Lisa Congdon Postie from Amber!

What a lovely surprise it was to unlock my mail slot and see a postcard for me with Lisa Congdon artwork. "Hmm....this handwriting looks a little familiar....who is this from??? Oooo!! It's from Amber!!"

HI! It's been way too dang long since I've put something in the post to you. And, I've had this postcard since February when I went to Portland, OR! Yikes! Summer has been so busy, I've barely had the chance to enjoy the lake - but I'm hoping my social calender (sic) stays fairly un-full for most of August so I can prioritize more float time! What do you love most about Summer, Lisa? Also, have you ever heard of Miko's Italian Ice??? More later ♡ Hope you're well!!!

 ♡ Amber B

Up All Night - Wayne

A few of Wayne's favorites! 

Things to eat: olives - martinis - ginger snaps

Songs: I Turned Into a Martian - #9 Dream - Devil's Whorehouse

Places to go: PA Dutch Country - Amsterdam

Movies: Blade Runner - Waiting to Exhale

TV Shows: That's Incredible - CHiPS - Land of the Lost

Outfit: leather vest - no shirt - sweat pants - fanny pack

Boys Girls of course!: Bea Arthur - Helen Mirren (circa 1980) - Gigi Edgley

My most loveable qualities: I try hard not to be too smelly

Here's what I want to be when I grow up:  full time dreamer

Here's why I love sleepovers so much: Sleepovers are just a laugh riot!

June 2024 Books

* Breath ¹ by James Nestor - This book was recommended to me in May by my wonderful endodontist. I've been having loads of dental issues since Fall of last year and it has been stressing me out. She was so sweet and texted me one night to check in on me. She mentioned this book and that it might be helpful in regards to my stress levels driving me to clench my jaw and therefore crack my teeth. It was absolutely fascinating and I'm so glad I bought the audiobook off Audible, as I will definitely listen to it again. 

♥ The Haunted Bridge by Carolyn Keene

* A Little Princess ¹ by Frances Hogson Burnett - This was different from the film version and did not have my favourite moment (the scene with Queen Victoria) but it was really wonderful. 

* Detective Duck - The Case of the Strange Splash ¹ by Henry Winkler and Lin Oliver - This was a mega-short book that Jax and I listened to, since we are big Winkler/Oliver fans. It was cute, but I hardly remember anything about it, so that means I need to listen to it again!

¹ - audiobook
² - abridged version
* - liked
♥ - loved
Any unmarked titles were, in my opinion, so-so.

Grounds for Sculpture Pit Stop

Yesterday Jax and I went to Grounds for Sculpture for all of 20 minutes. It was too hot for me but I wanted us to go and see our favourites before going out for dinner at Snap Pizza. Mine is, of course, the Gloria Vanderbilt Dream Box entitled Heart's Desire. Jackson made a crack about being "back in grandma's attic" since he thinks it's an odd piece. But he got to see "The Castle" (a little stone alcove) and check in on the koi fishies. I even managed to find some shade and take a few photos. I'm so happy that he's twelve and has not yet grown tired of me. He's seriously one of my favourite people on the planet and definitely one of my bestest pals.

(Posing with Elvis outside Snap Pizza!)

Jean-Michel

My second car ever, purchased after Morrison was stolen outside me and Donna's place in Port Richmond in late '99/early 2000. Jean-Michel was a 1998 Mazda 626 in champagne. Eventually I sold him to Fr. Michael.

Growing a Garden

I did this puzzle on May 16th of this year and am hoping to bring it over next month when I'm hanging out with Lucy. It's only 64 pieces and I think it'll be fun to do together, and not super-crazy time consuming.

(artwork by Melissa Sweet)

A Weekday Afternoon with Jax

I had another dental appointment, this was the third Thursday in a row!, with that darling man, Dr. Davis. Since it was scheduled smack dab in the middle of the day, I decided I would take a mental health day and call out. I texted Trey to let him know I'd be out and that he'd have a bit more of a workload without me around. Then I went to my place, hung out for a bit and then over to my appointment. I had planned to get done by 2:45/3pm and then dash to pick up Jackson at my in-laws. Hopefully we'd beat the traffic and get to Grounds for Sculpture by 4 and have an hour to walk around and chat, just us. Yeah, that didn't happen. I got there at 3:30ish which meant we'd have even less time at G4S. Change of plans - we went to Mullica Hill for chocolate ice cream - their vegan selection is decent and so yummy! Then a pit stop at his house followed by me running errands. Finally we went to LesbiVeggies for Gunga-Din-Din, to quote Dennis Miller. He'd never been there for anything besides brunch, so this gave us both a chance to try something new - Beyond Meat Tacos for him and Eggplant Parmesan and Spaghetti for moi. Everything was divine, although Jax wasn't super crazy about the Beyond Meat. (I scored big because he let me take home his leftovers. Result!) Mid-way through our meal he went to the loo. A little while later he came back to the table with a look of panic on his face as he mumbled something in a hushed voice. What the hell?? Then he said "the toilet is overflowing and there's water everywhere!" I thought, no big deal, I'll go in and I'm sure they have a plunger. I open the door and the water was at the brim. I stepped in and, holy minestrone! The water was all the way to the door and not stopping! I frantically flagged down Noely (best waitress ever!) who came over and, cool as can be, told us not to worry and then went to grab a mop. Poor Jackson looked stricken as he told her, "I am so sorry." Luckily he didn't poo! It clearly wasn't his fault. I told him that maybe some girls had been flushing their tampons and clogging the drain. This seemed to ease his mind. (Blame the ladies, please!!) Noely later told us it was no big deal and reassured Jax when he said he was worried he'd be banned for life. It was not the best LesbiVeggies experience to have, but the staff was really wonderful and understanding. I mean, clearly it wasn't his fault since a boy can't clog a toilet just with his pee. As for Grounds for Sculpture, we are hoping to go there on Saturday evening instead. God willing it won't be crazy hot!

