Mae @ Rainydayinmay

four thousand, two hundred and ninety seven…

Published on September 1, 2011January 17, 2013 by Mae @ Rainydayinmay7 Comments

Dearest Best Friend of mine,

Split between Boise and West Virginia we have boxes containing the volumes of our friendship. With post marks stamped in eight different states, you and I have documented actual lifetimes. I had no idea, those years ago, that we would journey together, the way that we have.

Over the course of eleven years, two hundred and seventy nine days- we really have grown up together, it seems.

In my darkest, emptiest and most broken of days- you came in and forged a friendship with me like none I had ever had before. Over those 4297 days of friendship, (!!!!) I have learned so much from you. You have walked beside me through my hardest journeys.
Through literal life and death scares,
infertility,
divorce,
heart break,
facing my step father,
cancer scares,
my hysterectomy,
the affects of adultery,
blake,
reconciling my marriage,
the loss of my grandmother,
the loss of my mom Julie,
countless jobs,
moving out of state (seven times)
getting to know my real father,
the broken hearted rejection of my real father,
falling in love with my kids,
RAD hell,
dealing with difficult family,
broken friendships and accompanying heartbreak,
James,
the journey of writing my first novel
the never ending journey of finding myself and so, so much more…
We’ve shared movies, music, books, memories, vacation, countless phonecalls, obsessions…

I am so grateful, Deb, for the beautiful, brave and admirable woman you are. You’ve advised gently and then stood by holding my hand whether I followed your direction or not. You are the only person who has ever seen all of me, and not chosen to walk away or pass judgement. You truly are the only person to never leave me and I can not even tell you how unbelievably grateful I am for that.

One day, hopefully really far from now, someone will come across our friendship on paper. I hope my gratitude and love for you shows in my words. I pray, as our daughters continue to grow more and more into themselves, that they find a friendship like ours some day. A truly safe place that will last forever…

Thank you, Debbie, for being my safe haven. Thank you for being my sounding board. Thank you for making fun of things with me. Thank you for our brief stint in detective work and email hacking. Thanks for covering for me, when I needed it- {and covering me when I needed that too.} Thank you for loving my kids, even without knowing them personally, from the very beginning.
Thank you for never judging me, for never forgetting me, for loving me even though I love Dave Matthews, Edward Cullen and don’t have a kindle.
Thank you for being that friend that I can share all of my secrets with, cry to, laugh hysterically with, be one hundred percent me with and revert to jr. high mentality with…

From the bottom of my heart, always…

POST SCRIPT~ Congratulations to Katie’s Calamaties and Lisa of Two Bears Farm for winning copies of Alice Bliss… :)

thirty postage stamps…

Published on August 31, 2011January 17, 2013 by Mae @ Rainydayinmay5 Comments

I ran across this idea while stumbling aimlessly one morning, in an effort to find inspiration…

I love it.

So, I am going to attempt to do this throughout the thirty days of September. I mean, i love to write, right? And I love to write letters… It should be doable, don’t you think?

Day 01 – Your best friend
Day 02 – Your crush
Day 03 – Your parents
Day 04 – Your sibling
Day 05 – Your dreams
Day 06 – A stranger
Day 07 – Your ex boyfriend/girlfriend/love/crush
Day 08 – Your favorite internet friend
Day 09 – Someone you wish you could meet
Day 10 – Someone you don’t talk to as often as you’d like
Day 11 – A deceased person you wish you could talk to
Day 12 – The person you hate the most/caused you a lot of pain
Day 13 – Someone you wish could forgive you
Day 14 – Someone you’ve drifted away from
Day 15 – The person you miss the most
Day 16 – Someone that’s not in your state/country
Day 17 – Someone from your childhood
Day 18 – The person you wish you could be
Day 19 – Someone that pesters your mind – good or bad
Day 20 – Someone that broke your heart the hardest
Day 21 – Someone you judged by their first impression
Day 22 – Someone you want to give a second chance
Day 23 – The last person you kissed
Day 24 – The person who gave you your favorite memory
Day 25 – The person you know is going through the worst of times
Day 26 – The last person you made a pinky promise to
Day 27 – The friendliest person you knew for only a day
Day 28 – Someone that changed your life
Day 29 – The person that you want to tell everything to, but are too afraid
Day 30 – Your reflection in the mirror

I think it will be a good journey… I’m excited. :)

A bit jarred…

Published on August 30, 2011January 17, 2013 by Mae @ Rainydayinmay5 Comments

Quite some time ago I whined and complained about this beautiful oversized apothecary jar that I purchased at a home design sale for a steal of a price. It was one of those must haves, that- once home- I had no idea what to use it for.

