RJ Treleaven

Hello, My Lovelies! Welcome to the 44th Tales of the Traveling Tote. I have not been traveling much or even going to the lake recently. I have had family obligations keeping me busy, but my family held an intervention a couple of weeks ago and insisted that I get away for a quick weekend to my favorite city, Chicago. We planned to visit my two motherships: Wrigley Field and The Art Institute of Chicago.

We enjoy staying at the historic Palmer House because it's within walking distance to the Art Institute. Below is the pretty ceiling in the lobby.

On Friday night we ate at a fantastic Mediterranean restaurant called Avec. Everyone loved it, and we particularly enjoyed the family-style presentation.

Saturday morning, we ate breakfast at our favorite bakery and coffee shop, The Goddess and the Baker. They have the best breakfast pastries in Chicago! Then we headed to Wrigleyville. Shanley Belle and I visited a romance-only bookshop called The Last Chapter and had a ball. We like visiting Indie Bookshops while traveling.

After the bookshop, we met up with Christopher and Trip at the Friendly Confines of Wrigley Field.

Unfortunately, La Countess de Monet is too large to get into the stadium. Miss Square Peggy and Miss Candy Max are also too large. The dimensions must be no larger than 16" X 16" X 8". So I carried Miss Check You're Out! because she is petite at 16" X 11.5" X 4". She loved the game!

Clark the Cubbies' mascot before the game. We had great seats behind the dugout on the third base side.

The Cubbies beat the Pirates 3-1, so the W flag was flown!

Saturday night after the game we ate dinner at our favorite pizza place in the city, Chicago Pizza and Oven Grinders. They have the best pizza pie in the world! I always order the individual mushroom one.

Sunday morning we ate breakfast at The Goddess and the Baker again because we love it so much. Then we walked to the Art Institute for the Gustave Caillebotte: Painting His World exhibit. Since we're members, we were able to visit an hour earlier than the general public, so we saw the exhibit almost by ourselves. For the Sunday before school started on Monday, there were few people at the museum. I think it might have had something to do with the flooding rains on Saturday night.

Gustave Caillebotte was an independently wealthy Impressionist. He was good friends with Renoir, and he painted pretty much what he wanted to paint. During this time, painters usually painted lovely young women, but Caillebotte preferred painting men.

One of the lions in front of the museum.

I wanted to share with you two paintings, one by Renoir and one by Caillebotte.

I chose the mums by Renoir for autumn.

Chrysanthemums

Pierre August Renoir (French, 1841–1919)

1881-1882

Oil on canvas

21 5/8" × 25 7/8 "

I chose the Caillebotte painting (below) because I thought the perspective was neat.

The Boulevard Seen From Above

Gustave Caillebotte (French, 1848-1894)

1880

Oil on canvas

25 3/5" × 21 3/10"

We enjoyed the member's lounge and a late lunch of Giordano's Pizza. Before heading to the airport, we went to the world's largest Starbucks, the Starbucks Reserve. The four-story shop is truly something. We had the Chicago blend, and I brought some home with me.

I also purchased a beautiful book of the Van Gogh bedrooms because we saw the exhibit in 2016 at the Art Institute. I was so happy to have a lovely reminder of that trip, too. The Caillebotte brochures were really large, so I didn't buy one of them.

I love how the page folds out to show all three bedroom paintings.

This book is so nice, and it also features other paintings shown at the exhibit.

I hope you enjoyed my post on my whirlwind trip to Chicago. I literally have nothing else to share!

I'm sure the other Traveling Tote Ladies have much more interesting posts than mine, so give them a visit using the links below!

Debbie with Miss Aurora @ Mountain Breaths

Emily with Miss Courtney Childs@ The French Hutch

Linda P with Miss Lola @ Life and Linda

Patti with Miss Kenzie @ Pandora's Box

Rita with Miss Luna C @ Panoply

Sarah with Miss Merri Mac @ Hyacinths for the Soul

Jackie and Miss Madi K @ Purple Chocolat Home

Ricki Jill and Countess De Monet @ The Bookish Dilettante

This TTT giveaway is hosted by Sarah. Please make sure to leave a comment on her post in order to be entered.

Join us for our next adventures in December!

Until next time...

