It was so, so, so good to be back at the Island this summer. It always is, but after missing a visit in 2021 (my first ever, due to Annie’s summer birthday), our time up north was even sweeter than usual. Just like a childhood best friend, we picked up right where we left off. Even better? We followed our week in Maine with a week in Connecticut, staying with John’s parents!
Readers who have been around for awhile know that the pattern of these visits doesn’t change much from year to year — we take lots of walks, play lots of games, read lots of books, spend time with some of our favorite people — but the beauty and goodness of our surroundings is fresh every year. Here are a few snaps from this trip, if you’d like to see!
That first lungful of salty breeze and that first morning wake up on-island… nothing like it.
One of my favorite moments of the trip came early on: I delivered my Sundayservice the day after we arrived. A little background: each week during the summer season, a volunteer Islander leads the Sunday evening service. Though rooted in Christianity and still with many of the trappings of the faith (church bell, hymnals, etc.), each leader chooses the content of their service, and right now, most choose a secular message. While I love every iteration of these services (they are one of my favorite parts of Island life!) I knew I wanted to deliver a Gospel message that served as the aroma of Christ to those I got to address, and I spent much time preparing my service in the month leading up to our trip.
Surprising absolutely no one who reads this blog, my message was about the power of narratives – which ones we believe, why they matter, how they shape our lives. It seemed like it was well received by Christians and non-Christians alike, for which I am very grateful. This was the third service I’ve led here, and I hope it will not be my last.
Above: the flowers I picked from a neighbor’s garden, the arrangement I made for the service, the sweet yellow meeting house (used for church and other community events!), and the birthday boy blowing out his candles after church. Love him so!
The older kids had (very informal) tennis lessons a few afternoons, and since the courts are a short walk up the hill from one of our cottages, Kim busted out some margaritas for the spectators. I can assure you our island is decidedly on the non-bougie end of the Maine fanciness scale, but we enjoyed playing the part for a day :)
What we lack in status we certainly make up for in natural beauty. For a two-mile-long island, she has more than her fair share of beautiful corners. It’s no wonder June declared “playing in the woods with cousins at the Island” one of her favorite memories from the summer at our back-to-school dinner, though it still made my heart swell to hear it.
One more highlight: every few years we take the kids to the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens. It is an absolute gem, always, but this year, they had the coolest exhibit of gigantic wooden troll sculptures. Just stunning and so fun for the kids to interact with. Highly recommend a visit if you’re ever in the midcoast Maine area!
One of the most poignant parts of our visit was being with my grandmother. She is 95 years old, and though vital in many ways, has also had some health setbacks in the last few years. Watching her get to be in a beloved place with the people she loves was so wonderful. Watching the tender care and attention (mostly on the part of my parents and aunts) to facilitate her being there was also wonderful, and sobering and thought-provoking. It made me want to reread this stunning and loving book (which, if you have not already read it, please drop everything and do so right now).
I’ll end with this. One of my favorite newer experiences on the Island is taking the kids down to a particular rocky point to watch the sunset. We’ve done this a few nights each visit for the last few years. The changing colors over the water, the moon rising, the adults perching on the rocks warmed by a day of sun while the kids throw pebbles into the water… it is magic. It’s also not something I grew up doing, and I like knowing there are still new ways to enjoy our special place waiting to be revealed. We are lucky, indeed.
Then it was on to Connecticut! I have far fewer photos from our second week in New England, because John and I both worked remotely for most of the week while his parents pal-ed around with our kids. While we worked, they went in the pool multiple times a day; rode bikes and scooted on their long, shaded driveway; took walks; read books; and played a lot of Wii Sports, ha. And like an absolute angel, John’s Mom had breakfast, lunch, and dinner in front of us each time we emerged. It was more than we deserved!
A few highlights:
A date night at Shipwright’s Daughter, a new-to-us restaurant in downtown Mystic. Aside from the novelty of being able to have grandparents babysit (something we very rarely get to enjoy, living far from our families), we agreed that there was something particularly magical about having this new experience (new restaurant, going on a date as grown-ups with three small children) layered over so many other memories in this place. We went on many Mystic dates in high school and college, it’s where I had my first job, we’ve celebrated bachelor and bachelorettes here with friends. As in Maine, what a gift to still have the old things and to get to make them new. And the restaurant was amazing, if you ever find yourself in the area!
Breakfast at Sift Bake Shop. Speaking of new(er) things: Sift may not have been around when we lived in Connecticut, but it has become an absolute must for every return trip. Chocolate walnut sea salt cookies and everything bagel croissants as big as your face, the lardon and caramelized onion quiche, absolutely exquisite cakes and entremets that are now a staple at our holiday dinners… do not miss it!
A visit to the farm. This is the 400-year-old farm my Dad grew up on, and where I spent much time as a child. It looms large in my family story and my own psyche, and every chance I get to share it with my children feels very precious.
