Life Lately | Good Food, At-Home Facials, Shopping in Bath, and a Rainy Day Project

Family time, good food, and at-home facials, plus some favorite shops in Bath and a bold change to the fish mould display in my kitchen

I have been coming and going a lot recently.

Don’t get me wrong—I’m certainly not complaining. My kids are spread out across the country, and I will do whatever it takes to spend time with them and the grandkids. But it has meant that when I’m home, I’m mostly playing catch-up and never quite moving forward. For a do-er like me, that can be frustrating. I have ideas (and sometimes even materials) just waiting to be brought to life.

And, of course, this dispatch too—I find myself either scrambling or failing to get it out each week.

All that is to say, I’m heading out of town again later this week, and my pre-trip to-do list is long. But there are a few things I want to share with you (yes, you are part of my list) before I leave.

They include what Leah, Jack, and I did when they visited over Easter weekend—including at-home facials with results as good as you get at the spa. A great new home design store in Bath, plus three cute boutiques where this Mim did some shopping for the little ones. And lastly, one of my many ideas—this one involving the kitchen fish mould display—that I actually managed to get out of my head and onto the wall last weekend.

Time’s a-tickin’, so no well-worded transitions today. Let’s just jump right in.

Easter Weekend and Home Facials

Months ago, my eldest, Leah, scheduled a visit over Easter weekend. She has a busy life—work, two kids, a husband, and a dog—so I was looking forward to some quality mother-daughter time. A bit of intensive R&R for Leah was also on the schedule.

I made plans for a couple of meals out, time together in the kitchen, and, as a treat, facials.

Then, at the last minute, Jack (the youngest) called to say that he and Margaux would be spending Easter with her family in Kennebunk, and afterward he would come up to join us. As I said earlier, I’ll take any opportunity to see my kids. I was just disappointed that Zoë had reached the no-travel phase of her pregnancy and couldn’t come too.

We had the best weekend together.

Dining Out

Some might say our family is a bit obsessed with food. We love to plan menus and cook, and we also enjoy a good meal out. So our weekend involved a mix of home cooking and dining out.

Saturday night, after her arrival, I was excited to take Leah to St. George Pizza, a local gem I only recently discovered. I wrote all about my first visit in the post A Little of This, A Little of That: Local Pizza, Québécois Folk Music, a Caskata Table Setting & Trader Joe’s Favorites. Just as I knew she would, Leah appreciated the cozy atmosphere and soft, airy Sicilian-style pizza. We also had the wedge salad — fresh red lettuce leaves topped with crispy bread crumbs. It was the perfect mix of tang and crunch.

The next morning we had a reservation at The Alna Store. I had been for brunch at this award-winning restaurant once before (I wrote about it here), but this visit felt extra special. Maybe it was how perfectly it fit the mood of the day—chilly and wet outside, warm and lively in. We sat next to a window streaked with rain, enjoying elevated takes on brunch classics: dark chocolate pecan banana bread seared in olive oil and topped with Maine honey and flaky salt, mushroom congee with a poached egg, huevos rancheros, and hot coffee (mine sweetened with maple syrup).

This is hands down my favorite restaurant in Maine at the moment. Don’t miss it if you are anywhere nearby.

Eating at Home

After two great meals out, we cooked at home for the rest of the weekend. Here’s what we made:

Charlie Bird’s Farro Salad with arugula, tomatoes, radishes, pistachios, mint, and shaved parm. I added pan-fried goat cheese croquettes on top. This is an easy spring salad that always feels a bit festive to me.

Vegetarian Taco Bowls with tofu, rice, cabbage, avocado, and feta.

Our family’s classic fried egg breakfast bagel sandwiches with cheddar, arugula, and hot honey (which adds the perfect hint of sweet and spicy).

Home facials

Nothing says a relaxing weekend like a bit of pampering, and a facial is my treatment of choice. Jack grew up with two sisters, so when he joined us “girls,” I knew he would be game too.

Leah suggested that instead of going to a spa, we do them at home, recalling memories of cucumber slices and oatmeal masks from childhood.

I was happy to do home facials, but I was a hard no on smearing breakfast food on my face at this point in my life.

A bit of online research brought me to Sonage, a California based, but French-inspired, skincare line focused on clean, natural, and non-toxic products. They offer several kits that allow you to give yourself a professional-grade facial at at home at a fraction of the spa price. I modified their Ultimate DIY At-Home Facial Kit with some of my own products.

Here’s how we did our facials:

Cleanse Caudalie Vinoclean Makeup Removing Cleansing Oil and La Roche-Posay Toleriane Hydrating Gentle Face Cleanser — the oil cleanser is something new for me, but I love how it cleans and moisturizes.

Exfoliate
Gommage Exfoliating Gel — a peeling gel that removes dead skin

Peel
Glow To Go Glycolic Acid Peel Pads — exfoliating pads that tingle a bit, but definitely make the skin glow. Similar to the Blue Mercury M-61 PowerGlow Peel pads at a third of the price.

