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Thinking

How it Went: Month 1 of the Happiness Project

May 16, 2021 By Jodi

Spending a month getting reacquainted with myself, while trite, was incredibly meaningful.

Solitary cabin in winter, we are all islands

Happiness Project: January: Self-knowledge resolutions

March 30, 2021 By Jodi

Starting a happiness project is all the easier when someone does the legwork for you. Freed from having to think too much about it, it was easy to get started on January's theme of self-knowledge by picking up a handful of suggestions from Gretchen and throwing in a couple resolutions of my own. The idea...

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Happiness Project Redux

March 23, 2021 By Jodi

In my previous post, I mentioned that I'm endeavoring a Happiness Project again. I've written a lot of background about happiness projects, and why I find the idea meaningful—as opposed to mere frivolity––so I won't go into that again now. This time, though, due to some Black Friday margarita drinking*, I'm actually doing the official...

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What Have You Been Thinking About Lately?

December 13, 2019 By Jodi

Dear readers—I wonder, what have you been thinking about lately? What is on your mind, what are the questions you keep coming back to? What are the situations you can’t solve? Who are the people you’re loving? Do you find yourself pondering different questions in the darkness of winter?

Watercolor flatlay

The Surprising Uses of Melancholy: Watercolor Painting and Reading Poetry

April 9, 2019 By Jodi

I may have mentioned that I went through a spate of melancholy recently. 😉 The good news it that I'm through it; the better news is that I got a lot out of it.

small_animals_book_ruyts

Adult Supervision (not) Required

March 8, 2019 By Sonia Ruyts

Chances are you have a memory of something you did as a child that made you feel free, independent, brave, capable. Something that society has now decided is unsafe. Where once children were allowed to play outside unsupervised, such an action is now perceived as negligent and possibly criminal.

Colored leaves in fall

Some Categories of Anger (and Melancholy, of Course)

February 8, 2019 By Jodi

What's your Achilles' heel? Mine is definitely anger. I get angry a lot. (I have a lot of other shortcomings, but that's the one that dominates.) I get angry irrationally and I get angry for totally appropriate reasons (though my husband and children might disagree). So I was immediately intrigued when I came across this...

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Getting back into it

February 1, 2019 By Jodi

I'll spare you the apologies and excuses. It's been a long time since I posted, and I've wondered over the past few months whether I will keep this up—whether I want to keep this up. Theoretically I do, practically I don't know if I can manage. Which kinda sounds like a lot of things in...

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Grona Lund and Stockholm from the water

A Bit Overdue: Thoughts on Travel, Home, Repatriation, Saying Goodbye, and Beauty

August 27, 2018 By Jodi

A couple weeks ago we passed our one-year repatriation anniversary. Not coincidentally, a couple weeks ago we got back from our summer trip to England and Sweden. We had a lovely time, and I'll sneak some pictures in here to add visual excitement to what will most likely end up a rambling stream of tired,...

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Shirts hanging in small shop

Are You Willing to Pay More to Shop Locally?

December 5, 2017 By Jodi

Here's a pertinent question for the holiday season: do you prefer to shop at locally-owned stores rather than big box stores or online? If so, are you willing to pay a higher price to do so? We lucked out in that our new town, Corvallis, has a great downtown and is plush with locally-owned stores....

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About Jodi

I just repatriated from Sweden to the US with my British husband and three young kids. I started this site while living in Sweden to build the conversations and community we've had with loved ones around the world, and to create a space to share thoughts about life, beauty, motherhood, and everything else. read more →

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Recent Posts

Sharing sad news

October 14, 2016 By Jodi Leave a Comment

black and white sea with fog

My dear readers, With a heavy heart, I share the news that my father passed away yesterday. It is hard to be so far away from family in this time, and we hope to be traveling to Michigan soon to share in the love, comfort, and laughter of dear friends and family. Several of my witty,...

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Have You Ever Written to an Author?

June 13, 2016 By Jodi 8 Comments

David-James-Duncan-writing

A few years ago I was sitting in a cafe in Santa Barbara and felt an overwhelming urge to write to David James Duncan. I had just read a piece by him in The Best American Essays 2009 about birds and extinction and disintegrating marriage, which left me weeping at my table.

Do You Use the Oxford Comma?

December 20, 2016 By Jodi 4 Comments

German typewriter

I love grammar. In elementary school, I loved having English homework and doing all the exercises, paying attention to exactly where apostrophes and commas go and how, exactly, to use a semi-colon. (And I use too many of them, according to my search engine optimization plugin.) Which means, of course, that I love the Oxford comma.

Our weekend on Sweden's west coast

August 10, 2016 By Jodi 6 Comments

Speaking of summer, last weekend we took a train to the west coast of Sweden to spend a few days sailing with our wonderful neighbors (who we call the kids' Swedish grandparents). Henrik has had his boat Maja for forty-five years! We didn't do any actual sailing (we motored around because we didn't have the best...

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About Dear Sabrina

Welcome! Dear Sabrina is a lifestyle blog for the thinking woman (and man, if men read lifestyle blogs). I hope that visiting this site gives you something to think about, makes you laugh, or shows you something new. If you want to further connect, find me on one of networks below or send an email.
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