It’s a big day in my household—my daughter turns 7 today! She is truly the best and I feel lucky every day to be her mom. We have a full weekend of festivities planned and I am doing my best to summon my limited extrovert energy. Here’s the roundup:
Quote of the week:
“Maybe the journey isn’t about becoming anything. Maybe it’s about unbecoming everything that isn’t really you, so that you can be who you were meant to be in the first place.” –Paulo Coelho
What I’m reading:
I’m between books, but about to start Over Work: Transforming the Daily Grind in the Quest for a Better Life by Brigid Schulte.
What I’m listening to:
Started Sandwich by Catherine Newman on my run this morning. Liking it so far.
What I’m watching:
I finished The Perfect Couple on Netflix, thought the last few episodes were a bit odd but liked it overall. Still watching Mr. & Mrs. Smith on Amazon Prime, loving that one. I just started Nobody Wants This on Netflix because my good friend insisted and she’s not wrong—it’s cute.
Writing news:
Still working away on my 2026 novel. I think there’s an official release date on my 2025 novel, but going to confirm before I blast the date on the internets. I have some exciting TV series news coming… Stay tuned. Oh, one more thing: the People Who Knew Me podcast was nominated for a Lovie Award in the scripted fiction category. Go vote here!
Interesting things I learned this week:
- Tara Dower, 31, became the fastest person in history to complete the Appalachian Trail. It’s 2,168 miles and she did it in 40 days, 18 hours, and 5 minutes. It takes most hikers five to seven months to cover the trail. She ran/hiked an average of 54 miles PER DAY
- John Gray, who authored Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus, has been married three times
- An American surgeon, Dr. William Stewart Halstead, was married to a nurse, Caroline, and noticed her hands were chapped and red when she came back from surgery. He invented rubber gloves for her… A great love story in medicine
- Data from a report released by the American Library Association shows a sharp decline in attempts to ban materials in public, school, and academic libraries year-to-date. From January 1 to August 31 of this year, the ALA tracked 414 challenges addressing 1,128 titles, down from 695 challenges to 1,915 titles in the same period last year. That’s a decrease of about 40% in both cases and challenged titles
- A study by LendingTree found that childcare costs more than rent in 91 of the 100 largest US cities. That’s the average monthly cost of full-time, center-based care for an infant and 4-year-old as compared to rent for a two-bedroom
- Promenadology or strollology is the science of strolling
Weirdest thing I googled this week:
“Dog ate chocolate chip cookie.” This google search is pretty self-explanatory. I had to use an online calculator to determine if the chocolate chips in the cookie would be fatal for my 11-pound dog. Short answer, no. She is totally fine.
What I’m grateful for:
- Seven years with my favorite human. I love her so much
- Ohana Fest with friends last weekend. Got to see Alanis Morissette and Pearl Jam. Such a treat!
- My film/tv manager, who texted me with great news this morning
- Community. I love my people so much. I had book club on Wednesday and it filled my cup. My daughter’s soccer team has become like a second family…
- A little upcoming getaway that is very much needed
Snapshots:
From top to bottom: Palm trees at Ohana Fest; palm trees on my foggy morning run; me and my birthday girl.
