I'm a Notebook Person

Are you a notebook person? Do you obsessively research different types of Japanese paper and buy new journals even though you certainly don't need another one? Do you invent reasons to start a new themed journal? If you answered yes to these questions, you'll likely enjoy this post.

I recently read this post by Carolyn Yoo which spoke to my notebook-loving heart. I have never heard of a techo kaigi ("notebook meeting") before but it seems like an excellent idea, particularly for those us of who refuse to limit ourselves to one notebook. I currently have six notebooks in use (not counting sketchbooks and art journals; there are four of those.) This is too many for me, and I do have a long-term plan for reducing them, but I also cannot abandon a journal without it being completed. Are you also an eldest child?

Sorry for all the Amazon links: I know it's not cool to support Amazon these days, but when it comes down it it, it's the cheapest notebook source, and we get free shipping through a shared family Prime account. When I'm ready to re-buy notebooks, I'll probably use JetPens instead.

Planning & Exercise Tracker: Random planner from Amazon

Over the years I have realized that I prefer undated planners. If I am on vacation, I likely won't fill out a spread for that week, and (see above) I hate having blank pages! This means they also will last longer than a year. I throw away planners when I'm done with them, so I'm not picky about when I start them.  I started this current planner on April 28. It is always open on my desk with work and personal appointments and tasks mixed together. I like having a week on one page, and I chose this particular planner because it has a section for to-do lists and a habit tracker. I use that and the monthly spreads to track my steps, workouts (with active minutes from my Fitbit), yoga, and walks. If I don't write these down, I will definitely forget my activity for the week.

"5-Year" Journal: Levenger 5-Year Journal

I started this 5-Year Journal in 2010. If you can do basic math, you'll know that I have had it for 15 years. Without fail, I complete a streak of several months, and then forget it exists for years. Some pages have 5 years filled out, others have none. I assume a sane person would simply say "not for me" and move on with their lives, but I CANNOT HAVE BLANK SPACES. So, it persists.

Reading Log: Stalogy A6 Grid, 1/2 Year

This was a case of coveting a notebook without having a specific plan for it. The Stalogy notebook pages are fairly thin, I assume kind of like Hobonichi paper, but I have never seen a Hobonichi in person. I enjoy the sensory experience of crinkly pages with slight ghosting from the other side, so I am a fan of this brand. I am using this one as a reading journal, where I list the author, title, dates started and finished, and then take bullet point notes as I read. It's not anything profound, but I hope it will help me remember books more clearly. I also don't put every single book in here, just ones I want to remember.

Memory Keeping/Travel Journal/Everything Else: Moleskine Cahier Large Dot Grid

This is my longest-lived form of journaling. I have had a notebook like this for over 20 years, containing notes, quotes, journaling, travels, and lots of paper glued in. While other notebooks will come and go, I think this style is for life. I have used different notebooks over the years, but I am now on my second Moleskine Cahier, because I like that it's only one signature and sewed together. I put so much paper into it that it gets quite thick, and notebooks with more pages can get too bulky and heavy.

New cahier on the bottom; completed journal on the top

Long-form Writing: Midori Notebook A5 plus Paper Cover

My scrapbook-type journals are some of my most valuable possessions and one day I'll pass them down to my kids. Sometimes I just want to write some drivel, though. This journal is long-form writing, some of it interesting, most of it super boring to read back. I write in this notebook once or twice a week, and I'm not quite sure what to do with it when I'm finished. Ritual burning? Censorship? The Midori paper is on the thicker side which I don't prefer, but it is super smooth.

Lists and Notes: 3-Pack Notebook from Amazon

Finally, I always have a notebook on my desk for notes during meetings, scribbles when I'm researching something, or to-do lists. I prefer spiral-bound notebooks for this because they stay open easily. Sometimes I rip pages out, and I have no intention of keeping these when they're done. I got this cheap 3-pack because I liked the flowers.

So tell me, how many notebooks are you using right now? What are your favorites?

