I like taking things slow.
An overcorrection.
Hello, and welcome back to Sh*t Sam Likes. Most of May and June were spent running around, working, and saying, “yes” to every last plan. By the time I reached the first week of July, I decided that I needed to actively start saying, “no” to every invite. I fully overcorrected which means that July moved slowly for me and I don’t have too much to report. Maybe one day I’ll get a handle on finding balance in life but for now, I’ll fill you in on what has been going on.
Hitting up Carlsbad Village Books
There has never been a better time to visit North County San Diego. I think that more than ever, I’m seeing my neighbors crave community and connection and this has meant lots of new small businesses have opened up. Just across the street from The Drydown boutique, we have a new independent book store and coffee shop called Carlsbad Village Books. It is perfect and everything you could possibly want in the book store.
They offer a wide selection and even have yet to fully fill up their shelves so there’s room for more! The staff is super kind and helpful and there are plenty of cozy nooks and crannies to cozy up with your book.
It’s also super kid friendly! They have a really sweet play kitchen and I saw on their Instagram that they’re doing story time as well! Travis and I visited for their grand opening and I picked up Nine Goblins by T. Kingfisher which I have yet to read and Hip to be Square by Katie Jones. It’s full of really lovely crochet patterns and really great as an option for beginners which I still consider myself.
Puzzling with my pal
One of my best friends, Zoe came to visit and brought a thousand piece puzzle with her. Save for a brief trip to the grocery store for a snack attack, and dinner later on, we spent the majority of our day together quietly working on this puzzle. We chit chatted and caught up, but for the most part we just enjoyed our time in companionable silence working against the clock to finish this puzzle (we were unsuccessful)
It was such a nice reminder that the best friendships are the ones that don’t zap your social battery and I’m extremely lucky to have a fair few of them. I highly recommend puzzle and yap!
Celebrating Trav’s birthday
Travis’ birthday was this month and we celebrated by catching Hairspray at our local theater. Last year, we saw Rent at the same spot, and we both naively assumed that with a smaller community, maybe we would be seeing some of the same faces. However, this was a completely brand new cast and they did such an excellent job of transforming the stage. The production value was fantastic and so was the cast. We had such an excellent time and hope to catch Cabaret later this year and maybe In the Heights next!
Fiber arts circle
I’ve mentioned before that the reason I got into crochet and am antsy to learn to knit is thanks to my Mimi. She taught myself, my aunt Crystal, and Travis to crochet before I moved to San Diego. The difficulty with learning via my Mimi is that she’s so talented at fiber arts that she doesn’t need, nor does she know how to read patterns. She simply looks at something and is able to work out how it’s made. I believe I’ve heard her refer to it as “reading the yarn.” This is fine when I have her right next to me in order to ask questions or for help correcting my mistakes, but we live further from one another now, and since I’m not supposed to drive on the highway (vertigo things) it has made it harder to get together for this purpose.
So, I attended my first fiber arts circle this week and I had a really lovely time. The circle was primarily women, but the age range was wide and so was the warmth with which I was welcomed. Everyone was quick to introduce themselves, ask what I was working on, and offer advice/support! I’m already looking forward to the next one and once again have zero regrets about putting myself out there.
So there you have it, not much new at the moment, but after a speedy start to the summer, I’m glad for it. Travis and I are really zooming through wedding planning and it feels like it’s coming up extremely quickly (because it is!)
If you would like an update on wedding planning let me know and I will share what we’ve been up to.
Great read!