Mask
Saffron Energizing Vitamin Mask — hydrating and anti-oxidant rich

Eye Mask
Eye Mask: M-61 Hydraboost Eye Masks — to refresh and reduce puffiness

Serum
Caudalie Resveratrol-Lift — my everyday serum which firms, lifts, and smooths the skin.

Moisturize
Caudalie Resveratrol-Life Night Cream — my nighttime face cream

Mist
Beauty Elixir Hydrating Face Mist — refreshes and finishes. I apply each night after my serum and moisturizer. It can also be used to set your makeup.

We had so much fun doing DIY facials. I even bought us some terry cloth headbands for the full spa experience. And the results? I truly think my skin looked brighter and smoother afterward.

But really, it’s all about feeling good, and this definitely helps me relax and feel pampered.

The Sonage website says the kit includes enough product for up to 30 facials, at a cost of about $6 each. I think it will be more like 15–20, but the cost per facial is still far less than what you would pay at a spa. Any of their kits would make a wonderful Mother’s Day gift—or just a nice way to treat yourself.

Shopping in Bath

Last Saturday I headed down the coast to Bath to do a bit of shopping. Best known as home to Bath Iron Works, a historic shipyard that has built vessels for the U.S. Navy for over a century, it also has a quaint main street lined with small shops and restaurants.

I was looking for a few gifts for Mira’s first birthday, and there was also a new home goods store I wanted to check out.

Maine Street Mercantile & Mfg. Co.

This “Designer Mercantile for furnishings, fixtures, fittings, and finishes” moved up the street over the winter into a larger historic building after a complete renovation. The new space is stunning, with original tin ceilings and salvaged architectural pieces.

A mix of retail space, design center, and hardware store, they have a bit of everything — furniture, accessories, artwork, carpeting, fixtures, and paint and wallpaper from luxury English brand Little Greene Paint Company.

They are still settling into the new storefront, but the beautifully curated displays were inspiring. I’ll be back!

Shopping for the Little ones

I chose Bath because there were three specific stores where I knew I could get my birthday shopping for Mira done:

Island Treasure Toys I just learned when writing today’s post that this small purveyor of quality toys actually has five locations in coastal Maine. They also have an online store (who knew?!), so you can support one of our local Maine businesses, no matter where you live.

I went specifically to get Mira the PlayTab Modular Activity Board and two sets of interchangeable activity tiles. This customizable activity center encourages fine motor skills and sensory learning. The tiles attach to the board magnetically or can also be used individually on the go, .

Pitter Patter children’s clothing store Who can resist baby clothes –especially for little girls. This store has a wide selection of children’s clothing from newborn to size 12. They also offer online shopping. I love how these small Maine shops have embraced the digital world.

Mockingbird Bookshop A wonderful independent book store with books for all ages. You can support them from afar by shopping through Bookshop.org.

I had such a successful day in Bath. Living in a fairly remote part of Maine, I certainly make my fair share (or more…) of online purchases. But when I do venture out in person, I’m always reminded how much more fun it is.

A Rainy Sunday Project

Sunday was rainy and chilly, and after getting out and about on Saturday, I spent the day at home.

I took advantage of the time to finally complete a small project I had been thinking about for months—rearranging the fish mould display on the kitchen wall. Not a difficult task, but not a fun one either. Once I started, I was committed, or I’d have a lot of unnecessary nail holes to fill. And while I usually have no problem envisioning what something will look like, in this case, I just couldn’t.

What if I didn’t like it?

But eventually I got to the point where the display was nagging at me. It wasn’t terrible. It had just come to seem overly contrived, hanging there by itself and not relating to anything else on the wall.

So I finally took the plunge, removed all 30-plus moulds, and laid them out on the living room floor in some approximation of a plan. Then I started hanging. Of course, I eventually abandoned the loose template and just began placing moulds where I thought they fit.

That, after all, is how I want the display to look—like something that has evolved over time, and will continue to grow in the future. (Perhaps covering the entire wall…) Organic, not perfect.

Happily, I can say that I love it. The wall reads as a whole now—including the TV. And the clock. The fish have room to breathe. It no longer mutters at me when I walk by. Instead, I barely notice the change, as though it has always been that way.

Now, though, the old nail holes have taken up the chant, “fill me.” That, however, is a project for another rainy day.

This Week Into Next

Well, I’ve cleaned the house for the pet sitter, finished the birthday crown, watered the plants, done laundry, taken Mads to the vet for her monthly Librela shot, and crossed off numerous administrative tasks.

I have a Zoom meeting tomorrow morning and still need to pack (though I’ve been planning what I’m bringing in my head), and take the trash and recycling to the transfer station.

And I’m close to checking this blog post off my to-do list too.

I’m checked in for my flight and almost ready to go!

Have a lovely week and be well, friends.