1 | We went to a lighthouse earlier today! This was our third trip to Terence Bay – a quaint little light off the beaten path. We had the lighthouse and surrounding shoreline to ourselves.
2 | I found TEN dollars in the pocket of a thrift-store purse. Happy Thing alert!
3 | We went to yet another thrift store to start piecing together Halloween costumes! Starting the day, A had her heart set on being an M&M girl and L wanted to be a character from Ninjago. About 15 minutes into our hunt…they decided to change course entirely and we started sourcing items for a famous literary duo. Any guesses?
4 | Laura Vanderkam was kind enough to guest post here on Monday, and it was a happy surprise to open up my e-mail and realize she had posted an interview-style dialogue from John and me (I knew it was coming but didn’t know when!) about our experience co-founding several businesses as a married couple. It is an admittedly niche topic, but please head over to Laura’s site to read the post (and feel free to ask any questions you might have)!
5 | Fun fact: for years, when we were deep in the middle of launching our businesses, I wanted to start a blog called Parentpreneur. I had grand visions of interviewing and profiling all sorts of parents who worked for themselves. Alas, that never happened – but I hadn’t thought about that little dream of mine for almost a decade! While someone has the URL now, back when I researched it there wasn’t anything under that name. I still think it was a fun idea…
And now it’s time for our at-home “date night.” I’m in my jammies and we have a good movie cued up. Happy weekending…
Your turn. What famous literary duo do you think the kids plan to dress up like for Halloween? When is the last time you found money on the ground, in a pocket, or some other surprising location? What was the highlight of your Saturday?
J
I love the lighthouse journey, the found money, the date night, the costumes, the blogging. Nice list.
Literary duo…hmmm…Sherlock Holmes and Watson? I’m not sure what books they are into.
I’m not sure when was the last time I found money, but I also found $10 not too long ago. I always feel like I should look for the owner if I find it on the ground, but there was no one around, so I kept it.
Elisabeth
I’m not going to give the answer to their duo yet because I want to see what everyone comes up with…maybe I can do a big reveal on Happy Things Friday? Thanks for guessing <3
Ally Bean
Lovely interview, thanks for sharing it. I didn’t know a thing about your business ventures. “The nature of business is not to make money but rather to make customers. This tenet still permeates everything we do today.” Sounds like an approach that transfers to personal blogging as well as business.
Elisabeth
Aww. Thanks for reading it @Ally Bean!
Yup – if you’re only out to make money (think things like Juul and Theranos) and not happy customers – phew, meteoric rises can have pretty terrible outcomes with a lot of collateral damage.
Beckett @ Birchwood Pie
Found money is the best money! I’ve found $20 bills twice in my life.
Your parentpreneur story reminds me of domain squatters – people who think up good names and get urls for them so that later on when someone else wants to start a business they have to buy the domain from the squatter. I’d love to be cleaver enough to think of domain names before someone else wants them.
Elisabeth
John once found a $50 under the snow!!! I mostly only find small change and think this $10 might be the biggest cash find of my life. It was pretty exciting. And purple is my favourite colour, so that feels like the perfect bill to find (though I wouldn’t have complained about $100s either…haha).
Engie
Is it wrong that I immediately went to Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald as a literary duo?? That’s silly, of course. Frog and Toad? Tortoise and the hare? Charlotte and Wilbur? Dorothy and Toto? I am clearly stuck on animals in children’s lit. Charlie Brown and Lucy? NO ANIMALS. (Although Snoopy would be great…)
Elisabeth
Is it wrong that I have no idea who Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald are? So, spoiler alert: it’s not them!
Great guesses and since it’s clearly only one duo I love all this fodder for other years! I’ll reveal on Friday, maybe? And we’ll see how many people might get it right!
San
Oh, the lighthouse pictures are a delight. Thanks for sharing. And I saw your interview on Laura’s blog…. I think it’s so true that having the customers in mind is always, always the first step to success.
Funny you ask, I actually found a $10 bill when I was out on my run this week… and while that was a sweet surprise, I also have to tell you that I once found $400 on the street when I was traveling with my parents a few years ago. It felt borderline wrong to keep them but there was nobody around or any way to figure out where they came from… so I ended up treating my parents to a nice dinner ( and then some). 🙂
Mmh, I have no clue what A and L want to be for Halloween… a literary duo… Harry Potter and Hermione?
