Talya Tate Boerner's Blog, page 42

Dear 2018… (and goodbye 2017)

Dear 2018,

Welcome! I hope you’ve packed your largest suitcase with good vibes and clear sailing for the months ahead. Here’s something you should know about me. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the idea of you, the beginning of a new year. There’s something to be said for a clean slate. The very idea of a clean slate. No, there’s nothing profound or magical about flipping the calendar from December to January, but the beginning of a new year feels entirely different to me.

Oh, the anticipation.

The suspens...

Gracie Lee goes to The Enchanted Forest

Our family has always had lots of Christmas traditions. Mother-daughter traditions. Boon Chapel traditions. Gracie-Abby sister traditions. Visiting The Enchanted Forest at Goldsmith’s in Memphis was one of our favorites. Each year when we went, Momma dressed us in red velvet with white tights and black patent shoes, not because The Enchanted Forest was a dress-up place, but because Santa Claus waited at the end of our forest visit. Having a chance to talk with Santa, to tell him our greatest...

How to create a Dreamy Winter Wonderland

I’ve been adding a bit of holly, jolly to our home by creating winter wonderlands. This is a super simple project, y’all. If you’ve been feeling Grinch-like and haven’t summoned the energy to delve into full blown Christmas decorating, make a tiny, dreamy winter wonderland. In no time, the Christmas spirit will find you. Complete with sugarplums and jingle bells and Santa himself.

Promise.

How-to: dreamy winter wonderland: Dig out your favorite small ornaments, teeny plastic toys, and vinta...

Southern Giving: Fayetteville Find!

Northwest Arkansas friends, have you been to Southern Giving? This gift and home decor boutique opened a few months ago. Already, it’s become my go-to place for charming southern gifts. Owner Susie Baker is like a long lost friend. She’s friendly, creative, and has an eye for helping a confused gift giver find that perfect something.

Baker is known for monogramming. Her business started out of her home. When the business took over her home (as home businesses can do), she opened Southern Giv...

The Best Beef Stew!

Oh my goodness. This is the best beef stew! John made it last week. You’ll want to make it soon. He’s not one to strictly follow a recipe. Instead he studies lots of recipes then creates his own by adding a little more of something, changing something, omitting something. This beef stew is one of his best. It’s hearty, flavorful and comforting. A keeper recipe for sure!

O Come All Ye Comfort Foods…

What makes a comfort food? For me, a comfort food nourishes body and soul, touching some speci...

5 Fabulous Gifts for Readers + a GIVEAWAY!

If you have insatiable readers on your gift list, this post is for you (or them). I rounded up five things I believe to be clever and fun that will in some small way enhance your (their) love of reading. Here’s how the math works: 5 Fabulous Gifts for Readers + 1 Giveaway = a Merry Early Christmas!

Creative Christmas Giving with Walmart Gift Cards!

This post is sponsored by InComm for Walmart as part of the #SaveMoneyGiveBetter2017 Campaign. All opinions are my own. 

Hey friends! I’m that person who doesn’t start thinking about Christmas until the calendar flips to December. And yay, it has! Now I’m all in. Yesterday, I started decorating my house. Yesterday, I picked up a few Walmart gift cards for those on my Christmas list.

Tis the Season, for Walmart gift cards!

Remember when the children were nestled all snug in their beds, while...

Books I Read in November

Books I Read in November? Not many. Why? Because it took me all the live long month to read The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt.

All
The
Live
Long
Month.

(More on this later.) My four November reads took me back to the delightfully old-fashioned world of Anne Shirley, into the suspenseful and isolated life of the Blackwood sisters, along the streets of New York to a quirky “almost” wedding, and into the dark underworld of grief and life and art.

If we judge my month by the books I read, November wa...

Chihuly in the Forest

On Black Friday, my son and I visited Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. He wanted to see the Stuart Davis exhibit and while I was a bit under the weather, I wanted to spend time with him. Plus, I’d not yet seen Chihuly in the Forest. So off we went.

Tomorrow (November 27) is the last day for Chihuly in the Forest. Thanks to Tate, I saw it. (A few years ago, John and I visited Chihuly Garden and Glass in Seattle. Go, if you get the chance. It is an incredible experience.) Go to Crystal...

Cold Morning

Cold Morning: an acrostic from this morning’s writing practice.

Crystals cover slanted rooftops. A cold night
Offers a glittery morning.
Leaves, already brilliant with fall, still sleep, muted and
Dreamy with frost. The whole world

Magically rests beyond windows fogged with breath.
On this Sunday before Thanksgiving Day, I
Remember the holiday meals of my childhood at
Nana’s house on the home place.
I relive cozy afternoons with her,
Near to me, she still feels all these years later.
Gentle...