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Suzanne

Don Quixote at home

August 22, 2016 by Suzanne Leave a Comment

By Katie Colt

As an adult, I’ve moved a lot. I don’t mean a couple of times—we’re talking ten moves in ten years. Ten moves from permanent dwelling to permanent dwelling, with “permanent” to me clearly meaning “temporary.” These moves do not include transitional stays at family members’ houses, in hotels, or a month’s summer study abroad program. My twenties were nomadic.

Though there have been good, compelling reasons for each move (Cohabitation! Bigger place! BATS!), the amount of mental, physical, and emotional schlepping required to complete each transition really takes its toll on my well-being. This is most likely why, no matter where I end up, the following art takes up residence on the wall of the most central room in my dwelling:Don Quixote at home

There he is: Don Quixote, naked, on a ghostly horse, in all his semi-cubist glory.

He’s quite the conversation starter. Why he is naked—and why my grandmother chose to paint him naked—is a mystery for the ages. But his presence in my home(s) has come to represent an appreciation for goofiness, familiarity, and a connection to family that allows every place I’ve lived to feel like I belong there.

My grandmother Miriam was many things: a college-educated woman at a time when many were not; a marriage and family therapist; a beloved mother and  aunt; a talented cook, baker, and hostess; and a skilled artist, taking classes at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago during the mid-20th century. Having loved Picasso and cubism, she started painting and emulated him, later creating gorgeous and bright abstract collages, which hung proudly in her homes and in the homes of those she loved.

As a child, Grandma Miriam toted me along to the Art Institute innumerable times, showing me Monet, Degas, Van Gogh, Cassatt, and Picasso. She took me to the theatre, painstakingly tried to teach me how to knit (it never quite stuck), and allowed me to practice all my ice skating jumps and spins on her parquet floors (as long as I didn’t crash-land into her glass coffee table or indigenous clay sculptures). Spending time with her proved to be the earliest, most immersive cultural and creative education I never intended to receive.

I’ve made choices that have taken me in multiple different directions, both in physical location and career path. Along the way, I’ve struggled to feel confident in my creative abilities, which were always at the center of my person. However my self-esteem has suffered, at least my sense of humor has not.

Every time I walk into my living room, whichever living room it may be at the time, I can’t help but smile at the painting’s colors, its boldness, and its brazen embrace of the absurd. And I think of Miriam, and her artistic vision, her priorities, her love, and the importance of pursuing creative expression. No matter how nomadic my future, it is comforting that Don Quixote will follow, nakedness and all.

Katie Colt is a daydreamer, a diaper-changer, a writer, a baby-wrangler, a composer, and a carry-out queen. You can follow her on Instagram and Twitter @katiebabyhorse for a mix of the magical and the mundane.

We’re asking some friends to share their answers to one question: What makes a house feel like a home? If you’d like to contribute to this series, email thesmartdomestic@gmail.com.

Filed Under: Miscellany Tagged With: art, family, feels like home, home, home decorating, painting

What to read (during maternity leave)

August 8, 2016 by Suzanne Leave a Comment

Suzanne asked a few friends for recommendations to occupy her mind while she’s home with a newborn. Today, blogger (and mom of two) Hillary Copsey shares her recommendations for what to read. 

Reading is, in many ways, the perfect thing to do when you have a new baby to tend.

It’s quiet. It transports you from the tedium of diaper changes and the pleasant yet prickly trap of a nursing or sleeping baby. It can be done in fits and spurts, in any place and at any time – even in the dark of night, thanks to phones and tablets.

And reading aloud endlessly will quiet the screaming of a colicky child – at least for a bit. (May you never discover this for yourself.)

When Suzanne asked me to compile a maternity leave reading list, I dove into the search for recommendations with two big assumptions, based on hazy memories of my own reading habits after my sons were born. I read less when my boys, now 6 and 8, were wee, and the reading I did was short and light.

Both assumptions are false.