Tulip Season

My fourth season of growing tulips for sale has come and gone. Spring is definitely the busiest time for me flower-wise, starting seeds, preparing soil, setting up support systems in the garden, weeding, and of course, harvesting tulips.

Every year I change what bulbs I order, and every year I get closer to the ideal mix. I am so tempted by the specialty tulips: doubles, fringes, and parrots. But, these are also the most fickle to grow, often blooming too short and small. The large singles, the Darwin hybrids, really are the best performers year to year. 

Most people don't realize that tulips are annuals when grown as cut flowers, meaning that new bulbs have to be purchased every year. I pull up the entire plant, bulb and all, when I harvest them. This gives me several more inches in stem length and allows me to dry store them in a refrigerator. After rinsing off the dirt, I wrap the whole flower, bulb and all, in paper and stick it in the fridge with no water. They last about 2 weeks like this, and when I need to sell them I just cut off the bulb, put them in water, and they rehydrate like a charm.

The annoying part about this is that in order for tulips to store well, they have to be harvested at an ideal stage, when the bud is closed and just starting to color up. When the weather gets hot and sunny and they blow open before being pulled up, they aren't ideal to sell. This means going out to pull up flowers as many at three times a day. I planted 500 bulbs this year, which is a very small amount in flower farming terms, but it's still a lot to deal with and usually more than fit in my flower fridge. Also adding to the stress this year was the fact that something is wrong with my fridge and it wouldn't hold a low temperature, also making a loud noise. I limped across the finish line but I suppose I'll have to deal with that somehow. Ugh.

I sold every usable flower this year, with any too-short or too-small flowers left for us to enjoy in the house.

I also did the flowers for a baby shower, which is my absolute favorite thing to do. I don't often get to make arrangements, because everything I have is used for bouquets. Also, for some reason people think that local flowers should be cheap, and after hearing that their request is going to cost hundreds of dollars instead of a Trader-Joe's-like bargain, they disappear. 

Next year is still up in the air. Nearly all tulip bulbs come from the Netherlands, which, you guessed it, is now subject to tariffs. So, super cool how SOMEONE failed to realize that tariffs will also impact small American businesses growing a product in America. Tulips are already my most expensive flower to grow, and are really a loss leader when you factor in the labor. Because I grow a small amount of tulips, I can wait a few more months before I make my order for the fall, so we'll see how things pan out.

Day in the Life: Tuesday, March 25, 2025

Thank you to everyone who commented on my last post. You all made excellent points on why blogging is important and why it should live on in our social media oriented landscape. In addition to embracing the anti-capitalist and creative side of blogging, I realized that this is the only medium in which we can see how people are spending their days. I don't even know what my friends do on a daily basis for the most part! Day in the life posts are so varied and fascinating. I've never written one of these posts before, but on this particular Tuesday I snapped photos along the way so I could show you all what I'm up to.

On Mondays and Tuesdays I typically go into the office (I'm supposed to go three days a week, so I also alternate Wednesdays and Thursdays). My husband takes care of getting the kids off to school on these two days since he is off from work, and I get them ready Wednesday through Friday.

7:00: Wake up. I know many of you are super early risers, so this probably seems late. But after many years of waking up before 6am pre-pandemic, I realized how much better I feel when I adhere to my natural wake time. The sun has already caught back up to the time change and it's light when I look outside. I take a shower every morning because it wakes me up and tames my short hair which is inevitably sticking straight up. It takes me about 35 minutes to shower, get dressed, dry my hair, and put on various face creams. I don't wear makeup or style my hair other than blow drying it. Then I pack my lunch and work bags and head out the door.

7:53-8:42: Drive to work. I listen to The Rose Code by Kate Quinn on audio. It takes me about 50 minutes to get to work in the morning. I hate commuting. I know some people don't like working from home, but I love it and would every day if I could. I would get back several hours per week and not waste money on gas that just gets burned up and adds to pollution. I park in the underground garage and feel empathy for all the federal workers who have shown up again this week down the street. I also feel empathy for myself because traffic is worse now.

