Muse Letter_02: February 2024
Monthly highlights from what I've been reading, hearing, doing, pondering, believing, and seeing.
Dear Reader,
In today’s issue we are here to take one last glance at some February bits for my monthly Muse Letter series. How the month is already over I have no idea, but I hope February treated you with love, kindness, and grace. I often feel the days in February get kind of blurry. The yearly newness starts to wear off, cabin fever starts to flare-up, ambitions for the year pose stumbling blocks and doubt, and family calendars start to fill up with all kinds of this, that, and the other. By the time I realize we are near the February finish line I’m unclear of any progress within it. Regardless of blurred visions, here we are...
*Featured Muse *Reading *Listening *Doing *Pondering *Believing *Seeing
[FEATURED MUSE]
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BARBRA STREISAND - I have been listening to her memoir via audiobook for the past few months (it’s 48 hours long btw!!) and it is has been fantastic! I find this woman to be fascinating. And listening to her tell her own story in the audio version has been an extra bonus to the whole experience. I mean the Brooklyn accent alone is entertaining all within itself, but my goodness she can really tell a story. It feels like she is sharing her entire life experiences with me over a cup of coffee in her living room as if it all just happened yesterday. And she is so funny!!
Her direct and intentional approach in life, with people, and for art has been truly so inspiring. She has so much passion and respect for the arts in general it is exhilarating to learn about from her perspective. She is a true artist that allows her craft to move through her in its most authentic form each and every time she delivers, no exceptions. It’s extraordinary!
I still have about 15 more hours to go on the audiobook, but when I heard she was awarded the SAGA Lifetime Achievement Award I couldn’t agree more since this memoir experience. I honestly don’t think I have ever watched any of her movies, but now I’m so interested in pursuing. I found her SAGA Award speech to be perfection and this up close and personal interview by Fran Drescher covered some interesting insight into how the legendary Barbra Streisand’s brilliant mind, heart, and soul works.
[WHAT I READ]
ALL MY KNOTTED-UP LIFE by Beth Moore - I read this book in a little buddy read with my mom and sister and it couldn’t have been a more perfect book for us to read together. Between growing up in church all our life, having ancestry from Arkansas, and familiar era backgrounds let’s just say my mom, sister, and I had some common ground with this book. I personally had never heard of Beth Moore before reading this. So according to wikipedia she is an American Anglican evangelist, author, and Bible teacher. She is president of Living Proof Ministries, a Christian organization she founded in 1994 to teach women to know and love Jesus through the study of Scripture.
In her memoir she shares her traumatized childhood growing up in Arkansas as well as her trials, tribulations, and over-comings throughout her life. Her story was heartbreaking to read about, but her heart and honesty was inspiring. And her writing style was so beautiful I could almost hear her (in her Arkansas accent) all throughout the pages. She had me laughing and crying practically the whole time.
5/5 stars!
[WHAT I LISTENED TO]
FEBRUARY PLAYLIST - Each month I create a playlist consisting of anything and everything that was music to my ears during the month. It ends up being a nice little music journal that I really enjoy looking back on from time to time. No doubt this playlist has a little bit of everything.
THE RESETTER PODCAST with Dr. Mindy Pelz - if your unfamiliar with Dr. Mindy Pelz please allow me to introduce to you this passionate and brilliant lifestyle doctor that specializes in intermittent fasting and balancing hormones. Her expertise has opened my eyes in so many ways for the better and I cannot recommend her enough. I follow both her podcast and youtube channels pretty consistently. And always revert to her daily bits of knowledge when I need reminders, motivation, or better understanding on my health and hormones. She also has two best selling books: Fast Like A Girl and Menapause Reset as well as another one coming out in the fall of this year. I highly recommend her expertise to everyone (men and women, young and older)!
[MY RETAIL THERAPY ACTIVITY]
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My favorite antique mall closed forever and ever a few weeks ago. I know, so sad! It was one of those places that I designated a one hour visit each month to browse all the stuff tucked in every which way they could get squeezed in on the shelves. I have many lovely treasures around my house I acquired from there. On occasion I would take pictures of items that I wasn’t completely sold on and if I still thought about the item days or weeks later I’d file it under “Grab it next time if it’s still there, please still be there.”. Looks like I won’t be getting this butterfly print after all. I did however hit a few smaller thrift stores with my daughter and managed to find a few vintage t-shirts, including this AC/DC one.
