a novel vs headlines. Anyway, if you’re into that sort of thing (true crime), I recommend. Image from Rotten Tomatoes.

Speaking of serial killers, I came across an elderly lady and her small dog the other day. I see her in the neighborhood often and told her how impressed I was that she was out there walking her dog a lot. She said to me, “oh, I walk so I don’t turn into a serial killer!” I hear you, lady.

And with that, I bid you a happy November. See you in another month. Or so.

September was a great month! Weather was lovely end-of-summerish, girls started school, felt normal physically, shared some big news and took a VACA!! Here are the deets….

1) The big news. Most of you reading this also follow me on social media, so you would have already seen my post where I announced my involvement with Flyleaf, a new bookstore, bar and cafe opening sometime next year. Don’t ask me when next year, or I may a) throw my drink at you b) cry c) fall to the floor. The store is literally under construction and we are relying on the supply gods not to fail us.

It’s been a childhood dream of mine to work in a bookstore or a cafe (a quaint one in London or some off the beaten path European city, of course, but this will do), and the fact that it’s both (plus champagne and tequila!?! YES, PLEASE) is icing on top.

2) Confession. I actually received this note months and months ago (vs when I posted it this month on social media), as I started freelancing for the owner at the beginning of the year. Wasn’t sure what the job was going to turn into, if anything, but it now feels like a sure thing, so I felt confident in sharing. ANYway, crazy excited.

3) I’ve been taking an extensive bookselling/inventory class through a regional organization and let me tell you that I had no idea how complex the industry is. Or archaic. The point of sale systems (not to mention some of the people? Sorry!) make me feel like I’m in 1990 (or 1980, depending).

A recent class was all about cost of goods and I spent forever doing the homework, only to realize I did it wrong, then spent forever doing it again. I mean what in the world!?!? Managing a bookstore doesn’t mean reading books all day and looking up every once in a while to talk to eccentric customers?

4) Our sweet (aka rascally and sometimes good) puppy got neutered this month. It was quite an ordeal. Due to complications, he had to get his surgery site drained a couple times and the cone stayed on for a whole 14 days. When the cone finally came off, the vet said to “keep his activity low” for another two weeks because his day job is a comedian. WAH!!! That was rough.

5) Our sweet (aka sometimes whiny, but mostly sweet) youngest daughter turned 10 this month! Instead of a cake this year, she asked for macarons, which was super easy because Trader Joes has frozen ones that are reeeeeally good. She also asked for spaghetti with bolognese, which I happily made.

6) I could have spent the whole post on the bookstore, just like I could have spent the whole post on my fab weekend trip to Benicia, California. Firstly, I’m sorry to everyone I wasn’t able to see. I miss SO many wonderful friends in the Bay Area and I didn’t even make it into San Francisco except for coffee on the way to the airport.

My girlfriend Erin lives in the cutest house overlooking the bay. It truly felt like a vacation. She has a fig and quince tree (I enjoyed so many figs with breakfast). The quince we didn’t attempt to tackle. Apparently, you have to cook it and all that nonsense.

7) I’d never been to Benicia before, surprisingly (or not so surprisingly, since it’s easy to stay in the San Francisco/Marin bubble when you live there). It is a sleepy town with friendly people and a just big enough downtown with cute shops and restaurants. We did a lot of walking. And sitting on the porch watching the water and the occasional person/dog walking or biking along the path that runs along the front of her house.

8) Okay, and lots of TV-watching, too. Erin introduced me to the show Physical, which I couldn’t resist because a) one of my favorite actresses, Rose Byrne, stars in it b) it’s based in the 80s c) it centers around dance aerobics/jazzercise. Amazing. Parts of it are hard to watch (i.e. eating disorder), but I became hooked after the first few minutes, so of course we had to watch ALL 10 episodes before I left because I don’t have Apple TV at home.

*To clarify, I’ve never had an eating disorder, but I’ve struggled with self esteem and body image but only in my head, which is not even close to the degree of an eating disorder. I just don’t like watching stuff like that – self deprecation to that level, similar to I don’t like watching or reading about any kind of abuse or gore, etc.

