Five Things: Recent Favorites, Mostly the Little Stuff

First things first, isn’t this awesome? The girls went to the PJ party at our gym on Friday night and couldn’t believe their luck when I let them wear both slippers and the Disney headbands. Minds blown.

Liz & I went to see Brandi Carlile at the Paramount theater in Seattle on Saturday night (as well as the Carlile Room beforehand). This was my sixth time seeing Brandi live and Liz and I’s third time seeing her together. She keeps getting better – her voice, her music, her presence. She becomes more and more herself. It is so exciting to watch. If you ever get the chance…

Friends, as of this evening, my hair color is back to normal. In early September I went darker, way darker, and it just was not me at all. I tried to like it, I gave it a real try but I breathed such a sigh of relief when my stylist finished today. It’s basically my natural hair color with a little lightness. My face looks so much better and I feel like myself again. Adding that to the list of things that I never need to do again!

I bought these slippers at the end of the summer and I love them so much. It’s like wearing a sweater on your feet. Seriously the best slippers ever.

Evening baths are a staple in the Fall for me and I recently bought the very classic Youth Dew bath oil from Estee Lauder. It feels so luxurious and honestly, I smell a little like Nana (87) at bedtime which makes me love it even more.

Cate & Jane play the old game, rock, paper, scissors very frequently – for fun, to resolve disputes, to get the larger half of dessert, on and on. Telfer and I bought this great print for outside their room. Telfer hung it and Jane immediately said “Why is there rock paper scissors outside my room?” like we were crazy. We, of course, think she is brilliant.

Telfer was on call much of this weekend which forces me to scale back (in such a very good way). I had a bit of time to sit around, read, and enjoy the view in my little office. Especially this time of year, this is my favorite place in the world to spend an hour. Or two.

A couple of weeks ago I went to Portland to hear Liz Gilbert speak about her new book, Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear. I read the book slowly and finished yesterday right before I took an epic Sunday afternoon nap. Aside: I haven’t taken a Sunday nap since my babies were small and basically, they are fabulous. Anyway, I highly recommend Big Magic even if you think it sounds a little woo-woo. Gilbert argues, “If you’re alive, you’re a creative person.” I am totally guilty of saying the opposite: I am just not creative, I am not an artist, I deal with facts and research, I could go on.
Also, it probably doesn’t surprise you that I struggle with perfectionism. Which Gilbert also addresses:
“It starts by forgetting about perfect. We don’t have time for perfect. In any event, perfection is unachievable: it’s a myth and a trap and a hamster wheel that will run you to death. The writer Rebecca Solnit puts it well: ‘So many of us believe in perfection, which ruins everything else, because the perfect is not only the enemy of the good; it’s also the enemy of the realistic, the possible, and the fun.’
You should read the book. It’s definitely given me a lighter, playful, more possible, more real definition of creativity and living a creative life. It’s a book I will reread every year.