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.

carnival of sorts – friday five

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  1. Inauguration. The Trump train rolled noisily into Washington with their toots and whistles and backfiring pickup trucks and a predictably low class display of capering. Like a carnival of the bizarre and deeply stupid, in its wake it trailed a dribble of toadie weirdos running the gamut from Proud Boys to Nazi tech bro oligarchs glitching out from their boutique drugs to MAGA fembots wearing lingerie to the Rotunda. The yokels outside with faces pressed against the glass were festively adorned with their cult leader’s name and face on their polyester (made in China) shirts and hats and waving their lil flags. God Bless GW, Bill and Hillary for a few unguarded moments of uncontrollable merriment over some of the more gauche and ludicrous aspects of this spectacle (never in a million years pre-MAGA did I think that I would ever have cause to utter the words “God bless GW” but here we are). It’s going to be a long four years watching this gang of thieves mugging for the cameras while they grab all they can with both grubby fists. Luckily, if the Orange One’s prior administration is any indication, they’ll start turning on each other sooner rather than later and then there will be something to see besides bullies and tackiness.

2. Seems like a good time to pull this out of the archives.

3. To round out my political content, it feels like there are a lot of folks out there who could use a reminder about what throwing a Nazi salute actually means.

4. Moving on. In other news. Polar vortex – the beginning of the week was pretty freaking cold. The kid didn’t have school for two days due to wind chills (what do they do in Alaska, I wonder? Or Minnesota?). I got my office days out of the way early in the week and it was really good to stay in my shearling slippers and fleece leggings the remainder of the week. I usually feed the wild birds and squirrels once a day (and keep a heated bird bath full of clean water available) but when the weather is this cold I fill the feeders as often during the day as they empty, and throw out lots of peanuts. The little guys can use as much help as they can get.

(This not so little guy needs not as much help.)

5. In lieu of watching the news (see number 1) we have been diving deep into the DVR. Brandon always has a massive selection of old movies to pick from. Among other things, we watched a silent film from the great Buster Keaton, “Sherlock, Jr.” It was a masterpiece of comedy and the quality of the 2015 restoration was incredible – crystal clear. I am not usually drawn to movies that old but this one was an absolute gem and what he was able to achieve with film at that time is nothing short of genius. And while I know that his path was a difficult one, may I say that in my estimation, young Buster was kind of a hottie.

Onwards. Keep the faith and as my higher power reminded me this week in a moment of meditation, render unto Caesar.

(Post title based on this fantastic track.)

we are like the dreamer

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“Twin Peaks” premiered in April 1990. It was the spring of my junior year in high school. I was growing up in a small Midwestern town as a high strung, overly dramatic ball of anxiety, hormones, self-consciousness and insecurity. I knew that I was on the cusp of jumping off into the deep, cold water of my young adulthood, but I didn’t know that I would choose some hard paths for myself over the next several formative years. I would go to a big university that I was completely unprepared for; I would struggle with depression and anxiety for the next two decades; I would live through bad experiences and toxic, exploitative relationships. All of those things waited out along that dark highway for me as I curled up breathing in the safe space of my childhood home. I alternately chafed against its cornfield boundaries and craved them, increasingly mad with boredom and yet terrified of what was next. I did not know in my own heart what I would do, if made to choose between being called to my own lesser version of the hero’s journey, or marrying the high school quarterback and living in those safe neighborhoods for the rest of my life.

I already loved David Lynch. My dad took us to Meridian Mall to see his “Dune” (we were probably too young, but we ate it up). I fell madly in love with Kyle McLachlan’s Paul and immediately spent my pocket money on Frank Herbert’s books and a “Making of Dune” companion book. (That series also became a lifelong companion for me.)

I had never seen anything like “Twin Peaks”, shot through, as it was, with wide ribbons of gentle absurdity, eccentric comedy, innocence, tenderness, beauty and the darkest vein of evil and violence. That flavor was addictive. It showed me that the boundaries of my small town may not just exist to keep people out, but to provide a terrarium that allowed certain things to root and flesh and flourish. It is a series that I have revisited dozens of times.

A couple of years later, my brother and I would see “Fire Walk with Me” in Frandor and the darkness took over the flavor. I think it’s a necessary part of the “Twin Peaks” tale but it is still very difficult for me to watch. I have mixed feelings about many of Lynch’s other works (“Mulholland Drive” being one of my other favorites – but I found his 2017 “Return” to Twin Peaks incomprehensible). I read his book on meditation and while I am not a TM adherent, meditation is still an almost-daily practice for me.

