What Ana Does

Lately I've been feeling a little in the clouds. And I realized it might because I'm starved to learn something new. Is it a summer thing? Maybe because I've been reading too much fiction. Or spending too much time on news events. Election years can be so draining. I've been thinking about spending a bit more time in nonfiction land, so starting today I'm taking a break from the audiobooks I usually enjoy on my commutes to and from the office and listening to some informative podcasts. Once I started to dig into all the podcasts available, I was astounded by the amount out there. Hundreds! I thought podcasting was going the way of the dodo but, not so! Alive and well! Here's what I pulled: Young House Love has a Podcast  - Decorating and house stuff.  Stuff You Missed in History Class - Deep dive into people and events.  TED Radio Hour - We all know TED talks.   The Way I Heard It with Mike Rowe - The Dirty Jobs guys has the best voice.  Anna Fa...

I have a treasured memory of walking across the public library lawn on a sunny but slightly chilly November day in 1984 holding my Mom's hand. The reason I know this date is because we were heading to the polling place to vote for Walter Mondale for President. I was only 8-years-old, but I remember clearly the feelings of that afternoon. Mom was jubilant. Excited. Proud. She was voting for a female vice president - Geraldine Ferraro. This was big. I think she may have even been a bit teary. Maybe my hazy memory is just upping the drama. I really should ask her about it. She was voting for a woman in a presidential election, can you imagine!? The only talk I can recall is her teaching me not to tell anyone who you're voting for; it was a secret. And my elementary-school brain LOVED secrets. Anyway, she was so happy we might have gotten a treat at Dairy Queen afterwards, but, again, I might just be making that part up. I am beyond excited/proud/jubilant to take MY...

Exhibit A: The Tomato Plants I am a very lazy gardener. I've said it before and I'll say it again. But here's the thing ... you don't have to be in your garden every day pulling out weeds and looking for slugs for it to work. It's so friggin' easy to grow food in your backyard, it's not even a joke. A friend came over the other day as I was pulling peppers to eat with our dinner and she made a big deal about it, "where do you find the time?!" What time? Sure, if you're a farmer and your livelihood depends on how much you grow, you're going to work your butt off to make sure each plant yields the most fruit/veg. This is not my full-time job. And barely a hobby. Here's my time commitment: I spend a Spring afternoon getting the beds ready. Another morning tossing whatever I find/have/want into those beds. Not even a full day. Then, when I notice it hasn't rained in a while, I walk outside and turn on the hose for 15 minutes...

I KNOW it's only the end of July, but school starts here in one month, people, ONE MONTH. Eeep!! A Page From My Notebook: Holy Crap So, I'm starting to freak out a little at all the tasks that accompany this time of year. Wondering if I can get a jump on school supply shopping. And starting to wrap my head around all the decisions I'll need to make in the next four weeks. For example, what is Leah doing after school this year? Babysitter? Can she manage alone? Send her to after-care? When is Leah's soccer practices starting up again? Does Alice want to play soccer? When will we get the park district catalog of activities for this fall? Will there be a Saturday dance class for Alice? And, inevitably, I get to the question: How will we manage it all on top of Dave's work schedule? And finally, should I find a new part time job or stay at home to make this all work? The downward spiral continues . Deep breath ... the good news is there's one more ...

I used to make pies in my 20s. Not great pies, but I got almost confident in my skills. Then, I didn't make a pie for a long time. With my father-in-law, a huge cherry pie fan, coming to town, it just felt like the right time to pull out my pie skills and see what I can still do. Not to mention I had a TON of sweet cherries from the CSA in my fridge. First, it was all about pitting. And I used my tried and true technique of popping pits out with a ... paperclip! Fancy gadgets abound. Pitting Cherries Ok, so things got a little dicey with the crust. I made it a few days ahead of time and tossed it into the fridge. But when I attempted to roll it out, it didn't exactly hold together.  Pre-Baked Crust. No, I Didn't Use That Avocado In the Pie.  So, it wasn't going to look beautiful! But how about the taste? Baked to golden-brown-ness, it was sweet and very good. And, best of all, my father-in-law loved it.  Ready to Slice!  So maybe I won...

