Every year I love the holiday season: the lights, the music, the time with family, and slowing down. I savored all of that this year but I might be enjoying the post-Christmas, pre-New Year's week even more. Chris and I have been in major decluttering and organizing mode this week, which always seems to find us after Christmas with the influx of new stuff. This year our efforts have matched up nicely with the stretches of independent play from the boys, courtesy of new Christmas toys. (Although there's been plenty of fighting, too!) We spent yesterday morning taking down all... Read more →

Saturday is my birthday and I'll turn 35! But before I do I've rounded up my 34 favorite things from my year of being 34. When I first drafted my list of 34 favorites I went back to see what I included on my lists of 33 and 32...only to realize that I had already mentioned several things (my Instant Pot, walk and talk three-way chats with girl friends). I guess by 35 you just know what you love. But it did give me the chance to think more about the year and find new favorites to share. And so,... Read more →

This month will mark eight months since I quit my full time job. Having daylight creative work time is what I dreamed of when I was working full time and I am still in awe that it's come true. Before I quit my job I thought a lot about how I wanted to structure my days when I had full control. I took the summer to decompress, organize, and tackle things languishing on my to-do list. Once the boys started school I switched into creative work mode. Currently I have days each week for work of my choosing. For example,... Read more →

I love this quote and actually read it on a teabag as I was drinking my morning tea several months ago. Sometimes the phrases on teabags make me roll my eyes but this one struck me as lovely and wise. Plus the reference to light, which is one of my favorite themes (even in the name of my blog). I'm thinking I won't continue with monthly quotes for my goals posts next year (maybe just photos again instead) and this feels like the perfect quote to end on, especially during the month of lights shining in darkness. As we were... Read more →