Tiny Joys: July 2023

Today I am introducing a new segment on the blog: Tiny Joys!

Tiny Joys are just what they sound like: little things that have sparked joy or a smile for me recently that, when life gets tough, can really make a difference in my day. Like pizza. 🍕

Tiny Joys: July 2023 Edition

Women supporting women: A great start to the weekend looks like putting together an alternative outfit just to go to the coffee shop and receiving a compliment from a very sweet customer. It was basically this.

Lavender lattes: The reason I was in the coffee shop in the first place was to get an iced lavender latte. This has been my beverage of choice at the moment and I'm sad I didn't discover it sooner.

"Fast Car": I'm probably VERY late to the party on this one, and I normally don't listen to country music, but this weekend I can't get "Fast Car" out of my head. The popular version right now is the cover by Luke Combs (very good) but it's the original by Tracy Chapman that is even more raw and authentic. It's heartbreaking but beautiful. Give it a listen!

"Adult Drama" by Natalie Beach: If you're a contented little introvert like me, there is nothing better than picking up a long-awaited held item at the library. This week, it's "Adult Drama" by Natalie Beach. I'm obsessed with essays, memoirs and funny/insightful non-fiction collections, so I've been devouring this book this week. 

Writing: This week I was assigned four new articles to write at work and in a joyous burst of inspiration, I wrote and wrote and wrote nonstop until I had the first piece done within a few hours. After a season of grief, I feel like my creativity is finally starting to surface again, and it was one of those moments where I felt so elated to be able to write for a living. 

And now, for the...

• I bought ridiculous bat-themed creepers/stompy boots because why not?

• Looking forward to watching "Asteroid City" with my mom later this week.

• This song blew my mind.

• I recently subscribed to the Downtime newsletter and it's always a fun read. 

What about you? What are your tiny joys this July?

I had a feeling I could be someone,

It's Been 84 Years...

Welcome back to the blog! It's been a minute. And by a minute, I mean a literal 439,000+ minutes, oops. Somehow, the last time I posted was for my obligatory annual birthday post in 2022. Buzz, your girlfriend, WOOF. Better late than never?

In the past 439,000 minutes, life has been ... weird. I lost a loved one. Time went all funny. Things got hard. In Summer 2022, back before everything happened, I planned to retire this blog and start afresh under a new domain. But now, here I am, a full year has passed, and I never did press publish on the new site.

As I look ahead at turning 30 in September (a whole new decade!), my mind has been on time, life, aging, and memories. You know, I'm kind of awed by the fact that I've been posting on this blog in some form or another for about 10 years. My biggest struggle throughout my blogging journey has always been wanting everything on my site to look *perfect* but as I've poked around the blog a bit for nostalgia's sake, its contents are a beautiful reminder to me of all the little moments and memories (often imperfect and offline) that I've made along the way.

So, for now, Acoustic Erin shall endureth. To give the ol' gal a bit of a fresh look, I changed the blog header and also am sprinkling in bits of my own handwriting (see below). I may be making more tweaks to the layout, pages and look/feel of the site as the weeks go on, but mainly, I'm excited to finally feel like I have words to write again, and to be returning to a medium that, amidst all of the chaos online, feels delightedly old school and slow paced, the same as it always was. 

It's good to be back.

New post signature say what,