feeling glad no.4

Sarah

Grateful: this week for our new sauna! The heater finally arrived. Rupe built the deck overlooking the best view on our property, which was underutilized, and I am hoping and praying it helps get us through the Michigan winters more easily.

Learned: This week, I learned there were 6 flooring layers in our #sssclovertudor project kitchen! That’s a lot of renovations. We wondered why the kitchen floors were so much higher than the rest, and upon demo, we found out!

Accomplished: This week, we launched our sss atelier seating collection. Designing and prototyping and more prototyping, changing the design, and then more prototyping. A couple years later, the chairs and sofa of my dreams are out in the world. Self-producing your furniture line is not for the faint of heart, so it feels like a proud moment this week.

Delighted in: Ok, so this one had me teary. I shared before that the idea of doing the GLADs in the office weekly is because I do it with my kids as part of their bedtime routine every night. Well, on Saturday, I took Clover to the mall. It was a rare event, just the two of us, and we were there for 4 hours! Just her and I. She got clothes, a giant lollipop, and new earrings. I drove her around in a fire truck cart, and we ate lunch AND dinner there. She played in the kid’s play area, picked out a toy for her and Archie (this crystal growing tree kit, which was pretty awesome and we did as soon as we got home), and played a video game in the arcade. It was a full day. Then, in bed that night, we were going through her glad, and she got to delight and said, “When we were waiting in line at the first check out, and I was sitting in the chair, and we were smiling at each other.” Out of everything. That was her delight, and I melted into nothingness right there.

Grace

Grateful for: I am grateful to live in a city with so much green space and neighbors who drop by just to say ‘hi.’

Learned: Apparently, bananas are berries, and strawberries are not! This feels like something I should have known a long time ago. Regardless, now I know bananas have tiny little seeds that I’ve never noticed. Thanks, farmers, for dropping that knowledge.

Accomplished: It feels so good to have been a part of another launch on this team! Atelier seating looks incredible, and now the world gets to see it. So much to celebrate, always, with SSS!

Delighted in: We visited the Farmer’s Market for the first time with our little one this past weekend. Nothing was better than watching her grab her own market bag and pick out fresh berries and sample micro greens. Hearing her say, ‘Mmm, that’s good’ after biting into radish sprouts and handing cash to the attendant for dinner plate dahlias was the highlight of my week.

Anne

Grateful for: My in-laws brought us dinner and watched the kids tonight so we could both attend our son’s parent-teacher conference.

Learned: The physiological sigh – a double inhale through your nose followed by a long exhale through your mouth is a super effective way to calm down when feeling stressed. Andrew Huberman explains the science behind it here.

Accomplished: I took a week off IG, and it was really positive for my mental health and overall productivity. Instead of mindlessly scrolling in any spare moment, I got busy doing something meaningful, like working on my photography. I habitually tried opening the deleted app a bunch at first until the urge faded away completely. Motivated to keep my use to a minimum.

Delighted in: Enjoyed some really good food, prepared simply with locally sourced ingredients at Cafe Mamo in Grand Rapids. That kind of mission and restraint is not easy to come by in West Michigan, and it was lovely.

Janna

Grateful for: I put Sarah’s new Lulu & Georgia hemp sheets on our bed last week. The texture feels so lovely, and they’re cool to sleep in. This past week, I’ve been extra grateful to get into bed each night.

Learned: I’m continuing to learn about the joy of having boys. I’m learning to be in love with what brings them delight, even if it is entirely different from my own interests. For example, last weekend, we had a house full of 8-year-old boys, and playing an intense game of 9 square with them ended up being the highlight of my weekend.

Accomplished: I finished watching Only Murders in the Building this week. It’s funny and clever and the perfect way to end the day snuggled in our hemp sheets. 🙂

Delighted in: Coffee. Always coffee

Anastasia

Grateful for: Modern medicine. A year ago, I was experiencing the darkest, scariest days of PPD. With the help of antidepressants and talk therapy, I have come a long way!

Learned: In Sheila Heti’s book Motherhood, she talks about how when a butterfly goes into a cocoon, it turns into MUSH before disintegrating, and out of the mush, a new creature, a butterfly, grows! It is such a good metaphor for life and motherhood. I feel like this last year fighting with PPD has been my “mush” year, and now I maybe feel my wings growing?!

Accomplished: gathering with all 7 women in my book club last night. It’s not usual that we can all be there (two pregnant, one new baby, new jobs, all mothers).

Delighted in: my friend Alex’s new baby boy, Clement! We sat him in the middle of all of us at book club last night just so we could all stare at him! You forget the cutie newborn noises and movements. Also, the tiny newborn scrunch when they’re picked up, nothing more delightful!

Sarah Matthews 

Grateful for: On a particularly anxiety-ridden day this week, working from home while watching Tilly, I put her in the carrier instead of spiraling into overwhelm. I took a walk in the woods by our house.

Learned: I came across a Swiss quilting artist, Ursula König, whose work is so inspiring to me. The mix of pattern and color reminds me of Josef Albers’ studies in color theory & composition in the 60’s. (pic of her quilt: “las berenjenas, 2017”)

Accomplished: After years of overthinking how to sell my art, I decided on a whim to do a quick IG stories sale, and it was so much fun! Realized I don’t need to have the perfect website and professional photos to make things I love and sell them to people I love, too 🙂

Delighted in: The animation Sarah made for our sss atelier seating launch. That sweet little petal skirt chair swaying to the music makes me smile every time.

Sammy

Grateful for: I took Celine (my 2 yr old Silken Windhoud) to the vet for vaccines, etc, and the vet said she’s so healthy we geeked out about facts about her breed, and it felt so good that he understands how unique she is (she’s not like other breeds and sighthounds health/needs are often misunderstood) 

Learned: Lately, I have been being reminded that life is so short and that changes my perspective on so many things.

Accomplished: The drawings/artwork that I created for the mural that Sarah and I have been working on was accepted by our client! 

Delighted in: My baby Juniper’s toothy smile and perfect laugh.

to read more GLAD posts go here

catch up on the edit:

• atelier seating launch
• hotel de sarah
• getting wild with animal print
• wine and cheese night