week twenty-three 2025

Can you believe we're exactly half-way through 2025? What a year it's been, I feel like I'm in a time warp. Trying to keep up with our every changing country has been exhausting. Trying to keep up with the tariff situation has been overwhelming. Summed up, 2025 is intense. But, we keep on, keeping on, trying to make my little corner of this world as bright as possible.

Speaking of bright, have you noticed our letterpress Pride posters? We have them year round but they sell best in June. Like previous years, we'll be donating 10% of the proceeds to an LGBTQIA+ not for profit. This year we've chosen Center on Halsted, who is "dedicated to advancing community and securing the health and well-being of LGBTQIA+ people of Chicagoland". We also have lots of fun stickers, postcards and buttons that are perfect for Pride. 

Last week I was very busy in the print shop. Lots and lots of printing happening, reprints of old favorites, no newbies yet. I'm trying to sneak in moments of design here and there but it's hard to shift gears from being very technical and process oriented to being open and creative. The goal is to have 3-5 new holiday designs ready to go June 30th. This is starting to feel unrealistic. Although, I often do my best work when I have a deadline. I'm past the age of pulling all nighters but I do find myself getting up earlier and earlier and perhaps I need to use that time designing instead of sipping coffee and petting Scooby (my 12 year old pup), which is a big part of my morning routine.

June is always a busy month for me personally. Mr. Favorite's birthday is Flag Day, Father's Day almost always falls near this day too, not that my dad is around to celebrate anymore but we sell lots of Father's Day cards, mom's birthday is June 20th and graduations are happening all month long. Plus it's the kick off to summer in Chicago. There's nothing like summer in Chicago! We cram an entire year of concerts, festivals, block parties, markets, street fairs, baseball games, fireworks, farmer's markets, outdoor movies and events into three months. Tom always says "if you're not exhausted at the end of Summer in Chicago, you're doing it wrong". This year the Mr. decided to host a summer kick off party, he claims we had too much beer on hand, he's a homebrewer, and needed some help to run through it. We had friends, neighbors and colleagues in and out of our yard all Saturday night. It was a lot of fun. I enjoy gathering people who normally wouldn't hang out together all in one friendly place. It was a lot of work of course. Cleaning for yourself is very different than cleaning for a party. Not to mention, I decided to redo our entryway with paint and wall paper as well as paint the dining room and redo the dining room gallery wall of art. My last two weeks have been consumed with preparing for the party. Needless to say, I'm exhausted, but in a good way. And now our home projects and yard work are done, we can just enjoy the summer. 

I  hosted our Monthly Letter Writing Meet Up in the shop Thursday night. It was a success! We had several new comers as well as regulars. Lot of letters were written and we upheld our mission to encourage long distance warm fuzzies through snail mail. Our next meet up is scheduled for Thursday, July 3rd. I'm considering moving it to the 10th since the holiday is the following day. If you have an opinion on the matter, please let me know.

Random, randomness...
• Friday night Tom surprised me with tickets to see Wes Anderson's new film The Phoenician Scheme at Davis Theater. It was brilliant! I'm a big fan of Anderson's work and while the last full feature movie, Asteroid City wasn't as enjoyable as most, in my opinion, this one was perfection. Filled with beauty and cleverness and a fun, epic journey. Go see it!
• While I was busy printing and cleaning and painting and decorating, I listened to a few audiobooks this week. I really love that Chicago Public Library uses Libby. It's a brilliant app, if you like audiobooks, check into it. If you don't have a library card, it's easy to get one online. CPL allows a 21 day borrow, which is plenty of time for me but you can often extend your loan if necessary. 
• I listened to It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover. I enjoyed it but it deals with some really heartbreaking themes, if you're triggered by domestic violence, skip this one. Even if you aren't, take care if you read or listen to it. I found it heartbreaking and uplifting all at the same time.
• I also listened to Thank You for Listening by Julia Whelan. It's a will they - won't they romance. It was a little predictable but still a fun and an easy listen. During the Author's note at the end, I also discovered Julia is the audiobook narrator for almost every single romance I've listened to. And I'm embarrassed to admit, I thought her guy voice was an actually a guy narrating with her. My mind was blown. She does amazing accents and voices. She also mentioned her previous book and how it'll be a movie soon, so naturally I listened to it next. 
• My Oxford Year by Julia Whelan was my final book of the week. Another romance. It was sad but also sweet. I enjoyed it and found myself getting a little teary toward the end. 

That covers Week 23! If you haven't gotten your Father's Day card yet - it's time!