What’s up in my real life this January. If you’d like to know, keep reading!
Favorite NYC Spots Visited:
The Morgan Library, Ferns, book thug nation, Baby’s All Right, Brodo, Harry Potter: A History of Magic at the NYHS
What I Couldn’t Stop Listening To:
I’m completely obsessed with Daisy the Great’s debut album, I’m Not Getting Any Taller. Particularly loving “The Woods.”
Singles I can’t quit: “i’m so tired” by Lauv & Troye Sivan and “7 rings” by Ariana Grande on repeat.
But what I’ve truly listened to the most this month is our January Playlist: here we go. Thank you for sending in your favorite bops of the moment to create this banging set! I cannot help but dance when I put this playlist on. Chilly vibes for February to drop in the next few days so keep your eye out.
Favorite Photo I Took:
The light, the llama, the new releases. What could be better?
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Favorite Piece I Wrote:
I loved writing about my Holiday Book Haul and explaining why I chose each book. Now to read them all! Also, I updated my about me to make it feel more like, well, me. And I think I did a pretty damn good job of it.
Home Life:
Somehow, it feels like every person I know was born between November and January, so we have been celebrating nonstop (in all seriousness, happy birthday to both Aimee and Ellen this month!). Aimee chose Barcade (a favorite of ours in NYC) and a soulcycle class with her favorite teacher and Ellen chose dinner at a kooky vegan restaurant in the East Village and a paint and sip class that we’re going to do on Saturday! Celebrating is always fun and I LOVE coming up with gifts for others.
Other fun things we got up to: some great theater (run, don’t walk, to go see Choir Boys, the Ferryman is so impressive, and Waitress starring Sara Bareilles is just the most charming). My little brother left for his study abroad semester last week, so we spent some time together before he took off! A freezing cold day in Brooklyn exploring bookstores. Some awesome book events at the Wing and a super fun watch party for Rent Live (or no so live).
Reading Conversations with Friends together (and separately) with Marci 
Sent little bro off to Rome with some reading material!
Work Life:
I started this month off in exactly the groove I wanted to be in. The first two weeks were 100% as productive as I wanted them to be and, wow, it felt so good. But within a few weeks, I was back to overbooking myself and I’d lost the feeling that I was in control of creating what I wanted to create. Work itself is great; we are producing an Off-Broadway show that I just love working on. But I’m struggling to give all of the time I want to give to the blog while still reserving some time to actually read – I’m asking a lot of myself and still working on how to find some kind of balance.
The wonderful Jules at Om and the City shared a blog post this month about how she keeps herself on track to maximize her time as an entrepreneur and I’ve started taking a few pages out of her book (hehe, get it?). I’ve begun blocking out my day in my google calendar to illustrate what projects I’ll spend my day working on and that’s been really helpful.
But some GREAT things happened – I got to meet a lovely new friend, Claire Gibson, author of the upcoming novel Beyond the Point. A true connection in such a short time! Claire is purely awesome.
Also, I’m launching a youtube channel in February! I’ve started working on taking video and editing it and it’s been so challenging and fun. Keep your eye out for some video content in the future.
Favorite Meme of the Month
Not a meme I know but HAVE YOU ALL SEEN THIS 10.0 GYMNASTICS ROUTINE BECAUSE IT’S INSANE?!?!
Love Life
I’m taking a bit of time off of dating and focusing on other things right now. But, there’s something else that has captured my heart, and this just seems like the right place to write about it so I’m going with my gut.
I’m completely happily addicted to soulcycle. I’ve been riding consistently for a year now; I started this journey in January of 2018 and haven’t wanted to stop. In the past 30 days, I’ve ridden 20 times (a record for me). A highlight was absolutely riding the podium (sitting next to the instructor) in a sold out Saturday morning class. I can feel the way I ride changing – I’m growing stronger and more willing to challenge myself every time I clip in.
I spent 22 years of my life resenting exercise. This is a topic for another day, but I’m still blown away by how thoroughly soulcycle has changed my outlook on breaking a sweat. It’s something I look forward to, something I plan my week around. As I look for balance in my life, soulcycle is the one thing I’m not willing to sacrifice. Thus ends this brief love letter to soulcycle. Thank you for putting up with the obsession.
Mental Health Life
Ok, bookworms, I did it. I started seeing a new therapist! I don’t think he’s the complete right fit for me, so I’m going to shop around a bit more in February, but our first three sessions were absolutely helpful. Helpful in what we discussed, helpful in reminding me that I need help and that the help can actually help. Anxiety is still high, especially at night or any time I try to do anything not active, anything that might be considered “relaxing.” It’s made it hard to read this month – I’m able to concentrate on books in the morning, but my anxiety takes over when I open up a book at night. But, I feel I’m taking steps towards improving that in a way that I wasn’t earlier in 2018. So I’m going to go ahead and call this month a win for my mental health life.
nyc book girl 