Thirty posts in thirty days. I did it! They weren’t all gems. In fact, most of them couldn’t even pass for polished rocks. That said, I achieved my personal goal of being intentional about posting daily and inspiring myself to continue regular posting here beyond November, even if it’s not every single day. It wasn’t pretty but I’ll take it! In case you were a busy writer (or a busy anything!) this month and didn’t get here to read much, here are my favorite Suburban Scrawl posts from NaBloPoMo 2016: Money Battles This Week’s Obsession Is Brought To You By Missy Elliott Lean On Me. To Infinity and Beyond Fun…
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Jell-O Times Two.
Until the last six months or so since my mom started trying to minimize, we have always known that if we’re looking for something from our growing-up years, she’s likely got it. It’s for that reason that when we come for a visit, we usually find long-forgotten things either by accident or, if mom finds something she wants us to take home, left on the dresser of the room in which we sleep. I was tickled on this visit to find a short stack of old report cards, a program from an elementary school play, and a collaborative recipe book made by my kindergarten class on that dresser. The recipe…
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I’m Not A Snoozer.
I’m a morning person*. Hardcore. Whether I’ve gotten a full eight+ hours of sleep (so rare!) or just four (more likely), I can actually get out of bed and be ready to leave the house—without the ingestion of caffeine, with a fully functioning brain and a smile on most days—within thirty minutes if I have to, singing in the shower included. My morning effervescence is super annoying to those who are exclusively night people, those who can’t function well without coffee, and my sister. (*waves to Jules*) My ability to cope with mornings like a champ includes the alarm clock. I have always, for my entire life, kept my clock…
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To Market, To (Farmer’s) Market
Yesterday I wrote about my love of taking pictures of Chicago buildings. Apparently I adore capturing lots of things that don’t move because another favorite photo walk for me is one through a good farmer’s market. I think farmer’s markets are beautiful. The way that the vendors deliberately display their goods so the people walking through can hardly resist is a real art form. They work so hard on it and I feel terrible passing through only taking pictures. In fact, these days I usually avoid farmer’s markets unless I have cash on me to make small purchases as I go, to make up for the fact that I’m walking…
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Epic Road Trip: Check!
I just drove in from New Jersey and boy, are my arms tired! Ba dum bump! Wait, that’s wrong. That’s an airplane joke. My arms aren’t tired at all because I didn’t fly to New Jersey. Also, I’m not a bird. Maybe I’m breaking that down a little more than necessary. Maybe you’re clicking awaaaay….WAIT! Over the past few years, my fondness for road trips has grown immensely. There’s something about being totally in control of where I’m going, when and why I’m stopping, and all kinds of other things. When I was planning my third annual fall visit to see my sistuh-from-anuthuh-muthuh and the rest of her (our!) family,…