Blessings!
Ricki Jill

Tales of the Traveling Tote: My Motherships

Monday, September 1, 2025

Happy Monday, My Lovelies! I hope you've had a wonderful summer. Mine has been....busy. And not for a good reason.

My mother became ill in March, and she has been in two hospitals, two skilled nursing facilities, and one assisted living facility. It has been difficult because one moment she seems fine, and the next, she isn't.

Because I'm an only child, her care is solely on me. Mr. Bookish, and our daughters, and our son-in-law have been very helpful and supportive. I don't know what I'd do without my family.

We have only been to the lake twice all summer because we've spent a lot of time in my hometown settling her estate, selling her home, etc. She was released from the hospital Friday and sent to another SNF. I feel badly for her, and I'm hoping she can get the care she needs to improve her quality of life.

I miss being home because I'm such a home bird! My dogs have missed me a lot, and they have not been happy with my absence. I have missed working in our back garden, but fortunately for me, the annuals I planted haven't needed a lot of attention, and we've had so much rain.

This is my favorite time of year to be home, and the following is what I like most about it:

getting in the back-to-school mode (i.e. back on a schedule) even though no one in our home is in school right now
hearing the school buses driving up and down the hills early in the morning
making lists for buying new art supplies, pencils, and planners
planning trips to local art supply and stationary stores
getting up earlier with the school buses and reading my lessons for my Bible study that starts in August
cleaning out and organizing my menu/blogging desk in our kitchen
reorganizing my art studio

Speaking of school and art supplies....In late spring I applied to be a member of the Koh-I-Noor Artist Team. Koh-I-Noor is a company from the Czech Republic known for manufacturing pencils. The company's founder Franz Hardtmuth defined a total of 8 types of soft and hard pencils, two medium hard and one type for natural graphite. He marked the soft ones from B to 8B, with 8B being the softest and the 9B mark is for natural graphite. The marks of soft gradations were based on the same principle as for hard gradations, just with the letter H. Later, a number of gradations H - H8 were extended by H9 and H10. According to the personal notes of Franz Hardtmuth, the marking of pencils using the letter H originates from the family surname Hardtmuth, B means Budweis, or Budějovice in Czech language (a Czech city), and F refers to his first name Franz. This 21-degree gradation marking system for graphite cores is still used by most pencil manufacturers around the world. Most of you have heard of the number 2 pencil: That one is actually a "2B."

I was accepted, and I wanted to share the projects I shared on Instagram.

I drew these peaches with Koh-I-Noor's Tri-Toned Colored Pencils. Each pencil has three different colors in it. I think It makes drawings very interesting because the artist can't control when the colors change from one to another.

I like to make bookmarks for my favorite books and place them in my reading tag journals.

I drew this one with the Mondeluz gray-toned colored pencils.

When I applied for the Artist Team I had no idea that my mother's condition would decline so rapidly. I have not drawn anything this month, and I'm feeling the pressure because I believe in honoring my commitments. If I had known that my mom would require another hospital and SNF stay, I would not have applied.

We have been planning different major projects around our home. I have met with a decorator and carpenter. We are postponing our planning meetings until after Labor Day because I have too much going on right now to meet with them. Because we are saving for these projects, I haven't been spending a lot of money "fluffing" the house this summer. I did purchase one thing during the MacKenzie-Childs Barn Sale, though, and I hope to use it soon.

This is the Piccadilly pie plate. I wanted to bake a tomato pie in it before summer ends.

I hope I can!

I would like to get back into blogging, but it's hard because I haven't been home much to blog. I have posted on Instagram because it's easier to do so on the run. If you would, please follow me on Instagram, and also please, if you do follow me, like and comment on the posts for Koh-I-Noor. They were so kind to send me beautiful pencils and paper for my art in exchange for posting on IG. I would really appreciate it. Click on the graphic below to follow me.

I haven't been reading as much as I normally do, but I will try to put together a Summer Reading post in mid-September and feature my favorite books of the summer.

Below is a teaser of my Welcome Fall tablescape:

I hope you will come back next week and read these posts!

Until next time...

Blessings!
Ricki Jill

Late Summer Update and Upcoming Posts

Monday, August 25, 2025

Happy Tuesday, My Lovelies!

