Hand’s down, the number one thing people say when I see them around town is how envious they are of our Friday Night Snacks™. And I generally reply, really? It’s just cheese and crackers. But I know, despite my self-deprecating, that’s it’s more special than that and today I’m going to share 3 ideas for making your snack plates a little more special, too.

1. Get yourself some pretty serving plates. I pick them up at all kinds of places, from Christmas Tree Shop to Home Goods to yard sales. I love ones with words on them like Celebrate, I love plane white ones, and I love special seasonal ones. It’s nice to have a variety because you can rotate them to make things more fun but you can also tailor your plate to match (or not clash) with your food. Going along with those serving plates, get yourself some fun cocktail napkins. I have an entire drawer of cocktail napkins to choose from. Some are seasonal, some are snarky, some are generic and some are just plain. Like the plates, I pick them up in lots of places and I’m always on the look out for them. Cocktail napkins make great souvenirs, too!
2. Serve a variety of snacks. My go-to is cheese, crackers & olives. I also like to add some salami and hardboiled or pickled eggs when I have them. I like to have a couple of different types/flavors of cheese, too. I’m a big fan of stinky cheese but a nice cheese spread is always welcome as is a good aged cheddar, smoked gouda, pepperjack and more. If cheese isn’t your thing (well, if cheese isn’t your thing I don’t know if we can be friends, honestly) then go for something else like vegetables and dip or snack mix. The idea is to have something that’s easy to pull together that’s easy to eat. When I’m feeling fancier I do other things like hummus or stuffed mushrooms, baked dips or homemade calzones. I have a whole Pinterest board of appetizers and I just recently started one called Friday Night Snacks.
3. Establish a ritual. Regular commenter Robby is the one who pointed out to me that the big draw of our Friday Night Snacks is the ritual of it all and I think she’s 100% right. The thing that makes this time special is about more than the pretty plates and funny cocktail napkins. It’s more than having really expensive cheese from Vermont. It’s about the time we spend together, it’s about making the extra effort to set this time aside. And for us what works is Friday nights. Maybe for you it’s Saturday afternoon or Wednesdays after work, it doesn’t matter when you set apart the time for something special, what matters is that you do it.

Those are my thoughts on how you can incorporate a special routine into your week. I can’t wait to hear if you try this out!

And don’t forget to leave a link to your blog if you wrote a Thursday post for this week!

September is, according to Gretchen Rubin, the Other New Year. I couldn’t agree more, I always feel like September is a great time for starting new routines, getting back on track with things you let slide over the summer, and just feeling excited about new projects. Here are three things I’m doing right now to celebrate the start of the Other New Year.

1. On the getting back on track front, I’m recommitted to bringing my lunch to work every day. I started this habit last year and I’ve been pretty good about it, cooking extra of meals and making sure there’s stuff at home to bring. I got a little lazy about it over the summer since I don’t cook as much but I’ve got a cute new lunch box and I’m inspired to bring healthy meals from home.
2. I’m starting something new by committing to learning about chakras. I’m taking an online class that’s offered by a friend of mine and, while I am a complete beginner to the study, it makes sense and feels right for me to learn about in this moment. You know that feeling when something keeps coming up over and over and you finally decide to pay attention to your intuition about it? That’s me and chakras right now.
3. I’m feeling excited about a few things right now, actually. I’m excited that my run as secretary of my Kiwanis club ends in a few weeks. It’s been fun but I’m ready for a break from the extra work it involves. I’m excited about a new online watercolor class I’m taking. And I’m excited about having Jackie on Friday afternoons again now that Jessica is back to working on Fridays.

Do you feel like September is a great time for a fresh start? Or to try something new? Tell me about it in the comments!

And don’t forget to link to your post if you wrote one for this week.

As so many people have been pointing out lately, the days of summer are waning. Now, on the one hand I find it really annoying that this keeps coming up because there are still 37 days until September 22nd. But! On the other hand I’m sort of glad it has come up because it has made me think about what things I want to accomplish before summer is over. I’m sure you won’t be surprised to know that I’ve thought of three.

1. Go on vacation to Cape Cod. This will be happening come Saturday and I’m really looking forward to a week away with the kids. Not all the kids will be with us all of the week and some not at all but most of the week will include most of them and this year we have the added fun of Jackie! Cross your fingers for good weather for us, won’t you? I’m hoping for plenty of beach time along with bike riding and swimming, hanging out and reading, eating lobster and drinking rosé!
2. Have ice cream from Polar Cave. I only get to this ice cream parlor when we’re on vacation and I look forward to it all year. Those fresh made (warm!!) waffle cones are such a treat and the ice cream flavors are truly fabulous. It’s a treat and a half every time we go.
3. Finish the pergola and have a dinner party to celebrate. Really, we’re about done except for getting the curtains up and Dale was working on that yesterday so perhaps by the time you’re reading this he’s done. Once it’s all finished I want to have a few friends over to light the candles and eat delicious food and enjoy an evening under this summer’s big project.

What do you want to do before summer is over?

Don’t forget to add your link if you wrote a post for today!

You know what I never shared with you? Photos from last weekend! And here it is Thursday so, quickly, before another weekend begins, here are the highlights from the last one.

Friday. I swam for the first time this summer! It was in a pond (not my preference) but it was HOT and the water was wonderful and hooray for swimming!

Saturday. I made Lemon Zucchini Bread. We had some baseball bat sized zucchinis given to us and I shredded them and this bread is tender and delicious, the lemon really brightens it up.

Sunday. National Oyster Day. We celebrated under the pergola with the addition of jalapeno poppers and I got to use my new corkcicle tumbler and it’s awesome.

It was a pretty sweet weekend, I have to admit!

If you wrote a post for today please add your link below and thanks for participating.

It’s no secret that I love reading on my Kindle. And I’ll tell you, I have a lot of people tell me that they prefer reading a real book rather than using a device. Well. The book is real whether you it’s a hardcover, a paperback, large print or on a tablet. It’s real if you listen to it on audio or have someone read it to you. It’s the words, my friends, that are real, not the way that you access the words. Honestly, as a librarian, I don’t care how you read, I just care that you read.

Today I’m going to share with you three reasons why I prefer reading on my Kindle over reading a traditional book.

1. It’s lightweight. Whether I’m reading a book in the Outlander series, which is likely to be 900+ pages, or whether I’m reading the super short This Is Water, the Kindle weighs the same. Not only that but it holds files for all the books I may want to read on vacation and it still weighs the same.
2. It tracks my reading speed and estimates how much time I have left to finish a book. As a competitive little thing, this makes me read faster, I swear. I liken it to trying to beat the time that the GPS says I’ll arrive somewhere. The Kindle tells me there are 4 hours and 12 minutes left in the book? I bet I can finish in 4 hours and 10 minutes. Ha! Okay, so maybe not really on that last bit but I do think I read faster on the Kindle. And I like knowing how long a book will probably take me from start to finish and I really really like seeing how much time is left before I’m done. As a side note, if you don’t like that little feature you can turn it off and just show page numbers. Or nothing at all, even, if you want to be completely surprised.
3. I can read in bed without the light on. This is, hand’s down, my favorite thing about my Kindle. I read in bed every night and it’s cozy and sleep inducing to be in a dark room with just the glow of my back lit paperwhite.

I wasn’t paid by Amazon to write this post, although I would have said yes if they’d asked! And I get that there is a tactile thing that’s missing by not holding an actual book and turning the pages and smelling that wonderful smell. But guess what? I work in a library and I can get a good whiff of that lovely musty book smell whenever I want.

If you wrote a post for today please include your link below!