A blog about nourishing and loving ourselves and our families.
Franny Bolsa is a girl who tells stories. When she's not at her day job she can be found dreaming, wearing aprons without pearls, getting her hands dirty in the garden, behind the business end of her camera or muddling her way through life with a teenaged daughter. You can visit her anytime you want. Like Motel 6, she'll leave a light on for ya. But the coffee's better and the sheets are fresher at her place. You can also find her on Facebook.
One sweet, cherubic-cheeked child = 5011 bits, bobs and playthings strewn about the floor. Perhaps you can relate? When Girl Wonder was little, maybe 5 or 6, it didn’t matter one lick how many bins and baskets I had artfully arranged to collect her debris. Puppy Playhouse pieces (do they even still make those?) would… [read more]
Mental Tsunamis. That’s what happens in my head. I start to think about one thing which makes me think of another thing. All of a sudden I’m thinking of 5011 things. And doing none of them. I’ve made lists. And cross referenced lists to lists. And plastered post it notes on every surface of… [read more]
When my daughter was little she would hug me a million times, anytime we had to go our separate ways. Me to work. Her to daycare, school, a birthday party, grandparent visits. Sometimes tears would flow, hot and fast. She’d become a streaky red ball of snot with golden hair. She’d grab my neck and… [read more]
I am, at best, a reluctant crafter. The closest I usually get to crafting is a pinning frenzy on Pinterest. I don’t own a glue gun. I do have a bottle of Modge Podge I bought in 1998 for a project in my daughter’s nursery. But we have an issue here at Casa Bolsa.… [read more]
My head is a busy, loud place. Know that feeling? Self-criticism. To-do lists. Frustration. Plans. Hopes. The positive tangles with the negative. No matter how many time outs I give myself the volume level still gets deafening. I’m building a habit of practicing silence. Duct tape the voices inside my head. At least the ones… [read more]
A tattered, faded, pinkish chair looking orange in harsh winter sunlight coming through the window. Ugly but with a “sink into it” comfort. I’ll be sitting here later. A glass topped end table. With wheels. A small metal tub sits next it. Repurposed. It used to house geraniums on a tiny porch in a bygone… [read more]
I’ve been reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver. A fabulous read on one family’s journey to eat close to home. And an inspiration for my little family as I move us toward more local, home grown food. There’s a couple spots in the book which reference making sprouts. So…… [read more]
We used to have a teeny weeny problem with sleep in our house. At 3, my daughter despised bedtime with every ounce of energy her pint sized body could muster. And the kid could muster. Bedtime involved crying, kicking, hurling herself at the door. Anything to avoid being tucked into bed. I referred to this… [read more]
I’m guessing you’re seeing a picture of peppers. But your eyes are partly wrong. You have to look into the empty spaces. The blank spots. Then you can see what these really are. These came from my garden. I tilled the garden. I shoveled manure into the bed. I smelled like cow shit for 2… [read more]
Whether you’re at stay/work at home mom. A work outside the home mom. A single mom. A married mom. A mom in a commune. Motherhood’s a big, sloppy, glorious job requiring full on manual labor from the heart. We all have a million things we want to do, need to do, try to do and… [read more]
Recently, my daughter announced she wants to be a writer. “Like mother like daughter,” she says. My DNA has gifted her with my bubble butt and stubby toes. I apologize in advance for the bubble butt. Buying jeans will never be fun. I rock a mean air guitar and will bust a move anywhere… [read more]
Tomatillos are leaping out of my garden right now. Also known as husk cherries or Mexican tomatoes, tomatillos have a subtle sweetness. They are amicable little globes searching for the perfect partner. I always can up huge batches of tomatillo salsa, but this year my mouth was craving a different tomatillo adventure. So I got out a pot,… [read more]
Hiya! I'm Stephanie. Looking for Slow Cooker Freezer Meals? You're at the right place. For more easy & delicious recipes, check out my cookbook!
M+BL is all about helping mothers on their own personal health and healing journey and enjoying life along the way. You can learn more about me and what I'm all about. Sign up for my newsletter for more tips, info and inspiration!