I joked that I’d have to come back when Season 2 comes out, except that I wasn’t joking.

9) On the way from the airport to Benicia, Erin was kind enough to take a detour (thank youuuuuu!!) to Fruitvale Avenue in Oakland, so I could check out my high school classmate’s new spot, Noodle Belly. He sadly wasn’t in yet, but we did pick up a couple dishes for lunch and they were DELICIOUS.

Why I didn’t take a pic of the noodles, I don’t know! But here is one stolen from their Facebook! I got the pork belly, which I have been craving. Grosse Pointe isn’t exactly the mecca for Asian food, so this was a big treat for me!

10) I did get to see a handful of dear friends, including my band besties, Susan and Jennifer. I saw Susan again at her place in Emeryville the next day and visited with her goats and chickens as well. We walked down the street to get tacos, which I had also been craving, in addition to Asian food. Grosse Pointe is not exactly the mecca for Mexican cuisine, either.

11) One afternoon we drove across to Port Costa, another Bay Area hidden gem I had never been to! Nothing was open, which we weren’t expecting, but because of Covid, a lot of spots there altered their hours of operation. Still, it was really cute and I had fun checking it out.

12) My first month of not working (yes, I’m working for Flyleaf, but it’s in bits and pieces, and all from home) was pretty fantastic. Although I’m not sure how I got it all done before. The cooking, cleaning, shopping, general kid and puppy mayhem. How do working moms (haha, what a term. All moms are working!) do it at all!? Auto-pilot, I guess.

I’m not back to my pre-surgery health, but I’m getting more and more confident that I’ll get there soon (only to have surgery again in December, but we won’t think about that right now). My heart is still full with the kind of good feelings that only true friendship can give you. The puppy is getting better on walks (BETTER, not good, but I’ll take that win).

Like I said, September was a great month. So happy to be able to say that. As I sit here in October, I’m trying not to dread Fall. Although lovely in many regards, it is a reminder that winter (a long, long, Michigan winter) is once again close behind.

As always, thanks for stopping by and Happy October!

SPOILER ALERT – I did not proofread this before publishing. Zero thinking capacity left. I’d apologize, but I’m not sorry.

August was honestly mostly a blur, except for our annual trip to upstate New York, as I was mostly still recovering from surgery during the month. Although I felt great mentally and physically (nothing hurt too much and I was in a good head space), I did get tired a lot and felt like I didn’t have the brain power to do too very much at all.

1) I read a lot this month. One of the books I finished was “The Hour of the Witch” by Chris Bohjalian. It was a riveting read, but a tad stressful, as you can infer from the title and book cover. It makes me so grateful to have been born at the second half of the 20th century, though women still have a ways to go.

2) Another book I read was “Summer Wives” by Beatriz Williams, recommended to me ages ago by my friend Tami. I don’t usually read books centered on romance, but this one had lots going on outside of the central characters – the setting of an exclusive island, a storyline that span generations, a plot weaving in an out of the past and future – that it did not feel like a typical boy-meets-girl type of story. It was a quick read!

3) I’ll share a more detailed review on a future Instagram post, but I loved this book. Great writing, storyline and characters.

4) After a family meeting (the 9-year-old wrote down our pros and cons), we decided not to take Obi on our 10-hour road trip. Given my inability to walk or chase after him, the unknown of how he’d do in the car for that long, and the unknown of how he’d do with the cat and the lake and all of that, we felt it best he stayed behind.

He boarded with a gal who has two other dogs and he did not miss us at all. Here he is with his friend Bentley, a Great Dane.

5) My Dad’s place in New York was wonderful, per usual. We lucked out with beautiful weather almost every day (the week before it had poured). It was the first time in probably five or six years that I didn’t have to work during vacation and being able to actually take a vacation as intended was amazing.

