general · No. 1025

feeling glad no.1

BY: Sarah Sherman Samuel

I love a good Friday round-up. Often, it’s the only thing I will catch from friends around the internet (I always love sfgirlbybay or Wit and Delight, Cup of Jo, etc.) to keep me updated or to find fun new happenings I otherwise wouldn’t. A new book or a funny meme to make me smile.

Around the office, Janna (our sss atelier manager) recently shared that she has a Monday email chain with friends from college that, after every weekend, they update each other. It’s been going on for almost 20 years! 20 years of memories of theirs cataloged to look back on. These two inspired me to start this new column around our office that’s part Friday round-up/ part memory catalog, and part a practice of gratitude. Also, it is a fun way for everyone to get to know the women behind team sss!

Every night before bed, I do this practice with the kids as part of their bedtime routine, and it’s often the best part of my day. We share our “GLAD”s.

I ask them:

Name one thing that you…
G have gratitude for
L learned
A accomplished
D brought you delight

So, the team will share their GLAD from the week each Friday.
Enjoy below!

Sarah

Grateful for: clover and Archie in the same school this year. And no tears at drop offs.

Learned: archie is very into the “Weird But true” books and this week we learned: a group of people in London, England, set a world record by wrapping 51 INDIVIDUALS IN TOILET PAPER as “MUMMIES” in three minutes.

Accomplished: we finally installed our Palo Alto project this week!

Delighted in: seeing all the beautiful things we’ve been speccing for the past two years make their way into the the Palo Alto home and of course eating all the delicious California food of course. This Mexican was THE BEST.

Sarah at Palo Alto project for GLAD 9/22

Anastasia

Grateful for: my husband’s homemade sourdough waffles!

Learned: the first time doesn’t have to be the best; there is such a thing as trying again 🙂

Accomplished: writing down some of my daughter Birdie’s recent funny moments. Like her constant “yes way, no way.”

Delighted in: watching birdies delight at the sight of a pile of pumpkins.

Janna

Grateful for: making another trip around the sun and spending the weekend at Lakeshore Resort, a little hidden gem in Saugatuck. Bonus: they have a no-kids-allowed policy.

Learned: michigan means big lake in Algonquin. Learnings from my son’s 3rd grade homework.

Accomplished: this week, I made it halfway through Covenant of Water. I will finish. I will finish.

Delighted in: the change of seasons and the maple tree outside my bathroom window slightly turning orange.

Grace

Grateful for: that we survived our first week of preschool!

Learned: I came across Ursula Le Guin’s speech for Bryn Mawr College in 1986. It’s such a powerful message about the power of OUR stories. This quote is a good summation: “We are volcanoes. When we women offer our experience as our truth, as human truth, all the maps change. There are new mountains.”

Accomplished: I managed to sit down and read a book this week (Nightbitch by Rachel Yoder… 10/10). Which feels like a huge accomplishment when normally I have a toddler occupying every moment and every one of my faculties. 😂

Dedlighted in: watching my baby make new friends and coming home to sing the songs she learned in preschool to me.

Sarah Matthews

Grateful for: the silver lining of being on East Coast time while on the West Coast – waking up with the sunrise and early morning nature hikes in the redwoods.

Learned: some of my favorite artists have work on view right in my backyard! I hadn’t been to Frederik Meijer Gardens since moving back to GR in 2021 and was so excited to see Jenny Holzer & El Anatsui‘s work there.

Accomplished: installing our palo alto project. It’s always so gratifying to see the things we’ve been planning for years fall into place. And screaming while unpacking all the beautiful things!!

Delighted in: a tiny blue bird whistle I found for my 1 yr old, Tilly, at a small toy shop here in Menlo Park and the future joy it will bring me to watch her learn how to use it while surely laughing her ass off.

Anne

Grateful for: I just returned from a long walk on the beach with my kids and dog. Always fills our souls.

Learned: a few more words of Spanish now that my 5-year-old is enrolled in Spanish Immersion Kindergarten. Lo Siento (I’m sorry) is a good one that comes to mind.

Accomplished: I had my dad over for dinner every Tuesday for the entire summer. It was my Father’s Day gift to him in an attempt to actually see him on a regular basis, which takes effort even when you live in close proximity.

Delighted in: the blueberry-earl grey sorbet my husband made last night. It was amazing! Recipe from The Lost Kitchen.