It’s my 40th birthday today!! What a privilege to celebrate another trip around the sun and to have experienced 40 of them. Like I usually do on my birthday, I have a leisurely day planned full of my favorite things including an early morning Orange Theory class followed by reading over my favorite breakfast at The Coffee Shop (a cafe au lait, a scone, and the San Diegan). For dinner I always request homemade pizza and Chris is going to make my favorite sweet potato brownies (always with ice cream). Later I’m hoping to watch a fun family movie with... Read more →

Reading stacks of seasonal books with my kids, mostly during fall and Christmas, is one of my favorite parenting things. In September, the return of fall books is one of the few signs of a change at our house in the Arizona desert. Even though it's still so hot, at least we can experience fall through the pages of a book. I add a seasonal book or two to our permanent collection each year but get many through the library as well. In my library account I'm able to create lists of books so I have one specifically for "fall"... Read more →

Although I turned 39 at the end of December, I’m happy to be finally getting around to my annual tradition and bringing you my list of 38 favorite things in my 38th year. So without further ado, here they are! 1. A sweet end to nursing Maeve and closing the breastfeeding chapter of my life. 2. An early January trip to Austin to snuggle my new niece, Quinn Kelsey. 3. Nespresso milk frother and making my favorite café au laits at home. 4. Tazo glazed lemon loaf tea. The first lemon tea that I’ve loved. 5. A writerly day with... Read more →

My 38th birthday has come and long gone but I'd still love to share my favorites for the previous year. I hope to get my 38 favorites out on time this year! Stay tuned... Here are my 37 favorite things from the year I was 37: 1. Launching my audioblog. And, instead of only two months (April and October) like my original goal I started in April and have kept it going. During a year that was so demanding I’m so proud that I made this creative project happen. The feedback from listeners has been so positive and it’s creatively... Read more →

For the past few years around my birthday (December 22) I've put together a list of favorites from the past year. I drafted this post on my birthday but it's taken me until now to finish it. Better late than never! In honor of being 36, here were my 36 favorite things this year: 1. Long evening walks around our neighborhood during the last weeks of my pregnancy. I listened to audiobooks, felt my baby girl kick, and luxuriated in wondering when she would arrive and what she would be like. 2. Maeve's nursery which is cheery and functional. 3.... Read more →

Hi! It's my 36th birthday today! (It's also Erica's birthday if you'd like to wish her a happy one. Love you, birthday twin!) We're in Austin for Christmas so today I'll be celebrating by eating breakfast tacos, getting my first ever blowout at Dry Bar in downtown Austin, and seeing a matinee performance of A Christmas Carol with Chris, my sister, and brother-in-law. (Thanks for babysitting, mom and dad!) And I hope some kind of chocolate dessert will happen at some point too. As has become tradition, I've rounded up favorite things from the past year. Thirty-five to be exact.... Read more →

How's your summer going so far? We're at about the half-way point through our summer and one week into our three week visit to Austin. It's so nice to be here for an extended time; it's the longest I've been back in my hometown since I moved away for graduate school in 2006! When we get back to Gilbert we'll have three more weeks of summer and then school starts! Summer is such a particular season, especially with kids at home, and I think even more so if you live somewhere with extreme heat (hello 110 degrees!). I've noticed a... Read more →

Saturday is my birthday and I'll turn 35! But before I do I've rounded up my 34 favorite things from my year of being 34. When I first drafted my list of 34 favorites I went back to see what I included on my lists of 33 and 32...only to realize that I had already mentioned several things (my Instant Pot, walk and talk three-way chats with girl friends). I guess by 35 you just know what you love. But it did give me the chance to think more about the year and find new favorites to share. And so,... Read more →

Today is my 34th birthday! Last year, when I turned 33, I rounded up 32 favorites from the previous year. Looking back at it now I realized it's kind of a time capsule of being 32. This year I'm adding one more thing and appreciating another trip around the sun. Here are my 33 favorites during my 33rd year... 1. Marching in the Women's March in January 2. Wearing side-swept bangs and finding a new stylist I really like (with haircuts for $40!). 3. Being in a great reading groove and reading memorable books including Carry On, A Gentleman in... Read more →