In his book, he associates meditation with catching the big fish; sending a line into the unknowable water and coming back up with something magical. I believe that David Lynch had a conduit to his own subconscious and was able, at deeper and more profound levels, to dredge the silt of our own collective unconscious at the bottom of that water and bring images, visions, concepts back to the surface, into the sunlight. Some of them, blinking in the harsh light, were grotesque and horrifying. Others shed silver water from their scales and breathed with an almost unbearable beauty. I know that David Lynch is in the white lodge now. He was the dreamer and his dreams set a match to some of my own. I will forever love and be terrified by the way he saw the world and grateful that he was able to share his visions (and reflect our own visions back to us) for a time.

third friday of january roundup, recent pins

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It’s cold here in Michigan. And not as dark as December, but still pretty dark. Cars and people don’t want to start. Work is work. It’s going to be even colder next week. That’s that. I promise that my Friday posts will get more substantial as 2025 warms up but in the meantime, without further ado, some more recent pins for your viewing pleasure.

I probably need to warn Brandon that I am pinning a LOT of hairstyles that look like this lately. I won’t do it until I get my braces off but that day is coming up in the not-too-distant future!

Could those be handknit socks there? I have those exact Birks, some olive trousers, and a whole lotta knit socks so I see myself copying this look.

I absolutely love this closet. I wish I had a window in ours but at the very least I’m thinking I could put down a cool rug and maybe add a small antique (or antique-looking) dresser or chest of drawers in ours, and maybe some baskets for storage. Maybe even a string of battery-operated fairly lights.

I absolutely love this and I think that even my very limited sewing skills could accomplish something similar. What a great way to add a unique, artsy vibe to an otherwise standard shirt.

Good reminder.

TGIF – have a loving and peaceful weekend. xoxo

friday roundup – recent pins

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I often pin and forget – but here are a few of my recent favorites.

Hot Chocolate Bar Coasters by Purl Soho. I think these are really cute and would knit up quickly in bulky super wash. They’d be a sweet gift pack tied up with some twine or ribbon and given with some tea or hot chocolate and a nice mug.

A very cool coastal-casual style.

Why do I love this fish tattoo so much?

Bedroom vibes. This may be AI. But I love the slapdash wood paneling, the weird old man pictures (reminds me of my grandmother’s den), and the pile of books and the general imperfection yet perfection of mismatched yet complementary patterns. My only complaint would be the preponderance of useless pillows (a pet peeve).

my maker space: 2025

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I feel like I became more committed to and organized with my knitting in 2024. I finished 9 projects, which were smallish, but still – as a slow knitter, that’s not bad for me.

Summer at Cherry Republic socks

Carlson’s Fishery socks

Easter Cake dish cloth (not pictured)

Autumn Pumpkin

Petite Jumper

Key Lime dish cloth

Shire dish cloth (holiday version)

Sweater for my Thanksgiving cactus

Mittens 4 Detroit

I spent much of my holiday break reorganizing the small room in my house (in the back; under the eaves, looking out into the pines) that serves as my home office, spare bedroom, cat playplen, and craft room. As I dug through the layers of flotsam and jetsam accumulated over the years, I found MULTIPLE project bags that I’d set up with various knitting projects. MULTIPLE. Some of them I’d forgotten all about.

I don’t usually like to set goals for my knitting because – again – I knit very slowly and sometimes having a set schedule of what I’m going to knit can feel restrictive and doomed to fail. However, this year I’d like to identify a few knits that I can tackle to clear out the projects bin and keep the momentum of making going.

First – finishing up my 2024 Christmas socks. I’m on the leg of the second sock so hopefully I can wrap them up in January.

I’d like to knit myself a hat for my neighborhood ‘no bad weather’ walks. Probably the Purl Soho Simple Pleasures hat. I knit one for my daughter several years ago (unfortunately now since lost) but we both really liked it.

I’m going to cast on a new set of coasters for our den – the Chocolate Bar coasters (again from Purl Soho) in some great neutral Cascade Superwash 128.

I am about to cast on the Wolop cowl with my Homespun House Advent minis!

Another pair of socks from the project bin…probably these.

And I’d actually like to knit a cardigan this year, too. I’m not much of a garment knitter, but I’ve found that a couple of good, cozy, nonfussy cardigans are missing from my wardrobe. I have thin ones that I wear to work, but I need some oversized casual ones to wear around the house to up my usual loungewear hoodie game. It’s been fizzing in my brain that I’d like to knit another garment and have a go at it. I have my eye on the Good Grandpa cardigan. It’s just the sort of vibe I need and using bulky weight, it shouldn’t be a multiple-years-long knit.

