Merry’s Proof of Life

It’s been a hot minute. Yes, I, Merry of Merry About Town are alive and well. After so many months…um years of posting only a recipe every once in a while, I thought you all might want a Proof of Life for me.

When I bought my antique store & boutique in 2019, I had grand plans of keeping up with my blog and running my store seamlessly. Little did I know that 2020 was going to happen, running a store was a lot of work and the mental load would sap any desire I had to keep blogging. Even this reality didn’t make me want to get rid of my little piece of the internet. I hoped that one day I would magically acheive work/life balance.

Instead, I decided to sell my store in September of 2025. After 6 years, I was ready for some time off, a little less mental load and the ability to start planning for future retirement with my hubby. Now I have been jobless for 8 months and I think I’m finally getting used to it.

New Midlife Hobbies

Life is definitely slower these days though I still seem to be able to fill up the days without much trouble. While I do spend entirely too much time on my phone, I also fill my days with a few new hobbies like art journaling, taking art classes, yoga (a not so new hobby for me) and volunteering at a local organization that keeps food out of the landfill.

I also have a small booth in a local antique mall so I can keep finding awesome vintage pieces without filling up our house.

What’s Next?

We’ve purchased a sailboat on Vancouver Island with friends so we spend lots of time out there when the weather is nice. Dewey is planning on retiring soonish. He has lots of plans for sailing and travel. We still have 3 pets at home (Cooper (14 – Maltese), Poppy (5-Yorkie) and Noodle (1.5 – cat aka the house leopard) so I don’t see us living on a boat in the near future but it is definitely one of Dewey’s long term goals.

Two other big changes for me is that I got my Canadian Citizenship and am working to renounce my US citizenship. Life is much the same but also very different these days. It’s hard to mentally feel like I’m still in my 20’s but realize that I am 50.

So, that is a bit of an update. I’d love to write here more but I’d love to hear what you would like to see. As the years have passed, I find that I don’t post nearly as much as I used to even on social media. So gentle readers (yes, I watched and loved Bridgerton), what would you like to hear? Lemme know!