Author Archives: sara

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About sara

i live in michigan with my teenage daughter, my partner, and our three cats. i am a paralegal, legal manager and corporate governance specialist, and when i'm not reading contracts or maintaining the dusty archives of our arcane corporate history like some weirdly specific librarian, i enjoy knitting, books, running slowly, making candles, and bird-watching. i started blogging way back when I was an expat living in australia and in recent years have tried to be more diligent about keeping this space up to date and as a creative outlet for the things in my life that inspire me and balance my 9-5.

show us your books! september 2019

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Life According to Steph

This month I’m joining Life According to Steph and Jana Says in their monthly Show Us Your Books linkup! I’m a newbie, but looking forward to sharing my recent reads and getting some good recommendations from other participants. 

My primary reading focus in September was the Ruth Galloway series by Elly Griffiths. My Audible account recommended a newer Griffiths book, The Stranger Diaries, and I absolutely loved it, so went looking for more by this author. I’ve plowed through the first 3 Ruth Galloway mysteries and am enjoying them – the main character is a forensic archaeologist living in tiny cottage on the edge of a remote sea marsh in Norfolk. She’s single, she’s smart, she’s introverted, and her expertise gets her enmeshed with the Norfolk police to investigate burial sites – both new and old. The mix of archaeology, history, British procedural, the location, the immensely likeable main character and several other interesting and endearing cast members have all contributed to my growing fondness for this series. I have the 4th on order from my library and will just keep going until I run out of steam. 

The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley would fall into Host Steph’s “passed the time just fine” category. The dust jacket review that compares it to Ruth Ware is spot on, but Ruth Ware does it better. A group of university friends and their partners gather at a bleak and isolated Scottish hunting lodge for their reunion…fancy dress, a shooting party, lots of champagne, nostalgia, dark secrets, and of course, MURDER. I liked the setting, and I enjoyed the switching narrator, although the guests were more entertaining than the staff.

Daisy Jones & the Six, Taylor Jenkins Reid – I read a lot of raves about this book, and I flew through it. It was a breezy, page turning read – it moves – but in the end I was just meh about it. There were too many characters and too many of them were just band guys that I couldn’t keep straight, and I didn’t love the interview-style multiple narrators. I never felt like I stayed with any character enough to care about them or connect with them. In addition, I couldn’t shake the feeling that this book was written just to make a movie out of (I’m sure someone’s already bought the rights).

My DNF this month was The Jane Austen Diet by Brian Kozlowski. I picked it up off the new book shelf at my library, was mildly entertained by the first chapter, and then never picked it up again. I’d rather read Jane Austen than read someone’s deliberately cheeky interpretation of her “Secrets to Food, Fitness, and Incandescent Happiness”.  Might be good for a diehard Austen lover.

Please check out the linkup hosts and their books, and as always, I love a good recommendation so please feel free to leave one in the comments or DM me! 

20 days of horror

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Last year, irked by the constant advertising (in September) for “25 Days of Christmas” holiday viewing, I reacted by launching a minor watching campaign of my own. “25 Days of Horror” was born mostly on Facebook as I attempted to plow through almost an entire month of scary movies. Brandon was still in Chicago for his job, so most of my watching was done by myself or after Miss L went to bed. I didn’t make it through 25 films, but I did get to rewatch some classics like Rosemary’s Baby, The Thing, and Children of the Corn, to name a few. By the end of the month I was feeling a little weird. 😉

This year, I have Brandon here with me and we’ve reduced our goal from 25 to 20. I think this is more manageable and a better way to stay sane.

I’ll be keeping track of our viewing and short reviews of each of our chosen films.
Happy viewing and Happy October!

overly ambitious

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Saturday it rained, but we miraculously managed to find two windows free of torrential downpours, so Brandon and I ran 10 miles and then took Miss L to the Renaissance Festival. First the run – which went well. It was overcast, cool and damp, perfect weather temps for me, and the 10 miles, while naturally slower, felt a lot better than the 10 miles of the Crim. I’ve swapped for a bigger hand-held, a new Flip Belt, and am experimenting with Clif shot blocks instead of gels, all with good results. My only complaint was the inevitable shock of getting into the shower afterwards, wherein every inch of chafed skin made itself known with bolts of pain. We’re almost a month out from the Rock & Roll Half in Savannah!