8:45: I get (free!) coffee and eat breakfast at my desk. I check my email for a few minutes and then I have meetings all morning. I'm a director in the publications department at a science non-profit. Mostly what I do is go to meetings, planning and logistics, and answer random questions all day. 

11:45: There's a gym in the basement of my building so I head down to work out. I lift weights four days a week, and sometimes do cardio if I have time. I didn't have time today, so I just did leg day and then headed back upstairs, using the elevator. I could no longer walk up the stairs. I forgot to bring socks in my gym bag so I had to wear the wool socks I already had on, which were pretty toasty by the time I was finished.

12:30: I eat lunch (last night's leftover burrito bowl) at my desk and do more computer work. Then at 1:00 it's back to meetings.

2:00: I sit in the library for a few minutes to rest my eyes, because this is the only place in the building where you can get away from florescent lights.

All the employees use the library for this purpose as well, and completely ignore this sign.

2:10: There is a retirement party for a coworker going on in the break room. I hang out here for a bit and eat two delicious macarons.

2:45: I leave the office early today to run errands on my way home. My first stop is to pick up some medical records near the hospital and I'm like 85% sure I saw a body being wheeled out the rear entrance.

Next I stop at the local arts center to register the kids for summer camps and give away all my money. Processing fees have become insane and I would have had to pay $75 to register for camp online! Saving that was worth the extra effort to sign up in person.

4:30-5:30: I'm back home. I set up my computer again and work for another hour. My home office is so much better than the actual office. Natural light! Plants!

5:30: I go down to the basement to water my seedlings and set the trays outside to start hardening off. I'm going to leave them outside all night since it won't be below freezing, and they should be ready to plant out this weekend.

I also check on my tulips because I need to send my CSA subscribers an email by the end of the week with their pickup dates for the season. Predicting tulips is difficult because they are entirely dependent on the weather. Last year I had some on April first but I think we'll be a little behind due to the colder winter. I pick some daffodils to bring into the house. 

6:00: My husband made dinner, as he does every night. I really hit the jackpot with that one, didn't I? We have turkey meatballs, roasted carrots and potatoes, and salad. After dinner we both clean up the kitchen and I feed the cat.

7:00-10:15: I read Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator by Roald Dahl to the 7 year old, which is a weird and tiresome book. I get why it was never made into a movie, because it would be weird and tiresome. After she goes to bed I read some of The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt. Then I finish watching The Causeway, a movie that was fine, I guess? I also watch some random YouTube videos.

10:15-10:55: Bedtime - I change my clothes and get ready for bed, then I read for another 20 minutes or so laying in bed. I have read before falling asleep my whole life and it's so ingrained that I have to do it. I'm almost done with Stone Yard Devotional by Charlotte Wood. (Yep, I have read three different books today! That's typical for me.)

And that's a typical Monday or Tuesday. These two days are the easiest of the week for me because my husband is home and I can just leave when I need to in the morning and I don't have to worry about getting back in time to meet the school bus. The rest of the week requires more juggling, because if I do go into the office I need to be back home by a certain time. My husband works on Saturdays so I am on solo kid duty, and most of the chores are crammed into Sunday. Summer is just a train wreck to be honest so maybe I'll treat you to one of those days in the future.

Maintenance Phase

I titled this post "Maintenance Phase", which doesn't have anything to do with the podcast (although I am a fan.) It's become clear that this the life phase I am currently in. Keeping things moving - getting kids to school, getting myself to work, keeping the house clean and staying on top of chores - is the focus of my days. The weather is not helping, with freezing temperatures and windy days keeping us inside. We've had a few glimpses of Spring, but we're not quite there yet.

It's been awhile, so here are some photos from the past few months. You can still see leaves on the trees in many of these, which is a time I have already forgotten existed.

In a glorious moment of serendipity, I was able to see one of my all-time-favorite pieces of classical music, Bach's Brandenburg Concerto (no. 2), performed live. This venue isn't too far from me and I hope to see more performances there. But - this one started at 8:00. AT NIGHT. I'm basically the social media meme of a 40-something who can no longer leave their house after dark. I was out way past my bedtime so I guess I can only go to matinees from now on.