6) I basically read and sat on the dock and ate fresh-baked donuts from Millers, the Menonnite market down the road (about 15 minutes drive, the closest market) and corn on the cob and drank margaritas and red wine. I’d planned to get back on the health train (less sugar, less alcohol) as soon as we returned home, but my Dad and his wife sent us home with a bag of donuts so that clearly didn’t happen because I don’t have that kind of will power.

7) I took a few solo morning walks in the woods for exercise. It’s so peaceful, unless you are listening to a missing persons or serial killer podcast like I usually do. I ended up switching to “American Rehab,” a podcast about a drug treatment center, because I was getting too freaked out. Super dumb. I’m a huge scaredy cat.

8) I did eventually finish this podcast, which isn’t all that scary. I’ve pretty much liked every Podcast I’ve listened to from The Australian. I appreciate their investigative reporting and all of the background they provide to give listeners a complete story. This one is about a missing person unsolved case with multiple suspects and lots that went wrong (missing evidence, leads not followed up on) during the initial investigation.

9) The girls and I met up with one of the neighbors one day for a walk to what the locals call the beaver pond, for obvious reasons (although we only saw evidence of otters/beavers, but no actual sightings). She and her husband have two Burmese Mountain dogs, who came with us on our walk. We found mushrooms and ate wintergreen leaves and collected leaves and feathers.

We also met their cat Obi (!!!!) and parrot, Mango. I’d known forever that her husband was the actor who played Charlie Bucket in the original “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” a movie/story/book I was obsessed with as a kid, so I tried not to geek out and didn’t one time mention the movie or say the word “Charlie” even thought I was DYING to.

10) My Dad showed me this photo that I’ve never seen before of my grandma Lucy and her brother Asa. LOVE this photo, wish I could go back in time and talk to her. The second photo is of my great grandmother, Lucy’s mom. They look alike.

11) Evenings are so lovely at the cabin. If you’re willing to brave the mosquitos and lather on bug spray, sitting on the dock watching the sun go down and the stars and bats come out is perfect. One night we roasted marshmallows and were startled by a strange sound that we finally figured out was an owl. It didn’t sound like the usual “hooting” sound you’d expect.

12) I forced myself to take photos enough to where got genuinely inspired a few times. Usually vacation photos are the best kind for me, because there’s no pressure.

As soon as we got back home, it felt like we were never gone. Doctor appointments and conference calls and back-to-school shopping slapped us in the face. Such is life. And I’m okay with that.

Wishes for a wonderful September. How is it almost fall already!?!? I never want summer to end.

July was a typical Michigan summer month, although the weather was a bit kooky again, with more heavy rainfall in a matter of minutes, which led to more flooding for many folks (not us).

1) Big news is that I underwent a mastectomy (single) on July 21, due to my second breast cancer diagnosis. It was high grade DCIS, which is to say that the cancer cells had not spread, but the nucleus of the cells were showing signs of breaking out. I’m doing well, and the prognosis is excellent. Will not be needing chemo and I’m crossing my fingers that I won’t need medication, but I’m betting my oncologist will push for it.

2) Pre surgery, friends Renee and Kara took me to Grey Ghost. It was soooo delicious and it’s always nice to be in Detroit. Afterwards we went across the street to Second Best (same owners) for cocktails and some apple sour shot, which initially tasted lovely, but ultimately too sweet and none of us finished ours. Otherwise, the drinks there and also at Grey Ghost were really good.

3) It was hard to give up alcohol, which I was instructed to do two weeks prior to surgery, but even harder to give up caffeine! I wasn’t asked to give up coffee completely, but to cut down on it, so I switched to decaf for my afternoon coffee. Trader Joes is awesome for many things, but not decaf. You’ve been warned.

Many people already know this very true fact, especially Liz Rono, but any drink – whether it be alcohol, coffee or otherwise – tastes ten times better when served from a fancy glass or cute cup. Which is why I drank my decaf from this adorable ceramic mug I bought on our Cincinnati trip.

Someone please recommend a good decaf coffee that I can buy for my next surgery!

