7-26-26 MY INSPO: ss2026 pool bag and stitched in history

what's in my bag - summer 2026, poolside edition

another what's in my bag? moment - pool bag edition. i feel guilty i haven't thought of sharing what was in my croatian beach bag, but to compensate i'll dig into the tote bag of the summer!

pool wristbands (gotta love your hoa)
beach towel
headphones - to switch between the poolsuite app for naps, and my book playlist
current read - tri drame na everestu
sunscreen
tanning oil
hair mask (i'm not a natural blonde but i will do everything in my power not to fry my hair)
current tote - rose print

stitched in history

sib and i stopped at the james a garfield house not far from home. for days i've been seeing the promo for their stitched in history exhibit, and it was a great excuse to finally go and visit it. 

the first portion was a self-guided exhibit, mainly focused on the history of garfield's presidential campaign, view on darwinism, slavery, and women in politics. yawn - he naturally assumed a woman's role must be bearing children, as he, a man, needs thunder. of course, his wife, lucretia, aka crete, assumed the role wholeheartedly. but more about her soon.

garfield's reading room, and his reading fabulous chair from the white house.

the second portion was led by a friendly park ranger with many anecdotes, and the focus was still mainly on james, but the main figure really was lucretia. especially in lawnfield, the home in mentor. the house was at first a small ranch, housing 8 members of the garfield family, all while james garfield was beginning his presidential career. lucretia was the one adding on to the home, turning it into a gilded mansion!

the house is almost completely fully restored, with 90% items that belonged to the family. not many replicas here. lucretia's influence is everywhere, from the clothing she sewed, displayed for the exhibit, to the impeccable hand-painted tiles on the dining room mantle. sure, you got james' bust, portrait, and letters (especially in grandma's room - talk about mommy issues). but lucretia was the one. she ensured to host, and when garfield was shot and died, she had to become the head of the home, welcoming guests, corresponding to letters, continuing the renovation of the home, all while draped in black. 

some interesting facts about lucretia: she built a fireproof walk-in safe with all of garfield's papers saved, becoming an archivist that later inspired the country's library of congress.

after garfield passed, she became so-to-speak pen pals with queen victoria, both wearing black until they died, mourning their late husbands. 

it is alleged that the house is still haunted by lucretia, who is still in mourning of her husband who never made it home.

the siena college expert survey of the first ladies ranked crete garfield #27 based on the following categories: background (#30), value to the country (3.07/5), being the white house steward (3.03/5), courage (3.19/5), accomplishments (3.02/5), integrity (3.12/5), leadership (3.04/5), being her own woman (3.08), public image (3.10/5), value to the president (3.15/5) and a mean score of 3.09/5. for reference, the best score was abigail adams with a mean score of 4.18/5, the worst was (did you guess?) melania trump with a mean score of 2.31/5. for further first lady fashion education, i recommend the book looking for jackie.

daughter molly's wedding dress, sewn by crete

while lucretia wasn't a groundbreaking suffragette of her time, one may find similarities between her and jackie o. mrs garfield had impeccable taste and immense talent. it's really cool to see her legacy down the road. 

things don't turn up in this world until somebody turns them up.

~ james a. garfield