After running 10 miles, it may have been overly ambitious to tackle the Ren Fest. An hour in the car to feel my muscles stiffen up and then a ton of walking around a model Renaissance Village in the middle of the country…but Miss L has been looking forward to this for weeks and it was the only time we could go. She’s been collecting bits and pieces for her elfin warrior costume and her stepmom made a cool leather belt for her with all sorts of jars and pouches and a dagger. She looked like a prettier, smaller, redheaded Legolas.

I’m not sure if Ren Fest is a uniquely Michigan thing, or if they have them all over, but ours is in an actual small village with tiny themed buildings, a jousting field (where they actually joust)…and if you don’t go in costume, you are definitely in the minority. Brandon had never been and he went out of curiosity, but will go back for the gigantic smoked turkey legs.

All in all, I got almost 26,000 steps for Saturday, and then made up for it on Sunday by doing not much at all except shuttling Miss L to a birthday party and an appointment, and doing small yet satisfying things like knitting a pumpkin and putting badges on Miss L’s Girl Scout vest.

i know, sarge

I’m a knitting and reading fiend these days and will hopefully have a finished object to show soon, and on October 8 I’ll be participating in a Show Us Your Books virtual meet-up, so I’ll wait to review all my recent reads then. Until then, stay dry and let’s all cheer the beginning of my favorite month of the year!

lunchtime knitting at the botanical gardens

regardless, there are always highlights

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No one really wants to hear about the weather in a blog post, unless it’s raining grasshoppers or something else unusual, but it’s stupidly hot in Michigan. I always forget that September really is still summer, despite my dreams of frost on the pumpkin.

I’m grumpy because of the heat and what felt like a short weekend mostly spent, it seemed, preparing for another work week. Nobody tells you that once you’re a grownup, a 40 hour work week is just the tip of the iceberg. You also need to count hours spent commuting and doing laundry and grocery shopping and food prepping and all that other stuff just so you have your shit together just to spend all those hours at work.

Regardless, there are always highlights. Brandon and his cousin got his shelves installed, and Emmett promptly had to crawl all over them to investigate.

Saturday night we walked down to our local 1920’s-era movie theater, which is a thriving contributor to our little Main Street, offering live music out front on summer weekend evenings and $5 shows for not-quite-second run films. We saw “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”, Quentin Tarantino’s reimagining of the Manson Family murders. It was a bit bloated, but I can’t remember when I’ve enjoyed a movie more in the past year or so. I’ve done a lot of reading about that timeframe and being able to see the Spahn Ranch, Cielo Drive, etc – or at least reasonable facsimiles thereof – was fascinating. I loved both Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio in their roles, and seeing faces like Timothy Olyphant and Bruce Dern in cameos was fun, too. Sharon Tate was miscast, and although Tarantino admirably restrains himself from his usual penchant for gratuitous violence during 98% of the film, the 2% in which he lets loose and indulges himself is pretty stomach-churning. Despite that, a very fun film, and we stopped off at our local corner bar to have a drink and decompress before walking home. I love that about our little village- Main Street’s bars, restaurants, movie theater and library are just a short walk away.

We went for a run that was supposed to be 10 miles but only ended up being 8, just due to our schedule, and Miss L and I hit up the season’s first vintage toy & collectible show. I love these things. The people are awesomely geeky and there are always treasures. I snagged a couple of vintage horror comics and a print of the Creature from the Black Lagoon for my retro horror mantelpiece display.

Pot Roast had another visit to our neighborhood vet last week and after a vitamin shot and another mega dose of probiotics, and another round of antibiotics (“time to pill the Roast” is a common evening statement in our house), she’s on the mend. Pooping in the litterbox is a vastly underrated skill in a cat that you don’t admire as much as you should until they don’t.

Hope you’re all enjoying your early week thus far.

xo

dow gardens

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Brandon’s parents are retired and relocating to warmer climes soon, and, as always seems to be the case before one leaves a homeplace, they have a short list of Michigan things to do and see before they go. We helped them cross one of their items off their list this weekend, with a day jaunt to Dow Gardens and the newish Whiting Forest canopy walk. I still have a bit of PTSD from living there after graduating from college, when I worked for the Evil Conservative Chemical Company empire that rules the roost up there, but for Brandon I suppressed my shudder of distaste.

