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Books I Read in 2023

2023 was a year for the books... literally. I'm really proud of how I cultivated my reading habit over the past year, and devoured some really great reads.

Drunk on Love (Jasmin Guillory)

The Inheritance Games (Jennifer Lynn Barnes)

The Hawthorne Legacy (Jennifer Lynn Barnes)

Marlene (C.W. Gortner)

Crying in H Mart (Michelle Zauner)

The Invisible Life of Addie Larue (V.E. Schwab)

All Adults Here (Emma Straub)

Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow (Gabrielle Zevin)

Tools of Engagement (Tessa Bailey)

The Every (Dave Eggers)

Verity (Colleen Hoover)

The Paris Apartment (Lucy Foley)

In Five Years (Rebecca Serle)

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (John Berendt)

Cultish (Amanda Montell)

The Kingdom of Prep: The Inside Story of the Rise and (Near) Fall of J.Crew (Maggie Bullock)

The Last to Vanish (Megan Miranda)

That Will Never Work: The Birth of Netflix and the Amazing Life of an Idea (Marc Randolph)

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo (Taylor Jenkins Reid)

Ink Blood Sister Scribe (Emma Törzs)

Four Lost Cities (Annalee Newitz)

The Friend Zone (Abby Jimenez)

Top book of the year goes to Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow. Layered characters, coding/software engineering, the creativity inherent in video game design, business/entrepreneurship... it had a lot of elements that I enjoy.

Other close contenders are The Invisible Life of Addie Larue, Crying in H Mart, and Ink Blood Sister Scribe.

Biggest slog of the year goes to Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil... though after a trip to Savannah, GA I felt a sense of obligation to see it through. Second-biggest slog was The Every (I do not recommend it, I was annoyed by halfway through but I'm not a book quitter).

The Netflix book continues in a vein that I really enjoy: origin stories of tech startups (see Bad Blood, Creativity Inc, etc). Hoping to read The Airbnb Story next year!

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A balm for the Spartan soul.

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During my month off from Instagram & Facebook, I became obsessed with Claire Saffitz and watching her bake things on YouTube. We're 2 weeks into February and I'm still obsessed. The first recipe I've made of hers is this Seedy Chocolate Chip Skillet Cookie, and it most definitely will not be the last.

The goal of Joyful January was to refocus on the things that bring me joy, and baking most definitely brings me so much joy.

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Today's joyful things:

Tested out my brand new coffee grinder with some Folly Coffee, a favorite of mine that's located right here in St Louis Park! The coffee was 👌🏻👌🏻

Made a tasty salad to go with leftover za'atar salmon for lunch. Discovered that whole wheat pita pan-fried in a little olive oil is a serviceable substitute for Olga's snackers 🤤

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Worked from a hip new coffee shop for a while on Friday morning, and left just as it was starting to get crowded.

{Cardamom Lavender Latte & a chocolate croissant at Backstory Coffee}

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Yes, I absolutely took 30 minutes out of my Saturday to go check out the neighbors-only open house for this completely remodeled "Hoarder House" that is six blocks away. I'm nosy and I love a good house transformation 🤷🏻‍♀️ This realtor did a really nice job on it.

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This is 33

Dropped Ava off at daycare & got my free Starbucks beverage

Went into the office because Thursdays are my onsite days, plus now we've got a weekly donut rotation going so my colleague Benjamin brought in donuts

Got a new horn in my car because the old one gave out (hbd to me 🙄🚗💸)

Went to a 30 min fitness center class over lunch, then ran out with my colleague Kristine to grab food at Café Zupas

Found out that a friend of mine who left the company 18 months ago is coming back next week! V excited to work with him again

Picked Ava up, called my parents, survived her 5-5:30pm meltdown period and ate leftovers for dinner just the 2 of us because Page had a district committee meeting after school

Page was home by bath & bedtime, but then left again for his first broomball game of the season so now I'm settling in on the couch for some Emily in Paris 🇫🇷

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New Places I Travelled to in 2022

I made it to a few brand-new places in 2022, which is a major feat with a small child. Taking all the wins I can!

Decorah, IA: We took a family spring break trip to the glamorous small-town home of Luther College, Decorah Iowa. It checked our major boxes for travel with a 9-month-old: reasonable driving distance, south (aka some possibility of it being warmer than Minneapolis), a new town to check out, cute AirBnb availability, and a couple of good local breweries. Plus, I have a friend/colleague who lives there with his family and was more than willing to give us recommendations and invite us over to his home for dinner (the sweetest). It was the perfect low-key getaway. We did a little bit of hiking in Palisades Park, visited Toppling Goliath and Pulpit Rock Brewing Co, grabbed coffee across the street from our little loft at Impact Coffee, tried takeout from a few restaurants, and visited the local bakery run by my colleague's wife: Beyond the Bar Bakery.