4) I’ve been cleared to walk, but not much else, so walking it is. It’s been nice and I am super happy that all is well with my health, but it bums me out that I can’t walk fast or break into a jog like I sometimes do. I know in due time and all that, but I want to get better right now. It (not being able to walk, then only being able to walk slowish) has made me realize that my daily walks pre-operation 100% have helped with stress and anxiety and my overall mental health. My agitation level post surgery is definitely higher than usual, no surprise there, but I think much to do with lack of exercise.

5) A good friend organized a meal train, which was super crazy helpful, and so many other people showed their support by sending flowers or helping with groceries or coming by for company or sending sweet gifts.

I was shocked, quite frankly, and overwhelmed in a good way at the outpouring of support for me and my family by the people here who I thought I was an outsider to. It was so touching and so needed and helped so much with my recovery.

6) A final note about my treatment and recovery. I have an expander inside of me right now, which is a plastic contraption that has three little port pressure points which hurt like hell at certain times. I can see the grape-sized bumps under my skin.

Slowly (once a week for several weeks) the expander will be filled with saline via a needle into one of the ports, until it reaches the size that the implant (which will be put in on my second reconstructive surgery in December) will be. I’ve had one fill and the first couple hours were fine and then it started to really hurt. OH WELL. Apparently also skin that has been radiated is a crap shoot when it comes to healing so we just have to wait and see.

7) The surgery pretty much occupied my headspace for most of July. I don’t remember much of what happened over the month. We spent the Fourth hanging out at my husband’s uncle’s backyard/pool, as has been tradition since we moved here, but I didn’t take any pictures. So I give you a home in my neighborhood with an American flag instead.

8) Obi the puppy does not give one iota that I had surgery. He has matured somewhat over the last month, but is still very much a puppy and still needs loads of attention and still gets into very much trouble.

9) One of the great gifts I received was two weeks of dog walking from my friend Megan. A life saver. We loved meeting all the folks at Central Bark, and Obi especially loved the puppy playgroups which we tried a few times, so we’ve decided to keep him going a few times a week for at least the next couple of months.

10) We had more fun in the kiddie pool this month and I had fun with my camera, which I haven’t taken out much this summer. I haven’t been motivated. Sometimes you have to force yourself a bit and then the creativity comes. So maybe I’ll take the camera out after writing this and plunk it on the counter to remind me to do that.

11) I need a new Podcast. Please help. The above are from IndieWire. Do you recommend any of these? I do not want self help or motivational Podcasts. LOL. I listened to “The Lighthouse” by the Australian this month. It was pretty good – about a missing person in Australia’s coastal picturesque town of Byron Bay.

12) This book you guys, I don’t know how she continues to churn out great books, but she does. Mystery, murder and full, fleshed out characters based on the Irish countryside. It does make you want to visit Ireland. Although I’ll skip the murder part when I go.

Tonight my nine-year-old’s bestie said goodbye one last time before she and her family leave for Florida. Our gal is handling it well tonight, but it might be a rough weekend. Plans tomorrow are to sleep in late, order Indian food for dinner and watch a movie. Nothing else.

I am sad, I am grateful, I am content, I am restless. I need I want I don’t know what I need or want. This was July and looks to be some of my August as well. I’m riding the wave and I’m okay with that.

I heart summer so hard and I am going to be outside (although no sun for my jacked-up surgery skin) as much as possible and enjoying not having any or many commitments. It feels luxurious in some ways, but I’ve earned this time of nothingness, to heal and figure things out. Enjoy your August as well. See you back soon.

Michigan got rid of all Covid-19 safety protocols this month, and the state, including myself at times, is acting like the pandemic never happened. The Delta variant is quietly snickering.

1) June gave us the hot summer weather I have been waiting for. I love sitting in our backyard with a book and a coffee. I read “The Guest List’ by Lucy Foley. Based on the reviews, I expected it to be better than it was – more suspenseful, more riveting, better writing. It was a decent beach read, I guess, but I don’t necessarily recommend you spend your time on it.

