My Mind, She is Blank

I sat for fifteen minutes staring at the blank screen before typing these words. I have thoughts, lots of them, but today they are all chaotic and fleeting and like shadows you see in corners at night...dim. And this week I've had such a difficult time focusing on anything. One minute I'm reading, one minute I'm skimming Instagram, one minute I'm watching a YouTube video on cheese. 

Ever get like that?

I'm having trouble focusing on making jewelry, too. I've been out of the routine for ten years so I feel like I have to run like hell to catch up and I keep falling down, so that tells me I need to slow down, grasshopper. I can make things, but it's a lot more difficult than it used to be to come up with an idea, and my ideas so far have been pretty but not OMG LOOK AT THAT. It's a struggle. And in all that Instagram and Facebook and YouTube skimming, I see so many stunning talents and it all kind of makes my mind boggle.

I sit at my desk and stare at all the beads. I pick up one, then another, put them down, dig out more, drop a few (I'm always dropping things) and before I know it I'm drowning in all the supplies but no plan and no ideas.

Ever have that happen?

In the past this would upset me. And yeah, sometimes it does bother me, to be honest. But even though I'm struggling a bit, I still enjoy sitting down every day to bead, or to bake, or to read. I enjoy the process even if the outcome is boring or inedible. I'm getting used to burning slower so I can burn longer. 

And for now, that's enough.

XO, Lori

Book Winners and Book Review - "The Sudden Appearance of Hope" by Claire North

First of all, the winners!

Libellula Jewelry and Linda Landig

Thanks for playing!

Both will receive one of my favorite books I've read this year, Claire North's "The Sudden Appearance of Hope".

I was captivated a couple of years ago by another favorite author, V. E. Schwab and her book "The Invisible Life of Addie La Rue". Chances are if you liked that one, you'll like this one. Both books have a main character who can't be remembered, but they are each their own very special book.

From the GoodReads blurb, I was intrigued...

My name is Hope Arden, and you won't know who I am. But we've met before - a thousand times.

It started when I was sixteen years old.

A father forgetting to drive me to school. A mother setting the table for three, not four. A friend who looks at me and sees a stranger.

No matter what I do, the words I say, the crimes I commit, you will never remember who I am.

That makes my life difficult. It also makes me dangerous.

___ ..__.__...___

This book is about more than a girl who can't be remembered (an awesome thing if you're a thief, which she is, a terrible thing if you want friends, of which she has none). It's also about an app called Perfection which gives the user points and perks as they follow the road to being a Perfect person. (Side-eyeing really hard at Instagram right now.) The app is huge and everyone in the world wants in on it, even when the stakes for achieving said perfection get high. The social-media-poking in the book really got to me because I have yet to figure out how to manage proper expectations of my life when I consume social media, and I often go on mini-breaks (again, side-eyeing you, Instagram) to keep focused and balanced.

Hope is absolutely not about Perfection and the story charges along to an end that stuck with me for days. TSAOH made me think about the world, myself, and a lot of  personal "what ifs". It also made me think about what perfection really is and if it even exists. It's very much a science fiction book complete with hacking and Hope's peculiar condition, but it's also a social story that revolves around identity. My identity right now is going through big changes, so this book spoke to me not just on the "damn, Claire North can really craft a beautiful sentence" level, but on a visceral, human level.

At first, the book was confusing, but I stuck with it and eventually, all will be  revealed. I hope you read it and let me know what you think!

XO Lori

Today's Words of Wisdom

 

Recipe of the Day - Kentucky Butter Cake from Cookies and Cups

 During the lockdown of 2020, I coped by baking. I discovered Cookies and Cups and gained thirty pounds just by reading her web site. All kidding aside, I've made a lot of her cakes, and with the holidays coming right around the corner, I wanted to share one of my favorite recipes of Shelly Jaronski's, the Kentucky Butter Cake. It's super-easy, decadent as all get out, and looks fantastic in one of the many Bundt pans in my collection (I'll have to share them here one day, it's really getting out of hand how many pans I have).

Click here for the recipe, and take a look at how two of mine turned out!

On the next one, the Bundt pan created all these nooks and crannies so the glaze really soaked in like a good Belgian waffle.

All of my pans are by Nordic Ware (not sponsored, I should be so lucky!)

What's your favorite cake recipe?

Don't forget the book giveaway! 

XO Lori

How to Add a Holiday Tradition to Your Book Club PLUS GIVEAWAY!

