Because two friends I walk with in the early morning have been out of town for the past few weeks—summer travel has begun!—I’ve switched up my morning exercise routine by taking more yoga classes at the swim club down the road. Not entirely awake I stumble over to the sound of bird-song and the rhythmic [...]
They say this will be the last super hot weekend around here for awhile. Which makes sense, since we’re having air conditioning installed on Monday. Until it—and the fog—arrive, we’ll be hydrating like crazy. And thus, today’s Friday Things topic: Plastic Tumblers. We own a range of nice drinking glasses—everything from the now vintage olive [...]
When I was a kid the biggest event of the summer happened one town down the line on July 24th. Known as “Pioneer Day” or, more pragmatically, “The 24th,” this county-wide celebration commemorated the day that Brigham Young entered the Salt Lake Valley after leading his people across the plains. On that fateful July 24 [...]
This was a busier than usual holiday season with all the kids and spouses (and a new fiance!) home. So I’m just now taking a few moments to ponder some favorite things from 2014. Perhaps you too are finding this Friday more about retrospection than resolutions. If so, you might also be thinking about some [...]
On this first Friday in November I’m thinking about gratitude. Throughout the year I try to count my blessings—sometimes in a daily “gratitude journal” but more often than not by documenting the (mostly) good and interesting things in my life on Instagram. (Thank you, Insta!) In case you haven’t tracked this yet, Thanksgiving comes late [...]
As I shed things I no longer need in anticipation of our move, I’m relishing the signs of rebirth that happen every spring. When I need to take a break from digging into dark corners, bundling up clothes that don’t work for me anymore or books I’ve already read, I make my way to the [...]
At the end of a rainy Friday, I left the house to run a quick errand and found myself chasing rainbows all the way home. I spotted the first one as I rounded a corner in downtown Oakland and immediately pulled over to admire it. Hoping to find a more open vista I drove a few [...]
Ever since I finished a ten-years-in-the-making quilt top on Tuesday, I’ve been happily plucking clipped loose threads off my furniture, clothing—even my hair brush. Now the top (and back) are off to be professionally quilted and I’m savoring the delicious pause between completed and new projects. I’m also taking a little break from fiction writing [...]
For Father’s Day I wrote a story about “man caves” for the Bay Area News Group. Did your father have a man cave? Does the man in your house? My dad had a small home office carved out of the back porch that was lined with book shelves filled with scriptures, Reader’s Digest Book-of-the-Month picks, [...]