Thank you, as always, for indulging these memories, friends! Grateful to share them!
Happy October, friends! The most exciting news around here is our kitchen project, which is well underway – I had to include a photo of some of the progress for this month’s update. The backsplash is complete (love!), the microwave has been removed and hood added, lots of little painting details were taken care of, the light fixture was switched out, and perhaps most excitingly, our fireplace has had a MAJOR glow-up. It all already looks so different!
And today, as you read this, a crew is back at our house hammering away, building out around the fridge before refacing and painting the cabinets later this week. It’s a bit stressful (I’m so nervous to see the paint color go on!), but I am very grateful.
Aside from a completed kitchen and cleaned-up dust, let’s see what else is on tap for October…
On my calendar this month: — Our annual fall trip to the mountains. We absolutely loved our trip to Black Mountain in 2021 but are returning to Highlands this year! — The 6th anniversary of Articles Club! Recap of what we read this year coming to a blog near you soon. — Lots of hikes. Fall, with its changing leaves and cooler temps, is my very favorite time to get out in the woods as a family!
What I’m loving right now: — Ever since Father of the Bride at age 7, it’s been Steve Martin for me. Loved this recent profile of him. — It’s hard to classify this as something I’m “loving,” since it was certainly a sobering episode, but this conversation with Jenny Black on the RB&G podcast has stuck with me weeks after I listened to it. I consume a lot of content around kids, parents, and the effect of technology on both, and there were still points she raised that were totally new for me. — Random, but we have found these waterproof pads to be so helpful when kids are transitioning out of pull-ups overnight. We lay it over the sheet and if there’s an accident in the middle of the night, we can just whisk it off without remaking the whole bed. And they go in the washing machine, too!
As a reminder, you can find alllll the things I’ve loved over the last few years neatly organized right here!
What I read in September: It’s been a strange month of reading for me!
I finished Take Back Your Family, and though I liked it, it mostly felt like ideas I already knew – and the writing was a bit clumsy. This epic piece by David Brooks was basically a more sophisticated version of the first half of the book.
I started The Common Rule and am LOVING it. However, I’m only one chapter in because I committed to trying each of the habits he lays out before moving on to reading about the next one.
I started Great Circle and quit it about 75 pages in. The plot plodded, I didn’t care for the characters, and I found some of the content disturbing. Not for me.
I started Crossing to Safety and am enjoying it so far! It was published in 1987 and feels like it was published a century ago, in some ways. Very different reading experience than a modern novel.
Finally, I just started Majesty last night and am a quarter through it, ha. My Mom took it out of the library when she visited and I figured I’d zip through it before returning it!
Revisiting my September goals: All hands on deck for the kitchen project! Order mirror and hand towel for powder room (Done! We decided on this mirror – I think it looks far more high-end than its price – and a hand towel from the JB x PB collection. Love!) Edit June in June Volume 7 Film Sheptember, Volume 4 Complete June’s baby book Prepare well for and enjoy our anniversary trip (Yes, although due to Hurricane Fiona it took a COMPLETELY unexpected turn. More about that soon…) Clear the backlog on my “Friday list.” (I completed about 1/3 instead of the half I was aiming for, but good progress!)
October goals: — Organize our garage. It is the stuff of (my) nightmares right now. — Sew the Christmas tree for my Advent calendar (back at it!) — Join Ben’s October challenge for a little Peloton pick-me-up — Send care packages to our college babysitters — Finish final kitchen details once work is complete (organizing stuff in cabinets, order rug, artwork for bathroom, etc.) — Edit Sheptember, Volume 4 — Create our family Halloween costumes (Nothing, and I repeat nothing will (ever?) beat last year’s, but we’re still going to have fun!)
Last quarter of 2022, here we go! Grateful for you all!
Last fall, when June started kindergarten, we joined the ranks of many, many families before us and set aside Fridays for family movie night. This is not an original idea, but it has become a beloved tradition. The kids look forward to it all week and, to be fair – since we paired it with the takeout tradition we started early last year (after a mini emotional meltdown over the passing of time, no big deal) – so do we. Fridays have never been better over here.
A mostly-unrelated photo because I don’t have any of movie night… I’ve been practicing my French braiding!
Today, I thought it might be fun to share the movies we watched in the 2021-2022 school year along with a few mini reviews! But first, a little background:
June was 5 and 6 and Shep was 3 when we watched the movies below. Annie was under one and did not participate in family movie night.
On movie night, we aim to eat dinner no later than 6:30, then do quick baths and pajamas and be watching the movie by 7:30/8. Since most kid movies are about 90 minutes, this still gets our kids in bed by 9:30ish, which works for our us. (June had no problem staying up, though Shep would occasionally fall asleep or even ask to go to bed halfway through the movie, ha! Know thyself, buddy.)
