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Hi, I’m Marcia.
Teacher turned storyteller, coast dweller turned city explorer. I share everyday beauty through words, music, and photos…welcoming slow mornings, garden paths, and all the little joys that make a life well-loved.
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Two Months In: A Mid-Year ReflectionJune 9, 2025A Quiet Courtyard SummerJune 16, 2025Styling Our Home in This New ChapterJune 2, 2025Dressing for this New ChapterMay 26, 2025 BLOG ARCHIVES
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Recent Comments
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- Kathi Marquette on A Quiet Courtyard Summer
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- Marcia Ren on A Morning I Almost Missed
- Marcia Ren on A Morning I Almost Missed
Category Archives: Our Home
Summer, Sweetly Begun
A soft summer evening filled with music, meandering, and a spontaneous stop for something sweet. This gentle night marked the beginning of the season…and reminded me of the quiet joy in showing up for the small things. Read the full blog post
Posted in Our Home
Tagged Evening Walks, Reflections, Seasonal Joy, Simple Liing, Slow Living, Summer
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A Quiet Courtyard Summer
In this new season of life, I’ve traded in my wide garden beds for a quiet courtyard space… simple, peaceful, and just enough. It’s a shift toward intentional beauty and ease, and this summer, it feels just right. Read the full blog post
Posted in Garden/Tea Time, Our Home
Tagged Courtyard garden, intentional home, simple living
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Two Months In: A Mid-Year Reflection
It’s been just two months since our big move, but it all began on New Year’s Day with a simple conversation and a hopeful. “what if?” In this mid year reflection, I’m looking back at the world of decisions, boxes, goodbyes… and all the ways this new chapter is already shaping our lives. Read the full blog post
A Small Victory: Stepping Up and Settling In
In the quiet moments of change, we often met was surprising clarity. This post is a gentle reflection on finding peace when life feels uncertain, and how faith, presence, and even small victories can anchor us. Part of the “Seasons of Home” series, it’s an offering of encouragement to those navigating new chapters, wherever you find yourself today. Read the full blog post
Seasons of Home: A new rhythm, a different kind of beauty
For nearly a decade, I wrote from a place that felt deeply rooted in my soul…Marcia’s Cottage by the Sea. That name held the salt air, the rhythm of waves, the scent of hydrangeas in summer, and the cozy charm of a cottage built in the 1920’s. It reflected not just where I lived, but how I lived… soft, feminine, surrounded by the feminine comforts I loved. Now, life has changed. After 10 wonderful years on the coast, my husband, and I felt the gentle pull towards something different. We sold our home. We let go of many things. And … Read the full blog post
When the World Feels Loud: Listening for Peace in the Quiet Corners
There are days that begin with the comfort of routine…grocery lists and favorite stores, a fresh haircut appointment, a tidy to-do list. Days where everything seems to hum along just fine. And yet, sometimes, beneath the quiet rhythm of life, there’s another current. One that pulls gently at the edges of the should, asking for attention. Today was a good day. I went to Trader Joe’s…a place I always enjoy, full of cheerful flowers and familiar things…and made an appointment at a nearby salon. I appreciated that it’s so close to home, even if it doesn’t offer everything I’m used … Read the full blog post
Of Sofas, Screwdrivers, and Surrendering to St. Vincent de Paul
There are a few things in life that humble a person faster than a Wayfair furniture delivery. Not long ago, I had a grand vision: a sweet little dresser…simple, stylish, and perfect for our new townhome. The kind of piece that whispers, “I’m both charming and useful.” I clicked order, felt productive and confident…and a few days later, a box arrived that looked less like a dresser and more like an adult version of a 1,000-piece puzzle. Naturally, our kind friend who usually helps us assemble these marvels of modern inconvenience was tied up. So, while I was out, Joe…bless … Read the full blog post
Posted in Our Home
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After Goodbye: A Story Still Unfolding (Finding grace in the in-between)
“Sometimes the bravest thing we do is begin again…quietly” – Unknown It’s been a week and a day since we stepped through the door of our new townhome…a modest, light-filled place nestled in the rhythm of a different city. The kind of place where the mornings are quiet, the birds sound unfamiliar, and the light pours in from just the right angle to remind me we’re somewhere new. In many ways, the goodbye we just lived through feels like it happened years ago. And in other ways, it’s still sitting with me…tucked inside half-sealed boxes, in the scent of our … Read the full blog post
Posted in Our Home
Tagged gracious living, Intentional Living, life transitions, Living Well, New Chapter, simple living
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Chapter 5: Saying Good-bye
As Eleanor packed the last of the boxes, she realized that the weight of goodbye wasn’t just in the belongings she had sorted through or the memories tucked away in old photographs. It was in the people, the routines, the way this place had shaped them. Letting go of a house was one thing…letting go of a life built within it was another. She hadn’t expected it to be so hard. And yet, amidst the bittersweet goodbyes, a quiet certainty remained. She and Thomas were ready. A new chapter was waiting, and it was time to begin searching for the … Read the full blog post
Posted in Our Home
Tagged closure, Letting go, moving on with hope, quiet fiction, starting over, the art of goodbye
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