2) I also read “The Flight Attendant” by Chris Bohjalian, a book that was made into an HBO series. Maybe you’ve seen it. I haven’t yet, but plan to. The series description says it’s a comedy-drama which, I suppose there were comedic elements, but I wouldn’t go so far as to label it a comedy. Drama/suspense would make more sense. I enjoyed this one and do recommend.

3) June brought a crazy bad flood to our area at the end of the month. One news report says we got 6.5 inches of rain in a span of 10 hours, but a city official said 7 inches over just a few hours. No matter which one is correct, it was bad. Water was up to car windows and most people I know had some form of basement flooding. Many had sewage mixed with the flood water. We were one of the lucky ones.

Some businesses are still closed due to damages and at I heard rumors that at least one restaurant will probably not reopen. It was heartbreaking driving around the week after the flood and seeing the loss left on curbs – play kitchens, toys, teddy bears, Christmas decorations, bookshelves, exercise gear, TVs – and lots and lots of carpet.

4) As part of acting like the pandemic is behind us – I now know four people who have gotten Covid after being fully vaccinated – I went to several restaurants this month. I’d been dying to go back to Detroit’s Shewolf and it did not disappoint. Their pasta is cooked perfectly and I was blown away by this pistachio gelato. I could eat it every day and not get sick of it. I would be broke, however (not to mention huge), as it cost $10. WORTH IT.

5) My book group met up at Ivy Kitchen, a new-ish restaurant along Jefferson (main road that follows the water somewhat and takes you from Grosse Pointe into Detroit). The service was….fine. Everyone is short staffed right now, so I’m not as picky as I’d normally be. And the ambiance was….fine. As was the food. I had a good experience and was glad to have checked it out, but it’s not going to be a go-to spot for me.

6) Obi is four and a half months and weighs about 40 pounds. He’s still waking up early – between 5:30 and 6:00 am – but I am getting used to it. He hasn’t tried to jump our baby gates yet, but that day is soon coming, I’m sure.

7) He still naps in funny spots and positions, though he no longer fits near his food dishes. Now he prefers the cool tiles of the bathroom or the marble base of the fireplace. And he usually sleeps in this goofy half side, half back position.

8) He’s pretty good about not chewing on things he isn’t supposed to chew on, but he really likes hostas, shoes, clothes, kleenex and puzzle pieces.

9) I started several podcasts this month, but had a hard time getting into any of them. I haven’t been able to stomach some of the usual true crime murder mysteries this month for some reason. I’d like to find more investigative journalism that focuses on discovery or uncovering a crime that’s something other than murder. Let me know if you have one you can recommend!

I did find one podcast that I’m finding interesting. It’s called “Algorithm” and although this one does talk about murder, its focus is more about how homicides are investigated and a specific algorithm that someone came up with that might help catch serial killers before they kill again. It’s a current podcast, which means I can’t binge listen and have to wait until the next episode is released this week.

10) If you’ve made it this far, the big news is that I’ve quit my marketing job at the school. I started the position working part time and the role clearly needs someone who can work full time, and then some. It’s just gotten to be too much.

I also needed to take a breather mentally, just be a mom, relax a bit and decompress. And how fortunate that I’m able to do so. I’ve worked super hard to build up my savings in order to take this break. So. I’m taking it easy on the work front, freelancing here and there before I ramp things back up. There are parts of the job I will miss, sure, but I’m SUPER excited about my new chapter. Stay tuned.

11) I’ve pulled back on my photography as well (see the note above about needing to decompress), but did squeeze in a couple shoots over the last two months that I’d committed to. Both were one-year-old birthdays (and how could I say no to those?!) and both were small, backyard celebrations. This sweet girl clearly loves her momma.

12) Baby Henry was just as adorable. He had a “Where the Wild Things Are”-themed party :)

So that’s June. I have some dumb health stuff that I’ll go over next month (everything’s fine, just a hiccup in plans). For now, just like I’m pretending Covid isn’t still running rampant, I’m pretending that this summer is a normal summer. And it is so far.

