It was a cool, breezy week here in upstate New York. If you can believe it, I even started a fire in the fireplace one evening to take the chill out of the air. And even though it was June, I didn’t mind. My favorite place to read is curled up on the couch with a cozy blanket and the fire going… so that’s exactly what I did. =)

This week, I’ve got two books to share, some nostalgic writing in my notebook, a frightening fact I learned about my bank account (I dare you to do this challenge!) and as always, links to share, too. 

What I'm Reading:

I love when I read both an adult and children’s book in the same week. It just makes me feel balanced. This week, I read an inspiring book about the power of saying YES in your life and a huggable midge grade novel that had me running to the library. You’ll want to add both of these books to your Summer TBR stack.

The Year of Yes by Shonda Rhimes

I was thoroughly captivated by this book. For so long through the pandemic, we were forced to say no to everything. And even though the world is returning to normal, I still find myself saying no where I should be saying yes. This book was a stunning (and laugh-out-loud funny!) reminder of how pushing ourselves past our comfort zones is exactly what we need to do so we can find out who we are, what we are capable of and what’s waiting on the other side of yes. I’ll read this again and again and again. 

A Kind of Paradise by Amy Rebecca Tan

This was the ultimate middle grade comfort book. In it, we meet Jamie, a middle schooler who made an unfortunate choice that landed her in the library as a volunteer for the entire summer. Initially dreading the experience and even fantasizing the library might close so she could have her summer back, Jamie ultimately changes her tune as she develops relationships with the library staff and comes to see the patrons in a new light. And as she joins the fight to save the library, she ultimately finds a new version of herself in the process. This heart-warming, huggable book reminds us we can always reinvent ourselves and find a new path with patience, friendship and acceptance of all versions of ourselves. 

What I'm Writing:

If you are reading this on the day this blog is published, my son graduates from high school TONIGHT. Cue the tears. =)

I let myself get sentimental and think back to his first days of preschool and kindergarten and even browsed through pictures on my phone from long ago. 

And then I thought of something. 

Each week, I offer a little bit of literate love to the world. I recap my reading, writing and learning from the week along with the things I loved along the way. 

But what if I wrote those love letters to my children, too?

What if they had a collection of letters from me to them about what our family life was like each week? The things we did, movies we watched together, laughs we had and more?

The unfortunate thing? They don’t have those letters because I haven’t written them. Not a single one. I have over two years of love letters to literacy, but not to my family. 

Why didn’t I think of this sooner?!

My 5-year journal where I note one sentence a day about the little things I want to hang onto is a start, but I think I want to start writing love letters to and about my family, too. Maybe not weekly, but definitely monthly. 

I’m sketching out a printable monthly page to capture family happenings to hold onto and can easily envision this page as an addition to my notebook. I might even start a new disc-bound notebook for exactly this purpose.

What do you think?!

What I'm Learning:

Tanya Dalton, author of The Joy of Missing Out and On Purpose, offered a powerful challenge this week that I took on head first, for better or worse. Here it is:

Money is a vehicle for the life you want. That’s all it is. It affords you to live in the way you want to live (that’s the goal).

Last week on the podcast we talked about doing an exercise where you go through line by line of your bank statement and you decide if you like how you are spending your money. I did this for myself this past week and here’s what I discovered: Right now I have 7 streaming subscriptions – Netflix, Disney+, Hulu, and such.

I don’t even like having the tv on during the day and yet I have 7 subscriptions!?! So, I canceled almost all of them and that money is now going to something I do love… my future. Every month I’ll take that money I would have spent and siphon it over to my investment accounts, where it’s actually going to grow.

I want to encourage you to do the same. Go through your bank statements (or credit card statements) and do a quick gut-check. Do you like where your money is going? Or would you rather trade it for freedom? For connection? Or whatever else you desire.

It’s a powerfully easy activity – and it has the potential to make a huge shift in how rich you feel.

So, I did it. And found some pretty powerful things that my spending says about me and what I value. Some aligned with my goals and some did not, but taking the time to check in gave me the impetus to make some small shifts that I know will have bigger results. 

I dare you to try this!

What I'm Loving:

I think I need to ban eating at my desk, just like they do in France. I’m wondering…how many of you eat at your desk in an attempt to get more done? I’m trying to stop. =)

I am trying these corn fritters this weekend. Yum. 

After reading A Kind of Paradise by Amy Rebecca Tan, I went on a bit of a library tangent. Here are eleven of the most beautiful libraries in the United States. Which would you add?

There you have it! I hope this inspires you to make space for more reading and writing in your own life. What are the highlights from your literate life this week?