We eat dessert during the movie. Historically, this was a cookie from the bakery we can walk to from preschool, but since it recently closed (sob!), we’ve been improvising.
Something I feel passionately about: this is family movie night, not kid movie night. I want my children to see me enjoying leisure time, not scrolling on my phone or cleaning up the kitchen while they enjoy themselves. And why wouldn’t I?! Movie night is FUN! Our rule is that the adults get to pick the movie for family movie night, since the kids get to pick their shows most of the time, so of course we pick favorites from our childhood and newer movies we want to see.
We do also have family movie night during the summer, but it tends to be more sporadic than during the school year, since we’re traveling, have more plans, or prioritize playing outside.
Onto the movies! Here’s what we watched last school year, as best as I can remember and roughly in order.
Ratatouille (I love this movie! June thought parts were scary and lots went over Shep’s head, but I adore it.)
Luca
Robin Hood (One of John’s favorites from childhood!)
Cars (Shep liked it; June was ambivalent.)
Lady & the Tramp
Monsters, Inc. (June thought this one was too scary – sensing a theme? :))
Cars 2 (I had never seen the Cars movies, so movie night was the perfect excuse to watch them!)
Toy Story (Our kids were not into it! Hoping they like it more as they get older.)
Peter Pan (It pains me to say it – John even had a cat named Peter Pan when he was little! – but I would not recommend this one – it just doesn’t hold up well, in my opinion. The Native American scenes were painful.)
A Bug’s Life (This isn’t one of my favorites, but our kids loved it! When they have a babysitter on a Friday night, we let them pick the movie from one we’ve watched together, and this is often their pick.)
The Sword and the Stone (One of my favorites from childhood! It held up and our kids went wild for the squirrel scene. June did think it was a little too scary at times.)
Aladdin (Also too scary at times for June.)
Encanto (Loved it! The story was a bit thin but the music and colors are great.)
Pocahontas (A hit! This was a favorite of mine from childhood, but I hadn’t seen it in decades and worried it wouldn’t hold up (a la Peter Pan). I actually thought it was surprisingly respectful and beautifully done, though of course I’m sure not 100% historically accurate. June’s eyes absolutely lit up during “Colors of the Wind.”)
Moana (Certain songs/scenes in this one always make me tear up!)
Brave (This was a bit of a pass – we found the accents a bit hard to understand and the story a little strange. With all of my Scottish heritage, I wish I could give it a better review!)
Charlotte’s Web (I must have watched this movie a billion times as a child, because it all came rushing back like muscle memory when we watched it! We watched this after reading the book and they loved it.)
Mary Poppins (This one is over two hours and it couldn’t hold the kids’ attention. We’ll try again when they’re older!)
101 Dalmations (They LOVED this one! Characters do call each other rude names, but overall a very popular choice.)
Fantastic Mr. Fox (Also watched this after reading the book. Much of the humor went over the kids’ heads, but we enjoyed it.)
Finding Nemo
Ice Age
The Lion King (You guessed it – June thought it was scary – but we were able to warn her and she enjoyed it despite the scariness. Just so many epic songs in this one.)
The Aristocats (We ended on a high note – the kids LOVED this one! This was one of my favorites as a child, too, and it held up. Just a sweet and fun adventure.)
I would love to hear: what movies have been hits at your house for movie night? Do you use it as an excuse to watch favorites from your childhood? (We have SO many more on the list I’m eager to get to!)
September is a big month around here! Not only have we been anticipating our anniversary trip, but also the official start of our kitchen refresh! This project has been months in the making. Many of you expressed interest in hearing more about it in my mid-year goals update, so I thought we could chat about it today!
The background:
From the day we stepped foot in this house ten years ago, I knew I’d someday want to paint the cabinets. The kitchen was actually one of our favorite parts of the house – the layout was good, there was ton of storage space, the countertops were unoffensive, and overall it was in great shape – but the reddish wood of the cabinets combined with the reddish tone of our floors was just not my style.
That being said, we emphatically did not have the budget to hire a cabinet painter for the first many years of homeownership, and it was not a project I was interested in taking on myself. We also were unsure how long we planned to stay in this house, and therefore unsure whether the expense of a kitchen refresh made sense. We did make a few tiny upgrades along the way – a sliver of a chalkboard wall in 2013 and new pendant lights in 2014 – but the kitchen largely still looks the way it did the day we got the keys. Here’s a home tour from 2015 for a little background; I’ve sprinkled a few “before” photos throughout this post, too, very much unstyled :)
We’ve decided that this will, likely, be our home for at least the next few years, and that, combined with a more recent ability to pay for these upgrades, made us comfortable slating a kitchen refresh for 2022. For all the excitement I’ve had for this project, though, I’ve also been in my head a bit.