Other potentials for 2025 include finishing up my Turning Leaves socks, continuing work on my Homespun House Cozy Comfort throw and my Cozy Memories scrappy blanket, and the Cloud Mountain cowl which I bought as a kit from Fibresmith. (The Leslie Keating behind Fibresmith was an enormous blogger influence for my knitting journey way back when I was an expat living in Australia and she has gone on to do amazingly beautiful things!)

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I hope to do a much better job at updating this space with my crafting progress…in the meantime, I hope everyone is dreaming big with their 2025 makes and finding lots of inspiration in the freshness of January! xoxo

the big 2024 reads post!

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Firstly, Happy New Year to all. The last week or so has been a blur of stretchy pants, movies, excellent eats, naps, and family time. 2024 was ‘mid’ as my daughter would say so we are all ready to embrace 2025 in the calmest, softest, most forgiving and patient ways we can, and hope for the best.

Now on to the content – the big 2024 reads post!

The stats: I read 75 books / 27,617 pages.

Favorite fiction: Without a doubt, the Murderbot Diaries series by Martha Wells get top honors for fiction this year. I’m not usually an enormous science fiction fan (although maybe I really am but just don’t think I am) but her writing style was addictive and SecUnit was the most fascinating and loveable character I spent time with all year.

Favorite author: Martha Wells. In addition to Murderbot, I also read her Witch King and Cloud Roads series and liked them enormously, though not as much as Murderbot.

Runners-up in favorite fiction: Annihilation by Jeff Vandermeer. I loved this book and devoured the rest of the series although I confess that after Annihilation I was completely baffled by the Southern Reach / Area X tale as it unwound; but it was undeniably fascinating. Also, honorable mentions to The Bright Sword by Lev Grossman, Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo, and Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia.

Favorite nonfiction: After seeing the Georgia O’Keeffe ‘My New Yorks’ exhibit at the Chicago Institute of Art, I picked up her biography by Roxana Robinson and loved it – it was like reading a novel. Runner up in favorite nonfiction would be Red Comet by Heather Clark, about Sylvia Plath.

There were definitely novels that did not do it for me this year, but I’m going to focus only on the positives this year – I think reading is very subjective and just because I didn’t love them doesn’t mean others would feel the same.

I hope all the readers out there had a very satisfying year and look forward to more excellent hours spent with books in 2025.

last one of 2024

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The last week or so has been pretty undisciplined over here. I started pulling apart my home office to reorganize it for the New Year and it is still in that classic organization-in-process state of “far more of a mess than when I started”. I hope to get a jump on the “back to normal” routine before my real “back to work” happens on Thursday. Brandon is coming home from a family trip and I have to run out to the airport to pick him up; after, it will be our last big decadent holiday meal (ham and homemade baked mac & cheese) but I’m skipping the champagne.

I don’t make resolutions per se but I do try to consider what is working for me and what isn’t. A few of the “keep” and “magnify” list for 2025:

Physical Health:

  • Walking more (I’ve been a runner for 10+ years but have not been committed to the consistency of just walking, in the evening or when a run isn’t possible)
  • Adding in strength training (see above – I don’t go full on, just a few short kettlebell workouts a week has felt really good)
  • Magnesium supplement has been amazing for my sleep
  • Upping my protein
  • Sticking to a few boring yet consistent meals for breakfast and lunch – low points, high fiber and protein

Mental / Emotional Wellbeing:

  • Journaling more, both here and on paper
  • Staying ‘in my lane’ – avoiding drama and arguments when I can, limiting my exposure to people that stress me out or feel toxic (when I can)
  • Remembering that taking care of myself and spending time with Brandon, my daughter, and my loved ones is just as much of an important job as my 9 to 5 and deserves just as much energy and commitment
  • Spending as much time as I need to be alone and inwardly-focused
  • Multiple meditation sessions a week; I’d love to amplify this in 2025 to a more daily, consistent practice.
  • Indulging in the activities that bring me joy – knitting and fiber arts, trying new crafts, making candles, looking to vlogs, blogs, books and media for creative inspiration, reading and writing. I’d like to get back to creative writing in 2025.
  • I’d like to find a volunteer opportunity or take advantage of smaller opportunities for giving – donations to the local food pantry, knitting mittens for the Mittens 4 Detroit initiative, etc. One of my larger goals as I approach retirement (which is still fairly far off, but visible way in the distance) is to start gradually lessening the time and emotional energy I invest in my 9 to 5 and amplifying the time I can spend doing volunteer work outside the home. This is definitely a longer-term goal as having a house, a partner, a teenager, and a slightly more than full-time job (and being an introvert) does not currently afford me enough time (in my estimation) to take on a volunteer role. But I am committed to keeping that as a goal as I begin in the next 10 years to ramp down my work life.
  • Spending as much time as I can with my daughter. She is in the final two years of high school and before I blink, she will be spreading her beautiful wings to fly ever farther from my nest and I want to fully enjoy all of the time I have with her, while I have her under my roof.

