My amazingly talented friend Lindsey at A Design So Vast recently posted a great questionnaire so I thought I would ‘borrow’ it and use it for my own post.

Here goes and please share your answers in the comments if you are so inclined!

Go-to weeknight recipe?

I love the turkey taco recipe in the great cookbook Keepers. It is one of the few meals that we all (loosely defined) like.

First job?

My first summer job was as a camp counselor and my first grown up job was as a speech therapist at a tiny hospital in rural Maryland.

Next job?

I left my hospital job when I moved back to Richmond and went to work as a public school speech therapist.

Hometown?

Rumford, RI right outside of Providence.

What would you put on your neon sign?

Every end is a new beginning.

Wouldn’t leave home without?

My phone, a book and lip balm.

Essential beauty products?

Lip balm, bronzer and moisturizer.

Wouldn’t fly without?

See ‘wouldn’t leave home without.’

Things you buy in bulk?

I have actually stopped buying in bulk. I forget what I’ve bought and end up buying it again which becomes a storage and a waste problem.

Favorite book?

Ugh. I heard someone once say when they can’t answer a ‘favorite’ question, they just say the most current so I’ll go with that strategy. Right now I am reading and really, really liking, The Martian by Andy Weir

First celebrity crush?

Tom Cruise.

Favorite movie?

I’m sure there are more appropriate choices here but truth be told I think it might be Bridesmaid. I fast forward the bridal shop scene because it is terrible but I could watch the airplane scene all day long and never get tired of it.

People on speed dial?

Rob, Caroline, my mom, my mother in law and a few friends.

Preferred form of exercise?

I wish I knew! I have been to three gyms this year alone trying to find the correct combination of workouts that don’t hurt my back while toning and giving me the right amount of cardio.

Drink of choice?

Coffee.

Proudest moment?

Delivering both girls without medication.

Ok… your turn. Go!

 

 

 

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Oops! Looks like the month of July went by without a Picture Book Favorites post. It certainly wasn’t from lack of great picture books so here goes. Better late than never!

Float by Daniel Miyares. I posted about Float the other day on Instagram which but the way is my new favorite social media platform but more on that another day.. For now, Float is a wordless picture that even people who don’t like wordless picture books will love. It celebrates color, creativity and imagination. What could be wrong with that?

Naked written by Michael Ian Black & illustrated by Debbie Ridpath Ohi. How did I not read this book on the very first day it was released? This book is hysterical as a read aloud or even a read-togther. What early reader would not like to read word ‘naked’ over and over again. Seriously, go and get this book immediately if you haven’t already.

A Library Book for Bear written by Bonny Becker & illustrated by Kady MacDonald Denton. Mouse and Bear are two of our favorite picture book characters and they do not disappoint in this tale of how to love a library.

I Don’t Like Koala written by Sean Ferrell & illustrated by Charles Santos shows how one little boy comes to realize the importance of one little stuffed friend. The illustrations in this one are really unique and worth exploring. Santos is an animator and it shows but in a really ‘picture booky’ kind of way. It sounds weird, I know but you’ll see what I mean!

The Night World by Mordicai Gerstein is one of the best combinations of pictures and words I have seen in a long time. In this story a little boy explores the night time yard and then is treated an awesome surprise.

When Aunt Mattie Got her Wings by Petra Mathers. Do not read this book if you aren’t comfortable crying in front of little readers. I have never known exactly what book to recommend when people ask for picture books that deal with death. I now have the perfect, perfect book. Truly, this book is perfect. Read it and you’ll see what I mean.

 

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Last week, Katherine and I read See You Next Year by Andrew Larsen and Todd Stewart. See You Next Year tells the story of a family’s return to their favorite beach spot. It got me thinking about a piece I wrote last year. Our family travels to LBI every summer and I am often torn. There are so many places to go in this world and I wonder if we should venture further and do something new and different. But then I have moments like the one I write about below and I read books like See You Next Year and I am reminded of the power of tradition.

A blue ball and an orange ball bounce on the waves, floating slowly back to the beach. These balls have taken the same ride thousands of times over the past 30 years. No matter how far you throw them, they always return. When I first vacationed with my now husband we were in our mid twenties. In the bottom of his mother’s canvas beach bag were two plastic balls with the name Rob scrawled on them in child-like scribble. I have a hard time keeping track of a grocery list over the course of the week but this woman had kept two plastic balls in her beach bag for decades.

Earlier this year, I sat quietly at the beach and heard, “Want to throw the balls?” Katherine, my youngest and her favorite cousin Jason, stood in the sand, drying off after a swim in the rough surf. He jumped up and they ran off, their plan clear despite the few words exchanged. They reached in to the bottom of their grandma’s bag, each taking a small plastic ball, the size of their fists. For years, the grown ups stood at the edge of the water with them, afraid that as toddlers and pre-schoolers, they might follow the balls deep in to the ocean. Now they are eight and nine and ready to exert their independence. We move our chairs down closer to the water but we do not join them.

“Remember the time the life guard had to get the ball?” my sister-in-law asked.

“A life guard? I thought it was a surfer?” my husband thought out loud.

“No, “ I said, “It was that life guard. The one with the curly blond hair.”

And on and on we went. The time the water was too cold to play, the time the wind blew the balls in to the group of swimmers in front of the life-guard chair. The time the kids fought over who would throw the blue ball and who would throw the orange one.

Each year, I think we should plan a different vacation. The world is large and our time on it is short. I wonder why we go to the same house at the same beach year after year. And then we have conversations like the one above and I remember the value of tradition in our lives.

Family traditions give us a shared story. We become connected through the tales we tell and these stories provide comfort and familiarity in a world full of change. These shared stories bring together families across geographical distance and across generations. They become a piece of the family puzzle that we can all understand. Family traditions provide predictability to children who benefit from knowing what comes next. In a world where the adults make the majority of the decisions, children revel in knowing how the story will end. With these shared stories we collect memories and comfort.

As Katherine and Jason throw the balls again and again in to the ocean, I close my eyes and imagine these same balls being thrown by my husband and his sister in to the same waves thirty years earlier. The sun begins to get lower in the sky and I reach behind my chair to put on my cover-up. At the same time, the kids run up from the water. They have heard the loud bell of the ice cream truck and one tradition blends easily in to the next. Already I know that Katherine will choose a strawberry frozen lemonade while Jason’s will be lemon. The ice cream truck offers dozens of choices but these will be theirs. And with that, the day continues.

 

 

 

 

 

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Today is one of my favorite days in the blogosphere. Quick Lit day at Modern Mrs. Darcy.

This month, I learned a lesson about my reading preferences. I am not a fan of hugely long books. The story can be great but if it takes me ages to make it even half way through, there’s a chance I won’t ever make it to the end.  This month, I began read Stephen King’s It and I was immediately drawn in to the story. Somehow, I have never read any old school Stephen King and I thought it was time. I was hooked initially  but I became totally overwhelmed by the length of the book. I do want to get back to it soon but I had to put it down and read something that I could finish in a realistic amount of time. Fortunately, I found two page turners and a middle grade read which were just right.

I’d love to hear what you are loving this summer. Please share!

 

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