Things I Love

More things I love lately

My friend Nina Badzin asked if I might make my things I love lately post a regular feature and so … here we go!

Instagrid – I love Instagram (come find me! lemead) and think this site that shows you the last set of your images, arrayed in regular boxes, is brilliant.  Such a beautiful snapshot of life right now.  I wish I could print these instagrids every week or so.  Are you on Instagram?  Let me know your name in the comments so I can check you out!

Beautiful Daughter – A reader sent me this gorgeous song that she wrote and recorded, inspired in part by my 10 Things I Want my Daughter to Know piece on Huffington Post.  I adore it; her voice is beautiful and the sentiment brings tears to my eyes.

Carrying On – Every single word Katrina Kenison writes moves me, literally.  Her books, her blog, emails.  Every word.  I’m fairly sure Katrina is the writer who makes me cry – in a good way! – more than any other.  It’s impossible for me to choose a favorite piece of her writing.  But this post, written in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, contained a sentence that made me gasp: “we can gently transform sorrow for all that’s lost into gratitude for all that is.”  This, right here: this is what I want, need, aspire to do.  Every minute of every day.

Giftlit – One of my favorite sites for gift giving.  You can buy book-a-month subscriptions for children (or adults), specifying age and interest.  3, 6, and 12- month options.  A couple of years ago I gave giftlit subscriptions to all of my god-children and other close family friends.  My sister gave one to Grace before that and I can say first hand it was a huge hit.  Books PLUS packages in the mail.  What’s better than that!?

Ready or Not – This piece by Allison Slater Tate about touring a middle school for her 10 year old son made me both laugh and cry.  She conveys perfectly the mix of wonder and shock, of grief and pride that animates these days with children who suddenly stand at our shoulder.  I’m proud to call Allison my friend, and grateful that she is also parenting a 10 year old tween.  This is a new mothering season for me and, I know, for Allison, and I’m so glad to have her wise companionship and counsel as I try to find my footing. 

This weekend, I read and loved The Longest Way Home by Andrew McCarthy, I have Christmas carols going full bore (in my car, which is really the only place I listen to music), and yesterday was among the most technicolor and high-definition days I have experienced in a long, long time.  The light right now is so clear, the world so beautiful, that it makes my heart hurt.

Please, tell me, what are you reading, listening to, watching, and loving lately?

A few things I love lately

photograph taken last month at a special place on the New Jersey shore

Once in a great while I like to share some things that have caught my attention around the interwebs (and the world).

Barnstorming – It’s rare that I find a blog that I relate to this intensely.  I read the whole thing in one single gulp, practically, tears rolling down my face, gasping often.  Emily refers to the top of the ferris wheel, she quotes Madeleine L’Engle, she talks about how what she witnesses in this world brings her to her knees, she cites my favorite poem, Wendell Berry’s The Work.  I’ve found a more elegant, more eloquent version of myself.

A Mighty Girl – a site with deep, detailed reviews of books, music and movies for “smart, confident, courageous girls.”  I have only begun to scratch the surface of what’s here, but I’m already smitten.  I have found books to suggest to Grace here and I definitely intend to use it as a resource for birthday presents for my goddaughters and other girls in our lives.

Cherries and Cheese: O’Hare Revisited: I can’t get Emily Rapp’s powerful words out of my head.  They glow with truth, with wisdom, with all that I’ve ever believed: “I feel, as that moment opens, so truly alive that I am surprised that the world doesn’t burst open: a perfect mix of bottomless sadness and heart-swelling joy.”  I love everything this woman writes, but this piece moved me even more than usual.

Mumford & Sons’ Babel – I’m hardly alone in loving this new album.  But I do.  Especially I Will Wait and Lover’s Eyes.

Camouflage – I’m just feeling camo lately.  Skinny pants from the Gap, a studded jacket from Zara: I can’t get enough of the print.  Luckily my 7 year old son thinks it’s about the coolest thing, too.

On Loving a Teenager – Karen Maezen Miller has been inspiration, guide, and teacher to me for a long time.  These words about parenting a teenager – “Love is the space between us. There is so much space.” –  both frighten and reassure me.  I can see this next stage of motherhood over the horizon, and I’m so grateful to have Karen’s wise counsel as Grace and I move towards it.


I’d love to hear what you are loving, reading, immersing yourself in lately, either online or off!