What Ana Does

 These nerds are taking guitar lessons together! Every Monday.  They were dressed a like, until Alice realized and pulled on her cardigan.  I love it. 

I recently learned about VISABLE MENDING and I thought it looked so fun, I couldn't wait to try it. I have a few jeans with holes in the knees that just left out of style to me. Perfect for patching!   I have so much fun fabric for hole mending, I didn't know how to decide!  I cut the piece of fabric to fill the hole and used iron-on interfacing on the back to keep it in place.   Then I figured out what color floss worked the best. All while watching the Winter Olympics, of course. I liked the subtle of the navy and cream colors.  I ordered "visible mending transfers" from Etsy. They iron on so you have a pattern to follow. And are water soluble, so they disintegrate once you're done. It was easy and relaxing hand-sewing the patterns into the denim.  I used a few different styles on these patches, to see what I liked the best. The needlepoint acts like a cool pattern but also keeps the patch in place.  Here's the final result! With Pepper looking ...

 I was out to dinner with a bunch of friends and a news item came up about protein powder having too much iron or zinc or something. And there was some incredulity and back and forth (like, how could this seemingly "heathy product" not be good for you, what?!?!) and here's the thing ...  When are we going to stop being surprised that processed food isn't good for us?  The thing is, all ultra-processed food is not good for you -- for any number of reasons. Let's stop being shocked. It's not a surprise.   Even if it's packaged in a cute box or has the word "organic" or "all-natural" it's still not doing you any good. Sure, it's delicious. But did you look at the list of ingredients? Anything you don't recognize as food? Can grow in your backyard?  It's not what your body should be eating. From protein powder to my favorite sandwich cookies.  Sure, we all eat processed foods now. Since the Industrial Revolution when the foo...

 Since I found a post with Leah's college hunting, I suppose I have to mention Alice's college hunt.  For Spring Break we drove around New England with a list of schools that varied in size, location and style. Starting in UConn, URI, BU and ending in Amherst.  Alice doesn't have a major in mind, but likely something in liberal arts, so we're looking for more of a campus fit than an area of study. Leah was easy, she was looking for film and film only.  It was a really fun road trip. And the tours were interesting, but also extremely freezing cold in Boston.  She really liked URI (YES, where Dave and I met) because it was mid-sized, not in a huge city but a smaller suburb but still close enough to a city. Perfect. And this is exactly what we were hoping to learn.  Success! 

Another trip around the sun and I'm ready!  My 40s ruled! My kids grew up. We moved back to the east coast. We lived in friggin PARIS. I made a career change. We adopted our adorable dogs, including my best friend Pepper. We killed it  So yes, I'm ready for my 50s. BRING. IT. ON.  Here's 10 things about Jessica at 50: I read A LOT. And mostly romances. And I love it.  I love to travel. My days are empty unless I'm planning for our next trip.  My kids are my favorite people. How did I get so lucky to have two of the greatest young women who call me Mom? Who knows.  My hubby of 20+ year is also darn amazing. Again, not sure how I got so lucky as I am still very much in love with that guy. He's just the best.  I have to mention my bestie Pepper, too. She follows me around, jumps in my lap every chance she gets. And protects me against every and all perceived threats. Bestie.  I'm still very much an introvert who doesn't like calling offices, has a so...

 I joined a Romance Book Club at the end of last year. And then I joined a second one that I learned about at the first one.  So now, I'm in 2. Two book clubs.  For me, who has been reading Romance for the last, oh, 20 years, and not having an outlet to really discuss or dissect what I read, these meetings are like opening the flood gates. And I've realized how absolutely nuts I am.  The experience and depth of knowledge I've gained from reading sooo many books over such a long time, I am beyond crazy when I talk about these books to these two groups that: a) seem to skew young, like 20s and 30s and b) haven't read all that much.  I was quiet at first, hoping to figure out group dynamics, etc. But then ... books are brought up that I've read years and years ago -- and it jogs my memory and I get so so so excited that I can't contain the glee.  Like, "oh gosh Lick really is the best rock romance I've read and how absolutely perfect is that drunk-Las-Veg...