(I forgot to snap a pic of my all chocolate with chocolate jimmies today at Cherry On Top, but this was the gorgeous one I scored with Lucy on Saturday!)

Me Time

My favourite ways to spend time with myself:

- long drives with good music or an engrossing audiobook

- hot bath with a book, usually a fun romance novel or a Nancy Drew

- puzzling! (with, what else? an audiobook playing!)

- staying up very late and prepping blog posts, writing in my journals, and watching British or Aussie TV shows (As Time Goes By, Poirot, Mum, Winter, Hyde and Seek, Mr. Inbetween, Doctor Blake Mysteries) or classic American shows like Gidget, The Rockford Files, or Hart to Hart 

- taking naps on my fifteen minute and lunch breaks at work

- going to the library near Lucy's house to sit listening to a book or a playlist while filling out cards or posties to send to friends and fam

- playing silly games on my phone (solitaire, Wordscapes, Homescapes, Gardenscapes, Word Search, Water Sort, Bag It!)

- scrolling through Cheap Old Houses posts on Instagram and daydreaming of moving to a new town and buying a home all my own with loads of land and in need of very little work

Twinkle Town

In celebration of Christmas in July I decided to do a holiday puzz. This one was super fun and once I was done I imagined which houses would belong to which friends. It was nice to daydream about all my fave people living so close. In my ideal life in this twinkly town we would have game nights, cookie swaps, go for walks together, movie nights every Saturday, fancy dinner parties and not-so-fancy dinner parties, recipe trades, and basically just live out our best lives together.

Kayla and Kenny's house (she used to want to be a firefighter and this place screamed her name!) Oh, and I helped build the snowman.

Autumn and her whole crew have this cute three-story home to call their own.

Pink house for Lucy!

Here's Bella's cheery blue beauty - I love the snowflake garland wrapped around its middle!

Of course Wayne stays in the lovely little chapel. Autumn's family plus Bella and Jacob attend mass every Sunday while the rest of us sleep in. Eventually Kayla joins in, since it becomes the hip place to socialise and feel that community love!

Amy scored this fun house with the pink door and the lil' birdie on the rooftop.

Jackson, Xavier, Mary, Syd (and sometimes Ciarán), Zach, and the three kitties all squeeze into this warm little house. It looks small but it's a cozy joint that's got room for all!

This place has a massive kitchen that takes up the entire rear of the house and comes equipped with two refrigerators, two ovens, plus a cheese cupboard, so clearly it goes to Bishop and Pax. The attic was converted into a comic book/music room as well!

And finally, this place is mine all mine. Mismatched stockings in the window gives away who lives here. Oh and buried under the snow out front is my husky pup, Jack London. Pittie siblings Scuttlebutt and Astrid Buttercup snuggle together inside on their sofa while I bake tray after tray of cookies.

(artwork by Louise Cunningham)

Blackbird Pizza Graffiti

Blackbird Pizza in Philly had some of the bestest pizza in the universe. Sadly, like nearly everything I love, it is no longer. So it rests in the graveyard with Govinda's, Hampden Junque, Time Zone, Inferno, Zipperhead, So Delicious Chocolate Coconut Milk, Vish, Murphy's Loft, The Eager Beaver, Paperchase, and Waterloo's Coconut Seltzer. Blackbird's toilets also had loads of graffiti and here's some from 2016 that I never got around to posting.

Plus The Haymaker - one of the yummiest slices of 'za ever...

The Meet-Up

Finally I managed to set up a playdate for yesterday where Bailey and Lucy could meet. I felt in my very bones that they would be such good pals and as soon as Lucy told Bailey that she has a king size 4-pack of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and was planning to share them with her it was ON!! Bailey did take a little while to ease in and feel comfortable, and sweetie pie that Lucy is, she applied zero pressure and allowed Bailey time to adjust. They swam, talked about their love of Dragon Girls books, danced, ate chickie nugs, watched YouTube vids on Lucy's iPad, traded stories of what their Christmas elf got up to last year, and practiced with Lucy's silks. When we dropped Bailey off (I scored hugs from nephew Sean!), the two gals said goodbye with a big embrace and I about melted into a big glob of goo right there on the curb. Can't wait to get them together again!!