It was the snowiest winter in several years. I've heard the phrase "stick season", mostly used in New England, to describe the time before it snows when the world is brown. Well, in the mid-Atlantic that's just winter. It's dark, grey, and brown and depressing. Snow is always welcome, brightening up the landscape. Because of all the snow days, instead of school ending on a Friday this year, it now ends with a half day on Monday. I mean, come on. No one is going to go to that and it messes up all the camp schedules!

Flower season has now started with hundreds of seedlings being sewn and tended to. It's not long now before I start preparing the garden and planting out. My flower subscription sales have been much lower than normal this year, something I'm hearing from other flower sellers as well. Everything is expensive these days and I understand that fun purchases, like flowers, are the first to go. I also decided to take a 6-week break in the middle of the summer so that's also going to impact sales. Luckily I am not financially dependent on this business at all, but I know other growers are, so please support your local flower farm, even if it's just one bouquet during the season! (Buying locally is now more important than ever, no matter your location.)

I have been struggling with my "why" regarding this blog for awhile. Posting takes time and effort, and I'm already a regular journaler so I don't necessarily need to record my life in this way. If you are a blogger, I'd love to hear what keeps you going. Although I have had significant breaks, I have been blogging for twenty-one years. But, the state of the world is not great right now, and I like the idea of documenting the beauty that still exists.

In other news, the Women's Prize for Fiction longlist dropped this week! I've already read three books on the list (The Safekeep, All Fours, and The Ministry of Time), and plan to read the full longlist eventually. I started this week with Broken Seeds, the only book I don't have to wait in a lengthy hold line for. I look forward to discussing these with those of you who are also reading along this year.

Favorite Books of 2024

In 2024 I focused on reading what I enjoyed, rather than a number. I wanted to get to some longer books without being fixated on my stats. Although I read 24 less books than in 2023, this was a high-quality reading year. Here are some of my favorites.

Favorite Books of 2024

Of the 91 books I read in 2024, seven stood out to me. I am a rare 5-star giver, which I reserve for the cream of the crop. If I really enjoyed a book and thought it was well written, it generally gets a 4. Five-star reads are those books that I thought about while I wasn't reading, anxious to get back to them. I know I will remember details from these books for years.

God of the Woods by Liz Moore: I think most of the internet loved this book, a literary mystery about a girl who goes missing from a summer camp. The story had me hooked and I kept looking forward to picking this one up. I also really liked how the chapters were labeled with the narrator and year; because of the dual timelines and multiple perspectives, this could have easily been confusing.

Soldier Sailor by Claire Kilroy: This is the most accurate portrayal of motherhood to a young child that I have ever read. The husband drove me nuts (which I think was the point). If you are a parent, read this to feel seen, and if you don't have kids, read this to know what parents are going through. Really, nothing has captured the conflict between the exhaustion of parenting, loss of self, and love for a child better. (from this post)

North Woods by Daniel Mason: A novel told in interconnecting stories, this is a book not about people, but the land. Mason follows one parcel of land in Western Massachusetts over hundreds of years, describing the evolution of a house and the people who occupy it. Most of the stories are completely captivating and original, but my favorite thing about this book is how Mason respects the reader's intelligence. He doesn't explain everything outright, but trusts that if you read closely, you pick up on the full story. (from my earlier post) I really hoped that this would win the Pulitzer for fiction this year, but I was wrong. Ack! [I did read this year's winner, Night Watch, and meh.]

Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout: Everyone loves Olive and now I understand why. Told in interconnecting stories, this book is about a small town and its inhabitants, with Olive playing a role in most of the townspeople's lives. Grumpy and sometimes downright mean, she has a good heart hardened by a difficult past. She is one of the most real characters I've ever read. I'm looking forward to reading more by Strout. (from my earlier post) 

A Ghost in the Throat by Dorieann Ní Ghríofa: For some reason I thought this book was fiction when I picked it up, but it's actually a memoir. Combining the author's experience of motherhood with the life of an 18th-century female poet, this book has a hauntingly beautiful quality. Ní Ghríofa is a poet and this fact shines through in her writing. One reason why I personally enjoyed this so much is because I studied abroad in Ireland at University College Cork, which is the same university that the author attended. We are exactly the same age so I can only assume we were there at the same time - the mentions of places in Cork that I remember drew me back to this time. (from my earlier post)

The Heart's Invisible Furies by John Boyne: This book is the story of Cyril, born in Ireland right after World War II. It spans his entire lifetime, from being giving up for adoption by his teen mother, until the end of his life. Cyril is gay and grows up with immense shame, tamping down feelings of love for his best friend. The book spans countries and time periods, handling the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s and other tough subjects. But also: this book is funny. 

Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead: Another long book, following the entire life of Marian Graves, a female pilot in the early 20th century. It was the perfect combination of plot, forward movement, character development, and excellent writing. (It was shortlisted for both the Booker and the Women's Prize, quite a feat.)

2025 Reading Plans

Over the years I've learned that I generally do not have great reading experiences when I pick up a book just because it's popular, or because it "looked good" on the new shelf at the library. In 2024 I focused on reading books that had been recommended to me or had stood the test of time. I have never been able to stick to prescribed monthly or otherwise time-bound TBRs, so for 2025 I'm focusing on several lists of books.

• My Storygraph TBR (54 books currently): I am very picky about what I add to my TBR these days. It has to have been recommended by a trusted source (generally by more than one), have relatively good reviews, and be in a genre I know I like. (No romantasy or thrillers for now!)
• My owned TBR (58 books currently): The library sells paperbacks for 50 cents which is my  weakness. I prefer to read actual library books because the due date gives me motivation, so buying a book is a sure-fire way to ensure that it will take me forever to get to it. I have owned some unread books for over 15 years. I need to whittle this down!
• Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and Women's Prize Winners (17/98 and 6/29 respectively): I will continue to work my way through these lists.
• Completing the works of Barbara Kingsolver, Maggie O'Farrell, Claire Fuller, and Peter Heller: Apparently I like authors with double ls in their names. 
• Reading from series I have started: Every once in awhile I like to check in with old friends. I am currently in the middle of reading Louise Penny's Three Pines (skipping to the later books because of her choppy writing style); Robert Dugoni's Tracy Crosswhite; and Elly Griffith's Ruth Galloway. Other series I have started and may pick up are Ragnar Jonasson's Dark Iceland, Jussi Alder-Olsen's Department Q, and all of Ann Cleeves' series.

This is well over the number of books I can read in a year, and I am viewing it like Oliver Burkeman suggests: a river, not a bucket. I am not up on what new releases come out next year, but I will definitely be picking up any books by authors I have previously read and loved.

Squam Art Workshop: Fall 2024

I have wanted to attend the Squam Art Workshop for over a decade. With the kids a little older I finally took the plunge and signed up for the fall session last November. I won't lie, it's not cheap. You only live once though, right? With rental car prices in the "insane" category, I decided to drive from Maryland to New Hampshire rather than flying. Driving 11 hours is something that sounds fine in the abstract, but actually doing it is another story.

The first day I drove to Manchester, New Hampshire (ten hours) and spent the night so I could get up in the morning and tour two Frank Lloyd Wright houses before making the final hour-long drive to camp. (Huge thanks to Katie who tipped me off on these home tours!) You meet at the museum and are taken a short way down the street in a bus to visit both houses, which are on the same street in a residential neighborhood. If I lived on that street I would be so annoyed at the people traipsing down the street every day, but on the other hand, how cool would it be to live across the street from a Frank Lloyd Wright?

The Kalil House was very concrete-y and not very cozy. It was designed to be self-built, with standard size concrete blocks. Even the ceiling is made out of these blocks. It was interesting architecturally but I certainly wouldn't want to live there.

