Living in my Saraness

Posted by smgrady on September 16, 2018 · 2 Comments 

So I’ve been back in graduate school for one month. It is far more things than I could possibly tell you about right now, dear reader. It has been immense. But in finding my way around a new campus, a new office, a new teaching load, and a research community in which I intend to … Continue reading →

Category Crafts & Home, Life, research, Starter for Ten · Tagged with , , , , , ,

Simplify

Posted by smgrady on September 24, 2016 · 1 Comment 

things are manic this fall.  I’m teaching a night class; Beanie’s seeing evening clients; I’m traveling a bunch, especially right at the end of my talk tour season. We can go whole weeks without an evening at home. So normal nesting routines of slow roasted squash and seasonal charm will be seized in small moments … Continue reading →

Category Crafts & Home, Things I Like · Tagged with , , , , , ,

Iowa

Posted by smgrady on May 19, 2016 · 2 Comments 

Imagine for a second the state of Iowa. Probably you see farms. Perhaps a church. Almost definitely wide open land and big skies. Even if you have never seen the endless fields of the American breadbasket, the region’s reputation precedes it, and by a wide margin. My own Iowa memories center on my great-grandmother’s attic … Continue reading →

Category A broad abroad, American Adventures, Crafts & Home · Tagged with , , , , , , , ,

Home Sweet Home (hacks)

Posted by smgrady on October 31, 2015 · Leave a Comment 

I honestly didn’t know how we’d fare in a 800 sq ft apartment after a palatial Georgian flat in Edinburgh and a stint in my parents’ (classy) behemoth in the suburbs. But we’ve passed the one-year mark in our little city pad and I still love it to pieces. Initially it was a single-year commitment, … Continue reading →

Category Crafts & Home · Tagged with , , , , , , ,

Soft summer mornings

Posted by smgrady on August 11, 2015 · Leave a Comment 

By now, dear readers, you know I’m part-selkie; that my quality of life is directly proportional to the distance between me and my nearest bodies of water; and that there are some magnificent things about our neighborhood beach. I like my predictability in these things. Knowing what matters makes it much easier to prioritize. Knowing … Continue reading →

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Things I Like — Dumpsters

Posted by smgrady on June 19, 2015 · Leave a Comment 

Those big, driveway-sized containers primarily. To look in while passing is obscenely intimate, if casual — so they are finally getting rid of that pink formica from the 1/2-bath — sometimes even glimpses of photos and long-loved armchairs and rugs with a lifetime of stories and stains. Today I found a vintage mirror, oddly oblong … Continue reading →

Category Crafts & Home, Starter for Ten, Things I Like · Tagged with , , , , , ,

Kitchen Tour

Posted by smgrady on March 27, 2015 · 1 Comment 

I love our apartment. I love it hard. Even if we were millionaires I’d be hard-pressed to change much about it  (excepting of course my burning desire to build a terrace hanging garden and outdoor cafe seating area on the back deck. THAT I will splurge on as soon as I am able.) Our apartment … Continue reading →

Category American Adventures, Crafts & Home, Life · Tagged with , , , , , , ,

My Office

Posted by smgrady on January 23, 2015 · 1 Comment 

For the first time, I have my own office. I am so excited to have my own work space. I usually end up in a bullpen style open plan office when I’m working for clients and I cannot wait to Get Things Done somewhere quiet. But I’m nervous, too. I’ve not been office-bound for years. … Continue reading →

Category Crafts & Home, Life, Starter for Ten · Tagged with , , , ,

Our Neighborhood

Posted by smgrady on October 26, 2014 · Leave a Comment 

About a million years ago I joined #MakingTime, a month of daily prompts to reclaim life and find balance in the little spaces between Stuff. It had some pretty awesome things about it and I enjoyed my escapades. One of my daily challenges was to take 20 pictures of my day and really spend time … Continue reading →

Category American Adventures, Crafts & Home, Life · Tagged with , , , , , , , , , ,

Drawing Dinosaurs

Posted by smgrady on October 9, 2014 · Leave a Comment 

In the first weeks of kindergarten I thought I’d died and gone to heaven. Everyday I got to go out on my own to a place full of other kids and play and read and learn stuff. ALL MORNING. All the best things in life were crammed into that room. We had a proper playhouse, … Continue reading →

Category Art & Pop Culture, Crafts & Home, Life · Tagged with , , , , , ,