[SPECIAL MOMENTS]
My oldest son Dominic went fishing for the first time with his friends. He didn’t catch anything per say; however the fish did enjoy eating the snacks he sent down to them. ;)
My daughter Tatum has a new beautiful smile with no braces. She was so happy to say goodbye to her metal mouth. ;)
My youngest son August turned 12 this month! How can this be??! We officially have three adolescents in our household. Life is different!
For Valentines Day James surprised me with a lovely wine and cheese night in the comfort of our own home. He even put together a beautiful charcuterie board with all kinds of goodies. A man after my own heart, xo. It clearly was not a low-carb evening (photo below), but oh so yummy!
I made this Leap Year Cocktail for a little occasion celebration (I shared more about the history of the cocktail and some Leap Year fun facts in this post.) If I’m being honest, I’m still on the fence on whether I liked it. I’m thinking maybe I accidentally added too much sweet vermouth which made it quite bitter. Will have to try again.
After several years off, my family reinstated our casual karaoke hangout at my parents house. We were a bit rusty to the whole scene, but had such a great time reminiscing some of our favorite songs karaoke style. With YouTube’s several karaoke options song access was a breeze. I can’t wait for the next one!
My mom and I went to see Bob Marley: One Love. We saw it in a digitally enhanced XD cinema format so the colors and music was extra full, vibrant, and crisp. We did struggle throughout with understanding the heavy Jamaican accents (I felt like I needed captions); however their accents were important details that made the movie extra special and authentically true to the culture. Plus James and I went to Jamaica for our honeymoon over 25 years ago so it was quite nostalgic seeing some of the scenic views. My mom and I enjoyed it!
We then went out to dinner afterwards for sushi at Michiru. I got the Chefs Signature Special roll and it was heavenly.
Our Valentines Day wine and cheese! // Leap Day Cocktail // My karaoke song list. // My mom and I's yummy sushi dinner.
[TOPICS OF INTEREST]
BIRDWATCHING - I have always enjoyed observing nature and the creatures within it. So an intentional birdwatching session with binoculars and all has been on my list of want to-do’s for awhile now. With all our recent bird activity lately I think this spring season might be the prime time to tackle it.
HANDWRITING - I find handwriting so special. No matter the style or condition, a person’s mark is so individually unique and a lasting indication of one’s existence here on this earth. I recently learned that “National Handwriting Day” was celebrated in January. No clue who comes up with all these subjects to celebrate, but I have to say this one is kinda neat! And in support of this day I did see a bit of content online on the subject. All the discussions inspired me to make an extra effort to write more on paper. Whether it be a thoughtful note to someone, jotting down a recipe on an index card, or simply keeping a journal. I personally own these two books about handwriting and the special qualities and insight we can gain from handwriting: The Magic of Handwriting: The Correo do Lago Collection and Handwriting of the Famous and Infamous (a 2nd-hand option here). They are beautiful books...I highly recommend them both.
Images from the Handwriting of the Famous and Infamous (personal letters and handwriting insights on Jimmy Hendrix and Kurt Cobain) POWER POINT PARTY - Now this one is a bit of a stretch; nor do I know if anything will become in fruition. However it did create a spark of interest I was not aware I had. So you might ask, “What in the world is a Power Point Party?”. Well, I personally have never experienced one, but recently learned of one through a podcast member I follow that was planning one with a personal small group of friends. The concept is for each participant to put together a power point presentation about their subject of choice and present it to the rest of the group. The topic could be anything: a How-To, a funny story, a list of favorite jokes, successful artists in the 90s, a personal experience and what was learned from it...the sky is the limit!! Now I don’t know about you, but I don’t know one single person that would be willing to participate in such a thing. However - I kind of wish I did because it sounds so interesting, creative, different, and fun!
[Words of Wisdom]
Some quotes that spoke to me over the past month:
“The camera is an instrument that teaches people how to see without a camera.”
Dorothea Lange
“Rest nurtures creativity, which nurtures activity. Activity nurtures rest, which sustains creativity. Each draws from and contributes to the other.”
Kim John Payne
“You grow through what you go through.”
By unknown, delivered by Tyrese Gibson, Fred Famble, and more.
[Photo of the Month]
Thank you so much for reading. Until next time.
Love,