I’ve kept track of every book read, by month, for nine years, and because my boys’ birthdates are just two weeks apart, my maternity leaves fell in the same three-month period. Even as a first-time mom with a colicky newborn, my book count during that three-month period remained at the nine-year average. When my second son was born, I read two books above it.

I’m an omnivorous reader, and my maternity leave reading history reflects that, too. Just as in the years when I wasn’t rocking a newborn in the wee hours, my book lists from early 2008 and 2010 are a mix of genre and literary fiction, nonfiction, short stories, young adult, long-form journalism and favorite rereads.

All of this geekery to point out this essential fact: If reading is a vital part of your identity, a baby won’t change that. You will find time for it – and, if you have one, you should ask your partner to help you make the time. Reading was the thing I did to remain who I always was even as I became something new, a mother.

I have a list of recommendations, but here’s my best advice: Read what you enjoy.

Avoid parenting books. Skip the books you “should” read. Instead, turn to comfort reads, whatever that means to you. Take this time to wallow in what you love – baby and books.

Favorites from My Maternity Leaves

The Book of Lost Things, John Connolly – great particularly for boy moms

The Dexter books, Jeff Lindsay – quick, dark humor

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, Michael Chabon

The Underland Chronicles, Suzanne Collins – The Hunger Games author

The Good Soldiers, David Finkel – longform journalism

White Teeth and On Beauty, Zadie Smith – So, here’s the peril of maternity leave reading: These two very good books blur together, read as they were in fits and starts while my youngest son was tiny.

Short Stories 

I always say I don’t love short stories, but my book lists shows that to be false. These collections are great, delivering smart, often funny or poignant social commentary in manageable page counts.

Tenth of December, George Saunders

Some Possible Solutions, Helen Phillips – particularly “The Doppelgangers,” but on a good day when you can laugh at yourself

The Paper Menagerie, Ken Liu

Drown, Junot Diaz

Where The God of Love Hangs Out, Amy Bloom

Vampires in The Lemon Grove, Karen Russell

Fiction 

This is a collection of books I still think about after reading in big, greedy gulps.

Lucky Us, Amy Bloom

The Royal We, Heather Cocks & Jessica Morgan

This Is Where I Leave You, Jonathan Tropper

Flight Behavior, Barbara Kingsolver

Ready Player One, Ernest Cline

Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore, Robin Sloan

Alif the Unseen, G. Willow Wilson

Where’d You Go Bernadette, Maria Semple

The Flavia de Luce mysteries, Alan Bradley

The Night Circus, Erin Morgenstern

Mudbound, Hillary Jordan

Horns, Joe Hill

How to Tell Toledo from The Night Sky, Lydia Netzer

Monsters of Templeton, Lauren Groff

Summerland, Michael Chabon

The Likeness, Tana French

Finnikin of the Rock, Melina Marchetta

Speak, Louisa Hall

Old Favorites

These are the books I return to again and again. Even if you’re not usually a re-reader, you might find it comforting when your hormones are raging and you’re covered in bodily fluids.

Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte

Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen

Anne series, L.M. Montgomery – Go for the later books. I’m telling you, Anne Shirley Blythe is a feminist role model.

Grimm’s Fairytales – I particularly like this version, Fairy Tales from The Brothers Grimm, by Philip Pullman

Song of the Lioness series, Tamora Pierce

Pillars of the Earth, Ken Follett

Nonfiction

This list was compiled with the same criteria as the fiction list.

The Boys in The Boat, Daniel James Brown

Data-ism, Steve Lohr – Read this with Speak from the fiction list.

The 50-Year Silence, Miranda Richmond Mouillot

Being Mortal, Atul Gawande

Men We Reaped, Jesmyn Ward

Between The World and Me, Ta-Nehisi Coates

Online

We all have our corners of the internet that suck us in for hours, so I’ve kept this brief.

“The Midnight Zone,” Lauren Groff – my favorite line: “I taught them how to read, but they could make their own lunches.”

NextDraft – This daily newsletter from Dave Pell will keep you up-to-date with everything happening outside your house.