The Zimmerman House was more like what we normally associate with FLW, warm woods, low ceilings, and connection with the outdoors. The Zimmermans knew they wanted to preserve their house for the future, leaving all of the original furniture and their belonging in the home. Their clothes were still hanging in the closets! Either fascinating or creepy, depending on how you look at it. I thought this house was beautiful and could even see some similarities with our own house, which is probably why I was drawn to it when we bought it.

I ate my lunch near the river in Manchester, then drove an hour farther north to Rockywold-Deephaven Camps. This place is the embodiment of your nostalgic summer camp dreams. The cabins are uninsulated, which was fine when I was there in early September, but I can imagine them being super hot in high summer. The bedding was warm and I felt cozy during the night when the temperatures dropped. My room led out onto the screened porch, and I kept the doors open most of the time.

I think all of the cabins have their own docks. Walking down a short path to the lake and sitting on the dock was the highlight of this experience. A glance in either direction showed people chatting, knitting, and swimming. 

One really cool thing that the camp does is cut lake ice during the winter and store it in a legit ice house. All of the cabins have old iceboxes, and the staff replaces the ice every day. I was there at the end of the season and the ice house was almost empty. It's crazy to think that this old technology still works to keep ice for months and months all summer.

The first day I was there was only a half day, but I did go to a relaxing yoga class, followed by dinner. All of the meals were at set times in the dining hall with a buffet-style meal. The food was pretty good for being mass produced, but it was as loud as you can imagine. A few times I skipped meals or got my food to go because honestly it was a little too overstimulating with 200+ people in one room chatting away.

The next day was my first class, block printing on fabric. This class was so fun - we started with designing our pattern, carving our blocks, and then finally printing the design. Almost everyone was new to this technique, and yet everyone managed to produced beautiful, unique patterns. My design is the one you see at the front right of the photo below.

The line of printed towels drying overnight was a huge draw for everyone walking by. Some people even printed on their clothes!

The next day I had signed up for a paper cutting class, however by this time it had become clear that my Dad was not going to have many more days left. I had my phone by my side waiting for updates from my family. Emotionally I just couldn't handle being around a group of strangers all day, so instead I went for a hike up Rattlesnake Mountain. The view of the lake at the top was definitely worth it, but the particular trail I took was literally straight up. 

The next day was Saturday, a free day. In the morning I went to a Botanical Sketching thing, which I thought would be a class, but it was just some vignettes set up on tables that we were on our own to draw how we liked. I did a quick sketch and then headed out on my main event for the day, the Five Fingers Point trail. This trail skirted the edge of the lake along a point. The weather was great for hiking, and I spent some time just sitting at different points gazing at the beautiful surroundings.

When I got back, I decided to be brave and took a dip in the lake. It was frigid and probably took me 20 minutes to work up to fully submerging myself. There were some women who seemed to have more experience with cold-water swimming and were swimming longer distances, but it was all I could do to just bob around for a few minutes. The water must have had an effect because I wasn't sore from 2 consecutive days of hiking!

On Sunday morning it was time to return home. I originally planned to take a day to stop in Rhode Island on my way home, but I wanted to get home to hopefully see my Dad one last time. That 12 hour drive was brutal! My body was not happy being in the same position for an entire day. 

So, would I do it again? I'm not sure. The setting was absolutely beautiful, and I enjoyed being in such a peaceful place with no responsibilities for a few days. The class I took was really fun and inspirational. But, as you have figured out by now, I am an introvert, and being around so many new people for every meal and constant events was exhausting. I must have had the "Hi, I'm Sarah, where are you from?" conversation 40 times. I think I can cobble together a similar experience by booking my own cabins and art classes for less money. Still, I'm glad I went! I may have had a different experience if I had less going on in my personal life, and if I had a different group of cabin mates (I had one cabin mate who was very nice but who I only saw about twice.) Everyone there was super friendly and sweet, and the environment was so positive. I met a few women who were incredibly supportive when they heard about my Dad, and I am forever thankful to them. In all I totally recommend this workshop to anyone who is artsy/crafty and willing to meet new people (and can afford it!)

So, where should I go next?