I used my blog as a tool to beg for your help- and I was given some great tips through your comments and emails.

But still, there the jar sat.

Every morning that i washed my face and every evening when i brushed my teeth it served as an oversized and incredibly empty reminder of my lack of creativity…

I grew more and more sad.

Then, (and I already hear the growing and annoyance as you read the next part-) I ended up coming into a bit of a lavender supply. {Sidenote: at the amount I’ve mentioned lavender on the internet, over these past two months, it’s a wonder my name isn’t among the top google search results under lavender…}

Well, interior happiness heaven shown it’s light on me because I am quite happy with…

What do you think?

Personally i LOVE it…

As you can see, I filled it with white/grey stones. then, downsized a large jar filled with dried lavender bouquets. For this sweet little dish, I used a couple of random soap bars and then made some small bars with lavender… {of course}

So, since you are all so smart and stuff, I have another question for you:

Every morning I wake up and, VERY first thing- I wash my face. I use one of these-

It is the Neutrogena Wave, and honestly i love it. But, that’s beside the point…
I am pretty anal about things. I won’t use a washcloth on my face more than once. I won’t keep a hand towel up for more than one day. These sorts of things just gross me out. (don’t get me started on dishcloths.)

So, typically, every time I wipe down my bathroom, I use a Kirkland wipe. As far as wipes go- these tend to be my favorite. that being said, however, I feel like they are very wet and leave a really wet/icky trail. So then I end up paper toweling behind the wipe. It just feels really wasteful.
HOWEVER, the simple act of spraying everything down and using a rag- everyday, seems overwhelming and I question if I’d actually do it every day. PLUS there is the fact that I already launder three loads of towels a week. For a family of four…
yeah.
So… An aunt suggested wiping the counters down with my face rage and mild soap, daily with a weekly spray cleaner. She also told me she often uses her shower towel, when she’s done and dressed.
Between us- this kinda grossed me out. I mean- wouldn’t both the cloth and the towel have dead skin on it? I mean, sure- they are both “clean”, due to the body/face soaps and encountering clean skin. But, there is also dead skin, right?
Maybe I am incorrectly OCD about this idea…

What are your thoughts and how do you approach daily bathroom tidying?

LIFE Well Lived Mornings…

Published on August 30, 2011January 17, 2013 by Mae @ Rainydayinmay1 Comment

I was recently invited by Blogher’s LIFE Well Lived to be a panelist and answer the following questions:

What is the biggest time waster/issue you have when getting you and your family ready in the morning?

What tips do you have to save time in the morning to get everyone out and ready on time?

Considering all of the whining I was doing in regards to having to establish to an early morning routine as everything about our morning lives was changing- I felt a wee bit proud that this was something I actually had something useful to say.

I answered, “Making decisions is the biggest morning time waster. I make sure that everything, from outfits, to breakfast, to errands are lined out the night before so that our mornings are smooth, quick and stress free!”

I totally stand by my answers. On occasion that 5 a.m. alarm goes off and I don’t want to get out of bed, but then I remember that everything is already done and getting out of bed seems less overwhelming than before. Though mornings have turned out to be much happier around Chez’ Wagner than I’d ever expected, I can’t help but wonder what you guys think…

What is your biggest morning time waster/issue? What tips can you share?

In addition to sharing your tips- (and PLEASE share, because I’m still a baby in all of this morning stuff!) I would love to encourage you to click here to and share a moment for your chance to win a $250 Visa gift card!

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