As of this past week we could declare that we've made it through another hot summer, hallelujah! Let's not think of those endless hot days again until we have to next year. In September we enjoyed being outside again, especially in the morning, and started leaning into fall. From where I sit right now at our dining room table I see little pumpkins at home on our bookshelves, a wax-dripped skull candle holder, and some half-hearted spiderwebs in our front yard tree. (Note: the used spiderwebs at the thrift store are not worth it.) I've pulled jeans on for the... Read more →

Recently I had the pleasure of being a guest on the Sustainable Minimalist podcast to talk about climate migration and our purchase of a home in climate-resilient Wisconsin. For anyone visiting my blog for the first time I wanted to be able to point you to my posts sharing our story. Considering a second home in the Midwest Starting our search for a home in a climate-resilient area. Lots of great city recommendations in the comments! Midwest home search update: we bought a house! How we decided on Eau Claire, and how we made the purchase of a second home... Read more →

When my kids started the school year in late July, I started my own new chapter of sorts with full days to myself. Now that we're about two months into the school year I'd love to share how I plan and use my weekday work time, and how I think about the kind of energy I need for different types of work. Portfolio of work I think about the work I do as a portfolio with different categories of work. Each type of work and associated tasks requires varying energy levels. For example, to write I prefer to have long,... Read more →

When life is busy or overwhelming – or both! – noticing the little things that bring me ease or joy helps me find gratitude. I think it's also a form of self-care to make sure I have things in my life that make me feel cared for, whether its a habit, a product, or a snack. Kendra, the Lazy Genius, shares 10 things saving her life right now every season on her podcast. I always enjoy hearing what she's loving and how those things bring her joy. After listening to a recent "saving my life" episode, I was inspired to... Read more →

Reading stacks of seasonal books with my kids, mostly during fall and Christmas, is one of my favorite parenting things. In September, the return of fall books is one of the few signs of a change at our house in the Arizona desert. Even though it's still so hot, at least we can experience fall through the pages of a book. I add a seasonal book or two to our permanent collection each year but get many through the library as well. In my library account I'm able to create lists of books so I have one specifically for "fall"... Read more →

Grilling Impossible burgers in the shade, and finding fall at Trader Joe's As I drove home from Orange Theory two Saturdays ago, Chris and Maeve were sitting in our front yard. When I rolled down the window, Maeve shouted to me, "We saw the first geese!" Later that weekend a V of geese flew over us at the park, all dark wings and determination. And so, the first geese of fall 2023 have been noted. Last year our first sighting didn't happen until September 13, when Dash ran in, breathless, to tell me he had seen the first geese. I... Read more →

I'm sipping iced coffee from a small mason jar and thinking about how tired I am of being hot. Earlier this week, as I wrote in my line-a-day journal, I looked ahead to what was happening this time last year and the year before that, and then looked ahead a few weeks, as I always do. By the end of September I start to remark on the cool-ish mornings so that gives me hope. One more month of terrible heat, plus humidity this time of year, and then we should be past the worst of it. But in better news,... Read more →

In a recent post about our current monthly budget I shared that our "Miscellaneous" spending category is one of the hardest to tame, and many people chimed in that they feel similarly. So, I wanted to do a Miscellaneous budget and spending deep-dive post to share how we manage this category, what's working well for us, and where we're trying to improve. Also, if you missed my current finances overview post from February that would be a great place to start. Miscellaneous overview This category encompasses nearly all of our household spending that isn't groceries or a fixed-cost bill, like... Read more →

A weekend on Mt. Hood, a Boss Lady latte, and staying in this very cozy historic cabin I'm happy to say hello to August, a month of transition into our school-year routine, the month we try to keep our spirits up through the late summer heat, and also when I start to dream about fall (swoon). As a new school year gets underway for my kids, and especially this year now that we've eliminated a morning daycare drive and I have five consistent work days, I'm already feeling creative and productive energy brewing. I hope that August into September will... Read more →

Hi friends! How are you? I'm drinking a lot of ice water these days but am reminded that I said I wanted to make vanilla mint iced coffee this summer. I need to check that off the list! In the past week I noted the closing and opening of momentous chapters. Like the last time we dropped Maeve off and then picked her up from the daycare where we first dropped Dash off exactly 10 years ago. In the weeks and then days leading up to the end, as I counted down the number of times we would make that... Read more →