First, this project represents a large outlay of money for us. I feel pressure to craft an outcome I’ll LOVE and be happy with for a long while (probably the rest of our time in this house), especially because I am the one driving this refresh. (John would be happy to leave things as-is.) I’ve waited ten years to spend this money, and I want to spend it well and not have regrets. That’s a lot of pressure!
Second, while I am proud that we’ve lived with a kitchen that didn’t feel like us for a decade in an age when it’s easy to find instant, extravagant, ripped-to-the-studs renovations everywhere you look online, there’s still something in me that feels conflicted about replacing things for (almost) purely aesthetic reasons. I’ve wrestled with whether I’m being a good steward of the earth and of our finances in doing so.
Those are not rabbit holes for which there are easy answers, but I’ve come to a place I can live with and am truly excited for what’s ahead.
The process:
In planning for 2022, I dubbed the kitchen refresh a Q1 goal. LOL.
In reality, in what felt like a part-time job at times, I spent all of Q1 and into Q2 chasing down contractors to bid on our project. We did, by the end of May, choose two and pay deposits, and were able to get on their calendars for three months later.
A bright spot was meeting with my friend Callie of Haven & Hinge in January. For an hourly fee, we met in my kitchen, talked through options, and weeded through my Pinterest board together. She recommended contractors to reach out to and sent me a simple design plan based on what we chatted about. Based on our meeting, I ordered and then hung up four paint sample swatches. Friends, they have been taped to our cabinets since January. EIGHT MONTHS! Even though we chose our cabinet color in the spring, I refused to take them down. Through all the waiting, frustration, and delays, they were my sign – my beacon of hope! – that something was eventually going to happen in this kitchen, ha!
In August, I had a final meeting with Callie. To maximize our time, I combed through the whole project and bulleted out in granular detail my exact questions before she came over: where should we put knobs and where should we put pulls? Which style of hood? 8″ or 13″ pendant lights over the bar? Etc. etc. etc. These are the types of questions I could spend hours debating; instead, it was so nice to spend ONE hour making all the decisions.
Once I had answers, I had final meetings to relay them to Don (who is doing most of the work aside from the cabinets) and Sean (who is doing the cabinets – not confusing at all to have a Don and a Sean working on our project). I also entered the official “spending money” stage and purchased the light fixtures, cabinet hardware, tile, and hood vent. And that pretty much brings us to where we are today!
The plan:
So what actually are we doing in this refresh? Here’s the punch list:
STOVE WALL | We’re replacing the cabinet doors with Shaker-style fronts, replacing the hardware, and painting the cabinets.
HOOD | Removing the microwave, installing a hood that vents to the outside, and building and installing a wooden hood cover
REFRIGERATOR WALL | Removing the counter and cabinets to the right of the fridge, building a tall double-doored cabinet to the right of the fridge (the microwave will go inside), and building cabinets out around the rest of the fridge, to the ceiling. The wire shelf currently next to the fridge will be rehomed.
LIGHTS | Replacing the pendant lights over the bar and the dining room table fixture
OTHER | Adding or replacing a few other decorative pieces: adding a rug, painting over the chalkboard wall, removing an old intercom, simplifying the molding, removing blinds, hanging curtains, etc.
Here’s a sketch I made of the refrigerator wall, since it’s a little harder to picture:
We are not replacing our countertops, sink, or any appliances. However, we are doing a few smaller projects in or adjacent to the main room, but outside of the kitchen, at the same time:
POWDER ROOM | Painting the walls and replacing the light fixture, towel ring, artwork, and hand towels
FIREPLACE | Building and installing a custom wood mantel and replacing the tile with the same tile as the backsplash
STAIRS | Removing some fussy scrollwork detail for a more classic, simplified look
SIDE HALLWAY | Installing three large fabric bulletin boards to display kid artwork and photos
The inspiration:
Let’s look at a few lovely photos to wrap things up for today!
Though I love a white kitchen, I wanted something a little warmer for our space. We’re going with Benjamin Moore’s Natural Cream, which is the same color used in Alaina’s kitchen (top left – so beautiful!). We’ll also be using gold hardware. (Other sources clockwise from top right: unknown, a friend’s kitchen, LEB Interiors, Friday & Co Design, unknown)
This kitchen by Emily Henderson has the same beautiful Zellige tiles that we’re using for our backsplash and fireplace surround.
Don is using this photo (from a Caitlin Creer home) for reference as he builds our mantel. (We aren’t doing the horizontal planking above.)
And he’s using this photo as a reference for our hood (I don’t have a credit for this one!).
And there you have it! Friends, the paint samples are still on my cabinets as I type because this all still doesn’t seem real – but maybe by next week it will? Because there will be new tile in my kitchen?! Thank you, as always, for being excited about the journey – even the very long ones :)