I'm currently in love with this basement profiled in the Boston Globe. I really don't like accostic tiles ceilings, especially in a dark basement. And I've been warned not to drywall a basement ceiling -- in case you need access to the utilities in there later. So, what are my options? Painted ceiling?! I love the painted ceiling here. And the addition of the industrial pendent lights, white walls, big graphical elements, it's got this cool loft feel. If my basement finishing project ever gets off the ground, this will be the picture I give the contractor and tell to just "do that."

The view from my sofa ... Into the Dining Room I'm in full cleaning and organizing mode, now that I'm back from my trips. But I took a minute to collapse on the sofa and was mesmerized by the light coming in from the dining room window. (Every time I see this room in photographs, I'm reminded that the dark wood coffee table should really be white! Gah!) See the evolution of my dining room space here ! 

As previously posted , I had three very different trips in the last three weeks. And because I take such care (probably too much) in what I pack in my carry-on bag, I snapped pictures of the contents from all three of those trips just to see the differences. Nerdy Fun! Trip 1. Business Trip to Denver Denver Business Trip Trip Summary:  A business trip for a tech conference, and fortunately, time with my little sister who lives there.  Contents of My Carry-on: The usual hand sanitizer, Advil, sunblock, Altoids (for post-flight freshening-up), my miraculous S'well bottle (empty until I cross security), assorted snacks, a variety of reading material, sunglasses and my Cath Kidston bag that folds down to nothing.   Carry-On MVP: My Kindle; I finished "Places No One Knows" during the 2 hour flight. The headphones because I downloaded mellow white noise to have playing in the background while I read -- most soothing.  Carry-On Loser: That magazine went co...

Pictures of one of my favorite places on the Earth ... before I bore you with the story of where, what and how ... Larkin Lake in the Morning. Ready for Campers.  The Woods Outside Our Cabin. One of my favorite places in the entire world is a camp my sister and her husband run in the lovely Berkshire hills of Massachusetts. It was a camp in the hey-day of camps, then fell completely neglected and reclaimed by the woods there. Until the camp owner swooped in and invested lots of cash into building it back up again ... and wisely hired my sister and brother-in-law to run it. We started visiting in the early years during Labor Day weekend, when the camp was still being refurbished and the program was just building up. Over the three (or was it four?) years that we visited it quickly became my favorite vacation spot. I never went to a sleep-away camp like this, so I indulge my inner 10-year-old. We'd sleep in cabins, eat in the dining hall, play in the Playhouse and lake. A...

Lots to tell about my travels ... Starting with our July 4th celebration. It was particularly moving to hear the Declaration of Independence read at the historic state house in Boston followed by a burst of patriotic confetti. "We Hold These Truths to Be Self Evident ..." And the day ended with a spectacular sunset and fireworks on a South Bay beach. The Girls in the Sunset on the 4th of July Totally amazing way to spend this holiday. 

In a nutshell, my diesel Jetta is involved in the VW scandal and, according to the news, I will be soon be parting with it. ( My post from when I bought the car ... all happy and excited about the "cleaner" engine. Pshf. ) Honestly, I'm not thrilled about shopping for a new car. When we bought this car in 2013 I was looking forward to at least a decade of NOT car shopping. All the time and thought into the different options, MPG, color -- weighing all the advantages and disadvantages. And dealing with car salesman! Ugh. There are work camps in Siberia that are more fun. But, here we are. So I've been starting to give it some thought. What I like about my car. What I'm missing. And looking around parking lots at models that are cute. As of today my must list , which sits on top of the usual new-car features, is: 1. heated seats 2. sun roof 3. room in the trunk for a bag of soccer balls, four chairs and four backpacks. 4. fuel efficient Additionally, I...