Tom and Lorenzo – Follow the celebrity fashion machine with witty commentary and lots of pictures of pretty dresses and pretty people.

Twitter is great for night-time feedings: Someone is always up, and you can pick and choose what you read further. Authors like G. Willow Wilson and Rainbow Rowell are great on Twitter. Following all your favorite news sources is never a bad idea. I also recommend @XplodingUnicorn for funny observations about parenthood.

Medium – The daily digest is a fairly decent round-up of interesting reads and/or the reads people are talking about.

After 10 years in Florida, Ohio native Hillary Copsey returned to the Buckeye State, where she works for a nonprofit arts agency, blogs at Not Raising Brats, and reads copiously. Find her on Twitter @HillaryCopsey. She and Suzanne would both like to #MakeAmericaReadAgain. 

Photos from the Library of Congress (1, 2, 3)

Filed Under: Miscellany Tagged With: #makeamericareadagain, books, favorite books, fiction, nonfiction, reading, short stories, what to read

Decisions: Parenting with nostalgia

August 5, 2016 by Suzanne Leave a Comment

decisions - nostalgia

Decisions is a series dedicated to the choices we make in our lives and the factors that led us to our given resolutions. We welcome guest posts to this series to hear about how you’ve tackled a life decision. Email your story ideas to thesmartdomestic@gmail.com.

Today, contributor Stephanie Mangino discusses how she’s merged her retro pop culture sensibilities with her daughter’s modern tastes. 

Merging our pop culture past and our kid’s present

By Stephanie Mangino

As my 7-year-old daughter and I walked hand-in-hand the short distance from the parking lot to her summer day camp, we talked about the music we’d just listened to on our car ride.

“You know, those guys I just played for you were friends with the ‘King of Rock’ guys,” I said. She looked at me. “Those earlier guys were RUN-DMC and ‘King of Rock’ was the flip side of the ’Walk This Way’ single.”

FYI, the first “guys” in question were the Beastie Boys. I played “Shake Your Rump” of “Paul’s Boutique,” because the girl is all about butts (in a joking way, not a Tina Belcher of “Bob’s Burgers” way).

The girl gazed up at me, smiling. “Mom, zip it,” she said with a mischievous grin.

“Zip it, lock it, put it in your pocket?” I asked.

“Yep,” she said as we continued walking.

Now, most of the time, I’m not politely asked to “Zip it,” nor is my husband, when we introduce the girl to the stuff from our childhoods that we love. I don’t remember making a specific decision to be fairly retro, in all ways, with the girl. Instead, it seemed to be a natural outgrowth of who we are as people, a couple, and parents. I nursed the girl with “Bonanza,” “Little House on the Prairie,” and “Magnum P.I.,” playing on the Hallmark channel. I had to cut out “Magnum,” though — its sounds seemed to irritate her tiny baby ears, for some reason.

So, our daughter, in 2016, actually has an opinion on whether she prefers “The Munsters” or “The Addams Family” (Munsters, usually), is very familiar with all the characters on “The Andy Griffith Show,” knows that Davy Jones is ALWAYS falling in love on “The Monkees,” can compare a fantasy medieval character on a kid’s show to the “farm boy” in “The Princess Bride,” and sing parts of both “Beat It” and “Eat It,” preferring “Eat It.” She happily wears Labyrinth and Beatles T-shirts and, courtesy of a “Psych” episode, has become a bit of a Tears for Fears fan. She’s seen Witchiepoo from “H.R. Pufnstuf” and “Sigmund and the Sea Monsters.” She knows the “WKRP in Cincinnati” theme song and always smiles when Def Leppard comes on a classic rock radio station. I listen to A TON of classic rock in the car. A TON.