We loved the gardens, and they had an origami sculpture event going on, too, so the whole afternoon was really enjoyable. The canopy walk was a little less than I expected, but Miss L really enjoyed it and so did Brandon’s folks. There isn’t any significant color change in the trees  to notice yet, but it can’t be far off.

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I’ve been knitting baby mitts for the asylum seekers in Maine, and watching “Outlander”, and listening to a great book on Audible, “The Stranger Diaries” by Elly Griffiths. It’s perfectly gothic and creepy for early autumn. Miss L is collecting bits and pieces for her costume to visit the Renaissance Festival in a couple of weeks – an Elfin warrior queen – and we had a supremely enjoyable girls’ day on Saturday, shopping for shoes and new outfits for middle school, and a sushi lunch. Pot Roast is still periodically afflicted, but seems improved and we’ll ALL be glad when the nightly “pilling” sessions of antibiotics are over – she has a follow up visit on Wednesday and hopefully all will be well.

The next six to eight weeks are my favorite time of year. We have Ren Fest for Miss L to look forward to, and vintage toy show season is starting up, too – I’m hoping to find some good Halloween collectibles. We have long runs at Kensington to prep for the November Rock & Roll half marathon in Savannah and we just signed up for the Detroit Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving Day before the big parade (we’re doing the Drumstick Double event, both the 5k and the 10k). Lots to look forward to, life is good.

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weekending

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After our short week, we really needed another long weekend, but what we got was a normal sized weekend which felt insufficient. Regardless, it was what we had to work with so we went with it.

Miss L was with her dad, so Brandon and I took our long run out to Kensington and did the 8.5 mile loop around the lake. The weather was ideal – bright and clear, but cool, and we had the added bonus of seeing a cross-country meet in action. The antelope-like high school runners gave me a bit of motivation as I slogged my weary way up and down the rolling hills. I felt good for the first 3 miles, bad for the next 3, and good for the last 2.5. Sadly, in the middle 3 we ran past a horrific biking accident on the paved trail. We’re not sure what happened, as by the time we ran past there was a small knot of onlookers calling for emergency services and administering aid to a fallen biker. She was unconscious and there was blood, but she was wearing a helmet, so my prayers are with her that she received medical attention quickly and won’t suffer any lasting repercussions. WEAR YOUR HELMETS,  BIKERS!!

I took a blissful nap and then Brandon & I drove down to Detroit for dinner at Flowers of Vietnam. This is a lauded restaurant in an old refurbished Coney Island in the middle of Mexican Village – you can tell it was a Coney, but the former pop-up has given it some more polished touches. They’re known for their caramel chicken wings and dear Lord they were to die for. Sweet, sticky, crunchy, chili-hot. Brandon ordered the enormous broken rice dish (with a full pork chop, prawns, and a full sausage) and I had a cold noodle dish with rosewood grilled tofu and Vietnamese-style egg roll. My mouth is watering just writing this. I enjoyed a cold glass of rose and afterwards, we wandered down to Motor City Wine, a cool little shop / sipping bar in Corktown. The patio is supposedly fun, but we just sat at the bar – I had glass of dry Austrian red and Brandon had a delicious cold, sweet Italian red. It was so good that we’ll be back to buy bottles for Thanksgiving or Christmas celebrations.

The weekend ended with more worrying about Pot Roast, whose tummy is still afflicted, and grocery shopping / dinner planning / food prep (maybe those two things shouldn’t be joined in the same sentence?) I did a vegan Pad Thai recipe that will be 2 lunches, I have some leftover quinoa / white bean skillet for 1 lunch, and a Buddha bowl of sweet potato, sauteed kale & black bean, corn and edamame with cilantro and some Bolthouse Farms avocado / yogurt dressing. Brandon’s movers are bringing over all of his belongings from storage at his parent’s house this week, so our full integration will be complete; and the week ended quietly with herbal tea, WRCJ jazz on the radio, Emmett on the chair next to me, incense and a brand new 1,000 piece seasonal puzzle from my mom. We may still be working on it at Christmas…

Be well and have a lovely week, friends.

the short week

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Why do short weeks always seem the longest? I think because everyone has to fit 5 days of work into 4. Plus, although Labor Day is a sort of secondary holiday in the pantheon of US holidays, it marks a big seasonal change for those of us far enough north to experience it, and it’s also sort of the unofficial “New Year” for everyone in school or with school age children. So in my house, the short week after Labor Day is summer end; it’s back to school, back to a different schedule, more routine. Which translates into getting up earlier – Miss L’s school starts an hour earlier, she is riding the bus, so her mornings are early and now mine are too. I actually really enjoy this – I’m most productive in the morning hours and getting to work at an earlier hour means I just get more done, I feel better, etc.