Janesville, WI: Page and his parents wanted to see Dave Matthews at Alpine Valley in Wisconsin over the 4th of July, and rather than stay home by myself for the long holiday weekend with Ava, we decided to tag along. We explored a park, botanical gardens, a couple of restaurants, and even a brewery (Rock County Brewing Co). Unfortunately, Page was exposed to covid right before this trip but wasn't symptomatic until the day we left. All the time spent with his parents plus the lengthy car ride back to MN meant that his mom, myself and Ava all ended up with it the week after.

Sovereign Estate Winery in Waconia, MN: a friend of mine started a pottery business and did her first major show at a winery in Waconia, which seemed like the perfect excuse for my first-ever trip out to the area. The weather was rainy but the company, wine and art were all great. Would love to return and check out some of the other wineries in Waconia as well.

Palm Springs, CA and Joshua Tree National Park: happily hopped on the bandwagon for a 12-person Girls' Trip to Palm Springs to celebrate a friend's 40th birthday. It was my longest time ever away from Ava and a nice break from day-to-day work and mom responsibilities. We went hiking at Joshua Tree one morning, explored downtown Palm Springs, and spent a good chunk of our time relaxing at our AirBnb house and enjoying the pool & cabanas in the backyard. We also hired a private bartender to come to the house for a few hours and surprise the birthday girl with some poolside signature cocktails.

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Books I Read in 2022

I fell off the reading wagon a little bit in 2022, but I find that I just feel better about everything when I spend more of my time in the evening reading vs scrolling Instagram. Hoping to read more books than this short list in 2023.

2022 Books:

The Midnight Library (Matt Haig) *audiobook

Essential Labor (Angela Garbes)

Untamed (Glennon Doyle - over halfway) *audiobook

The Silent Patient (Alex Michaelides)

Ready Player Two (Ernest Cline)

The Guest List (Lucy Foley)

Big Friendship: How We Keep Each Other Close (Aminatou Sow and Ann Friedman)

Lock Every Door (Riley Sager)

None of these books really blew me away, but they all kept my interest enough to finish them (aside from Untamed, which I keep having to return to the library before I can finish it and the waitlist is a billion people long). I think I devoured Ready Player Two the fastest, given how much I had loved the first one and how easy of a read it was.

Here's to more reading in 2023!

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Joyful January

January is historically a very difficult month for me. Two years ago, when I was 4 months pregnant and 9 months into a pandemic, my attempt at combatting this was Donut January.

This year, I've thought a lot about what I want this month to be. And what I want is to intentionally build in more joy. So... how?

I decided to take the month off of Instagram and Facebook, the two social media platforms I am most prone to endlessly scrolling. I suspect that they do not actually bring me joy, so I'm testing the theory for a month. It feels doable.

Instead of scrolling and posting, I hope to read more. Write more (here!). Cook more. Text friends more. Get together more. Enjoy my daughter more. Move more. Take more photos. Watch a few shows - and really watch, not just half-watch while scrolling. Tackle a few organizing projects.

I'm hoping I'll learn a little bit about what actually brings me joy this month. Here's to Joyful January ❄️

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12.31.22

Woke up in our own house and everyone was in a great mood. Made a late morning run to the library to pick up a book on hold, and stop at Cub Foods to restock the fridge.

Our friends Jenna and Justice came over for NYE and brought their dog Dewey. We had a walking taco bar for dinner, played with the baby & dog until bedtime, then enjoyed a lovely evening of games, snacks and beverages. We played Quirkle, Listicles, Quiplash and Trivia Murder Party. Ate assorted Christmas cookies, mozzarella sticks and waffle fries. Drank prosecco, beers, and shots of Fireball 😵‍💫🔥 and toasted the new year at midnight.

Everyone slept over so the fun continued in the morning with more dog & baby shenanigans plus french toast and sausage for brunch. Ready to welcome 2023 and all that it has in store!

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12.30.22

Morning: took Ava to The Looney Baker with my Mom for some treats and coffee. When we got there, we saw that their dining area isn't open (still a COVID thing? Unclear) so we grabbed donuts and Looney bread and took them to the Biggby Coffee near our house. We got coffees, ate our treats (Ava demolished two plain donut holes), toddled around the shop, saw a dog with a fellow customer, and just as we were getting ready to leave, a friend of mine from the MSU colorguard walked in. When we got home, my Aunt Val and Uncle Bob came over for a visit. Ava did great until we tried to feed her lunch, when she had a total meltdown and over the fact that I wouldn't give her more cheese.

Naptime: I packed our suitcases. Page chilled with Ava.

Afternoon: the temperature was crazy warm (50+ degrees!) so we took a walk up to the park near my parents' house because they recently put up a new play structure. Ava loved it - will definitely be back often in the when we visit in the summer. Got Mediterranean takeout for an early dinner, loaded up the car and headed out to the airport with my Dad for our 7:45pm flight.

