What Ana Does

We didn't have the summer garage sale we had talked about this winter, but the fact remained: we need to move a bunch of stuff out of our house. Pronto! So, a donation van is heading over this week. We don't get the cash, but will get a nice tax deduction for the work. And free up more space. Usually I feel a little lighter after a purge. But, honestly, all I'm feeling is half-done. Like this is just the tip of the iceberg ... and I didn't commit the time to really dig deep into the darkest corners of the house to dump more stuff. Related posts: More about my quest to clean

July means that when puttering around the house I can thoughtlessly step outside, almost without realizing it.  No clenching for the blast of cold air. No reaching for a scarf or an excuse not to exit the house. July means no socks. And I don't like socks. July means the sun sets later in the day, so evening reading, after household chores, can happen in the falling daylight. July means haphazardly pulling tomatoes or strawberries out of the garden. And eating them right away. July means more fruit than I can eat in one sitting. Especially plums and nectarines. July is optimism. Smiles

Could another trip to the City of Light be in our future? Pictures From Our 2010 European Trip And if so, what will we explore and discover this time?

After seeing the bouquets at my CSA farm stand last year, I jumped at signing up for the CSA Flower Share this summer. Every other weekend I pick up an amazing arrangement of flowers grown on the farm, just up the street from me. See? Living in an outer-ring suburb near the prairie does have some advantages! Filled With 'Snow on the Mountain' Lisianthus, Statice and Feverfew Lisianthus - Looks Like a Simpler Rose The Flowers From Above

My girls are getting bigger, so it got me thinking that maybe my purse can get smaller. Big Purse, Little Purse In days of old (or as of three years ago), I carried around a variety of things to keep little girls entertained or fed, depending on where we were heading. Items included: Snacks, most importantly, but often small crayons and notebooks/paper, windup toys/cars, tissues, hand sanitizer, little board book, cards. The stuff changed often depending on what was popular or needed. (I am still in the habit of never leaving the house on trips with the girls without a snack or two tucked in my bag. That hasn't changed.) Then there are my essentials: lip balm, mints, wallet and phone. And, without fail, I'll be handed my husband's car keys and, likely, his glasses. You can see how a "Mom Purses" comes into being, right? Lots of stuff to haul around. Well, other than a few snacks, I'm not carrying anything for the girls anymore. Occasionally, th

I just wanted to show off how awesomely strong my will power is -- insomuch as installing hooks in my house. As you know, I have a deep love of hooks. They are the most practical things ever and they are in so many rooms of my house doing all the dirty work. You can see them here in the entryway . So, there's this wall in my house that's really close to the garage door. We walk past every day and it's where all our bags are usually dropped. It's really the only empty wall in the house and I like it that way because you see it from a few different rooms. But, I reeeeeally want to hang a row of hooks here. It would get these darn bags off the floor and make it all look so organized! I'm resisting. Maybe I can get my family to put there backpacks someplace else? If I put hooks there, I'm really just enabling them, right? Sigh ... maybe I should just give in to temptation?

It's just not summer without ice cream... Ice Cream Girls

Just a few things on my mind this month ... Poldark on PBS -- I know I'm a total sucker for period romances on PBS so big surprise that I would be in love with this latest miniseries about a man back from fighting the colonists to find his estate is now worthless and his girlfriend is marrying another man -- his cousin! How Does One Get this Job????? And if this yummy picture doesn't seal the deal, I'm not sure what will. Little Chocolate Heaven on a Cracker Dark Chocolate Mini Graham Crackers - I bought these delicious treats on a recent lunch expedition to Whole Foods, while craving a sweet, after-lunch dessert. I powered through my kale salad and ate way too many of these while working through my email inbox. Eating heavenly dark chocolate treats while distracted is not a good business. But they were SO GOOD. Worth the stomachache. I even shared them with coworkers. Shadow Scales audiobook - I was already warned this followup to Seraphina (abou

The landscapers came and cleared out all the weeds around the raised beds ... all in under four hours. Hooray! I've got some plans to drop in a few hydrangea bushes under the windows and maybe something nice-smelling near the door. But didn't want to attempt in the middle of the summer. I learned that lesson the hard way. Until then, now that I can actually get to my raised beds without a machete to clear a path through the weeds, maybe I'll consider planting a late-summer crop. Squash? Pumpkins? Related links: More BACKYARD posts

I'm not exactly sure how it happened, but the area around my two raised beds turned into a jungle of weeds. Some, as tall as me! Maybe it was all the rain we've had, my total lack of interest in pulling the weeds when they were a reasonable size, the failure of the weed guard lining I put down last year, and not getting the mulch down as planned. Ok, so I know how it happened. I should also point out I only planted half the raised beds this summer. Sigh. And the cucumber vines are harassing the tomato plants, but more on that later. Anyway, what we ended up with is a freaking disaster! And breeding ground for mosquitos and other pesky insects. Can you even spot the two raised beds through this tangled mess? Before: Overgrown Weeds and Raised Beds  Never fear! I called in my landscape guy and he's sending a crew this week to clean up the weeds, put down a better weed guard and mulch. All hail contracting out tedious work! After picture coming soon ....

I love to travel! And so it's important to me that our kids our comfortable travelers, too. I want them to understand how big the world is and that there is so much to see out there. For that reason, and the fact that my sisters live far away from me, we're getting on a plane a few times every year. This means a lot of packing. And when it comes to packing, I'm all about the strategy. I'd like to someday be a Master Carryon Packer. If there was a Master degree program on family travel and packing, I would take it. And then I'd have business cards created. The challenge lies in the kids -- as they grow, the rules change. Tucking away extra pacifiers gives way to packing crayons and markers, to packing iPads and chapter books. It's ever changing. Though, as they get older, they can be responsible for their own bags and keeping themselves entertained on the plane. The strategy of what goes in their bags and in mine just adds more variables to the equation. And

In April, I started the All Souls trilogy by Deborah Harkness, beginning with A Discover of Witches,  as an audiobook on my commute to work. It's 20 discs, far longer than the audiobooks I usually choose. But I was quickly hooked by the story, and kept going through the rest of the series:  Shadow of Night and The Book of Life . That's 60+ hours of Diana and Matthew! I will tell you... these books are long on atmosphere and random tangents. And short on big shockers and suspense building. But I really enjoyed the tangled and compelling stories that carried you through the three books and unraveling the mystery of the Book of Life. Diana is a reluctant hero/witch and Matthew, though kind-hearted, is far too overbearing to be an ideal leading man in my real-world. But together, they made this wonderfully passionate and sweet pair. Of course I enjoyed the blossoming romance (though, short!) and their complicated relationship. The supporting characters are very well construc