So last week’s short week was also stressful because as a mom, I was full of trepidation and anxiety about Miss L’s transition to middle school. I remember middle school as an absolute horror show. I was miserable to the point of feeling sick every day when I had to walk into what felt like an absolutely chaotic zoo full of mean kids, the horrors of gym class and lockers with combinations, and teachers who didn’t care about me because I was just one of many. This of course was not true, but it took me a solid year to find my footing and feel even a little bit comfortable there, and I was terrified that Miss L would have the same experience. However, she is a different kid than I was, more confident, independent, and resilient, and although I know it won’t all be smooth sailing (understatement of the year), her first week was better than I could have hoped for.

Pot Roast’s tummy troubles continued and necessitated a vet visit. She did not enjoy this one bit and was so grateful to be home with us when it was over, even forgiving me for sprinkling her food with probiotics and forcing antibiotic pills down her throat once a day.

Anyway, it’s Monday again and let’s hope this normal-sized week feels better than the abbreviated one, for us all! I’ll be back tomorrow with a quick update on our weekend dining adventure in Detroit.

bountiful

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And now, Labor Day, the unofficial end of summer. I worked from home for a few days last week to finish out Miss L’s last week of summer holiday and the windows were open, the breeze is cool and the skies are so very blue. The cicadas grind in the trees and it’s my favorite time of year.

Brandon has been working in Miss L’s old room to paint and put up his map collection in preparation for it to become his new study. He’ll be building shelves next. We hit up the hardware store for some supplies and I stocked up on finch socks because the little golden birds have already stripped my coneflowers.

The cooler temps have meant that the windows are open for sleeping, and on Sunday night I was awakened twice by a loudmouthed little owl in the yard – I Googled the call in the morning and identified it as an Eastern Screech-Owl. I’ve had them in the yard before, but I don’t usually hear them at night, so it was kind of a treat for geeky birdloving me.

Sadly, our girl Pot Roast has had some digestive issues – we think related to the cheap wet food that Emmett and Sarge feel absolutely passionate about – so there have been some messes to clean up, mostly in the middle of the night in the most inconvenient places. I’ve switched her to a Royal Canin for sensitive tums and hope that will help, otherwise it will be a trip to the vet for the littlest gangster.

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We rounded out our long weekend with a Tigers game on Saturday night and wonder of wonders, they actually beat the Twins and we got to see a couple of home runs! Before the game, we had burgers, beers for me and Brandon, and a milkshake for Miss L at Lovers Only. I tried the Impossible Burger for the first time and probably would not have known it was not beef, except then I tried Miss L’s Classic Smash and there was a difference. We agreed that for convenience and proximity to Comerica and ease of in-and-out, Lovers Only can’t be beat, but the milkshakes at Royale with Cheese are much better. And I will always rank the olive burger at Checker Bar highly!

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I did some meal prep for the shortish work week – overnight oats with some frozen blueberries and a quinoa & white bean skillet for lunches. Also a sweet potato which I’ll pair with black beans and kale later this week.

Sometimes it’s nice to go away for a long holiday weekend but I like this kind, too, where we just stay at home.

I am hoping that everyone in Hurricane Dorian’s path is safe and sound and if they’ve chosen to evacuate, that they’ll be home again soon.

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crim 2019 race recap

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I’ve never done a “big race” so the 2019 Crim in Flint, MI was new for me. I much prefer smaller, more intimate running events and have steered away from anything with “waves” or “corrals” or thousands of sweaty runners jostling me. However, after the Crim, I may be a changed runner!

Brandon has done 10 Crims so he knew all of the mechanics and the “hacks”, which made it stress-free. On the Friday night before, we carb-loaded on pizza at the Wintergarden Tavern in Livonia before driving up to Flint. We just missed the expo, so we checked into our hotel and got a decent nights’ sleep (I never sleep well in hotels so I tossed and turned but Brandon said it was the best night of sleep he’d ever had before a Crim.) By 530 we were awake, hydrating and noshing on the bananas and PBJ’s that I packed, and by 6 we were checked out of the hotel. We drove downtown, found a great parking spot in a lot a few blocks away from the start, got our packets, and settled in to wait.

