MISTY'S MORNINGS

I think it's safe to say I have been bitten by the planner community bug. There are just so many ideas, projects, chores, memories and appointments my brain wants me to record! While iCal on my phone is the first stop for scheduling, and allows my husband and I to sync our calendars, it leaves me craving a more beautiful place to express my creativity and do some memory keeping. Last summer I began bullet journaling with the One Book July challenge. It completely harnessed my wild and crazy mind into one book and I felt immediate planner peace. I didn't follow the bullet journal rules much and decorated every page with washi tape, stickers, doodles and hand-letting practice. But by the end of the month, I ran out of pages and it felt ridiculous to have to begin a whole new book and to have to transfer all of my on-going collections to a new book. Thinking of doing this repeatedly was daunting.  Somewhere in my Instagram perusals I came...

  Last week was full of summer goodness :: road tripping to drop one son off at soccer camp at the University of Virginia, then exploring the countryside around Charlottesville, Virginia with my husband and two other sons. It was an ideal vacation. We hiked hidden trails , toured historic homes , sampled locally made wines and crashed every night after a refreshing swim in the hotel's outdoor pool and hot tub. We had no defined schedule to keep and simply followed our noses to whatever interested us. When it was time to go we actually felt ready and eager to return to our preferred rhythms and routines. Coincidentally, I came across this article on the  vanishing vacation on the drive home and my husband agreed that after our holiday he feels ready to get back to work with a fresh frame of mind. Surprisingly I too am happy to get back to the laundry and the cooking and the  dri...

For Christmas my amazingly generous sister gifted me with a fancy food processor.  The one I was using was a 1980s relic of my mother's that made more noise than it should. I almost hated to say goodbye to it but as soon as I started using the new processor I forgot all about the old one. One favorite way it has come in handy is in grating blocks of cheddar cheese. We also love it for making roasted red pepper hummus and lots and lots of salsa. Thanks Mariah! You're the best sister a girl could have. XO Playing along at 52 Photos : Orange

Saturdays are the perfect time for a little aimless web-wandering and here are few of my recent reads I'd like to recommend to you. The Wild Surrender of Motherhood by Carrie Ann Moss @Annapurna Living This new website launched this week and is absolutely lovely. Remember Carrie Ann Moss from the Matrix movies? Well she is now the founder and inspiration behind this blog.  Here is an excerpt of her vision for annapurnaliving.com : FROM CARRIE-ANNE ... “To see womanhood through eyes of grace.”  My desire is to live in a world where nourishment is valued. I believe a nourished family will lead to a nourished world. I believe life is beautiful and that our divine purpose in this world is to nurture the earth by respecting it and being grateful for what it provides us. My wish is to inspire others to create beautiful, honest and satisfying lives. My Other Ex: Women's True Stories of Leaving and Losing Friends   @A Design So Vast Unfortunately, over the pa...

The desk full of binders, calendars, sports schedules and dreamy ideas is where I currently find myself, while my mind continues to stray back to the mountains and clouds of our trip to the Black Hills of South Dakota. We have been home for a week and I decided in future, I must come home better mentally prepared for the onslaught of emails and to-do items that pile up when we go away for two whole weeks. The fact that school resumes one week from today only intensifies the pressure to get it all done right away. Usually at this point in August I am eager for cooler, less humid days hinting at the beauty of spicy Autumn flavors. Not this year. I am so invigorated by my return to normal movement following the long recovery from knee surgery that I don't want these summery days to end. At least not until they officially end on September 23, 2014. This year feels like a do-over, the last one so consumed by injury, pain and slow, slow, slow recovery. My mind is bursti...

Sometimes I have to pinch myself that where we live, day after day, is actually a vacation destination for many people who come from far away to spend a weekend on the beach. They may have saved money for months to afford a few days splashing around in the waves and relaxing on the san that makes up our neighborhood. I feel such gratitude that I can zip down the beach road on a whim, as we did yesterday, with less than two hours to spare; we simply needed to swim in the sea. It was almost 100 degrees outside and the sun gleamed in a brilliant blue sky. So off we went, while Kai was at camp, to the beach.  The older two boys swam gleefully as I read Bread and Wine and dreamed of delicious meals to make my sun-kissed family for dinner. At one point I looked up and snapped this photo of my view. Then I pinched myself. This really is our home , our daily vacation spot, the place my boys have now lived for longer than anywhere else in their lives. We are living this beachy ...

Outside my window These summer days have been beyond beautiful. Today is the last day of June and I hate to see it go. I had a fun hashtag on IG #juneswoon2014 where I documented all the lusciousness of this month. Time to switch over to July and full-blown summer heat, patriotism and travels. I need a new hashtag... Reading One of the best parts of summer is the freedom to read. For fun, whenever and wherever we feel the need. As always I have many books going at once. My books: The Little Oratory  Still participating in the read-along here but have yet to formally set-up my oratory. Bread and Wine  Almost done. It's good. What To Wear for the Rest of Your Life  I love the section on organizing your wardrobe. So need this. Poser  Can I quit this one yet? I'm bored. Done : A Cook's Guide to Knowing When Food Is Perfectly Cooked  Always have to read at least one cookbook and this one takes me back to basics. Audio Books The Secret ...