I had scaffolding and plans in place to set myself up to succeed this time. At motherhood and working and life in general. Maybe succeed isn’t the right word. I was just trying not to flail again. Linnie would go to childcare out of the house, and Hallie would be at school and then day camp over the summer. I would work when I was working and be a mom when I wasn’t working instead of trying to do it all, like I did when Hal was a baby. Like I did before I knew myself well enough to know that I don’t work well (or at all) with distractions or multitasking or tiny chunks of broken time. But this time, this time things would be different. (Scroll to the bottom for easy links to the pretty new Noted by Post-it® collection.)

Read more

Hello. Hi! I didn’t mean to completely disappear. Or disappear without saying I was disappearing. I planned on taking a maternity leave, some time off and away from the internet. I also planned on mentioning it. And then one week went by, and then another and another, until we had ourselves an 7 8 week old (I started this post a week ago if that tells you anything about the state of things). I guess it goes without saying—she’s here! Linden June Coleman arrived on April 1st during a pandemic. After a couple days of consistent but false labor, very early on a Wednesday, we barely made it to the hospital in time to meet her. On the walk waddle from the triage room to the delivery room, mid-migraine, my water broke, and I went from 5 to 10 cm dilated. She was in our arms 10 minutes later, the longest, most painful 10 minutes later. Maybe she was in just as big of a rush to get home and quarantine as we were. Read more

I haven’t done a gift guide in a couple years. But this year I have a couple ideas for you—from the cook to the fella to the tiny human to the stocking and the minimalist, aka the person who would prefer little to no physical gifts (it’s me!). A couple notes for the 2019 Gift Guide. I’ve included asterisks* next to items we own and love. I’ve also included notes on where to buy locally for my Twin Cities friends. If you’d prefer to buy used, search for these items on eBay. I bought Kev’s used present there this year. (I hope you’re not reading this, Kev.) And, if you want to read my tangled up thoughts on gifting and minimalism, check out this post. Here’s to figuring out how to wade through this holiday season—preserving the best things and revising the rest.

Gift Guide for the Cook

SMEG Juicer | Enamel Loaf Tin* | Enamel Colander/Bowl  (Purchase locally at The Foundry Home Goods) | Butter Bell | Honey Pot* | Dinner Bell | Emerald Dutch Oven* | Matte Black Kettle (Purchase locally at Show and Tell MPLS) | The Huckle & Goose Cookbook* (Purchase locally at Moon Palace Books or Mager’s and Quinn) Read more

Kev always says this to me. “What is now, will not always be, Mel.” “But Kev, I’m serious,” I say, “I’m never moving from this house.” I hate it when he says it. It’s like he knows me better than I know myself, like he sees something I can’t see yet. It’s like he’s trying the shake the unsteady ground I built for myself with a pile of permanent claims that might not be so permanent. The longer I’ve lived with Kev, the more space I’ve given myself to be unsure about it, sometimes, about it all. Read more