One of my small project goals for the first quarter of 2026 is to get some of our family photobooth strips out of a storage box and on to the walls. I have a plan to DIY a few options, but, after some googling, I also decided to order some pre-made frames. I found these on Etsy and when they arrived I was so impressed with the construction and quality. (Worth the price for sure.) I ordered the 3.9×11.8 inch frame and requested a mat opening cut to fit a 1.5x8 inch photo strip. I have one hanging on the wall near the kitchen and one in the stairwell and they make me smile every time I see them.
When I shared my 2025 book report (the one with all the pie charts) my inbox was flooded with recommendations to try out The StoryGraph instead of GoodReads to track my books. StoryGraph is an independently-owned site (Amazon owns GoodReads) and they have much more data available about your books (if you’re into data about your books like I am). I was able to export my reading history from GoodReads and import it to StoryGraph within a day. So far I am loving the site and app! Highlights: you can give partial stars to books (like 4.25 or 3.5), there are many more descriptors for books (like “medium-paced” or “character-driven”) and I can tag books with my own tags (like “audio” or “library”) which is exciting for me. For now, I am just using StoryGraph to track my reading and I am @elisejoy there.
The art house is currently overflowing with seed trays (576 seedlings!) as I prepare for the 2026 growing season. I have three videos on my YouTube channel sharing my progress and I hope to continue sharing weekly there until everything in the ground (probably late March/early April). Those are my cucumbers in the photo above.
My Libby audiobook app recommended the book Wrong Place, Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister. I thought it would be my usual audiobook thriller vibe (interesting but formulaic) and instead it was about time travel! The main character, a mother to a teenage son, witnesses her son commit a crime. The next day, she wakes up and it’s the day before the crime. She keeps waking up further and further in the past as she tries to figure out how to keep the crime from occurring. I found her journey back into her past life, relationships and body (with the perspective of her 43-year-old self) so interesting and much deeper than a normal thriller tends to go. When I finally figured out what was happening I actually gasped. Would recommend!
My knitting needles were flying this past month. I finished my striped Olga Sweater (to be fair, it was all complete except half a sleeve at the end of December) and then used some yarn I had pulled from another project to make a No Frills Sweater in the prettiest light blue. (The No Frills pattern is one I would recommend to an adventurous beginner knitter.) As mentioned, one of my goals for 2026 is to get back into garment sewing and I was excited to sew my first top in five years — the Georgia tee by Elizabeth Suzann. The pattern was a breeze to follow and I used this linen/cotton blend fabric.
I spent an hour and a half in early January completely transfixed by this YouTube video. I imagine you’ve seen clips already on one of the platforms, but if you haven’t, the short story is: a family of four buys an abandoned schoolhouse in rural Indiana and over four years transforms it into their home through some DIY and some contracted work. I watched it and felt overwhelmed (in a good way). It was an excellent reminder that thousands of tiny steps lead to major change, and also that I never want to renovate again. (But I will absolutely watch a timelapse of someone else doing it.)
This month we took the girls up to Tahoe to go tubing (an exciting new family adventure) and stayed at our favorite South Lake spot, The Coachman. In the lobby they had a wooden dice game that Piper recognized from YouTube called “Shut The Box.” She taught us how to play and it was so quick and fun. Here’s a sweet how-to video and there are dozens of links to buy here. (I found a version similar to the one we played on Poshmark.)
Despite the pockets of joy above, January felt long and brutal. I have been out of the social media doomscroll spiral for a few years now, but simply reading the news felt like doomscrolling this past month. (If I emailed every time I felt enraged by the news, this would be twice daily newsletter.) I know there is nothing I can write to make anything better, but I can share this poll and add my voice to the 61% of voters who believe ICE has gone [way] too far. (And I can note that that poll was in the field a week before the horrific killing of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis on Saturday.) Do I want that number to be 100%? Yes, obviously. Does citing a poll seem insignificant? Yes, of course. But shifts in public opinion do matter. (Shifts in public opinion are how we got here.) This would be a good place to insert a quote about hope over despair but instead I just want to acknowledge all the pain, fear and grief and send my love to my home state of Minnesota.
