Shopping season is underway! Check out our Instagram for Black Friday deals throughout the weekend! We’ll share an array of products for anyone on your list!

This week we celebrate gratitude while spending time with family and friends. Wishing everyone a joyous and meaningful Thanksgiving holiday! “I am grateful for what I am and have. My thanksgiving is perpetual.” — Henry David Thoreau

Despite all of the turmoil in our country, and around the world, I feel thankful for so many things. It's not always easy--costs are up, days are short, the news is dismal. But there are still so many good things in my daily orbit. There are new books to read, with complex characters and wonderfully creative plots. On the dark days of winter, my home is warm, and I have food to eat. We have friends and family nearby, and we enjoy spending time together. My children are health

This is for all those book lovers in your life! The thing is, because they love books so much, it's hard to actually buy them a book. So, this gift guide is full of non-book bookish items for those reader recipients. Jane Austen Zipper Pouch Wicked Bookmarks Bookshelf Puzzle Book Mug Really Tiny Book Light Book Club Garland Bookworm Sticker Peepers readers Bookworm ornament I also acknowledge that this gift guide leans very feminine. These items are all adorable and perfect

This post may have been better timed for a Friday so you could spend the weekend exploring local shops, but nonetheless, today's Gift Guide is all about supporting small businesses through your holiday purchases. Did you know that at bookshop.org , you can support your local booksellers through your online purchases? A few of my favorite gift ideas come from small businesses here in the Midwest: 1canoe2 and Posie Pots. This mini desk calendar comes in a variety of themes -

This year has certainly had its ups and down. So, if you want to give something a little more personal, a little more special--we get it! And maybe, a little more practical, with a custom seasoning that can be used all year long on family dishes. Try a taco seasoning or a popcorn topper with a tag designed on Canva and printed on Avery stickers. If either crocheting or knitting is your thing, there's still time to whip up some thoughtful ornaments or pretty scarves for speci

This week, we'll start sharing our gift guides. As we have in years past, we will have creative suggestions for everyone on your list - Family, Friends and Coworkers. In the meantime, check out some of our favorite gift guides from past years! In our first year of blogging, we shared this Gift Guide for Women : This Gift Guide for Kids from 2021 still has items our kids use and love. The Nugget, Paddington, Stitch Fix are still high on our lists! Our Gift Guide for Men f

We express our deepest appreciation for our veterans. We are grateful for their sacrifice, bravery and commitment to our country. Thank you!

And I'm back with another month dedicated to the kitchen! The kitchen is absolutely the hardest working room in the house, and at 35 years old, it needs regular maintenance. This is the time of year when we have people over, make lots of food, and want our kitchen to look and function at its best! ` As a reminder, here is my process for assessing each space: Clear, clean and repair. Identify any materials needed in advance to make this possible. Assess how we use the space f

November first is always the unofficial start of the holiday season. The commercials reflect this even earlier, and all the stores have rotated in their holiday decor and foods. It projects a very happy time of year. However, this year has a bit of a different feel. There are people without paychecks and people without food. Small businesses have been hit by huge tariffs to produce and import their shop goods, and they are struggling. Nonprofits that provide items like clothi

I'm looking forward to some adorable costumes and sneaking my favorite candy from the kids stash. Who do monsters buy cookies from? Ghoul scouts. What do you call a witch who lives at the beach? A sand-witch! What is a monster’s favorite dessert? I scream. HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

If you're still trying to figure out what to prepare for Friday night, I have two recipes that are crowd pleasers and perfect for the fall! They're also easy to make and so delicious! Slow Cooker Cinnamon Apples Ingredients: - 6 apples of your choice sliced (and peeled, if you prefer) - 1/2 cup of granulated sugar - 1/2 cup brown sugar - 3 tablespoons of corn starch (we use arrowroot powder) - 1 tablespoon of cinnamon - 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg - pinch of salt - 2 tablespoons of u

When Halloween falls on school and work day, it's always a bit tricky to get things in order in time for dinner and trick-or-treating. I've created an easy checklist to refer to as you prepare for Friday night's festivitites, especially for those who are hosting! The Quick & Easy Checklist for Halloween Night: Attire/Gear Halloween costumes, layers/coats (if the weather is chilly) Candy bags or buckets Flash lights Glow sticks, bracelets and necklaces Food Dinner (chili, pizz

Attention Costco members: I highly recommend picking up a case of the seasonal Cranberry Fizz Poppi when you're next in the store. I enjoy most of the fruit flavored Poppi probiotic sodas, but this one is the perfect holiday mocktail! It's kind of a cross between a ginger ale and a shirley temple, but without the guilt of drinking soda. If you don't have a Costco nearby, you can find these in four-packs at some grocery stores as well.

It’s time for our annual Halloween playlist ! We’ve curated the perfect sounds for a fun and spooky evening that will get you pumped for the festivities! We’ve added new songs to last year’s list, but we kept the classics that we’ve come to love this time of year! Enjoy!

For part two of our family room tidy, we have just a few improvements to make . Again, it's a room that works really well for us, so it doesn't need a lot of updating. In terms of improvements (Step 2,) we needed a fresh new lampshade to replace a dingy one on the table lamp. A few of our pillows have seen better days, so I'm grabbing a few new down inserts from Ikea. I replaced all the batteries in the faux candles in this room, and they all pop on around 5:30 now. It provi

Another tip a la Gretchen Rubin is the idea of a gratitude list. Much like the "25 for 25" that I've done for several years following The...

October is special for And She Writes ! Our co-founders, Fay and Samantha, celebrate their birthdays this month. To honor this, we’re...

In the last month, I have enjoyed two fun audiobooks by Katherine Center. The first, The Rom-Commers , wa s the story of struggling...

Now for the second most frequented room in our home--the family room. This is where we watch TV, have family movie night, play board...