Are you a homebody? These cute & free bookmarks are for you!

These cute & free printable fall bookmarks are perfect for cozy fall book reading–download the free printable bookmark PDF here!


I squirmed and shifted in my seat. I pulled my elbows in closer to fit the 18 inches of personal space allotted to me. I turtled into my scarf and brought my book closer to my face. I thought really, really hard about what Eleanor’s apartment looked like and how really, really nice it would be to be there instead of here.

That’s the only way to survive a plane flight, isn’t it?

Especially if you’re in a tiny discount airline seat. Especially if you’re so cold you might put on every piece of clothing inside your one included personal item. Especially if the person next to you is an armrest hog and a chatterer. (Ugh, isn’t that the worst combination?

I was on a discount airline flight like that last week on our way to Ann Arbor, and it made me think long and hard about how good I have it at home. (I shared an inside peek at my reading nook recently, if you missed it!)

reading nook mistakes

I travel a lot for work and non-work, which is hilarious because I’m such a homebody. I’ve always found it supremely comical that Jarrett and I were long-distance for 5 years and that now I travel nearly every other week for work. Because if you’ve seen me, you know I’m the least graceful traveler on every plane, train, or automobile.

If there’s something to complain about (and when is there not?!) I. Am. On. It. (First of all, it’s too cold in here; second of all, I’m really thirsty; third of all…)

Are you a homebody, too?

If so, I have some hard news for you: there’s no way to see the world (and the world is great!) unless you get into a tin can hurtling through time and space every once in a while.

But, there are little things you can do to make the whole experience a bit cozier and less get-me-off-this-damn-thing-before-I-scream-y. (Now there’s an adjective for ya.)

First, figure out what comforts you during rough moments. For me, it’s yoga pants, extra warm socks, 10 or so layers of clothing, a scarf to hide in, a book to escape into, a jacket to drape like a blanket, and the largest damn cup of coffee they can legally sell me. (I wasn’t kidding about that high maintenance thing.)

Maybe you like those things, too? And want to have a reminder of them with you no matter what tiny little crevice of the world you’re reading in?

You, reader, need a cozy fall bookmark.

free printable fall bookmarks

I designed this bookmark last year to celebrate the arrival of all things cozy and fall, and this year I wanted to redesign it to make it a bit fresher and brighter.

This free printable bookmark is the perfect way to mark your spot between sips of cider, or to remind you to pack up your cozy essentials before you hit the road with your reading.

So if you love books + blankets + hot coffee + warm socks as much as I do (and I know you do!) then head on over to The Library and download this free printable bookmark.

I loaded this fall bookmark up with all the cozy fall essentials you’ll need, as well as one of my favorite John Green quotes:

“Reading forces you to be quiet in a world that no longer makes place for that.” — John Green

 

This printable bookmark is also perfect if you ever find yourself in a spot with chatterers (ahem…) and want a little bit of quiet in your world. When you stick it out of your book just so, that loud person in 22B will have a subtle reminder that “Shh…I’m reading.” And it’s okay if the loud person in 22B is your husband. He needs to pipe down every once in a while, too.

I hope this fall themed bookmark helps you get lost in a book while surrounded by your favorite cozy things, no matter how tight your next airline seat might be!

free printable fall bookmarks

Click here to download this free printable bookmark!

Get one free tip for reading more + living better each week!


What I’m Reading This Week

Smitten Kitchen’s Deb Perelman Talks Food Blogging and New Cookbook (Shay Spence for People): Stonesong’s own Deb Perelman had a lovely print feature in People this week! My favorite quote? “Though Perelman sacrifices counter space in the tiny apartment in the big city, the minimalist lifestyle fits with her brand of simplified cooking. ‘My feeling is if it’s too crowded in here, it’s not because the apartment is too small, it’s because we have too much stuff,’ she says. ‘We’re not living fancy, but I get to work for myself and raise a family in the city I love. I’m so thankful because I feel like I have a really good life.’

How Creative Subheadings Can Make or Break Your Content (Erika Fitzgerald for The Write Life): Maybe you’re tinkering with a subhead for an article; maybe you’re deciding on a subtitle for your book; maybe you want to throw up your hands and burn it all down. Well, put down the flamethrower and read this first. Subheads are extremely important, and it’s worth taking a deep breath and getting them right.

Blogger Gets Cookbook Deal With 1-Sentence Email (Dianne Jacob): An interesting piece on how trend-driven cookbooks come about…worth reading if you’ve ever been approached by a small or medium sized publisher and want to know what it might be like!

Great Writers on the Letters of the Alphabet (Maria Popova of Brain Pickings): Oo, I love this. An ode to each letter of the alphabet with drawings by David Hockney and micro-essays by Susan Sontag, Seamus Heaney, Martin Amis, John Updike, Joyce Carol Oates, Erica Jong, Kazuo Ishiguro, and others. What’s lovelier than that?


What We’re Eating This Week

Oh, I give up. Do you ever hit 6 pm and think that? I never, ever do because I work on cookbooks and always cook out of them. (Narrator: she didn’t.) But let’s play a game called Fantasy Dinner Theater where I talk about all the things I want to cook and eat, and then you tell me how delusional I am. Okay? Let’s go!

