Meredith Barnes Writer

Mer Rugby Stripe dress on Rust Stairs

Hi.

Welcome to my blog. I'm so excited to share with you my latest finds and feels.

Things we used to do before COVID-19. Yoga with goats is one of the many things that seems so in juxtaposition to where we are now. How glamorous to have so much time on our hands that we could use some of it with farm animals and a yoga

Jul 29

Jul 29

Meredith Barnes

Don’t let what you think you’ve lost distract you from what you have.  I’ve spent a lot of time mourning the loss of routine in my life. I’ve allowed myself to feel disconnected and point to what used to be in my defense. I have acq

Jul 27

Jul 27

Meredith Barnes

It started as a little stinging in my right eye and a tingle in my nose. Tears flooded down my cheeks. Of course right as this started Ben walked through the doors to find me sobbing on the couch looking at my phone. I pulled the blanket

Jul 24

Jul 24

Meredith Barnes

We packed towels, food, the kite and boogie board, a stroller, baby carrier, forgot the sunscreen and headed to the beach. As I’ve said before, I’m not a beach person. I love a good beach view but once I get up close there are lots of bar

Jul 22

Jul 22

Meredith Barnes

Psalm 51: 10-17 “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing sp

Jul 20

Jul 20

Meredith Barnes

When school was cancelled and I was searching for the new routine, my mom and I started taking the older two boys on walks. At first it was 45 mins around our neighborhood. We did scavenger hunts for everyday items, we counted how many ba

Jul 17

Jul 17

Meredith Barnes

I broke some glass in my kitchen a few weeks ago. One of those frustrating moments when the item simply slips from your hands and shatters. I did my best to clean it up. I swept, wiped, vacuumed, got down on my hands and knees and inspect

Jul 15

Jul 15

Meredith Barnes

I prepared food this morning in a mask. That actually doesn’t sound that strange given the time we are living in. But it wasn’t that kind of mask. It was a felt mask representing a villain in my kid’s favorite cartoon. So as I spread jell

Jul 13

Jul 13

Meredith Barnes

I once tried to befriend a homeless man. He sat on the same park bench that I ran by daily. Eventually as our faces became familiar to each other I would share a few words with him. One day I asked if there was anything he needed. He aske

Jul 10

Jul 10

Meredith Barnes

The loss of community. The casualties from safer at home have not been with those whom I am closest. It has been with those that I’m not. The mom’s I would see at the kid’s gymnastics practice, the friends from church, the women from the

Jul 8

Jul 8

Meredith Barnes

Every morning at 6am my alarm goes off. Sometimes I’m already awake, eyes bleary from an interrupted night of sleep, by either a child or my own mind moving to corners of my brain that I might avoid during waking hours. Other times, I rea

Jul 6

Jul 6

Meredith Barnes

Seeing the pain and grit of the world doesn’t mean we cannot also see the beauty. Rather it illuminates the true beauty. Today I’m looking for the light. I’m lifting my head towards the sun. I will grab onto hope in whatever form it appea

Jul 3

Jul 3

Meredith Barnes

Mom confession, when I started looking for a preschool for my oldest son I was out of town. We spend summers in the midwest and live in California. This means I found myself shopping around for a preschool thousands of miles from where th

Jul 1

Jul 1

Meredith Barnes

When we started this pandemic, here in Los Angeles, we were told that we were going to have a safer at home order for two weeks. Looking back at this I'm embarrassed that I didn't look beyond those initial two weeks. I don't remember aski

Jun 29

Jun 29

Meredith Barnes

It’s been a long time coming. Some of you might have sensed the shift. I started this venture on IG and my blog with the intention of sharing fashion as well as promoting clothing that I make. So for the first year or so I did that. I fou

Jun 26

Jun 26

Meredith Barnes

I’ve been making masks for the homeless. Truthfully I did not land on this good deed as early in the pandemic as I would have liked to. I was driving in early May and there were people on the streets without masks. I started to wonder if

Jun 25

Jun 25

Meredith Barnes

My brother and I have vastly different memories of our childhoods. We can recall the same events with completely independent perspectives. Raised by the same parents in the same house. We are 4 1/2 years apart. It's tempting when he comes

Jun 22

Jun 22

Meredith Barnes

Human Family by Maya Angelou I note the obvious differences in the human family. Some of us are serious, some thrive on comedy. Some declare their lives are lived as true profundity, and others claim they really live the real reality.

Jun 19

Jun 19

Meredith Barnes

I’ve started a new endeavor recently. This has put me in a place of not knowing. I am not the expert. I am learning. When working on the project, I noticed that I got defensive when someone started asking questions that I didn’t have the

Jun 17

Jun 17

Meredith Barnes

I’m one of those people who is good enough at most anything I try. I’m good enough to get by but not great. Match that with a healthy curiosity about everything and it has lead me to try may pursuits. Sewing is one of those pursuits. Thi

Jun 15

Jun 15

Meredith Barnes