The Organization 
I love to run, so I’d be doing it anyway, but it’s even better when an event contributes to or represents a good cause. The Crim Fitness Foundation is just that – a good cause. Flint is a community that has been plagued with obstacles for decades, and the Crim Fitness Foundation gives back to that community and partners with other organizations that do, as well, such as United Way. They provide sports and nutrition programs for kids and adults, support community gardens and teams who walk kids to school, and they also support initiatives such as mindfulness programs for kids and adults. And many more – please see their website for more information on the many ways they help Flint and why it feels good to support this kind of organization through this run.

The Fun
The temps were amazing – low ’50’s, and it felt like fall – the temp wouldn’t break 65 before we finished. Everyone, including Brandon, told me what a blessing this was, as the Crim is usually hot, humid, hot, and more humid, hilly, and the last quarter mile stretch is blazing street and brick without a breath of shade. (And we all know how well I do with humid, hot runs…) The race is exceptionally well-organized and well-attended, with thousands of runners, some of whom came in costume or had a “schtick”. Brandon didn’t see the woman with the tiger tail that he remembered from several Crims, but he’d briefed me on the “dribblers” – at least two runners who do the whole 10 miles dribbling basketballs.

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The participation from spectators is one of the best parts! Every part of the route was graced with people holding signs, ringing cowbells, sitting on their porches & curbs, cheering the runners on, giving high fives and calling out our names (which were printed on our bibs). Brandon recognized many of them from years past and had briefed me to expect “Wavy Gravy” decked in full hippie attire handing out ethically sourced cold brew coffee shots, the “Champagne Corner” at mile 2 where they gave mimosas, the frat brothers dispensing beer (“You are running the Crim! You like beer! These are facts!”), the Pet the Greyhound (“It Makes You Faster!”) station, and – my personal favorite – the older gentleman who had a karaoke machine set up at the bottom of his driveway who warbled “You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling” as we rounded his corner. There were at least three marching bands, which really got my energy up, and a Dixieland jazz band set up in one of the ritzy neighborhoods. Brandon was hoping for at least 1 beer and 1 Krispy Kreme donut along the route but in fact he got 3 smallish beers, a mimosa, a Jello shot, and a donut. This made me absolutely sick to watch (there are aid stations every mile, but I carried my handheld since that’s what I’m used to, so I consumed a lot of water and an energy gel with caffeine in it around mile 7 – that’s the extent of my experimentations with fueling!!). And he still beat me!!! I lost him on the rolling and seemingly never-ending hills between miles 6-8 and although I saw him ahead of me at several points, I just didn’t have it in me to catch him. But I didn’t mind and loved every minute of this special run!

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The Technical 
The temps helped a lot, but by mile 8 my body was hurting – my knees, my feet, and my hip flexors. My slowest miles were 1 & 5, at 11:55; generally I was between 11:05 and 11:29, which was my sweet spot for a long hilly run. Trying to catch Brandon, my last two miles were 10:55 and 10:50, and the last downhill tenth when I saw the finish line, I zoomed to 8:44 (which USED to be closer to my target race pace GROAN – I am trying not to think about the fact that I did 10 miles in 1:54 and my half marathon PR from years ago was 13 miles in 1:57!!!!).

Garmin Time: 10.08 miles in 1:54 (11:22 average)

Which is pretty much what I’d expected from my training. I’d like to improve this for our November half in Savannah, but who knows if I’m capable of it. My time for the Ann Arbor Half in March was an average of 11:11 so I’ve only gotten slower, but I would also say that although the A2 Half had a couple of more steep, challenging hills (Hill Street and the Arb), this route had more rollers spread out throughout the course, so there’s that. Brandon finished up with an 11:17 average and is really pleased with that since he’s only been clocking one run a week all summer, which is pretty great – I’m very proud of him.

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The Summary 
I loved this race and will definitely do it again! It’s exceptionally well-organized, the vibe is great, the route is challenging but enjoyable and doable, and the spectators and fellow participants are the best I’ve ever experienced. The t-shirts are nice tech shirts and the medals are so hefty they could double as weapons of self-defense in a pinch.
See you in 2020, Flint!

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