Things I'm Loving (v.29)
Everyday moments with books, rituals, and simple joys to help us heal and slow down.
This issue is very nearly completely brought to you by my taking pics of things I’m using and doing in my day to day at home.
Enjoy the peek inside Casa de Monica!
Something for grieving
I first heard of this book from my cousin, Laura (who runs the best facebook group in the world, btw), when she organized a Cookie Table for the folks in Uvalde.
Tear Soup tells the story of Grandy, a woman who’s suffered a big loss. Although Laura had introduced me to the book a few years back, it wasn’t until this past year that it felt like a book I needed in my house. The book is great for kids and adults who are mourning ANYTHING— and it does a brilliant job of talking to the uniqueness in each person’s loss experience, as well as the truth of loss not just being about death.
Something to read
Back at the end of July, I returned to Good Contrivance Farm, where I’ve taken multiple writing classes, for an author event with Ross Gay. Like a good literary citizen, I brought my copies of Gay’s books. BUT, I didn’t have his most recent, The Book of (More) Delights, and so I bought it from the local bookshop rep who was there.
Boy am I glad I did. I’ve been reading through these in the morning with my single cup of espresso. What a good way to anchor the start of my day.
Here’s one I read recently and absolutely loved.
Something to help you relax
Several months ago I found kits for the two brighter images below at my local Five Below and grabbed them for my nieces to do while they visited. In a plot twist, I ended up doing the sun/moon one on my own and one of my nieces worked on the fruit one a couple weeks back!



What I realized as I worked on the sun/moon one was that the slow, methodical application of the diamond gems was relaxing and meditative. Some people do cross stitch or embroidery — I fell in love with moving tiny parts onto a slightly sticky pad that had color coded numbers and letters.
You can see in the fairy image above how the process looks as you go along.
There are loads of these on Amazon, but I’m trying to link there less, so feel free to do some digging there on your own!
Something to help you slow down
I’m using my own book to help me take some time and exhale 😅.
Here’s a prompt I saw today and thought y’all might enjoy.
The picture is of two bowls with bread dough rising and the prompt asks:
“How can you proactively carve out space from some breathing room?”
Wildcard- Something that brought me joy
I love sending and receiving mail. Nothing’s more exciting than finding an unexpected piece of real mail in my mailbox.
Here’s a piece I recently received, from a business strategy client of mine. Isn’t the sticker she made so fun???
From selecting the actual card, to the pen color, and stickers on the envelope, sending a note can be just as exciting as putting together a care package.
That’s it from me this week!
What are some of the things YOU’RE LOVING? Let us know in the comments. Maybe it’ll spark something for another person. 😊
~M