No delays this time 🙌🏻 but Ava wouldn't sleep on the 80-minute flight so we just had to entertain and endure. She only really lost it in the last few minutes as we were waiting to get off the plane, so we're calling that a win. The young guy next to us took it all in stride and was very kind.

We were home by 9:30pm CST, with a baby in bed very shortly thereafter. It was very very good to be back in our own space again.

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12.29.22

When you have a baby, the day is divided by their nap(s) and bedtime 😅 so...

Morning: wrangled Ava and played around the house. At 11am, my Aunt Pam and cousin Sara came for a quick visit.

Naptime: can't really remember, we probably just ate lunch and relaxed.

Afternoon: family trip to the Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum! We got a discount on admission because we're members of the MN Children's Museum (thanks Aunt Emily and Uncle Aaron). It was mostly geared toward older kids with not a ton of toddler-specific activities, but we still had a fun visit. It was very busy when we arrived around 3:00, but steadily emptied out as we approached closing time at 5:00. My brother and Ava had fun splashing around in the water at the H2Oh! exhibit. Normally Ava isn't super big on water play besides the bath, so it was cool to see. Got Jets for dinner on the way home 🍕

Post- baby bedtime: played Farkle and Racko with Page and my parents. Our last night in Michigan!Wanted to play Sushi Go too, searched high and low but couldn't find it in the house.

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12.28.22

Ava had a tougher night (we think she's teething) but it was Page's morning to get up with her. When I got up at 8:30, I found the two of them snuggled up together and passed out on the couch in the living room.

We got ready to host my Mom's aunt and cousin at our house for brunch, and Ava & I went on a quick fruit and bagel run with my Dad in preparation. They brought a few homemade quiches over and we shared some mimosas to round out the menu.

After nap time all around, the three of us hopped on the road to visit Page's grandpa (Ava's great grandpa!). Her favorite part of the visit by far was watching grandpa's miniature pinscher Roscoe run around and yap at everything.

Dinner was "clean out the fridge" night, and then Page went to meet up with a few buddies and watch the Red Wings. After putting Ava to bed, I enjoyed a relaxing evening on the couch watching the Minions movie on TV (my Dad is extremely into the minions lol).

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12.27.22

Took the early shift and got up with Ava at 6:30 so the rest of the house could keep sleeping. Once my parents were up, I went with my Dad down to the Gratiot Market in Detroit to pick up a Wigley's corned beef for dinner - I'm convinced they are the best corned beef briskets on the planet.

After Ava's lunch, Page put her down for her nap and I went to pick up Olga's takeout for our lunch. When in Detroit, I need to seize my opportunity to eat Snackers 🤤 afterward we chilled on the couch till Ava woke up, then did an outing to the mall nearby so she could run around in the kids play area. She also ended up running around half the mall, charming little old ladies playing mahjong in the food court and riding the escalators in Von Maur.

We had corned beef, mashed potatoes and carrots for dinner and opened our Christmas presents with my family afterward. My mom bought a speaker/karaoke machine as a family gift and we've already listened to a lotttt of Baby Shark and The Wheels On The Bus on it. Closed the night out with some online euchre and beverages 🃏🥂

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12.26.22

We woke up in Muskegon, finished packing up and said goodbye to my brother-in-law and his wife before they left to drive back to Cleveland. We got on the road to Detroit around 11am with a tired fussy toddler who fell asleep within 10 minutes of being in the car.

Made a couple of stops in Lansing to visit friends on our way, which broke up the drive nicely. Ava got to meet a kitty named Oreo and a new friend named Finnean!

We made it to Livonia with plenty of time before dinner, and everyone loved my Mom's homemade lasagna with salad and garlic bread. After bedtime for the baby, the rest of us enjoyed Christmas cookies and a game of Relative Insanity before retreating to bed. I ended up staying awake for an extra hour finishing my book (Lock Every Door) so now I have to find a new one to read 📖 Going to try and read more books in 2023 than 2022 because my count was fairly low, but that's another post.

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Thanksgiving 2022

Well, we made it through the long holiday weekend (4 days in a row with no daycare and no travel plans) and even managed to enjoy ourselves! I was very glad that I proactively made plans with a variety of friends to make sure we had something to look forward to every day. When you don't have family nearby and there's a toddler to keep entertained, you lean on friends.

Highlights:

Chaotic and homey and perfect Turkey Day gathering with a friend's extended family. 3 dogs, 4 kids, 12 adults, 1 historic home in small-town Wisconsin, and so much delicious food. Grateful is an understatement.

Visit to Sovereign Grounds, a coffee shop in south Minneapolis with an entire side room full of kids toys and indoor play equipment. We'll definitely return over the course of this winter!

Playdate with friends and their 3.5 & 1.5 year olds at our house

Put up the Christmas lights outside!

Checked out a new wine bar with girlfriends during nap time

Visit to see a good friend and her mom, plus their two dogs. Ava is v interested in dogs 😆