Why is all this good? Why does this matter? Well, for me, it matters because I consider this stuff cultural and generational connective tissue. Here’s how I think about it:  My mom grew up watching “The Andy Griffith Show.” She quotes lines from it still, like “Nip it in the bud,” or “Sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never touch me.” I quote those same lines, and she and I laugh whenever we say them. My husband loves them, too. And now, so can my daughter. Her exposure to the show lets her get the joke while sharing something with all of us. We’ve conveyed our collective sense of humor to her with a few lines and a show. With the pop culture memories drawn exclusively from our own childhoods, something similar occurs. However, in this case, our moms remember how much we loved something and then share that info with the kiddo, which makes it impressive. (You know grandparental words carry far more weight than parental ones, yes? They’re so much more trustworthy than those people who remind you to brush your teeth each night.)

When we play the songs we like for her, we hand parts of our past to her in convenient little bundles. Whether or not she likes what she hears or sees, she’ll know we cared enough to share part of who we are with her through music. That goes for movies and books and general stuff, too.

Now, I can be a little pedantic about the things I enjoy, and I’m naturally inclined to lecture, which can turn off the girl sometimes. For example, my excitement and interest in the record player Santa brought means that the turntable is usually turned off. But when I step back and put a song on that I like, or play an old video just because, cool things can happen. One day, I turned on some Duran Duran videos, for the hell of it. To my delight, the girl loved “Rio.” My husband is more relaxed. He’ll turn on the TV and start some old show, without comment. The kid loves TV and eventually she rolls on over, watches and finds something she likes about it. Boom. Instant shared cultural currency.

All that said, we don’t completely live in the past. We listen to new songs, have cut the cable cord and run all our home media via the internet. The kiddo likes Minecraft and iPad games and the Kindle Fire. (She even reads from time to time, too.) She, like many others in the elementary school set, REALLY likes “Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae).” When our family attended a party recently, the girl and a friend of hers caught lightning bugs and then decamped to her friend’s room to watch “My Little Pony” as the grown-ups listened to The Motels and Joan Jett and the Blackhearts on vinyl. She was upstairs making her own childhood memories as we were downstairs reliving some of ours. One day, if we’re lucky, both sets of those memories will meet and the girl will carry her personalized cultural currency to another generation.

Stephanie, a.k.a. Nostalgia Mom (www.nostalgiamom.com), is a former radio, print and web journalist, sometime blogger and full-time marketing writer. She has a history degree and a love of all kinds of old junk. She’s a wife to a husband who also loves old stuff (including her :)) and mother to one awesome kid, who unintentionally lives out Viv Savage’s maxim from “This Is Spinal Tap”: Have a good time, ALL the time.

Filed Under: Decisions Tagged With: motherhood, music, nostalgia, parenting, pop culture, television

A home with a messy soul

July 31, 2016 by Suzanne Leave a Comment

IMG_6894

For a period in my life, I read a ridiculous amount of home design blogs. They were mostly geared toward lifestyles similar to mine (apartment-living, urban, rental, small spaces). But then I had a baby; I moved across states; I changed jobs. I lost my fascination with design blogs about stylish apartments.

But I’m still drawn to some of the styles of those places, even if I live in a traditional, two-story suburban house. I like bright colors, weird art, open shelving, and funky vintage pieces.

We’ve been in our current house for about a year and a half, and it’s only felt like our space in the last few months. The old, blue carpet in the bedrooms has been ripped out; the vintage, floral wallpaper has been stripped. Now the floors are light hardwood, and the walls are painted in neutral white and grays. Art collected over several years hangs throughout the walls and halls, along with family pictures and vacation photos.

IMG_6895

But more than that, we have a house where my husband and my son “camp out” in the living room for Friday night movies, where we make messy breakfasts on the weekends, where my son’s feet pitter-patter to our room in the mornings.

I like a house with a messy soul: crumbs from baked goods in the cracks of my chairs; red finger-paint smears on the walls of my basement stairs; piles of books on the cracked, roll-top desk my grandfather got in exchange for bartering an old Volkswagen (according to family legend).

I don’t need gleaming, white marble counters; plush, creamy rugs over wide planks of hardwood; ecru leather couches with beige throw pillows; ivory desks with shiny curios from trendy boutiques.

