Of course a post about new things I have purchased will include a selection of books. Who do you think I am? If such a post is ever lacking books you can consider it a cry for help. I read Lucy Mangan’s Bookworm a few years ago and absolutely loved it. As soon as I found out she had published a new reading memoir I knew I needed to buy it. Yes, “needed” is the operative word here. I am saving “Bookish” for just the right day. To be honest, that might be a mistake because I am not sure the right day is ever going to come but I…

Sometimes it is not the big, expensive treats that bring us the most joy. It is the silly, little things we buy on impulse. I provide as an example this absolutely glorious vase I bought at Target a month or so ago. I walked in the doors and saw an entire shelf of him and his friends looking at me. Obviously, I could not bring them all home, even if they were only $5.00 each, but I did bring one home. He looks even more glorious with a bouquet emerging from his head. I think the ideal flowers would be fresh-picked wildflowers, jammed in haphazardly, but for now, he has…

My phone tells me that this plant is Japanese Thimbleweed. I have discovered the joys of using Google Lens to identify every plant I don’t know. It makes walks with me interesting. I think they are interesting because I now know the names of lots of wildflowers. My husband finds them “interesting” because he continually has to stop and wait for me. I don’t know why I feel the need to identify all the plants since we live in an apartment and I don’t have a garden to plant them in, yet, here we are. Continuing the nature theme, we went to the zoo about a week ago. The animals…

Happiness is defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary as “a state of well-being and contentment.” When I started this blog I was thinking a lot about how we find happiness and the quote from Northanger Abbey that I took my blog name from resonated with me: “It is well to have as many holds upon happiness as possible.” In the current world we live in we need to hold onto happiness with both hands. We are surrounded by stresses and strains and sorrows that many of us couldn’t have even imagined a year ago. To me, a hold upon happiness is different than overflowing happiness. When the phrase occurs in Northanger…