Category: Local Connections

M is for Might & Main | A design firm that understands my passion for Maine.

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When I was younger and developing my decorating style, I loved the classics and was especially drawn to English country design. My first house was a Colonial style and while it had a few colonial touches, like framed antique prints of Martha and George Washington, I never fully executed the look probably because I had two young children, zero money and even less time.

About five years ago, we went through an extensive home renovation on our home in Maine. It was a major undertaking where we took our house down to the foundation and started from scratch. Because we live on a lake, and there are a multitude of rules and environmental regulations that need to be followed, we hired an architect to design our new home and help navigate the process. He was wonderful to work with and helped guide us through the chaotic experience with ease.

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L is for LooHoo | Add some fun to your laundry routine with Wool Dryer Balls.

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I long ago gave up using dryer sheets. There seemed to be too many environmental reasons as to why they’re not a good choice. Plus, I really never liked the smell. They were too overly fragrant for my taste.

I didn’t substitute anything for them. I dried my clothes without them. This worked fine most of the time, but occasionally static would cause some things to stick together when I would take out my clothes. Nothing big, just a minor nuisance.

I started seeing wool dryer balls popping up about five years ago, but as I wasn’t feeling that negatively impacted by my dryer sheet free laundry routine, I didn’t do follow up until recently when I learned that there was a manufacturer right here in Maine – LooHoo Wool Dryer Balls. Who doesn’t want to support a local company named after Cindy Lou Who of Dr. Seuss fame?

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K is for Kendrick | scrappy little nobody: 10% defiant should be everyone’s goal.

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OK, full disclosure, I am not sure if Anna Kendrick was “Made in Maine” but she did grow up here so I’m using that convenient bit of trivia and the fact that I just finished her book scrappy little nobody to include her in my A to Z challenge this year.

I knew scrappy little nobody would be funny. Anna pops up regularly on those “People you should be following on Twitter” lists because her posts are hysterical. I recommend you take a minute to follow her on Twitter if you are not one of the six million who already do: @AnnaKendrick47.

What I didn’t expect was how relatable it would be because other than both being “Made in Maine” there’s not too many places where our life experiences intersect. She started in theater young and was performing on Broadway by age twelve bouncing between New York and Maine ultimately graduating high school early and then moving to Los Angeles on her own at age seventeen. It was a good decision. Other than a little ramp up time she has been steadily working.

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J is for Jarva Cakes | Delicious things come in small packages.

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My daughter recently went through a microwaveable meal in a mug phase. Trust me, it’s a thing. You can google it. My daughter enjoyed finding and pinning mug meal recipes on Pinterest and then testing them out in our microwave. She was doing pizza in a mug fairly consistently for a few weeks. It was intriguing but not really something I thought about again once the phase receded… until Christmas.

As you can probably tell from earlier posts, our Christmas stockings are filled with lots of food treats. This year my husband surprised me with a locally made treat from Jarva Cakes. This woman run business is made up of a mother and her two daughters and was launched about four years ago. They create single serving treats that are so easy to make and instantly cure any sweet cravings you might be having. It’s a prepackaged mug meal.

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I is for Islandport Press | Stories connected to New England.

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When my oldest learned to read she became obsessed to the point where I would dread parent-teacher conferences because we knew we would be chastised with stories of her inappropriate reading. I am not sure reading can ever be truly inappropriate, but it impacted her attention in the classroom. If she had two minutes of free time, she read for thirty. It was a problem. Still, how lucky that she could so easily be transported into the world of books and so engrossed that everything around her disappeared.

Stories are important in my house. My youngest didn’t read as much as my oldest, but no one did. Instead, she was enthralled by the other side of stories. She became my writer. She is looking into creative writing programs at college now. It is an exciting time.

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