IMG_1868

My son and I read books with my name scribbled inside by my much-younger hand, and our armchair is very comfortable for snuggling, even if the cat has scratched its arms to bits. No one will be taking a virtual tour of my living room for decor inspiration.

I want art that brings me joy, because I know the hands that painted it and I know the faces smiling at me from family photos.

I have a bedside table stacked high with books, waiting for me to read them. My laptop follows me from couch to kitchen table, where I putter on the internet, write blog posts, and read news stories. My husband has a desk surrounded by nerd memorabilia and computer equipment. My son crashes trains in the living room, eats his snacks at a low table often smeared with juice, and he runs in literal circles before demanding to wrestle with his dad.

This mess is mine. This history is ours. This house has a soul, and it is on display for the world to see. It is imperfect and messy, but it is full of love radiating in all directions from the people inside it.

This is home.

In the next few weeks, we’re asking some friends to share their answers to one question: What makes a house feel like a home?

If you’d like to contribute, email thesmartdomestic@gmail.com.

Filed Under: Real Talk Tagged With: feels like home, home, home decorating, housework, messy

‘Scruffy hospitality’ and the modern host

July 14, 2016 by Suzanne Leave a Comment

Scruffy hospitality

I like this essay about “scruffy hospitality” and embracing your home, with its imperfections, realities, and all. My favorite people are the ones who don’t mind I have dishes in the sink, toddler underwear in the living room, and dust bunnies in the corners.

(And thanks to my aunt Cathy for sharing this article with me!)

Filed Under: Quotes Tagged With: entertaining, hospitality, hosting, quotes

Decisions: I’m leaving hipster paradise for Midwest familiarity

July 12, 2016 by Suzanne 2 Comments

The famous Portland sign on Burnside

Decisions is a series dedicated to the choices we make in our lives and the factors that led us to our given resolutions. We welcome guest posts to this series to hear about how you’ve tackled a life decision. Email your story ideas to thesmartdomestic@gmail.com.

Today, contributor Meryl Williams explains why she’s leaving Portland, Oregon, to return to her home state of Ohio.

I’m Moving Back to My Home State After Six Years Away

Six years ago, I quit my day job and moved from Columbus, Ohio, to Chicago. I lived there for five years and then decided while on a solo vacation to move across the country to Portland, Oregon. (Did I mention this was after a breakup and a quarter life crisis?)

Weirdly, the Portland move was easier on me than the cross-Midwest jump, but unlike Chicago, Portland didn’t quite stick the way I envisioned. Now I’m moving back to the Midwest, back to Columbus. I think there are a lot of reasons for it, and none of them are anyone’s fault….

Read More »

Filed Under: Decisions Tagged With: Chicago, Columbus, cross-country moves, moving, Ohio, Oregon, Portland

7 tips for moving with toddlers

June 27, 2016 by Suzanne 7 Comments

Let’s all ignore this study: “Moving can be hazardous to your health and wellbeing.”

We’ve noticed a lot of our friends have had to move from one home to another with toddlers (or babies, or older kids). Sometimes they’re moving back to their hometowns (as I did when my kiddo was about 7 months old); sometimes they’re taking better (or different) jobs that require a change in location. A lot of families move from apartments, condos or “starter homes” into bigger homes, or into better school districts, or to a neighborhood that’s more family friendly. (We realize sometimes you have to move the other way, into something smaller or cheaper, for reasons of job change, divorce or other life changes.)

Since I moved with a baby, our transition was fairly easy. We didn’t have to deal with discussions about new neighborhoods or toddler resistances to changes in routine.

So I asked a panel of experts (i.e. my sister and a friend from college) for tips to help other parents as they move. Our experts are married, working moms, each with a toddler. (For bonus similarity points: They’re both named Stephanie.) One moved within a city to a different house, another moved to a new city (in the same state) for work.

If you’ve got a move coming up, they’ve offered up some tips on how to help kids adjust and how to make the logistics easier in the midst of chaos.

