Studio Sunday (no. 7)

This week felt like several weeks squished together. Yesterday we threw a mermaid-themed birthday party for our daughter (on Valentine’s Day because last month it was rescheduled due to weather). Lunar New Year begins this week. And I told you last week I was going to begin querying my novel. It’s going well so far (I’m going to save the story for when the journey is concluded). The emotional rollercoaster is dizzying, but often fun.

Now, for ten things that made this week interesting, curious and special.

We have one random week of warm weather here before winter returns so my goal this week is to clean my closet. Because of how our house (from 1904) is built, my closet is really cold in the winter and it got packed with random stuff during our renovation. This week I’m going to rearrange and pack away anything to donate that needs to go. It sounds small, but cleaning and organizing are the biggest mental health boosts I can give myself. It makes a big impact in how I feel every day. LOVE IT.

I’m trying something new this week, writing sprints with a visual timer. I’ve heard great things about short writing sprints (20 minutes each) but I haven’t tried it. I’ll let you know how it goes. I’m hoping to sprint through my first draft in the next few months so I can get to the layering phase (my favorite!).

Tuesday is the first day of Lunar New Year (it lasts for two weeks after). Which means that today and tomorrow are great days to clean your house (sweep out the old year), get a hair cut and decorate with red. Then starting on Tuesday eat dumplings for wealth, noodles for a long life and prioritize family time.

The photo above are the gifts we’re making for our daughter’s classrooms to celebrate with their friends.

Perfect for a family movie night. I love them!

Before we had kids one of my hobbies was plants. It feels like another life now. It’s been a long time since I even thought about plants and this year I’d love to start small and begin adding plants to our home again.

I picked up the book Artists at Home this week and it’s so fun to see all the different spaces. I’m obsessed with how our homes influence our creativity from the architecture to the neighborhood and the way we curate even the smallest spaces inside them. When I look back through my life I can see big energetic shifts when I moved. Can you?

The internet has been losing its collective shit about this adaptation and I can’t decide if that makes me want to watch it more or skip. I think I’m leaning toward skip (but I will 1000% cave as soon as it’s on streaming). I didn’t love Saltburn but I have to admit, I do love rage bait marketing.

I’ve been getting so many messages from readers who want to write a novel, but don’t know where to start. I love this! I’m so excited for you.

The truth is there is no book or course that can prepare you before you begin. You have to write in order to find out what you need to study. You have to start. The first step is the open an empty word document and write the best first draft you can. You have to see what’s in there before you can begin developing it. It isn’t complicated or difficult to do, but it takes so much courage. (Do it!)

Does anyone else feel urgency to make sure your children know cursive? It’s not just about the ability to write, which is beautiful and I want my children to know. The part that really bothers me is that if they don’t learn cursive in one to two generations they won’t be able to read my grandmother’s handwriting or any historical documents. It’s a hill I’ll gladly die on, cursive should be taught.

I found an Etsy seller who creates cursive curriculum for children. Here’s a more affordable option. My children love practicing it and at this point they consider it a fun activity instead of a chore.

I’ve enjoyed this weird frozen coffee for years now (5 years?!) I keep it in my freezer to make cups of perfect black coffee just by adding hot water. Since my husband and I wake up at wildly different times it doesn’t always make sense to make a whole pot of coffee. I’ve tried other kinds of instant coffee and this is the best I’ve tried.

PS. We’ve got weekly podcast episodes coming out every Monday. You can listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

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