January 25, 2020.Reading time 5 minutes.
My elopement was really the first of three planned weddings. The second is in Maharashtra, India, in traditional Hindu style with my husband’s family. The third is in our home in Minneapolis, with close friends and family and a ceremony incorporating my parents and children, who are not able to go to India, and traditions […]
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March 7, 2019.Reading time 4 minutes.
When I’m not at work… I volunteer! I am the Communications Liaison for Minnesotan Suomi-koulu (Finnish School of Minnesota). I send MailChimp emails to students (or their parents) about upcoming school days, special events and resources. I update Facebook and recently started an Instagram for Suomi-koulu. I have served on the volunteer board for 3 […]
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February 27, 2017.Reading time 6 minutes.
via My Paradissi I will come right out and say, I don’t like the styling trick of books facing backward on the shelf. Prioritizing beige over ease of access to books is squarely in the realm of impractical design. I hope it is a trend that dies soon. Now, I’m going to show you bookshelves […]
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February 12, 2017.Reading time 6 minutes.
When we moved in, their room was painted a sad yellowish cream with beat up white trim (which still looked wildly better than the red from the listing photo), and the owner offered to have it painted any neutral color. I chose a bright white because the room gets great light, and I knew there […]
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December 8, 2016.Reading time 2 minutes.
The other day I pulled out my–urrr, my kids’–winter and Christmas picture books. We don’t have enough shelf space for all our books, and fine, I admit, I am kind of a stickler about reading/watching seasonally appropriate media only. So, I rotate books with strong seasonal associations. Tomorrow, I’m surprising the kids with Seuss’ How […]
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November 7, 2016.Reading time 9 minutes.
Jenna Wynne and I have been friends for 23 years. We’re very close, but I’m forever learning something new about her, or remember something wonderful about her. Jenna lives with her husband and their three children in a south Minneapolis craftsman. She agreed to show us around some of her bookshelves. I know you’ll enjoy […]
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November 4, 2016.Reading time 1 minute.
Rick Walton, children’s book author and teacher, recently passed away, much too soon. I came across this old picture of Alexandra and I with him on a post I wrote about his picture book workshop I attended five years ago. Here’s a great article about his influence. He had more than 90 books published. […]
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October 27, 2016.Reading time 5 minutes.
As soon as cold weather rolls in, I start daydreaming about becoming a full-time hermit with a stack of books and a hot tea. I’m definitely in Fall Reading mode, so this edition of What We’re Reading includes more review than usual. While visiting Finland this summer, I was struck by how much safer […]
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October 14, 2016.Reading time 2 minutes.
Every Friday, I gather up links to ideas, videos, articles and spaces I hope you’ll find interesting and relevant. Have a pretty weekend! Nod Free Printable Coloring Pages The Thing All Women Do You Don’t Know About Both internally and externally, we minimize it. We have to. To not shrug it off would put […]
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September 28, 2016.Reading time 2 minutes.
This is the American Library Association’s annual Banned Books Week! One of my favorite sources for literature and media, A Mighty Girl, has thoughtful suggestions for banned books to read and an article about Judy Blume’s fight against censorship. I’ve got a long library list. I believe in reading developmentally-appropriate books, but many books are […]
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