Favorite Things

This month's shinies were handwritten, hand-marked, iridescent, and unmistakably Australian. The Raccoon Files at their finest.

One month before my 40th birthday, I walked across a stage in a cap and gown. At the time I was carrying a full course load, a full-throttle internship, a part-time late night bartending gig, two daughters in middle school, a couple of dogs, and — of course — my husband. If that sounds like a lot, it's because it was. I basically ran a small circus and moonlighted as a college student. I didn't have a true weekend for months on end.

For the newcomers: raccoons are adorable, chaotic, and will take your shiny things with zero remorse — which is also a distressingly accurate description of me. So once a month I empty my little raccoon pockets right here and show you everything I dragged home. This month the haul leans less "design finds" and more "things keeping me entertained, organized, and mildly obsessed." Let's dig in.

We raised our girls, sold the house and 85% of everything we owned, and took off. There's no storage unit holding 25 years of our crap — there's a single shelf in my mom's basement, and that's about it. We miss nothing. It's been a year and a half of this lifestyle and we keep on keeping on.

If you've been around my corner of the internet for any length of time, you've met a woman named Madge Powers. Maybe you've wondered who she is. Maybe you think she's me. Maybe you ARE one of the people who knows me in real life and never learned my actual name — hi, surprise, we need to talk. It's time I explained. I first heard the name Madge Powers when I was little, in my Grammy's stories. Madge was real — she was Grammy's best friend growing up in Mineral Point, Wisconsi

Welcome to The Raccoon Files! A brief explanation for the new people: raccoons eat garbage, are absolutely adorable, chaotic, and totally obsessed with bright, shiny things, like me! So once a month, I empty my little raccoon pockets right here and show you everything I dragged home. No themes. No lessons. Only shiny things and the unhinged feelings they gave me. Here’s this month's haul. ** SOMETHING I CRAVE ** TACO BELL! Some loves are complicated. This one is not. I have