This is my symphony

What I read & what I lived …

My Christmas gift to myself this year was a pair of shelves I bought on Etsy, beautiful reclaimed wood with hand-forged brackets. I’d wait, I thought, for my son to hang them when he visited this summer, so after I unboxed them, they sat stacked against the wall. Waiting. But then I got to thinking. …

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The times they are a’changing. Nights have been in the fifties, summer’s humidity is gone, and last week my home town even squeezed in a few rain showers. Next week our temperatures return to summer, but it’s clear the end is near. I went to a greenhouse last night for “Mums and Merlot,” a little …

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Ask anyone in my family and they’ll tell you: there’s nothing I love better than a miniature. Doll houses, especially. The tiny plates and chairs. Little beds and pillows. Small parcels of foodstuffs. I had my vintage Little People and Pet Shop and Polly Pockets ready and waiting when grandchildren were still babes in arms. …

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: to make or produce with care, skill, or ingenuity. Merriam-Webster The annual Grammy’s Christmas break sleepover has evolved over the past few years, but simply must include crafting, hot chocolate, the movie Elf, at least one argument over who will sleep where, more crafting, and pancakes for breakfast. (And did I mention crafting?) It …

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In many ways it’s been a typical holiday season: decadent food, festive gatherings, cozy nights. Friend Mary and I took in our town’s new Christkindl Market and it didn’t disappoint. Although it’s only a sliver of the size of Christkindl Market on Daley Plaza in Chicago, the folksy wares, yummy food, and–of course–gluhwein were spot …

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