TIPS FOR MOVING WITH KIDS

  1. Talk early and often with your kid(s).
    “We talked about the moving process and emphasized that everything/everyone/every pet would still be together at the new house. Rinse and repeat.”
  2. Introduce new parks, neighborhood, or home features with excitement.
    “We started playing at ‘our new park’ that’s only a couple blocks from our new house, driving by the house and frequenting things that were near the new neighborhood. We showed Thomas pictures we took of the inside of the house and especially his room. We emphasized cool features of our new house that we didn’t have before (‘You’re going to love swimming in your new pool!’).”
  3. Bribe your kid.
    “Give a special “new house” toy.”
  4. Pack strategically.
    “We were able to pack up a lot of the house without her realizing there was a huge difference (a 2-year-old doesn’t notice if you have empty kitchen cabinets and are eating on paper plates).”
  5. Hire movers!
    “BEST DECISION EVER!  It gets it done quickly and is least disruptive.”
  6. Set up the kid’s room first.
    “The day the movers came to the new house, we made sure to get her room set up first so it felt familiar.”
  7. Establish routines in the new neighborhood.
    “Once we moved in, we made sure to establish new fun routines in our new house and neighborhood. Other than missing seeing deer in our old backyard, the transition overall went pretty smooth.”

Thanks for sharing your tips, Stephanies! Readers: Got any other tips for parents who are dealing with a move? 

 

Filed Under: Miscellany Tagged With: moving, parenting, toddlers

Real talk: How will you celebrate Father’s Day?

June 17, 2016 by Suzanne Leave a Comment

father's day

Since we talked about Mother’s Day a few weeks ago, we figured it ‘s only fair to ask about the masculine equivalent coming up this weekend. As with any family-related holiday, we know there’s a whole bunch of baggage that people have around the topic of fathers and fatherhood, but we’re opting to look for the bright spots. Couldn’t we all use a little distraction this week, anyway? It’s been a heavy news cycle lately.

We asked for some real talk about Father’s Day, and here’s what our friends said to the question, “What are you doing for you dad and/or partner for father’s day?” 

  • Family gathering
  • My husband gets a card and small gift from the kids. I’ll also tackle bedtime duties, which is usually his domain, to give him some evening relaxing time.
  • My dad is not big on holidays, but I will call him because he appreciates my time more than he’d appreciate a set of grill utensils. Are grill utensils a thing dads get?*
  • Not sure yet**
  • Some cool gifts (Return of the Living Dead Limited Edition soundtrack on vinyl, Night of the Creeps sweatshirt and Halloween III baseball T-shirt from Fright Rags) and dinner out
  • Fishing and cook out
  • Taking my dad to the local airport diner (his favorite)
  • No clue.**  That’s bad, isn’t it? I had an idea a while back, and even mentioned it to our daughter. But I think both she and I forgot. We’re talented that way.
  • Sending a card.
  • Oh, crap! Can’t someone else handle that?**
  • Thinking great thoughts and smiling at how he enjoyed the simple things in life.***

* Yes. You can give grill utensils. My dad is not usually a stereotype of fatherhood, but I gave him some for a recent holiday because he was using teeny tiny tongs to grill, and I was worried he’d burn his hands off if he didn’t get some better equipment.

**  These “I don’t know yet” responses are fair answers, because we posed the question a few weeks ago! 

*** What a sweet answer! 

How are you celebrating Father’s Day? 

Filed Under: Real Talk Tagged With: celebrations, dads, father's day, fatherhood, fathers, parenting

Our favorite smart email newsletters

June 10, 2016 by Suzanne Leave a Comment

Smart emails

As an avid reader (and connoisseur of the best the internet has to offer), I manage my reading in a variety of ways, from Feedly (for daily blog reads) to Pocket (for saving interesting longform reads for downtime and weekends) to email newsletters.

I’m a big fan of email newsletters: They come directly to me, they feel more personal than blog posts (because it’s addressed TO ME), and they dive more deeply than social media posts (because there’s no character limit or “read more” in an email).  I even started my own monthly version, because I think the medium is so compelling.

