Ladies. The minute I lock my bathroom door, for any reason, it sends some sort of cosmic-call through the ether to my daughter, who proceeds to charge up the stairs and rattle the door-handle violently. There is no good response.
“MOM, what are you doing?”
If I am silent, she gives it approximately 2.5 seconds before deciding that I might be dead in there.
If I am vague and say something like “I’m just getting ready” she responds with “For what? Can I go? When are we leaving? Can we go to Target?”
If I say “I’m taking a bath” she plops herself down outside the door and proceeds to chat with me. The conversation usually veers toward lofty topics, like whether one might need a magnifying glass to see an ant’s poop.
If I say “I’m going to the bathroom” she erupts into laughter and starts howling “ARE YOU POOPING?” And after she calms down we end up having the same bath-time-through-the-door convos.
I thought that by the age of seven she might grant me undisturbed bathroom time. Time to reorganize my bath salts. To stare into the mirror. To sit on the floor and check Instagram. To take a shower without someone beating on the door to make sure I’m still alive and kicking. But no. It was not meant to be. I know one day I will cherish these moments, and miss her presence… but gosh golly ya’ll right now I’d just like five silent minutes to Clorox the shower door.
In other news, it’s wintertime. IT. IS. STILL. WINTER. I’m feeling defiant. I’m planting all the indoor plants. I’m wearing flip flops (inside only, of course, I don’t fancy black toes). And my sister gifted me with the loveliest new artwork for my Etsy Shop. She knows me. She really knows me. When we were exploring themes and inspiration she was like, “How about a witchy kitchen theme with herbs hanging and greens and lavenders.” UM OKAY. My own kitchen is decidedly not witchy-magical. It smells like old banana peels and there is currently a huge pile of Etsy shop stock that I need to sort and put away.
But Rachel’s vision was so much better. It usually is. I want to live in my Etsy banner. Just like Mary Poppins, jumping right in.
After a mid-winter break, my shop is back up and running. I’ve added a few new things, marked down a bunch of prices, and changed all items to free shipping (b/c shipping calculations are the pits for buyers and sellers). It’s all here and ready to go.
In the meantime I’ll be defying winter by watering my plants, taking out banana peel trash, and dreaming of an undisturbed restroom experience.
elizabeth-harrell.com 
i’ve been thinking of you + hope you’re well. in an alternate universe i imagine us to be good friends. 🙂 we’re hanging on here in brooklyn, and hope to visit Eureka Springs later this year (grew up in STL and then college in Joplin) as a retreat/recharge (insert COVID precautions and everything here).
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ooh forgot to mention we left social media in 2016, so i’m out of the loop in many ways, most likely.
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hi! we ducked down to eureka springs in october at the end of a family visit in the midwest for some mountain/alone time. it was magical and i thought of you! happy that i’m social media-free for four years, but i do miss updates from your little family! hope all is well and you’re healthy and happy! best wishes for your holidays.
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Hi Liz,
This is Angies mom. I was reunited with “My (not so) Storybook Life” (the one you signed for me) this weekend and I wanted to let you know just how much you and it mean to me. I have loaned well………given away several copies over the years and several years ago I loaned my last copy to a co-worker. Life went rather side ways and we lost contact before I could get it back and I wasn’t able to track her down. I cried, cursed, kicked myself for letting it out of my sight and finally resolved myself to believe the book was where it needed to be.
Then recently we went to a little pizza place we love for dinner and low and behold there was Amy taking our order. After a brief session of catching up. Amy said she still had my book and we made arrangements to meet so she could return it.
The first thing I did was read your note in the front and as always it left me with a need to hug you hard and in my best Angela voice tell you; You will never need my or any else’s approval. You are one of the rare ones and a treasure and I’m sure I’m not the only person to see it. What you wrote so plainly came from the heart and what big heart it is. You captured the spark that was and will ever be Angie. Thank you for taking her into your life and making a very hard road less difficult for her to travel. I go back and read both of your old blogs from time to time and for just a little while you are here with me and I’m not quite so lonely.
God bless and keep you safe and happy.
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