GARAGE SALE SCAVENGER HUNT

Ok guys, this is a fun one! Have you heard of a garage sale scavenger hunt? This is the perfect activity for kids and adults to do together. It's fun to plan the groups so people get to be with a mix of different people. We've only done this as a family (grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins) but it would be a ton of fun to do with friends as well. This year marked the 2nd time we'd done this and there were definitely some trip highlight moments this time (ah-umm...a chicken).

There is plenty of summer garage sale-ing left, so hurry and plan this one!

(framed artwork find)

The Date: pick a Saturday morning. You'll meet in one location, receive your team assignments, and depart. We set a 2 hour time: meet at 8am, get back by 10:30am. (Pick someone or a group of people to assign the teams beforehand). We made sure to keep the kid to adult ration as equal as possible. 

The Tools: you can hand out printed newspapers, scour craigslist (ahead of time and write down places), use your phone and gps, or drive neighborhoods looking for garage sale signs

POTTERY SHOWCASE

My Mom has talent.

She's a giver, a learner, and always pushes herself to do and know more. I talked about her in my 80/20 home cleaning rules and in my facial hair removal strategy.

My Mom engrained in my siblings and me the importance of education and as of the end of this year, all of us and spouses will have at least our Bachelor's degree. And currently, my mom has gone back to school and is working towards that herself!

One of the things my Mom loves to do is pottery and painting. She's really talented and when she has time between school and work, she does some beautiful work.

Today I'm showcasing her stuff.

When I visited Montana on our summer vacation a week ago I took the opportunity to photograph some of her pottery and a picture she's painted. I think it's so cool that I have bowls that my mom made - food and dishwasher safe too! You'll have to watch on Carrot Bowl for their appearance.

I'm going to let her pieces speak for themselves.

WHAT I'M READING

In between cooking and cleaning, taking care of the house, and spending quality time with the family, I sometimes squeeze in some reading.

When I'm in the grocery line, I can't help but grab the latest Women's Health magazine. Thanks to my sister, she got me hooked with a subscription last year. I like reading the workout ideas, interesting stats, and articles that both inspire and make me think.

"The Windup Girl" is one that I'm still in the beginning of, but being a Hugo and Nebula award novel, I'm probably not going wrong. It's been really interesting so far.

"Without" is a collection of poems by the author Donald Hall. Recently Tyler and I went to a show in Portland hosted by Ira Glass from OPB's This American Life. It was awesome. It was a totally different type of show where he told stories and had two women dancers who helped portray the meaning and drama of the stories. I loved it. I came away feeling like I learned something. During the show he talked about this poet and some of the poems in this book.

The book is the chronological story of him and his wife as his wife is dying of cancer. It's intense, personal, and made me love my husband more. I 100% recommend it. As soon as it came in the mail I read it. I didn't expect that I wouldn't be able to put it down. The poems' structure add as much to the story as the words.

With this smash up of books, I'm just reminded that we have a pretty awesome opportunity to be alive and share our lives with the other people around us.

Have you read something that made you feel smarter recently?