Today, I’m sharing my favorites. They’re the ones that have made it to my primary inbox after weeks and months of reading, because they’re compelling, unique, and offer perspectives I can’t find anywhere else.

NextDraft

Why I love it: A daily (weekdays only) email with links to some of the day’s biggest stories, with a heavy emphasis on politics, technology, and culture. I particularly like the “bottom of the news” section, which features quirky stories. (Sidenote: I tried The Skimm, a similar daily round-up of news stories, but I never adjusted to the tone of it. Some people LOVE IT, so I’m mentioning it in case you want to try a couple of these.)

Ann Friedman Weekly

Why I love it: Every Friday, freelance writer Ann Friedman shares links to her own work, as well as a CRAZY amount of other links. These stories cover pop culture, feminism, world events, and essays. (She also does a hand-drawn pie chart if you are a paying subscriber. I am!) I have no idea how she reads all these stories in any given week, and many of her readers spend their weekends working through her recommendations.

Lenny Letter

Why I love it: Interviews with smart women, personal essays from celebrities and everyday women, and occasional writing from actress/writer/director Lena Dunham. Comes twice a week, but I never feel like it’s too often.

Austin Kleon’s Weekly Email

Why I love it: A round-up of 10 interesting, artsy links from artist-writer Austin Kleon. Good for doses of visual art, creativity, writing, and occasionally music and pop culture.

Shout-outs to real-life people I know and like:

The Sleeper Hit

Why I love it: Writer Meryl Williams gives brief biweekly updates about her life (learning roller derby and exploring her current city of Portland, Oregon), while linking to her latest freelance and sharing her favorite reads.

Humdrum

Why I love it: Short essays from Christina Brandon. Compared to the other newsletters above, Brandon’s stands alone for its unique collection of themed observations and personal stories.

I Heart Words

Why I write it: Once a month, I pen a short advice piece (in response to anonymous questions) and share links to stories, podcasts, and recipes I’ve been thinking about. I’m interested in words, writing, compelling people-stories, living my best life, easy recipes, and bizarre animated gifs, so the newsletter is a round-up of those things. Essentially, it’s the stuff I want to share and discuss with my friends, but I don’t want to bombard them with single-link emails all month.

Is there anything else I should subscribe to? Are you on the email newsletter bandwagon? 

Filed Under: Miscellany Tagged With: email, Internet finds, newsletters, reading, what to read

Ambition made manifest in ways we don’t approve of

June 7, 2016 by Suzanne 1 Comment

Hillary Clinton on ambition

I’m sharing this quote (from a profile of Hillary Clinton) for a few reasons:

  • The profile itself includes interesting insights on womanhood, feminism, and politics.
  • Her thoughts on ambition strike me as particularly resonant. (I’ve been nervous about ambition ever since I was stage manager for a 6th grade play, and the teacher pulled me and a close friend aside to tell us that our peers thought we were a little too power-hungry.) Here’s what HRC said on the topic of ambition:

She thinks women’s ambition is regarded as dangerous, she posited that it was about “a fear that ambition will crowd out everything else — relationships, marriage, children, family, homemaking, all the other parts [of life] that are important to me and important to most women I know.”

  • Leslie and I started The Smart Domestic to share perspectives on how to make our adult lives better, more interesting, and more honest. Hillary has led a life full of ambition and opinion, and she’s had to experience her own personal turmoil in very public ways. Whether you #feelthebern or, we shudder to say, you want to make America great again, you have to admit Hillary’s got some bona fide cred as a politician, feminist, and public figure. Reading about her (especially in a piece written by author Rebecca Traister) adds dimension to how we talk about power and politics.

All this to say #sorrynotsorry for posting a “politically sourced” quote. But tell us: Does the word ambition carry any baggage for you? Or are you happy to be an ambitious woman?

Filed Under: Quotes Tagged With: ambition, hillary clinton, politics, quotes, womanhood

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