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.

friday five – the 89th day of january

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It’s the final day of January and I’m cautiously optimistic that we have made it through what was a very long month of frigid cold, post-holiday crash, political chaos, and dry skin.

1. Dry January. For the first time in several years, my Dry January was a booming success.
I made it the entire month (plus an alcohol-free NYE). For the last few years, I’ve made it
for some time period (17 days; 28 days; a few years ago I only made it as far as January
6 as you may remember what happened on that date) but usually not for the full 31 days.
While I felt like I flew through it without ambivalence or struggling, I did put work in – I joined the Dry group on the Weight Watchers app, which is full of some of the best people I could have hoped to connect with. I read sober curious literature and listened to several podcasts (‘This Naked Mind’ being my favorite). I think it’s the influence of our societal approach to drinking that I feel self-conscious about bragging too much on my Dry January because I worry that people will think I did it because I have a “problem” with alcohol. I could write a much longer post about this (particularly what our modern culture deems “problematic” when it comes to a highly addictive substance that is not only socially acceptable, but widely encouraged) but for now – no, I don’t feel that I have a “problem” with alcohol. I really enjoy red wine, and have a fairly high tolerance for it, but I do not categorize myself as a “problem” drinker. However, there is a preponderance recent evidence that any amount of alcohol may not be good for us. I had such a positive Dry January that I have now determined that I will also commit to being alcohol-free for the month of February and see where it goes from there.

2. Vibes at home. Emmett, who is our most loving, anxious, needy cat, had a dentist
appointment on Tuesday and had two premolars extracted. All of our cats have
“emotional problems” and require accommodations – two of them are on Prozac and the other is a small, cute, virulent sociopath. When one of them disappears for a day and comes home loopy and smelling of the vet, the other two become unhinged and treat the patient like a dangerous interloper. So there has been hissing, separation, pain med dosing, treats, sleeping accommodations, and general household disruption. Emmett is fine and recovering nicely. Sarge and Josie, on the other hand, are still recovering from his ordeal.

3. Journaling. One of my goals for the year is to use my physical journal more. I have used a Hobonichi Techo Cousin paper planner for a few years now without taking full
advantage of all of its space and features (monthly, weekly, and daily pages). I’ve been
scribbling more thoughts this month. I plan to use one of the layout pages for an informal monthly goal-set, using key words, quotes and actions, and update the bottom half of that page at the end of the month with my reflections: what went well, what didn’t, what I achieved, etc. I’m looking forward to settling in at my home office desk tomorrow morning (early, because I’ve been sleeping so well with Dry January) with a big cup of coffee, my sticker folio and my nice pen and washi tapes to reflect on January and set up the February page.

4. RTO. Next week begins the more organized RTO (“return to office”) push at Widget
Central. Executives have been hands-off about office time, leaving it to managers to set
their department’s guidelines. I’m usually in one or two days a week and set my own schedule for what those days are on a weekly basis. Next week, however, the mandate is for three office days for everyone with Tuesday and Thursday mandatory. This can be a polarizing issue for people but I’m fairly ‘meh’ about it. I like working from home and think I’m pretty disciplined about it, but I also like the office. I do appreciate that feeling of separation of my home space and workspace. I am productive in either space with a possible productivity edge in the office, I like my coworkers, and as an introvert, it’s good and healthy for me to socialize with people on a limited yet regular basis. I’m much more opinionated about the quality of my work experience. Trust and flexibility are key – I do not want to be micromanaged, nickel-and-dimed about coming-in times and leaving-times, I want the ability to flex my time if I need to be home for any reason, have an appointment, etc. (I think a lot of the issues that people have with remote work come down how well managers are trained to identify and handle a poor performer – if you have an employee, ANY employee, that you cannot trust to do their job and be responsive during core work hours, that’s a performance / management issue, and it’s not going to be addressed or resolved based on the location of their workplace.) The biggest issue for me is going to be organization – meal planning and prep for full days in the office with a commute, packing my breakfast, lunch, snacks, and workout clothes, and making the most of all my days, office and remote.

5. Weekend. No big plans. Babying the neurotic and recovering felines: Brandon is
planning a redo of our master bathroom, so we need to go to Ikea to buy the vanity
we’ve selected; the weather in Suburban Elysia will be clear and seasonal in the 30’s, so
I hope to get out for at least one run. I’m working on a small secret knitting project and
will likely finish up my recent read, Haruki Murakami’s ‘The City and its Uncertain Walls’
which I’ll review next week.

Hope everyone has a peaceful, healthy weekend! xoxo

maker space: finished! christmas 2024 socks

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I should feel sheepish that I’m posting my finished Christmas socks a month after Christmas. But for me, this is actually fairly timely as I think I once finished Christmas knitting in March. Progress not perfection!

These are a mashup of the Vanilla Socks on 9 inch Circulars basic pattern from Kayla Litton and the Summer Camp Socks by Jill Zielinski. Main color is West Yorkshire Spinners Sparkle “Yuletide” and heels, toes, and cuffs are WYS “Evergreen”. I usually do 64 stitches on US 0 (2mm) needles.

Cast on: December 13, 2024

Finished: January 24, 2025

Raveled here.

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.