1. I think I freaked Neel out not a little when I came home from California with the "clear the house like you're moving in three months mentality!" No. We're not moving. But vacations do inspire, and staying at Debbie's gorgeous home made me want to clear the mental and physical clutter around here. I'm starting a big studio cleanout this weekend, and Cal's room needs help like nobody's business. I want our home to work smarter, not harder, and with that in mind there are still some things I need. I have my eye constantly out for a coffee table for our family room, new dining room chairs, a liquor cabinet for our kitchen hall and curtains for our bedroom. That's all!

2. I think here's the kicker: there's the matter of those bathrooms. There's some serious clutter clearing to be done around those parts before any demo can be done. But pinning is so much more fun! Wasn't the bathroom Erin posted about beautiful? There are parts of that bathroom that appeal to me for each of our bathrooms. I'll get brave and post about them next week I suppose, but I can't say I really relish taking pictures of our two main bathrooms and, you know, sharing them.

3. I think that I'm feeling so grateful for what Theresa calls my creative tribe this week. Chatting with Mark (even though he wasn't exactly helpful) always brightens my spirit. I'm working on some blog changes (elbows deep in a new platform, and my brow is furrowed and my mood cranky), and Erin from like\want\need was great for bouncing ideas off of, and another chat with Annie of Insideology pushed my creative spark to some places that I didn't expect it to go. I'm not the best at defining my dreams, and I know I'm too shy to share them here yet (if I even knew exactly what they were), but simply having people to turn to... Whether it's to say, "What do you think of this idea?" or even ..."this color?" Well, it makes all the difference, doesn't it? That being said, you all are my tribe. I'm not expecting huge changes here at SPL, but I am stuck in the blogging doldrums a bit. Hoping that by freshening things up a bit, I can redefine my purpose too. I'm open to hearing your thoughts as well, if you have any input you'd like to give me. You're all my tribe, people!

4. I think I'm leaning to not having Callum go to a camp next week. We have until the very last minute to decide, and I'm not feeling it. He'd been gone all day long for the whole week, and let's face it, I like having him around. It's basketball camp, and it would be good to sharpen his skills before he plays in middle school next year, but how do you know when to say no?

5. I think we're looking forward to a quietish weekend. We'll likely head up to the concerts at Monarch Way on Saturday night, and I want to hit up a new Farmer's Market tomorrow morning. I would dearly love to get to the beach, but I imagine that might be tricky given how Neel would dearly love to get into his garden. I feel sure the grill will come into use, and my studio will look worse before it looks better. How lucky am I that this is just the kind of weekend I love, and that I have such a weekend to look forward to? Today is my friend Seamane's birthday, and I'll be thinking about her a lot today. Next week I want to make a tomato pie and maybe shrimp and grits too. What do you guys have going on? Do you feel as lucky as I do?

1. I think, all things being equal, it's good to be home. We've spent the last few days settling in. Dusting shelves, paying bills, rearranging camp schedules, and oh. The laundry. Doesn't it feel good though? To reclaim your space? I hit my jet-lag wall around 3:30 p.m. on Thursday afternoon, and just gave up. Callum stayed in jammies most of the day and we watched Olympic trials on TV. Speaking of the Olympics, we can't wait. (Oh, and Project Runway too. Anyone else watching?)

2. I think I love the way going on vacation makes you reframe your life and think about things differently. Or think that you'll think about things differently when you decide to wake up.

3. I think Neel's Beer Butt Chicken was pretty yummy. We need to tweak it a bit, and Neel wants to try a new rub (one where he doesn't accidentally dump a bunch of extra red chili flakes into the rub), but it kind of blows my mind that we cooked a whole chicken on the grill. Sitting up. On a can.

4. I think I'm ready for some changes. I'm restless. Today I finish settling in, but Monday, I get cracking. Not sure what's going to change yet, but for sure, something will.

5. I think that the internet is pretty freaking amazing. In the last week, I met two women previously only known through these spaces and felt like I've really known them for ages (more on that next week). Almost more special than that was another thing that happened. On Sunday night, a camp counselor of mine from long, long ago died unexpectedly. I grew up going to a wonderful sleep-away camp in the Smoky Mountains called Camp Montvale. I won't bore you with those stories here, but if you ever went to sleep-away camp, you know how significant those summer times can be. Rudy, the counselor who died, was a significant part of many, many summers for me. When we sat around the fire on the first night of camp each year, listening to his traditional story of Bug Juice, we never dreamed of a world where we'd all be able to keep in touch through Facebook. I never dreamed that I'd find those lost friends, many barely remembered, so many years later. Rudy was special to many, and he had that amazing gift of making you feel as if you were special to him. I can thank the internet that I even knew of this man as an adult. That I knew of his marriage and his family. And as hard as it was to learn, when the news of his passing hit my Inbox, I was grateful just to know. All through the next days, tribute after tribute has poured in for this man. Nearly every ping of my email brought another memory or a photo or an opprotunity for friends of Rudy's to gather. If all those emails and memories trailing in comforted me, then how must it have helped his family to see? Thank you, internet. And Rudy, rest in peace.

five things, july 13 edition

five things, july 6 edition