Happy Summer!! We might be at home, but I don’t mind. I have my garden, my patio and a head full of stories. I’m just fine with that. Go for a walk. Take a deep breath. Love those around you.

And . . .

(One)

Easy Kale Salad. This one is on replay every time I get enough kale in the garden to fill the salad bowl. This obsession began when I had this fabulous kale salad in New York in January, while having lunch with my agent. Wow, that seems like a world ago.

I loved that salad so much I went on a recipe hunt until I found one that hit every bite I remembered from that great lunch. I’ve made it with pistachios, pine nuts, whatever floats your boat or you have in the cupboard.

Come on, grow, little kale!!

(Two)

Menus. Speaking of eating (which by the way, I adore, if you haven’t noticed) I love making out weekly menus. This is why: saves me time on a random Friday night because I know we’re having Chicken Shwarma tonight–you know, the one from last week. It also gives me my shopping list for the week and then I only have to go to the store once. (Thank goodness!)

I start by looking through the freezer and the garden and decide what to make based on what we have, and then fill in with the things we love. I write down the list of meals in my bullet journal (as you can see, my menu is nothing elaborate) but oh, does it help.

Also, as I cook during the week, I might do prep for the next night as well

MOD pizza. Okay, I do go out, and one that our family loves is MOD Pizza. I plug them everywhere and for one consistent reason: no matter where we go, every MOD we’ve ever been in, our son with autism has always been treated with grace and kindness. That goes a long way in our decision to eat there and our enthusiasm for their company.

Thank you.

(Four)

Surrey International Writers Conference. This

, IMHO, is the best writer’s conference on the planet. Inclusive, kind, generous, open, and a fabulous place to find your writing peeps. This year they are taking the entire conference online. Yes, anyone can go now. No matter where you are.

Best of all, they’ve put up a sliding scale because they know times are hard for a lot of people and they didn’t want anyone to miss out because, well, times are hard. That’s one of the many reasons why I love this conference. Registration is now open, but it won’t be for long. This will sell out.

I’ll miss being there in person

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, but so happy and proud to be part of this conference.

(Five)

Again, My Lord. Time for some weekend reading!! This has to be my favorite book by the very talented Katharine Ashe. I love her books because they are smart, funny, and full of spirit.

This one is hilarious. A rift on Groundhog Day, the heroine has a chance to make things right with the man she loves and she fails over and over again. You just ache to have him realize how much he loves her.

If anything, read Again, My Lord, for the church bell scene. It never fails to crack me up. Literally.

If you haven’t read her

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, I know this story will make you laugh . . . and fall in love.

Until next Friday, have a glorious weekend, a beautiful week, and the sun shining upon you.

Elizabeth