gretasutherland

reader. observer. writer.

[gretasutherland]

Shhh. Everyone stop talking. #gardenplanning😍

[gretasutherland]

It was a lovely birthday weekend - thank you so much for your comments and messages yesterday. I really appreciated it. I wrote about my weekend on the blog today - some of the coffee shops and bookstores we visited. (Not to mention the best pakoras ever!) It was a simple weekend of celebrating but beautifully full. ♥️ (at Monarch Coffee)

[gretasutherland]

It has been SUCH an amazing weekend. So amazing I’m too tired to wax eloquent about it. ☕️ So more tomorrow... (at Messenger Coffee)

[gretasutherland]

Along with my other reading goals this year I want to read more classics - books I’m not quite certain I have read before. ☕️ I just finished reading....(oh wait. You’ll have to go see my latest book review blog post 😊) which includes some uncomfortably personal thoughts about anxiety. ☕️ I’d love to know if you’ve read this book and what your thoughts were about it. Share, please! #bloglinkinprofile👆🏻

[gretasutherland]

Stepping out of the chaos for a few minutes of solitude and recalibration today...

[gretasutherland]

It’s 8:30 and I’m done. Winter’s killing me, guys. As soon as it goes dark, I fall asleep. ☺️ Here’s to a great week ahead! Zzzzzzz... (at Fifth and Grand KC)

[gretasutherland]

Paris.♥️ London.♥️ I did not buy these books just because they are pretty. I did not buy these books just because they are pretty. I did not buy these books just because they are pretty. . . I totally bought these books just because they are pretty. 🤦🏼‍♀️

[gretasutherland]

Trying something new for our Airbnb guests... (at Fifth and Grand KC)

[gretasutherland]

When you just want to find a warm spot of afternoon sun and curl up with a comfy throw and your new @cleaneatingmag ☕️ ☕️ And then the magazine leads you to dragging out your old recipes and doing some sorting and organizing and throwing away. BUT, still not wanting to give up your spot in the sun.☀️

[gretasutherland]

I’m very excited to start my next @bookofthemonth book, ‘Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk’. I think this book will speak to my urban-loving soul. ♥️ ‘In the 1930s she was the highest paid advertising woman in the country, living in New York City. Now it’s 1984 and 85-year-old Lillian still loves to walk the streets of Manhattan. She meets bartenders, bodega clerks, security guards, criminals, children, parents, and parents-to-be while reviewing a life of excitement and adversity, passion and heartbreak...illuminating all the ways New York has changed – and has not. This book is a love letter to city life.’ ♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️ . . . #botm

[gretasutherland]

Right after our first Airbnb guest arrived, I found this pattern at a local embroidery shop. I thought it was the perfect addition to our new “inn“. I’ve enjoyed working on it throughout the month of January. To say that I have sung the phrase, ‘...blackbird singing in the dead of night...’ a million times would be a complete understatement. ☺️ During the Super Bowl on Sunday night, I finished it up as well as a few washrags - the crochet pattern I learned from @mistletoetradingco. (Who says Super Bowl games are just for vegging and eating?!) 💃🏼 . I have a frame picked out I want to make for it and then it will be complete and hanging as a welcome to our home. It was unintentional, but maybe the rest of the song I was humming in my head as I made this cross stitch piece are a little prophetic: ‘... take these broken wings and learn to fly, all your life you were only waiting for this moment to arise.’ ♥️ (at Fifth and Grand KC)

[gretasutherland]

Early yesterday morning there was a train derailment in my husband’s territory (Union Pacific Railroad). It happened five hours away from Kansas City in northern Iowa. Scott left KC immediately and drove up there. He said the last hour was pretty rough through a white-knuckle-driving snowstorm. He ended up grabbing a hotel before he took pictures and filed reports on the derailment through the night. . At home, I’ve worked on some things that are harder to do when two people are around, taking full advantage of the alone time. But now we are into the second day and it doesn’t look like he will be coming home until tomorrow evening (hopefully). It’s been pretty quiet around here. Overcast skies and lack of sunshine has added to the whole upended scenario. (I’m sure he would complain about being in the same set of clothes for two days!) . But quiet is sometimes good. We’ve had a busy beginning to 2018. While I wouldn’t wish a derailment on any train company (no one was hurt, by the way), I do welcome the quietness both inside and outside our little home these last few days. . But really. After tomorrow I will be climbing the walls if he’s not home soon! . The good and the bad. The grateful and the frustrating. It’s all a part of the life game, no?

[gretasutherland]

I have enjoyed this Airbnb adventure but have been surprised by the feeling of service that has come along with it. For those of you who study any personality types, you will recognize my *need* to be doing something with meaning. At first, I definitely went into this adventure with a quick, arbitrary goal of making some extra money. But each time a guest tells me how much it felt like staying in a home as opposed to a ‘cookie cutter hotel’ (their words) I feel as if I’ve offered a part of myself to them. It’s been an utterly surprising byproduct of Airbnb hosting. 🌿 So today as I washed the linens and folded each item before putting them in their designated storage bins, I breathed a quick prayer for guests who just left and for the next ones who arrive in a week. May their days be happy and content. May they know grace and love and ease. May they feel and recognize God’s blessings in their lives. 🌿 God can use any situation and under any circumstance. Who knew Airbnb hosting would feel so much like an act of service? He knew. He knew I desperately needed it. ♥️ (at Fifth and Grand KC)

[gretasutherland]

It’s such a fabulously cozy Sunday here. We had a beautiful snowfall this morning and now the sun’s coming out to show off the glittering crystals. Scott and I are in our warmest comfy clothes, making bread and prepping for Buddha Bowls for the Super Bowl tonight. Who are you cheering for? The Patriots? The Eagles? The commercials? Or...c’mon, let’s be honest...the snack food?! ☕️ Hope you’re enjoying the grand finale of your weekend, my friends... (at Fifth and Grand KC)

[gretasutherland]

It’s such a fabulously cozy Sunday here. We had a beautiful snowfall this morning and now the sun’s coming out to show off the glittering crystals. Scott and I are in our warmest comfy clothes, making bread and prepping for Buddha Bowls for the Super Bowl tonight. Who are you cheering for? The Patriots? The Eagles? The commercials? Or...c’mon, let’s be honest...the snack food?! ☕️ Hope you’re enjoying the grand finale of your weekend, my friends... (at Fifth and Grand KC)

[gretasutherland]

Looks like the commitment is even ‘realer’ now. We are official Airbnb hosts ☺️ #beourguest

[gretasutherland]

I am finally adding some shelves in a corner of our bedroom. It’s the perfect little out-of-the-way spot for them. When we moved I gave away a lot of my books in the name of downsizing but am having slight twinges of regret about them now. That’s okay...I’ll build up my supply again. When possible I do like giving books away to a ‘good owner’. If the need for more shelves arises I will simply keep going up these 12’ walls. Then, of course, I’ll need a sliding ladder to get to them ☺️ Don’t all bibliophiles dream of a sliding ladder library??? ☕️ Happy Saturday’ing, friends!