Monday: On Monday, we’ll enjoy a fine roast duck with mashed potatoes (with all the butter and all the cream, of course), plus perfectly charred Brussels sprouts in a duck fat vinaigrette.

Tuesday: I’ll finally cook a vintage recipe from The New York Times Cookbook. Probably something with aspic, which I’ll flawlessly execute and also miraculously transform into something people want to eat.

Wednesday: I’ll take a break from excellence and order Peter Chang’s, and I won’t even ask them to make it less spicy because I’m very sophisticated like that.

Thursday: Thursday feels like a day for soufflé, yes? I’ll pop a few soufflés in after work, throw together a vegetable gratin, and we’ll sit down to eat a steaming hot and perfectly balanced meal at 6:30 on the dot.

Friday: I take it easy with a make your own pizza station with dough I hand-kneaded at 6 in the morning, mozzarella I fresh-pulled right after that, sauce made with tomatoes from my imaginary garden, and 10-12 perfectly chopped complementary toppings in 10-12 little bowls, which I won’t even complain about washing.

Saturday: Fantasy Dinner Theater is cancelled after a short and and record-settingly unsuccessful run, and now we’re back to our regular programming of panic and laziness. Enjoy the show.

Cheers!

Cozy Printable Bookmarks for Fall

As I write this, I’m sitting in my favorite armchair (this one) in my favorite socks (these) about to pick up and read my newest book (reading this after receiving the recommendation from a fellow blogger!).

best socks for reading

In fact, those socks are so fantastic that I wrote a long ode to them on Instagram. You know that feeling you get when you’ve got all your favorite things surrounding you, and you finally settle in to work? It’s bliss.

So today let’s celebrate cozy fall favorites.

A favorite blanket. A favorite armchair. A favorite sweater. A favorite coffee mug. All of these come together to make what we around here call Peak Fall. Peak Fall is that moment when you’re head-over-heels for basic fall favorites, and you don’t give a flying foliage who knows it.

That’s why today I want to give you guys the one accessory you’re probably missing for getting cozified (Is that a word? Should we care?).  It’s for that moment when you’re nestled up in your book nest, wrapped in your favorite blanket, hands around a warm mug and feet inside the perfect pair of socks.

It’s a bookmark!

free printable bookmark

How else will you mark your spot between sips of warm cider? We have to think of the practicalities here, you know.

I wanted to make this bookmark as pretty + practical as possible, so I designed it with a few little reminders of what else you need for the perfect reading session.

free printable bookmark

So if you love books + blankets + hot coffee + warm socks as much as I do (and I know you do!) then go ahead and download this free bookmark.

free printable bookmark

 

I loaded it up with all the cozy fall essentials you’ll need, as well as one of my favorite John Green quotes:

“Reading forces you be quiet in a world that no longer makes place for that.” — John Green

free printable bookmark

I hope this bookmark helps you mark out a few minutes each day to get lost in a book, surrounded by all your cozy fall favorites.

Click here to download this free printable bookmark!

By the way, did you know I also have a free printable summer-themed bookmark? You betcha. Grab it here!


What I’m Reading This Week:

New York Times Company Buys The Wirecutter (Sydney Ember for The New York Times): This is a fascinating new development in the world of online affiliate marketing, where media sources of any kind can receive commissions for products sold through their links. This is already incredibly popular with bloggers, and publishers are also revamping their sites to allow for both affiliate sales and direct-to-consumer sales. But to see a big media outlet like the NYT make an acquisition around affiliate sales–now that says a lot.

The Unusual Eating Habits of Successful People (Unum): Guess who ate carrots for weeks at a time because he thought it prevented body odor and allowed him to shower just once a week? (If you guessed Jarrett, I’m laughing right along with you!)

Honoring the Commander Herself (CJ Lotz for Garden & Gun): “Behind the talents of chefs from Emeril Lagasse to Tory McPhail to the late Jamie Shannon and Paul Prudhomme stands one woman—the New Orleans restaurateur Ella Brennan.”

Which Indie Bookstore Are You? (Lauren Friedlander for Glommable): I usually never take these silly online quizzes, but this one was short and I couldn’t resist. It turns out I’m Powell’s Books in Portland, although I’m convinced that’s just because Omnivore wasn’t one of the results!


What We’re Cooking This Week:

Monday: No-recipe Monday (ahem, not quite in sync with the NYT’s No-Recipe Wednesday). But we were at a wedding in NYC all weekend and had nary a minute to menu plan until it was too late! So Trader Joe’s brats and roasted cauliflower with lemon and olive oil it was. Oh, the glamorous life of a cookbook agent.

Tuesday: One-Pan Lemon Garlic Pasta, recommended to me by one of my authors. This got thumbs up from both of us, especially with extra basil and some broccoli on the side.

Wednesday: Grilled Steak over Greek Salad (with extra olives and chickpeas, of course).

Thursday: Canal House Lentils with more cauliflower. I’ve got it bad for cauli these days.

Friday: Panic and dismay. Or maybe eggs for dinner? Yeah, eggs. We’ll call it a frittata and go along on our merry way.

Happy Halloween weekend, everyone!

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