my week in objects (mostly).

June 2, 2023

1. these nine candles, plus one for good luck.

2. this old guide to a new mend.

3. this spread.

4. these shades.

5. this salmon geranium.

other things:

think scalpel, not sledgehammer.

an aesthetic satisfaction with good enough.

when I start to disobey is where life leaks in.

upsettingly existential.

its all frankly, a mess. [please don’t ask me about my summer plans.]

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9 Comments

  • Reply Julie June 2, 2023 at 8:52 pm

    “In other areas of the country it can be hard to get away with spending less than $500 a week for day camp…” Oh what I would give for day camp in NYC that costs only $500 a week!

    1
  • Reply ramona June 2, 2023 at 10:59 pm

    LOVE salmon geraniums … but out of nowhere (after 20 years) I’m trying Gerbera daisies!

    1
  • Reply Silvia June 3, 2023 at 8:01 am

    Thank you for the camp article! Summer camp has been an incredible source of stress for us for years – and yes, the registrations start in December, and yes, we have a shared spreadsheet so we can also coordinate with other families.

    0
  • Reply Emily June 4, 2023 at 1:28 pm

    Seriously, our local coveted Audubon camp fills up within thirty seconds of spots opening, it’s wild. Countdowns and everything.

    I really enjoyed Laura Fenton’s writing about selective renovations, I’d love to see something similar for bathrooms. Our bathroom is varying levels of broken/gross, but I hate the idea of just demo’ing everything, seems very wasteful.

    1
    • Reply M June 6, 2023 at 4:11 pm

      Ditto! I want to read more about selective renovations. We had planned to gut our kitchen: new floors, new cabinets, new countertops, new color on the walls, etc. Last weekend, I painted the walls white (they were a depressing red-brown and the kitchen felt like a cave, in a bad way), and it made such a difference that I told my husband we should scrap the plans for changing anything else. All it really needed was some brightening up, and I can truly live with the rest (even though the floors, cabinets, and countertops are very 1990s). It made me wonder: how would I decorate if no one ever saw my home, if there were no pictures of it online? And what else can I do with that time and money?

      2
    • Reply mado June 15, 2023 at 8:18 pm

      Same! Our bathroom needs some serious work and it’s so tempting to just rip out everything, but I feel like if all the work is below waist level then I should be able to keep the contrasting tile above? And it should be cheaper right? But I don’t know enough to know.

      0
  • Reply Anna June 14, 2023 at 2:22 pm

    Hi Erin,
    I was thinking about your recent post where you shared some updates about self-care, health appointments and feeling tired. You wrote that some commenters here have posted that you seem sad, and that wasn’t your assessment. I have been reading your blog for many years – I can’t remember how I found you but likely through Joanna Goddard circa 2012ish. Yesterday I finally went down a RMTL web rabbithole and read all the posts I missed between 2009 and my introduction ~13 years ago! There is so much sweet, honest, colorful, enthusiastic love in your posts. I am not a sentimental person but I think perhaps some of your readers who noticed a shift in tone on your site remember your content before kids, publishing a book, living through disgraceful politics – home and globally. I just wanted to say you have been a ‘virtual’ friend/sister/mentor to many of us. And while we don’t know you, and respect your privacy, we are rooting for you and your health and wellness. Your site remains one of my all time favorites. Thank you for always posting from the heart.

    3
  • Reply Anna June 14, 2023 at 2:24 pm

    PS This might have been my favorite My Week in Objects too!
    https://readingmytealeaves.com/2009/05/my-week-in-objects-mostly-67.html

    1
  • Reply Mackenzie June 15, 2023 at 5:48 pm

    Thank you for sharing Anne Helen’s article about good enough and the optimization sinkhole. So, so good!

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