The combination of bookshop work, another (!) bad cold, and beautiful, beautiful weather this weekend kept me from wanting to go near my laptop. On Sunday, we got back from church and brunch with Nana, and Telfer and I sat down outside to watch the girls mess around on their bikes. Sitting in the sunshine on one of the first warm days of Spring has to be one of life’s greatest pleasures.

1. I needed this quiet hour of reading in my office last weekend…such a gift to steal away in the middle of an afternoon. I am happy my girls are older but I must confess, there are times when I miss naptime. 2. Euphoria by Lily King should be on your reading list. Inspired by an event in the life of Margaret Mead, three young anthropologists collide in New Guinea in the 1930s with devastating consequences. Just a really lovely, well-written, passionate novel. A
pleasure to read.

3. Yesterday the weather was sublime. There’s no other word for it. I picked Jane up early and we met Cate at the end of her school day. They played together on the playground and we walked up for our first Frog Pond popsicle of the season. See other Frog Pond adventures here.

4. I walked up the stairs from making coffee one weekday morning and found the girls like this. They were watching birds and talking about it together so sweetly. I love these little moments with these two.

5. Last night I made this pasta (wonderful!) – you actually wilt the greens by pouring the pasta water over the top. A new, fun technique. We ate outside for the first time this season with Chris and the girls (who had plain spaghetti with red sauce). Telfer did the dishes while I took George on a walk around the lake. Such a beautiful Spring evening. And we are still gearing up for Arts Walk this weekend. The shop looks really good but we are still hoping to have the back lighting replaced and a few more things painted before Friday night. The balcony railing is also going up on Thursday morning. If you are local, please come down and visit. Our artist is Jeff Pasek, a talented watercolorist, see his work here. We would love to see you there.

And this weekend has gotten away with me…but Five Things!

1. Easter was lovely. The girls and I dyed eggs together on Saturday and on Sunday we went to Chris & Mendy’s with Luke and Sherry and Nana plus all of the kiddos. It was a fun and chill afternoon. The kids did the obligatory egg hunt of course but Mendy put verses in some of the eggs and the kids came inside to have them read by either her or Nana. That was the most meaningful part of my day. The eggs we dyed were from our chickens and they turned out so pretty:

2. This week was Cate’s first Spring Break. I didn’t overthink it too much and it turned out better than I had hoped. She did a mixture of bookshop, Grammy’s house, sports camp at our gym and on Thursday afternoon, I took both girls to the Children’s Museum for four hours. Afterwards I thought I should get a medal and at the very least, a glass of wine. That’s a lot of children’s museum. I tend to drag my feet on going – it’s so fun for the girls but the noise level gets to me. But this time worked out so well. The girls stuck together and checked in with me every few minutes. I read five magazines and made a huge list and drank about 100 cups of play tea. Jane was very attentive. I am going to really try to take them more often…at least a couple times a month.

3. Gresham and Cate spent a few hours with me at the bookshop on Friday morning. Of course we went to the The Bread Peddler. They had such a good time and honestly, this picture is one of the best parts of my week. It just says a lot about both of these kids. Adorable and spunky and slightly terrifying (in the very best way) to be their parents.

4. I have loved the first two Neapolitan novels by Elena Ferrante. I haven’t really read anything quite like them before. There’s three published currently and I think the fourth and final novel is going to come out this Fall. My flickr feed looks like I have read a lot this week, and I sort of have, but mostly I finished a bunch of books all at once. I have been working a lot in the evenings after the girls go to sleep and then falling into bed too late which means then I don’t get up early enough to have some quiet in the morning. This weekend I am listening to My Fringe Hours while I do laundry and it is reminding me I need to make enough time in my schedule to exercise regularly, to read as much as I can (which is what got me into this wonderful mess in the first place!), and to wake up early enough to have some space in my day. I do an okay job of putting my phone down most of the time but I could be better. I am thinking about using this app for awhile to see if it helps. Anyone else tried it?

5. Another use for a Browsers growler if you are not a beer drinker (and I am not!). I am loving these new tulip varieties I am seeing around this Spring – a mix between a tulip and a peony. So pretty. Friday night Telfer and I got a babysitter again and spent date night cranking it at the bookstore until 11:30 PM. We are replacing bookshelves (cinder blocks and large brown rugs be gone!) in the back and starting in on lighting. My hands hurt from moving books but things are starting to look SO GOOD. Our goal is to be (mostly) done with our little remodel before Spring Arts Walk downtown April 24 & 25. Mixed in this weekend as well was a lovely visit with Michael Scofield and his friend Dawn. Telfer’s worked much of the weekend but I have to say, it’s still been a good mix of restful, fun and getting things done.