Honestly I kind of hate New Year celebrations so the best thing I’ve found for me has been to just stay midstream and keep going like usual. But if it’s your jam then I hope you enjoy the evening! 2024 was by no means an easy year, so on the arbitrary calendar delineation day, I want to take a moment to acknowledge and appreciate the lessons it sent my way and send up a wish for a softer and more peaceful 2025 for us all.

huzzah! christmas 2024.

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We had a really good Christmas Eve followed by our Christmas and birthday celebration for our Christmas babe Brandon but as usual I’m now ready for it to be done and put away. I’m going to squash that urge until New Year’s Day, however.

We watched three different versions of “A Christmas Carol” (Albert Finney, George C. Scott, and the Muppets). We ate tenderloin and burned Twisted Peppermint candles and the kid made an enormous birthday cake liberally decorated with sprinkles and buttercream and on Boxing Day we saw our big budget Christmas movie of choice “Nosferatu” (yep) and ate a square ton of buttered popcorn and I went to bed feeling sick and full as a tick.

(“Nosferatu” was interesting. I suppose I was expecting it to be a straight Dracula retelling but over our brewery dinner debrief, Brandon educated me that the original version was actually a ripoff of Bram Stoker, which explained the changes (England to Germany, different character names, some characters changed, amalgamated or removed altogether, etc.) I enjoyed all the key performances- Lily-Rose Depp gave an impressive turn in a role that was originally intended for Anya Taylor-Joy and showed she’s more than a nepo baby. I thought she was eerily reminiscent of Keira Knightley. Nicholas Hoult was also impressive (hard to forget, though, that he was the gawky kid from “About a Boy” and quite goofy in The Great (HUZZAH)) and Willem Dafoe always serves. Bill Skarsgård was a fine Count Orlak although in certain lights he sort of seemed like a demonic Omar Sharif as Zhivago and I’d kind of like to see him take on a totally different role next time – how about a romantic lead? I think he’s playing the Crow soon so that may scratch that itch.)

This morning we were up early to take Brandon to the airport as he’s headed out for a weekend with family. After I got home from the airport drop I got out for a three mile run. It’s mild and damp here in Southeast Michigan and the dark-eyed winter junco birds don’t quite know what to do with themselves. I came home with mud splattered up to my calves; I made more coffee, had a hot shower, got back into pajamas, and pulled out my old copy of “The Gentle Art of Domesticity” and my knitting.

I am looking forward to being full feral while he’s gone. There’s always the niggling feeling that I should be participating in some form of capitalism during this time off but for once in my life I’m going to ignore that. There’s a frozen pizza in the freezer, I have a ton of Vlogmas to catch up on, the kid has soccer and mall returns and exchanges, and I’d like to finish one more book in 2024*. I need to make progress on knitting my Christmas socks before I get sick of Christmas colors! There will be time to catch up on emails and bills next week, move into my 2025 Hobonichi, and feel dissatisfied that I haven’t monetized any hobbies. In the meantime, as Nicholas Hoult would say whilst playing one of his other acting roles, huzzah!

*Stay tuned next week for my Big Book Recap of 2024 which may or may not be interesting to fellow book lovers!

happy solstice

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I usually like to celebrate the winter solstice with some sort of outdoor activity- a walk in the woods, a run, a hike – but today we hosted my best friend and her husband for a solstice brunch. I’m officially off now until 2025 and ready to go into full goblin mode but seeing my best friend (since the age of seven) and exchanging our small heartfelt gifts was so deeply good for my soul.

I’m not the best hostess but this morning I think the brunch was perfect. I served this frittata (made with mushrooms, sausage, onions and cheddar jack cheese) and this baked French toast with fresh fruit, bacon, and scones and of course had pots of fresh hot coffee. We ate in the pale solstice light with candles and Christmas carols on the radio and laughed and swapped stories. It was a great way to celebrate the return of the light and the turn of that greatest old wheel.