Friday Morning Coffee Catch Up

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized

Hello everyone! We have been keeping busy but finding a balance over here, finally. I like when we can have down time but also activities and for awhile there, it was either too much or too little. It is finally just right.

Wyatt and I had our monthly book and cookie outing last Friday! It’s such a small little thing but we have so much fun. This time we went back to Barnes & Noble; the local bookstore in our town turned their store in a Christmas wonderland so I want to save that trip for December. Anyway, Barnes and Noble turned out to be a good time – partially because the Starbucks sugar cookies are freaking delicious. Wyatt has been binging the Frog and Toad cartoon, and now wants to revisit the books, so he chose Frog and Toad All Year as his pick. I lucked out and got the $5 Barnes and Noble Cafe book promo, where if you buy anything from the cafe, you get that one particular book for $5! It is a book called Murder at Holly House and I am really excited to read it this holiday season!

The next day was a get-together with my girls for my birthday party. They arranged a whole night out for us and I had such a fantastic time hanging out with them. I am so thankful for their thoughtfulness and friendship. We have all been friends for 20-30 years and I am hoping to have that many years more with them as well.

Our first stop was the Detroit Dye House, where we made tie dye! Kelly had arranged for us to do the class, and with the class you make three things: socks to be donated, a tote bag, and your choice of a few pieces. We all chose the pashmina scarf. I loved seeing where my friends creativity took them in the making of their pieces, what colorways we all went with.

Chrissy went jewel tones, very royal, and it reminded me a little of a peacock. Kelly was more earthy, Jill went for the colors of the ocean, and then I went for a more monochromatic look of different shades of green.

That place is really fun. I also like that it is fun for all ages; this is actually the place we celebrated Wyatt’s birthday this year for his tenth birthday! I threw in a picture of us at another creative get together, that one more than ten years ago! After getting creative, we went to dinner at Ima, a noodle house which was amazing!!

We woke up Sunday to the first snow of the season, and we had a perfectly cozy day, which I blogged about here! It was also the perfect weather for the eve of the anniversary of the Edmund Fitzgerald tragedy. It went down 5o years ago, 6 days before I was born, and my great uncles helped build it. One of them, Hugh McIlroy was actually the superintendent of the shipyard where it was built as well. My mom attended the launch as a kid, and remembers the surge of water when it was launched that soaked everyone. Apparently the surge of water was so great that one of the workers there actually had a heart attack, poor man. Another tragic casualty of this ship. My cousin Brian invited my brother and I out for a drink (I had a cider that was described as “cozy”) that night, Monday, in remembrance of the crew, and he also surprised me with a birthday gift. He wrote me a very beautiful letter that made me cry, and then gifted me with a first edition, seventh printing, first book club edition of To Kill a Mockingbird and told me that I always reminded him of Scout. He also again made me cry by gifting me a decorative Hummel plate of my aunt’s, that I remember being displayed in her home. I miss her so much everyday, and I am so happy to have such a memento.

The rest of our week was just routine (the balance I needed for all those outings!) and yesterday we had our Blackbirds meeting. The kids seemed to really enjoy our activity! We started with spending some time in the courtyard at the church, doing some stargazing, then we headed inside for snacks, a little art project designing their own constellations, and then ended with potting paperwhites to take home, which was a gift from my stepmom to the troop. I love being outside at night this time of year, I find it so peaceful and I even enjoy the chill in the air. They also all surprised me at the end of the night with a cake and singing happy birthday, and the smiles on all the kids’ faces warmed my heart.

And that is it from over here this week! I hope that whatever you do this week, you do something that makes you smile!

And now for some random photos.

23 thoughts on “Friday Morning Coffee Catch Up”

  3. Birthday week is rarely routine and yours sounds great. The Mockingbird book was such a gift, and I suspect the letter is one you will treasure. And the tie-dye birthday party sounds like loads of fun and perfect for you. Wonderful photos all! (I like the idea of book-and-cookie-day!)

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  9. marsha57's avatar marsha57

    You have touched the lives of so many, Erin, and they return that with love. What wonderful gifts you’ve received! I have a little Hummel figurine that my little brother bought at our great-aunt’s estate auction. She and her husband would travel to Germany and buy them there. But, that book…oh, that is one of my favorites…and Scout is who we all want to be, isn’t she? I’m just so glad to have “met” you. Have a marvelous weekend!

    https://marshainthemiddle.com/

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    1. Aw thank you Marsha. That is so nice of you to say! And I love that story , how your family would buy them in Germany!

      I love this book so much too. And yes. That was such a huge compliment from him. Wyatt has two middle names, and one is Atticus, because I love Atticus. He is such a good kind man. I am glad to have met you as well Marsha!

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  10. What a lovely post full of friendship, family and creativity! How did the tie-dye come out, or is that a post I haven’t seen yet / something you pick up later (like china painting: oh, the embarrassment of having your Horrific Cupcake-Shaped Trinket Box delivered to work)?

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      1. Yeah, the item itself was cute. However, I painted it in dark brown and orange, two of my business’s brand colours (the other is teal blue which doesn’t go well in a cupcake) and the colours went lighter when it was fired, so I basically had a brown swirl that looked like a poo. I kept it for years but did finally throw it away! That was a hen night thing: there were two activities, china painting and horseriding, one was horrifically scary for me! Horseriding, fine!

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      2. Lolololol! My son would have loved that. There is always someone to appreciate your art. Lol.

        What a fun night that must have been!! I am always trying to convince people to go horseback riding with me, even though I have done it like twice and both times at Shenandoah National Park, but I haven’t found any takers yet.

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