I keep doing this but I hit post before I was done editing my post…so if you get the email version of the blog, read this live version of the post. All the links work and there’s few(er) typos!

This might be ten things so be prepared.

1. First of all, this was this morning. Yes. Girls are really into matching every.little.thing. In ten years, when they inevitably blame me for their fashion and hair missteps and also the twin-like matching dresses, I will show them this post and say they insisted on it. I also think it’s adorable so maybe they can blame me a little bit?

2. This was last night. Picture Moonlight Sonata playing mournfully in the background and this was the final, spectacular lift of the routine. It was hard to keep a straight face.

3. Telfer and I had a wonderful time in New York last weekend. We went to 16 bookshops but we enjoyed all the walking and just being in the city. Saturday night we saw Molly and Ryan and then immediately met Eleanor who had just returned to the city from a conference. It was like my cup runneth over in every sense. Molly and Eleanor are two of my persons and it was so meaningful to connect. I basically didn’t sleep until we were on the plane early Sunday morning. Such a young, hip thing to do!

4. Buvette is the best and most beautiful restaurant I have ever had the pleasure of dining. Telfer gifted me the cookbook for Mother’s Day last year and I have made all sorts of wonderful bits from it. But actually going was so fun. The wait time can be prohibitive but we managed to be seated at our tiny and perfect table in less than ten minutes (it was 3:00 PM on a Friday). Also, the average Manhattan cocktail has gone up to $16. $16! I had the most perfect eggs benedict and I must confess, was full, and *then* we ordered the cheese plate and ate the entire thing. It was amazing.

5. Also, one of my most favorite things about New York is the hot nut stand. Seriously. We walked through the park on our way to the MET on Friday night and found a nut stand. Two bags for $5! Cashews! I just think it’s the best snack in the entire world. Which is probably why my good cholesterol is through the roof. Sidenote: I went to the MET approximately 52 times while we lived in New York. Telfer, never. He worked pretty hard that year so I really wanted to go with him. We went through the Plains Indians exhibit and did a brief stroll through swaths of the rest of the museum.

6. The bookshops, oh the bookshops. This is where we went (all linked):
Manhattan Day:
Housing Works Bookstore & Cafe
McNally Jackson
McNally Jackson Goods for the Study
The Strand
Argosy
Three Lives and Company
Book Culture (112th)
Book Culture on Broadway

Brooklyn Day:
Terrace Books
Community Books
BookCourt
P.S. Bookshop
Powerhouse Books
Spoonbill & Sugartown

That’s a lot of bookshops in two days. On our Brooklyn day, it snowed both in the morning and in the evening. At the very end of March. So cold! You can look at a lot of bookshop pictures on Flickr if you are interested, but as you can imagine, it was very inspirational to go to that many working shops in two days. I am encouraged by the business we are building and my thoughts and ideas are just swirling around me this week. There’s still so much still to do and build and think through.

6. Of course we missed the girls. Cate requested black and white cookies which we happily obliged and we picked up Brooklyn t-shirts for the girls at the flea market. Grammy and Papa had them for the weekend and by all accounts, it went well. We so appreciate G&P.

7. We took so many pictures at the different shops. I didn’t want to buy much since you know, I own a bookstore now, but at a few places, when the employees noticed how many photographs I was taking, I felt like I should purchase something. These were the three books (one, two, three) that made the cut. Such beautiful books all three. Can’t wait to read.

8. This bag was at the Strand and I obviously love the sentiment. Most of you have seen this on Facebook or Instagram but the shop was profiled on Thurston Talks this week. Such a wonderful article!

And now it’s Easter weekend (He is Risen!). The girls and I are planning to dye eggs in the morning. I am also trying to get it together enough to make a coconut cake. We are gathering with Luke and Sherry and kiddos at Chris and Mendy’s house on Easter afternoon. And as for tonight, Telfer and I got a babysitter so we could work at the bookshop. So glamorous over here. I am preparing to go down there in my ripped jeans and beanie and yellow cons, picking up burritos on the way. Date night!

Whew, not quite ten but definitely more than five!

Jane helped Telfer and me paint and clean around the bookshop on Sunday evening. She was pretty much delightful. Anna has also been here all week. I have renamed her Shopgirl. Here she is replacing signed book tags and in general being super helpful and sweet. We had quite the day in the bookshop today, culminating in one arrest (a would-be customer) and a lovely dinner with my in-laws at our house.

Tomorrow Telfer and I are headed to New York for the weekend. We are going to revisit our old stomping grounds on the Upper West Side but mostly we are checking out bookshops in both Brooklyn and Manhattan – some we have visited before, but many we have not. Sometimes Pinterest isn’t enough to gather ideas and possibilities. Sometimes you need to see it.

If you are curious, these are the spots we are hoping to hit. Of course I made a Google map…