It’s a record hot day today. I took my walk early this morning to get it out of the way and it’s a good thing, too, as it was already in the 80s when I got back home at 8:30 am. We may take the girls to the Yacht Club later for a swim, or fill up our kiddie pool for the pup. I bought an heirloom tomato the other day specifically to put on a BLT and I am already thinking about how good that’s gonna taste later. Life is good.

We are still in the throws of puppy madness here, so May is mostly a blur of white fluff.

1) Obi is now 12 weeks and 25 pounds. He wakes up in the morning at 5:30 am, which is still WAY too early for me, but much better than last month, which had me waking up around 4:45 am on average.

2) He’s learning a few commands. Strangely he does “wait” better than “sit” on verbal command, though he knows sitting is polite behavior and does it often when he wants something.

3) The school’s annual auction was held in person this month. It was exhilarating and also terrifying to attend something so…normal. I was slightly un-nerved with Covid in the back of my mind, but ultimately had a good time and was happy the event raised a lot of money for the school.

4) The next day was Mother’s Day. We celebrated with a takeout brunch from Marrow, one of my favorite Detroit restaurants. There was cinnamon rolls and smoked salmon and quiche and a delicious burrata salad, which was beautiful with fresh flower petals and pea shoots and tangerine slices.

5) My 9-year-old gave me a Mother’s Day sheet she filled out at school. Best ever.

6) The day after Mother’s Day was our 13th wedding anniversary. I always dig up photos from the wedding around our anniversary date to reminisce. It was such a perfect day.

7) I found another engaging Podcast. CounterClock is a deep dive into cold cases. The journalist and podcast host does a great job explaining the background and exploring all avenues of the case. She pushes hard for authorities to take a new look at the cases, so she’s actually doing something beneficial vs simply telling a story.

8) I’ve stepped away a bit from photography for mental health reasons. It’s one of the things I love most, yet still when I get a paid gig, it stresses me out somewhat. When it’s my own work on my own time, it’s never a problem. Hopefully as the work load dies down this summer, I’ll have more time to be zen in my creative work.

I did squeeze in a First Communion shoot for a friend in early May :)

9) Two moms saved the day when it came to my daughter’s dance recital this month. Very detailed instructions called for a “low bun” which I have no idea how to make. Luckily, my friend Tone has lots of experience making hair buns, and agreed to come over to help. But I would need a hair net. Ummmm….right.

This was two days before the recital and in a panic, I posted to a local mom Facebook group and a wonderful gal who was in the same boat and had scrambled the day before to find her own hair net gave me one of hers. It all turned out great, but I forgot to take a photo of the awesome hairdo!

10) Our 12-year-old daughter was presented with the Language Arts / Literature award for the 6th grade and I could not be happier, given my own passion for writing and literature. SUPER proud mom moment.

11) An Instagram account I follow mentioned this book in tribute to Asian Pacific American Heritage month (May), so I decided to pick up a copy from the library myself. It isn’t something I’d normally gravitate towards, but it was nice to read something different. The main character was vulnerable in a likeable way and the writing was very good, it was just a bit of an odd story, with a fish-man drawing obsession of the main character being a central focal point.

12) Spring is definitely here. Flowers are beginning to bloom, although you wouldn’t know it by looking at my irises because THE DOG ATE THEM ALL.

We’ve given up on trying to garden this year. I sadly won’t be purchasing any new plants because they will likely get trampled or rolled around in, but I’m enjoying what I can. Which is none of my lilies, half of my bleeding heart, and it looks like my daisies, bee balm and hydrangea will make it!

Ironically it is in the 40s today and not very Spring-like at all. Which is to say it’s a very typical Michigan day. There is always, always, at least ONE more really cold day after I tell myself “this is the last cold day of the season!”

Cannot wait for June. It’s been a long school year. Here’s to sunshine and sleeping in (HA. not going to happen) and barbeques. Cheers, friends.