A Summer Gathering of Thoughts

I got this post idea from one of my favorite bloggers-- Elizabeth Foss. This summer, I am planning to blog once a week using this format, giving myself a bit of a summer break at the same time. I'll see you here each Monday from now until Labor Day. 

(Addendum: This post is up late today because I wrote the whole thing and then lost it. So then I had to go around and rant for a bit before I could get the gumption up to write it all over again. Must be a Monday...) 

Loving... Summer. School's out and my favorite season is finally here. 

Listening to... Chris Botti-- the concert was awesome and I'm trying to recapture it via listening to his music. (Not. The. Same.)

I will share this amazing clip from the concert. Hang in there and you will be glad you did. (It was much better live, as you can imagine.)

Clothing myself in... slouchy tees from Marshalls I bought with a birthday gift card-- at 7.99 and 12.99 respectively, these versatile tops with light colored boyfriend jeans are my uniform of late

Reading... Attempting to go through several series this summer-- all murder mysteries: Tana French's Dublin Murder series, Sophie Hannah's Zailer and Waterhouse series, Kate Atkinson's Jackson Brodie series, and Laura Lippman's Tess Monaghan series. These have all been well-reviewed on the various book blogs I follow, and I do love a good mystery in the summer. All of these should keep me very busy. I have declared this to be my "summer of reading."

And for the kids, I really loved this list of titles-- definitely just blew up my library holds list! 

Pondering... this article. While I don't reach for my phone first thing in the am because it's usually on a charger in another room, this did get me to thinking about what I do reach for-- and how it reflects my priorities and my day.

Cultivating a rhythm... Can creativity be scheduled? This post has me thinking of how I can schedule my writing in the midst of a houseful this summer. 

Creating... How about wanting to create? This flag banner that looks easy and perfect for the Fourth.

I will also be creating banana muffins in the very near future because... old bananas are on my counter, which is a sign.

Giving thanks... for this, my favorite season, for a surprise working out (more on that later), for my husband, for time with my kids this summer. 

Planning... amending this list to reflect our family's needs, but definitely wanting to have some sort of screen time moratorium this summer. I don't want my kids' faces in their respective screens all the livelong day. This, by the way, was not something my mother had to worry about. Ah, simpler times.

Watching... (Speaking of screens, grin) Binged on Five Days, a BBC/HBO miniseries concerning a mother and her two children who go missing. The uniqueness of this show is that it is five episodes concerning five pivotal days in the investigation. Though it started slow for me, I found myself hooked and watched it all in one big (long) gulp. Also watching Wayward Pines and Aquarius. Aquarius is good, Wayward Pines is... strange. But I'm hopeful. 

Looking forward to... the Michael McDonald concert with my oldest for his birthday this week. He and I have a long running thing about Michael McDonald-- most recently inspired by this skit:

Can't wait to see the man himself!

More Links (Just For Fun)...

Love this printable-- I emailed it to my local UPS store, they printed it on card stock and I cut it to fit an existing frame. This isn't a great picture but it looks nice on a table in my living room-- and adds some inspiration as well! 

How to get rid of sour towels. I'm trying this as we speak. We have an, um, problem shall we say with  laundry getting left in the wash a bit too long. There is nothing worse (ok there is but go with it) than getting all clean in the shower and then drying yourself with a stinky towel.

Because I am not a decorator, this post was a wow for me-- just look at how changing the pillows and throws changes a room! (I told you I was not a decorator.)

And finally, this bucket list for summer has some fun items to cross off. Let's all try to hit as many of them as we can!