READING
favorites: The Break-Up Pact (4), Say You’ll Remember Me (5), Every Summer After (4.25), Lost and Lassoed (4.25)
WATCHING
my youtube girlies: book content from Kayla of booksandlala, lifestyle and beauty from Jessica Braun, beauty content from Kelly Gooch, lifestyle from Clara Pierce, book content from gabbyreads, book content from Sydney, lifestyle and beauty content from Taylor Wynn
tik tok: thrift store and estate sale hauls, tomato growing tips, Sunrise on the Reaping and general Hunger Games content, basil recipes, itineraries for Acadia NP and Boston, ways to add whimsy to the everyday, raised garden bed inspiration, junk journaling, summer pasta salad recipes
LISTENING
Spice by Spice Girls, best upbeat Taylor Swift songs playlist, summer hits of the 00s Spotify playlist, the most HYPE Taylor Swift songs playlist, The Secret of Us by Gracie Abrams, episode #247: One Year Without Social Media with Elise Cripe on the A Beautiful Mess Podcast
PLANNING
hot girl tomato summer, summer vacation camping trip to Acadia National Park followed by two nights in Boston, fall vacation camping trip to Rocky Mountain National Park, Kyle’s birthday weekend camping trip in Michigan
COOKING
iconic: banana bread syrup, toasted marshmallow syrup, cookie butter syrup
favorites: Egyptian orzo, chicken souvlaki (always), Monterey melt smash burgers
EATING
Voodoo pizza, Hadramout Restaurant (Yemeni cuisine), Jersey Mike’s, Casero Kitchen (food truck), Blessing Thai restaurant (Lincoln), Carrabba’s Italian Grill Director’s Cut May wine dinner
DRINKING
Earnest, Voodoo, Buffalo Rock, Patron Saints, Quenched and Tempered, Harvest, Zipline, (Lincoln, NE) Upside Brewing, 734 Brewing Company, Arbor Brewing Company, Big Rail Brewing (Grove City, PA)
GOING
Toledo Museum of Art featuring Rachel Ruysch exhibit, Toledo Metropark talk at Quenched and Tempered, Easter in Defiance, birding at Magee Marsh, overnight camping at the tree houses at Oak Openings, birding at Howard Marsh, Bird Migration Miracle in the Earnest Talks – Crafted Stories Downtown, Walleye Kelly Cup finals, greatest estate sale to ever exist on Woodley, camping at Harrison Lake state park, annual family big roast in Pennsylvania
TRAVELING
4 day visit in Lincoln for Elly’s first birthday
CREATING
seasonal vision board
HOUSING
growing ranunculus from seed, planting Jack Frost Brunnera bulbs, bleeding hearts, and astilbes, weed barrier and mulch out front, patio cafe lights, rain barrel installation (x 2), expanding garden bed around the weeping cherry tree, standing herb garden, PVC pipe tomato enclosure, up potting poppies and ranunculus (failure), zinnias in big pots, dollar tree laundry basket astilbe enclosures
TOMATO-ING
DREAMING
of hosting a tomato themed dinner party featuring home made bread with home grown tomatoes and basil with home made ricotta
CELEBRATING
Uncle Dave’s retirement/65th birthday, 10 PR 1:07:01 (4/8), 1st wedding anniversary, cinco de mayo with backyard party, the first American Pope, Elly’s first birthday, Laila’s 30th birthday, A & E wedding
LOVING
dip day potluck at work, running outside, watching the first of the spring flowers bloom – daffodils in metroparks and tulips at home, fake nose piercing, video chatting with Little Elly, wood duck spottings at the botanical gardens, weeping cherry blooming, backyard birding – especially gold finches in the weeping cherry, estate sale treasure hunting
LEARNING
composting at Botanical Gardens, forcing chatGPT to turn me into a cartoon character in the likeness of Lizzie McGuire, researching wet to dry vacuums, really nailing my Asian geography “lessons”
BORROWING
THRIFTING + SECOND HAND
favorites: Christmas cookie jar, Spice album by Spice Girls (1996), cabbage ceramic bowl, ribbed glass bottle for homemade syrups, yellow flower platter, outdoor plant pots, saguaro stained glass, Martha Stewart’s Gardening handbook second hand from pango books
BUYING
Pretty Delicious cookbook from Gathering Volumes, Arches library desk from Nestig for Elly’s birthday, Weber Genesis II E335 gas grill (Costco $699.99), portable projector for crafting, 1st anniversary cake from Dollop Shop, Gregory day pack from REI, Riley Sager’s new thriller With a Vengeance from Gathering Volumes
BOHDI
Bohdi baby, always, stinky butt
MANTRA
Don’t be afraid to spend money on traveling. Be afraid of growing old and realizing that the only place you ever went was to work.
until next time, Meryn
MERYN MADE 
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