Elisabeth
Wow! $400! That’s incredible. And how fun you found $10 this week. With all the feedback about finding money, I feel like I’m living in the wrong place? I almost never find anything other than loose change (and even that’s pretty rare for me). Or maybe I just don’t pay attention – that might be an even likelier reason 🙂
Good guessing. I’ll confirm on Friday!
Jan Coates
Hi, Elisabeth – funny you should ask! I found a crisp $100 bill recently on the ground in the Haliburton Sculpture Forest. There’s a non-profit in Haliburton that I love – SIRCH (it supports all kinds of community initiatives), so I tucked that bill into their donation box the next time I visited their thrift store. Harry and Hermione? I’ll email re a coffee date soon…
Elisabeth
Wow – $100! Congrats and I love that you were able to pass it along.
I got your e-mail and am looking forward to connecting soon 🙂
Melissa
Stunning landscape and the weather looks gorgeous. You’re taking advantage of your autumn weather before winter rolls in? It was really interesting reading more about your work with John. I work with my husband too, which works well for us.
Literary duos? Hansel and Gretel?
Elisabeth
Have to take advantage of the weather while we can; it’s rainy and getting colder this week 🙁
I feel like I knew that you worked with your husband and certainly can’t remember any particulars; would love to know more!
Great guess – I’ll be back to confirm on Friday.
Nicole MacPherson
That is a REALLY great photo of you! And the lighthouses too!
Elisabeth
Aww. Thanks, friend <3
Kate
My guess is Harry Potter and Hermione! Or (if I’m allowed two guesses) the Mad Hatter and the Queen of Hearts. Super fun!
Loved reading more about your career path. My husband has the entrepreneurial spirit and I do not, haha. I love my job but I have no interest in expanding it beyond the bounds of seeing my patients (I work for a large primary care practice which is in turn under the umbrella of one of the largest healthcare systems in our region… a cog in the wheel for sure but I appreciate the stability that provides). Meanwhile, he’s always coming up with new ideas and he works tirelessly keeping multiple balls in the air. I’m in awe of his creativity and ambition! I think it’s lovely that while John travels so much, you still have so much time to connect over your work at home.
Elisabeth
Great guesses. I’ll come back on Friday with the answer!
I was definitely more of the “reluctant” entrepreneur…but it worked for us. And I learned a lot…and I think it brought us closer as a couple?!
Jenny
hmmm, My guess is also Harry Potter related, although not necessarily Harry and Hermione. Levi would make a good Draco Malfoy!
Inspired by you, I googled “lighthouses in South Florida” and found one that sounds great about an hour away. I’m planning a trip to see it!
I’m starting to feel poor- I haven’t found any money lately. Maybe today will be my lucky day.
Elisabeth
Some family members dressed up as FIVE characters from HP last year and the youngest son was Draco and it was SO CUTE. Great guess. I’ll be back on Friday with the answer.
I will be BEYOND THRILLED if you go to that lighthouse and blog about it <3
I was shocked with how many people had found money? This almost never happens to me; so don't feel bad. This is an anomaly in my life for sure!
Lisa's Yarns
That’s a beautiful photo of you!! I have no good photos of me by myself. My profile shot for work is so very dated. I have some selfies but I look pretty disheveled in them since that is my general look these days. 😉
I am also going to guess Sherlock and Watson! That is the only literary duo I can think of! I love that they came up with a sibling costume. I was hoping Taco would go as the Grinch this year but he did not like the idea. I mentioned this on Sat when they were watching the grinch (which we watch year-round in our house) and Paul said next year he wants to be the grinch and Taco could go as Max. I hope this idea sticks as I think it would be such a cute costume!
I’m looking forward to reading your post on LV’s blog!
Elisabeth
Ha. I told John I needed a few pictures of just me for the blog. I’m actually not usually in photos (I take selfies for the blog), but I have the WORST issue with my eyes closing in shots. So getting photos taken is one of my most loathed activities.
Great guess. I’ll be back on Friday with the correct answer. And yes, it was pretty cute that they both agreed to go as a team AND that neither one fought over who got which part of the literary duo.
I LOVE The Grinch <3