Friday Faves / May 2024
Hellooo!
Final day of May, how. Just popping in for a few minutes to say hello and leave you with a few links and recs.
It’s been a full month: track meets for Elliot, confirmation for Clementine, field trips for Hugo, a violin recital this weekend, everyone is sneezing. I’ve been planting flowers and bean starts and starting up running again thanks to a new pair of running shoes and reading in the hammock and enjoying the beauty of spring. And while there’s plenty on the flip side to be sad and terrified and heartbroken about, to be sure, there is also so much to celebrate and be thankful for. The question I continually struggle with is how to continue to create amidst and despite all of the things that are currently breaking my heart. To keep looking for beauty, keep searching for signs of life, keep making is the answer. For me, these posts — sharing the things that are making me smile and bringing me joy — are a part of that. If you’re into that, welcome. If you’re not, well, you know what to do.
Here’s what I’ve been into and up to this past month:
stitching: My second Pattern Club sampler arrived in the mail and after some initial indecision over which colors would go where, I added some leftover blue thread from the last sampler and have already finished the stitching and bound off the edges. Next step will be to turn it into a little pouch. Jessica has extra standalone Pattern Club kits available RN and I la la love this yellow one!!!
reading: Just finished Augustown by Kei Miller and wow, highly recommend. Was sad when it ended, definitely checking out more of his books.
enjoying: Mr Rae gave me the most beautiful bouquet from University Flower Shop as a Mother’s Day gift this year. It was ridiculously impractical as it lasted like, 3 days, but that actually made me love it even more.
eating: Thanks to my in-law’s bounteous rhubarb crop I made a double batch of Rhubarb Cream Cheese Swirl muffins again this year which I guess now makes it an annual May tradition of mine. They’re super labor intensive, so I enlisted Clementine’s help, knowing she would easily eat half of them on her own. When you get that one bite that has both the cream cheese and the rhubarb jam…OMG it’s so good. Nom nom nom.
watching: Two Neflix series, one from Japan, one from Korea. The Makanai: Cooking for the Maiko House was an interesting peek into a world I am completely unfamiliar with, and The Extraordinary Attorney Woo is truly delightful — have you seen either yet?
Kid-related: our entire family is rewatching Steven Universe from start to finish for the second time since 2020; this show is a favorite of all three of my kiddos, ages 10-17. So many nights for the past few weeks we’ve watched it together after dinner and it makes me so happy.
listening: Wiser than Me with Julia Louis Dreyfus is back with Season Two, yeah baby! Billie Jean King FTW.
sewing: I’ve been sewing samples for the new pattern I’m working on, so I don’t have anything to show at the moment, so here’s a little roundup of my MeMadeMay outfits:
One last bit of housekeeping: today is the last day of May and also the last day of the Surprise Sale (you can see the patterns that are currently on sale here), so if you want to snag any of those patterns at a discount, there’s just a few hours left! That automatic 25% off discount ends tonight at midnight EDT.
Have a fun-filled weekend!!
xo,
Rae
PS. See all of my Friday Faves here, sign up for my Studio Notes Newsletter here or my local Sew Ann Arbor emails here, and get my posts delivered to you by email via Substack here.