If you love books as much as I do, you probably want to share that love with others. I'm not lucky enough to belong to a book club, but I decided to start a new tradition with my daughters-in-law that could just as easily be tweaked for your holiday book club meeting.

I'm really fortunate both DILs love to read and trading book titles over the years has been amazing. This year, though, I decided to pick two of my favorite books from this year and put them under the tree for Stephanie and Laurian. I'm really excited to see what they think about what I'd like to make a new holiday tradition.

If you're in a book club, why not do something similar? Draw names, choose a book you love that you didn't read this year in book club, write a little note about why you loved it, and gift it! Everyone gets to go home with a new book and since they're your book club buddies, chances are you have a feel for what they might like out of the many favorites you love.

If you're worried about giving a book the person has already read, don't. Honestly, if someone gifted me a book they loved and I'd already read it, I'd read it again, keeping in mind why the person liked it. I've had some amazing reads after giving a book I previously didn't care for second chance due to the enthusiastic encouragement of a fellow reader. (Stephen King's "Dark Tower" series, I'm looking at you!)

Besides, rereading has become a more common thing for me in the past ten years or so and to me it's like visiting an old friend. I always find something new in it. So bring on the recommendations!

I'm going to give away one of my favorite books that I read this year. It may be a current book, it may be some years old, but I read it this year and it affected me. You will get a brand new book.

You get an entry to the giveaway by:

1) Commenting below and telling me your favorite book/series, 

and

2) Not required, but you get an extra chance by posting this on Instagram and/or Facebook. Let me know you did that with the links in your comment.

And that's it! You have three chances to win! The giveaway closes Saturday the 17th of December, and I will announce the winner on the 18th. 

__ .. _ . __..__

*** Be sure to leave me a way to contact you in case you win (email, IG handle, FB handle, etc). And due to the insanity of shipping costs, this particular giveaway is for US only. I apologize. **

Thank you for reading! Don't forget to enter by telling me what your favorite book is, or what kinds of books you like!

XO Lori

Welcome!

Welcome to The Sum of Small Things, a blog about my thoughts and the small things that make me happy (books and travel being two big topics for 2023). 

Some of you may remember my blog Pretty Things which was about my jewelry business, my family, this thing called the Bead Soup Blog Party, and a book I wrote about same. I closed that blog and made it private because it got really painful and raw due to my fighting Lyme disease. That fight lasted almost eight years and I am a drastically different person now. 

I still kept the fun hair, though.

One of the biggest permanent changes to who I am is a sometimes profound short-term memory loss that makes it difficult for me to complete a thought. Here at the end of 2022, after two years of pretty significant physical improvement and spiritual growth, I'd like to try this blogging thing again and see how it goes. I'm on Facebook and Instagram but I like words, so even if no one reads this, I feel comfortable here. 

Expect a bit of stumbling around as I figure out how to put words together again. I mean, I can put words together but I need practice. A lot of it.

_____ . . __ . . _____

One of the things I've added back to my life in the past two years is my jewelry business. 

When I started in 2003, the jewelry and beading craze was huge and a ton of amazing bead shows and classes were everywhere. I closed shop in 2012, and somewhere between then and now, so much changed! To everything its season, but this season is slim pickings on beading magazines, book, classes, and events, and a lot of my friends are on to other things. 

Sometimes I think I'm out of my mind to resurrect a handmade jewelry business (especially after 2020) but I still really enjoy digging into my bead stash and putting things together. Since I closed my web site I moved to Etsy, and 2023 will see me opening a bead shop, too! 

_____ . . __ . . _____

There have been huge family changes since we last met as well. Zack, a favorite fixture on my old blog, is now in college, and I'm a grandmother (and expecting another grandson next year!). Rick's oldest is getting married in 2023, too, so lots of family events on the near horizon.

Rick and I are also starting to travel, and recently went to Portland, Maine for a week. It was a fantastic trip, if you don't include our rental car losing its entire electrical system within 8 miles of the airport, but hey. Adventure comes in all sorts of ways!

The BIG travel news is our first international trip in our 22-year marriage. October of 2023, we're headed for a 17-day trip to Vietnam and Cambodia. We're taking a Mekong River cruise part of the time, overland the rest of the time, visiting Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, and Halong Bay in Vietnam and Angkor Wat in Cambodia. SO stinkin' excited,  I'm telling you.

_____ . . __ . . _____

Please let me know how the blog looks to you in the comments below -- is the font too small? Does it look good on mobile, tablet, and lap top? If you'd like to get notifications when I post, there's a button on the right side bar (in the web version), or bookmark me! 

Thanks so much for reading.

xo Lori