So how is your week going so far? Mine has been busy and productive. :D

Today I'm sharing a women's fiction selection: The Last Letter of Rachel Ellsworth by Barbara O'Neal. It is out today, so Happy Pub Day! I have reviewed her books here on the blog before, and I really like her books. Use the search engine at the top of the page if you're interested in reading more reviews of her work.

Not only was I gifted the book, but I was also given the cute bookmark and the sticker.

About the Book:

Publisher: Lake Union Publishing (July 29, 2025)
Paperback: 397 pages

About the Author:

Barbara O’Neal is the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and Amazon Charts bestselling author of nearly twenty novels of women’s fiction, including the #1 Amazon Charts bestseller When We Believed in Mermaids, as well as Memories of the Lost, This Place of Wonder, and The Starfish Sisters. Her award-winning books have been published in over two dozen countries. She lives on the wild Oregon Coast with her husband, a British endurance athlete who vows he’ll never lose his accent.

According to Goodreads:

Two women overcoming past traumas embark on a healing journey across continents in a novel about friendship, family, and rediscovery by the USA Today bestselling author of When We Believed in Mermaids.

Recently and abruptly divorced Veronica Barrington is anxious for a new direction when she answers a listing for a travel companion. It’s from Mariah Ellsworth, a young woman adjusting to an injury that ended her Olympic career. She’s also grieving her mother, Rachel, a lauded food writer, and Mariah aims to trace the steps of her mother’s final, unfinished project so she can heal and also honor the woman she misses.

Veronica seizes on the opportunity to experience with Mariah the culture, traditions, and intoxicating aromas of Parsi cafés throughout London, Paris, Morocco, and India. Accompanied by a former war photographer who has a wounded history of his own, and with just Rachel’s letters to guide them, the quest is a chance to not only close a chapter in life but also begin a new one.

Following the letters one by one—each a clue to an illuminating mystery—Veronica and Mariah must face the painful and beautiful challenges of freeing themselves from the dark shadows of the past. Together, far from home, they can find the light.

My Review:

The first thing I want to share with you about this book is that the characters are very well-drawn and complex. Both women are flawed and make very poor choices, yet I still found myself rooting for them. Veronica's divorce left her destitute, which I find unlikely given her social class and education. This was one plot point I couldn't quite understand. Mariah is suffering from trauma, yet she is determined to travel the world to investigate her late mother's past and unfinished foodie travel book project about Parsi cafés, all linked to a specific Indian family.

There is a third traveler in their little group: Henry, a photographer and one of Rachel's former boyfriends (Rachel is Mariah's mother). Mariah hired him to document the trip and foodie adventures in the hopes of selling the project to her mother's publisher. That's where Veronica comes into the picture: She can speak French, she's a good researcher, and Mariah wants her to finish writing the book. Henry is a sort of foil to Mariah and Veronica's angst: He is confident, calm, and as a former war correspondent, very helpful as a traveling companion.

I got great satisfaction that Veronica was traveling to London, Paris. Marrakesh, and India during Christmas while her not so delightful family are miserable in Breckenridge. Her grown children are a disappointment, and there is a found family element to this story as Mariah and Veronica become true friends by the end of the book. As the mystery of Rachel's past is slowly revealed through her letters she wrote to her sister, Jill, it becomes less important to the overall story arc. Jill sends them to Veronica via email in small batches throughout their trip, and she wants to withhold the last one because it's disturbing. There is also a magical realism element to the story that I wish had been more fully developed. There seems to be much more to this story than meets the eye, and I can only hope that there might be a sequel in the works.

This book is about how two women are struggling to recover from heartbreak and disappointment. It isn't an easy read, but if you like family drama, travel, foodie writing, magical realism, and found family, then you should enjoy reading The Last Letter of Rachel Ellsworth.

Disclosure: I'd like to thank TLC Book Tours for inviting me to be a part of this blog tour. They sent me a paperback copy of the book and other swag via the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

What have you read this summer? Are there any books you'd like to recommend to us?

Until next time...

Happy reading!

Ricki Jill

Book Review: The Last Letter of Rachel Ellsworth

Tuesday, July 29, 2025

Happy Monday, My Lovelies! How was your weekend? Ours was nice. We were actually in town for the first weekend in a really long time.

Today is Bastille Day! To celebrate, I put together a little tablescape in honor of our French friends. We owe a wee bit of our Independence here in the USofA to the French and their help during the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812.

