I got to play host to Elsie and Emma early this month and I loved seeing my suburb and the greater Sacramento area through their eyes! It’s so fun to be a tourist in your own town. We went to the Crocker Art Museum and saw so much including the coolest exhibit by local artist Suzanne Adan. We also stopped by the EF Gallery which has been on my list to visit forever. And, of course, I had to show them my favorite places to shop curated second-hand (Antique Trove and Under the Arbor).

I had heard only good things about Under Story by Chloe Benjamin and when I read it last week it did not disappoint. I was completely immersed. It’s speculative fiction and felt like if Dark Matter, Wild Dark Shore and The Light Eaters were braided together into one (great!) story. In 20 years, when I am ready to induct some new books into my hall of fame, it will make the list.

Sometimes my garden shoes make appearances in the Postcard series and I always get questions! I have two different pairs. My everyday garden shoe is the Muck Boots Eva clog. I have had them since we moved and find them so comfortable. My Blundstone Chelsea boots are what I wear when I am going to be doing more heavy-duty garden work. They are showing some wear from the past four years but are still great. I do find that I have to wear high socks with them so the back doesn’t rub on my ankles and I love these.

Paul and I raced through the second season of Chad Powers this month and it was just as good (if not better) than season one. If you like college football, physical comedy or Glen Powell (I love all three), it’s a great show. We laughed until we cried.

I have been enjoying Parch mocktails recently. A friend of ours said that you want your mocktail to have a bit of bite; it needs to taste a little complicated so you want to sip it, not just drink it quickly like a glass of juice. They were so right and Parch nails a more complex flavor. I found cans at our local grocery store.

My mom’s friend introduced her to this board game and we have played it at the last few family dinners. Everyone loves it (including my 13-year-old who can be a hard one to please). It’s a word game where you try to fill in the blank and you get points depending on how many people you match with. Bonus: it moves quick and makes us laugh.

I read an article in the NY Times early this month that I loved about “familects” or the shared words that people who live together use. Often these words or phrases emerge due to inside jokes or mispronunciations. The biggest one in our family is that we call mini drumsticks “pine cones.” I think it’s because Piper misheard the name of them eight years ago? It stuck and we frequently eat “pine cones” for dessert.

In case you are already starting to plan for the new year, I have updated the printables page of my website to include the 2027 digital downloads. You can now find the 12 page 2027 big calendar, the 2027 daily goal tracker and the 2027 giant circle calendar right here. (The site will ask you to log-in using your paid subscriber email address. Please respond to this email if you have any issues at all.)