It’s my first download post of the new year, which feels crazy since January is nearly over. This month has been zooming by thanks to lots of fun activities and celebrations that have been keeping us busy! We kicked off the year with our annual New Year’s Day brunch party, I had a little getaway weekend in Newport to celebrate my birthday (34! Gasp!) and this past weekend we got snowed-in with family and had a fun little party for Jane’s 2nd birthday. In a blink of an eye three-weeks of January have passed and I feel like I forgot to do all that new-years-y stuff like write down resolutions.  That’s what these posts are for though, to catch up and share all of the stuff in my brain that needs to be written down, so read on for some resolutions, my reading list, upcoming book events and more:

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I had one big personal goal last year, and that was to read more! I have always loved reading, and really fell out of the habit when Jane was a newborn (for obvious reasons, like general exhaustion). I have a really strong memory as a kid of my mom reading a book before bed each night, and my dad always reading the paper when he got home from work at our kitchen counter. It made me think about how I want Jane to see me enjoying reading too with the hopes it gives her the same excitement for books. I set a big goal to read 24 books — 2/month over the course of the year — and ended up finishing the year just shy of 30 (I finished my 30th book on January 2nd!). It was so nice to into the habit of reading again!  read more

Over the past few years, we’ve been tackling projects in our house room-by-room. We’ve taken on some pretty big ones like removing a kitchenette from our bedroom and turning a hair salon (!!) into my office (I laugh even typing those things — we had a LOT of vision to buy this house). We have also replaced lighting, removed more wallpaper than I care to recount, and painted and painted and painted (like 5 coats of white paint to cover all of the wood paneling in our living room). We’re finally getting to the point where nearly every room has come together and what is left is the not-so-fun makeovers of things like hallways. read more

I love to hit the ground running in the New Year – the clean slate usually gets me so energized. This week though, I did not find the motivation or rhythm I usually get at the start of the year. In fact, I started writing this blog post over Christmas vacation, and it’s taken me all week to finally hit publish! I’m starting a little slower than I’d like, but finally got my burst of energy today that helped me grocery shop and meal plan, start on my 2019 content plans, and take a look back at last year with this little recap post. It’s like a greatest-hits album of 2018, a year where I accomplished a lot! read more

‘Tis the season for celebrations, and my favorite time of year to entertain! Our calendars are full of events from Thanksgiving to New Years, with friendsgiving, cookies swaps, gift exchanges, and holiday parties in between. I like to get prepared for the season with a few timeless tips that help me entertain effortlessly all season long. I have been relying on lots of the ideas in Better Homes & Gardens Holiday Entertaining Guide and am sharing a few more of my best tips here today: read more

This post was created in partnership with Hood Cream. All opinions, images, and content are my own. Thank you for supporting brands that support this site!

I got to go to a really cool event last week with Hood Cream in Boston to get prepped for some holiday cooking! The event was a combination of a cooking class and demo with Chef Chris Coombs (of Deuxave, dBar and Boston Chops). Chef Coombs is the chef and spokesperson for Hood Cream was there to share some of his professional tips and tricks. read more

I have a few fun pictures to share today of a little makeover we did to create a playroom nook for Jane off of our kitchen! There is a small room off of our kitchen that we originally used as a breakfast nook when we first moved in and over the few years that we’ve lived here it’s evolved into a sitting room, a space for me to shoot recipes (most of my cookbook was shot on the floor of this room!), and now recently into a play space for Jane. The play area came about after we finished redoing our living room — I loved how the space looked and wanted to reduce the toy clutter in the room. Jane also needed a spot to play that was scaled for her, and we set out to create a little spot off the kitchen that could be her own.  read more

I know I’m probably in the minority here, but I really love grocery shopping. I get that it’s a not-so-fun chore for a lot of people, but I really enjoy it. I love to go to the store for inspiration, scanning the produce and proteins for my next recipe ideas. Last week I got the chance to check out the new Wegmans store in Natick, and because I’m a grocery-shopping-nerd I was delighted to explore it. read more

We are halfway through the year (ah!) and I sat down this week to do a little bit of mid-year planning for the blog and my business. It involved the fun stuff: mapping out content, brainstorming ideas and events for my cookbook coming out this fall, and digging through my inspiration files. It also involved the not so fun stuff: finances and budgeting. Admittedly, I procrastinate that part as much as possible, until I can no longer avoid thinking about it. But, once I sit down and actually do the work, I always feel a lot better – like I have a clear plan and know what I need to do next. In reality, I should probably do that part first so I feel more relaxed and focused before I embark on the fun part. The process got me thinking about personal finances too, and how the same practices shift over when talking about all of those pit-in-your-stomach topics like savings and budgets. read more

June is flying by in the blink of an eye, thanks to lots of time spent on the road this month. I spent almost a week in NY visiting family and working out my parents’ house, came home and turned right around for a weekend getaway with my best girlfriends in Portland, Maine, and then I spent an overnight in Boston for a fun work event. Phew! I’m getting really really good at packing (still obsessed with packing cubes!) and even better at ignoring the growing piles of laundry. That’s how summer always seems to go though, gone in the blink of an eye as we cram all of our adventures into these few short weeks of warm weather. Sharing a few more of my summer adventures, warm-weather recipes, and reading list: read more

 
 
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