If I could get away with it, I would eat cake everyday. I think cake is the perfect treat for Bastille Day, don't you? But we are having small bites: little petit fours with our daughter's favorite tea, "Paris," by Harney & Sons. We had birthday cake last week for Independence Day and Shelley's birthday; Mr. Bookish's birthday is Thursday, and my mom's is Saturday. "Let them eat cake," indeed! We need to go easy on the sweets today. ;P

My husband has French ancestry, plus he's from New Orleans. His parents lived right around the corner from the French Consulate in the Garden District. Our daughters both have French middle names in honor of this heritage.

Below are the resources used on our table. I don't think anything is new.

French Toile Placemats: The Metropolitan Museum of Art

White Crochet-Trimmed Napkins: Vintage

Spoons: Horchow

China: (From our wedding registry) Rosedale by Wedgwood

Marie Antoinette vase and napkin rings: Molly Hatch via Anthropology

Ribbon: Michael's Crafts

If you're looking for something to read today, here are three recommendations:

The Balcony is about a French country estate and the families who lived their over the span of about a century.

All the Light We Cannot See is a WWII historical fiction that is one of my all-time favorite books. Please read this book!

Paris is nonfiction, and it takes us on a tour of all twenty of the city's arrondissements. I found it fascinating!

I hope you have a lovely week!

Until next time...

Blessings!
Ricki Jill

Bastille Day 2025

Monday, July 14, 2025

The red, white, and blue rose garland is an Etsy find. The variety pack of patriotic ribbon is from Michael's Crafts.

Happy Tuesday, My Lovelies! What are your plans for Independence Day? We plan on celebrating with family and friends at Lake Martin. I can't wait to have the family together. We have a few Independence Day traditions we enjoy: grilling, boating, tubing, boat parading, and watching fireworks.

But just in case it storms (because we had rain and storms every single day during the month of June), I went ahead and decorated a little bit here in Birmingham....because if the weather is awful, we'll celebrate here. I thought I'd drop in and write a very quick post for y'all and share.

Our dining room is ready with a rose centerpiece, patriotic streamers and bows, firecrackers, scatter stars, placemats, and a cute USA sign.

See the sunshine? I was so happy to see it streaming through our window, I took these photos. This was during the one hour of sunshine we had last month.

These votives I usually display for Christmas and St. Valentine's Day, but they also work for Independence Day.

I purchased the patriotic garland at Michael's.

I like the little critters from Terrain. I usually have one in our terrarium, and the fairy lights come on at night.

This little dude is displayed on our Pressed Flower Work Table.

In case you missed you, click on the photo below for my Americana Tablescape.

Until next time...

Blessings!
Ricki Jill

Independence Day Decor 2025

Tuesday, July 1, 2025

Hello, My Lovelies! I hope you are well and having a lovely summer. I'm beginning to see the first of the back-to-school ads, and it isn't even Independence Day yet! In other news, we had our first day of sunshine after weeks of rainy and stormy days. And with the sunny skies, the heat has returned. But that's okay!

Today I wanted to share with you a few projects I've been working on in my art studio. I've accomplished much because of the rain keeping me inside. The first thing I want to share is a finished oil painting from a photo I took on our trip last year. It's a cartouche from the Imperial Apartments at Göttwieg Abbey in Krems, Austria.

Imperial Apartment Cartouche

16" X 12"

oil on linen panel

I've also been doing a lot of crafting. This year I've been keeping up with my reading with monthly reading tag journals. I hang them with "S" hooks on an over-the-table rod in my studio. I will share more about it in a week or so. I've also been making hand-painted and drawn bookmarks of my favorite books that I place in the tag journals.

This is the finished reading tag journal for May.

This is an example of a handmade bookmark I made for Jenny Hickman's For Ever.

This is a special edition book.

I mentioned in an earlier post that I was fighting a cold at the beginning of June, and that I had been drinking copious amounts of hot tea. Below is my new favorite recipe for tea, and it is made from a Chocolate Earl Grey Tea, the "Cozy" blend based on Meg's Tea Room (an Instagram influencer) by Cliché Teas.

We were about three weeks late signing-up for our summer community supported agriculture box. We received our first box on Thursday, and we are very happy with it.