Last year, I made it a goal of mine to read more. Just how much more was up to me but I gave myself a goal of thirty books for the year. And guess what: I actually reached it. I read memoirs and both fiction and non-fiction works. I read books on social justice and culture, family histories and anecdotes from first-generation American writers.

Some books were just so beautifully written like Pachinko by Min Jin Lee and Nina Riggs' The Bright Hour. Dennis Lehane's Since We Fell was a four-hundred plus page thriller I couldn't put down. And Hunger by Roxane Gay was emotional and raw and made me feel so many different things. Reading so much last year rekindled my love with books and gave me a better way to wind down at the end of the night instead of mindlessly scrolling through all my social media apps on my phone. Reading made me more empathetic and allowed me to let my mind explore other worlds outside of my own. And I noticed that my children started picking up more books themselves!

This year, I'm going to make it a point to read even more. I'm shooting for forty books and would love recommendations from you! I'm currently in the throes of The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin and I'm loving every page so far.

So tell me, what should I put on my list this year?

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Being current on this blog has been quite the challenge for me over the past few years. It's not that I would forget--it's that I was constantly pushing it to the back of my mind because I felt I had nothing to say. I felt like my posts were stale.

We are hitting the road for a much-needed Spring Break getaway this week and I can hardly wait. Being from Florida and now living in Georgia, long drives are not foreign to me. And I like to take these moments as opportunities to listen to something captivating to make the time pass more quickly.

A few weeks ago, we had a little birthday party for Anaïs in our neighborhood park. She invited a few friends from school, we ordered pizzas from the shop down the street, we had cupcakes and juice boxes, sparkling lemonade and Pamplemousse La Croix. We had a piñata! The kids ran around and the parents hung back and chatted. Grandparents came in from out of town to celebrate the wonder that is Anaïs. Once again, my incredibly talented friend Kaleen captured the best moments for us without missing a beat. 


In the blink of an eye, my baby girl turned five. Five! It just seems so big, you know? Gone are the days of having to nurse her when she needed comforting. Gone are the days of having to change her diapers or potty train her. She no longer needs me to help her get dressed. She doesn't need me to feed her. She doesn't even need me to hold her hand going down a flight of stairs. So much happens leading up to five and when it arrives, it's just as heart wrenching as you imagined, if not more.

When I was in middle school, I was introduced to the world of music subscription services like Columbia House or BMG Music. Scamming every pre-teen kid with their famous "8 CDs for 1¢!", I quickly made my often terrible but sometimes incredible selections and counted down the days when I would get my music delivered so I could spend hours in my room listening to bands on my AIWA 3-disc stereo until my mom told me to come out and have dinner.

Forever in search of new music to pull me out of a Spotify and/or iTunes rut, I discovered this incredible mix of rare and experimental Japanese pop songs from the 80s. And that same kind of giddiness that came with slicing through that first shrink-wrapped CD went through me. If that isn't enough to pique your interest, I have no idea what is. The best part of this mix is that it's free to download. Have a listen here, won't you?

Spring is here! Spring is here! It's finally starting to warm up during the day but there's still that chill in the air when the sun goes down. Spring always has me looking forward to the rest of the year. It's like a reset button for the year with all the flowering plants and greenery looking more and more lush each day.

And with all this on the brain, I can't help but daydream of all the pretty things.







Hope everyone has a great beginning of the week and a wonderful start to spring! Happy Monday, everyone!