Then
An archive of past Now page entries
2026 January 07
archived /now page, from January 7 2026Check in
I used to come into the New Year fully armed with a full binder of plans. Literally. A binder. Anth and I would elaborate reflection and planning sessions that lasted days, and we’d often take a trip to do it. We’d emerge with audacious goals, carefully-thought annual theme words, and detailed action plans. I’m not opposed to that kind of approach when it feels right. But this year it didn’t.
Instead, over cocktails in late December, we stumbled into a spontaneous “how was this year for you?” conversation (short version: 2025 was easily one of the best years of my life). Anth had a great year as well, but that’s more his story to tell.
But although Anth has already kicked off the year with momentum, a few wins, and all sorts of productive energy, my year has started more quietly. I feel both really mellow and really motivated, which is a strange sort of combination, and I’m trying to sort out what that means. I have this sense that a lot of the ground work I (unintentionally) laid last year is going to finally bear fruit soon. I’m just not sure exactly when. Or what kind of fruit.
Reading
The Secret Life of Plants, Peter Tompkins & Christopher Bird
Watching
Silo (Apple TV)
Listening
I haven’t been in so much in music mood lately. If I do put it on, it’s usually quiet piano, or the Bridgerton soundtrack. More so, I’ve been enjoying watching “winter ambiance” videos on YouTube as I work or journal, which is basically just snowfall and fireplace noises.
Working On
New website project just around the corner! It’ll be a Squaresapce site for an author, and new client.
Anth and I hit pause on our novel for the holidays; we knew we wanted to course-correct a few plot points before continuing with the first draft, otherwise revisions would be messier than they need to be. We kick it off again next week and I’m both excited and dreading it. I forget how easy it is to write novels when you have momentum … and how quickly that momentum skids to a halt.
YouTube! Kind of. In late 2024 I threw up a few video tutorials of the Milanote app. Kind of forgot all about it, but rediscovered that I even had a channel just a month ago, and saw that there were a few thousands views, and a handful of comments requesting more. Not exactly going viral, but it’s been a fun side project. I’m also enjoying creating the kind of videos I wish I could find more often: nobody talking to the camera.
Eating
We’ve been making this kale salad on repeat. It’s deceptively delicious for having so few ingredients and coming together so quickly. It’s perfect as is, though it’s also nice with some nuts sprinkled on top for crunch, and just today, we added some chopped turkey on top for lunch.
Quit
Instagram and Threads. I got sucked back in for about a month there, only to wake up one morning in late December and find increasingly I was mindlessly opening one or both of the apps any time I picked up my phone. And never walking away feeling enriched or that it was “time well spent.” I closed both accounts, and have felt instantly about a thousand times healthier, happier, and just … better.
2025 December 13
Archive // Former “Now” Page
Version : Dec 13 2025
Whew, it’s been awhile. Last “now” page update was August 27th! Rereading it makes me realize how much I enjoy now pages because they’re little time capsules, often the boring stuff I don’t include in my journal.
Work
Anth and I have officially another book! Working title is Fridge Rules, and it’s a rom-com set in a cabin in New Hampshire, which is a bit of a change from my usual Manhattan-based stories, and I’m loving the switch.
I’m also back to this website in earnest. I’ve been hiding in the shadows, too scared to be online without a specific niche, and it’s finally occurring to me that maybe the thing I’m meant to do is actively challenge this idea that we must niche down in order to add value by showing up.
Personal
It’s the calm, quiet season, and my calendar is empty. I am in my happiest place.
Loving
It’s probably the elder millennial in me, but leggings + long sweaters will forever be my favorite winter uniform, and I have a soft spot for turtlenecks. Which means I’ve basically been living in these sweaters from Old Navy. I bought four of them over Black Friday for $16 a piece, and I’ve worn nothing else since. I honestly don’t notice any difference in quality from sweaters in past years I’ve spent hundreds on. I buy them in a Tall. I’m only 5’7, but I have a long torso and long arms, and I too-short sweaters make me fussy.
On really cold days I pair them with Athleta’s fleece leggings. On just more regular winter days, I love Lululemon Align leggings, as well as Spanx (← size up).
Listening
I’m not as into Christmas music as I used to be. Not into Christmas really at all, if I’m being honest. I’m more of a Halloween and New Year’s woman these days. But I never get sick of Beegie Adair’s Christmas albums, and this year’s no different. It makes for the perfect seasonal background music while writing. Here’s Spotify playlist I made.
Reading
I just finished The Sailing of the Intrepid, and I think it might be my top read of 2025, though I’ve just started Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott and can’t believe it’s taken me so long to pick up this classic. I can already tell it’s going to be “re-read in the future” for me.
Watching
Our TV lives in storage now. We bring it up once a month to host a movie/puzzle night with friends, but 24 hours is the maximum amount of time it stays.
Mostly we spend our nights reading, talking, or writing now. Though when Anth heads to work at night, I do sometimes like putting a Hallmark Christmas movie on my iPad while I journal.
2025 August 27
Archive | Former Now Page
WORK
Anth and I recently submitted a rom-com idea to our agent for submission. I don’t really want to say much about the specifics until I know whether or not publisher will want it, except to say that it felt strange to be writing fiction again, and yet also puzzlingly easy. I don’t feel like the same person I was when I was writing 4-6 novels per year in my 30s, and yet apparently I’ve still got a bit of the muscle memory, because the words just seemed to spill out of me as though it hasn’t been more than year since I’ve written.
I’ve finally given myself permission to lean into the idea of a “calm design studio.” I’ve always been drawn to the simple “words on a page” type of websites, not only because I think the written word is beautiful as is, but because it makes it so easy for anyone to launch and maintain a website.
But it’s less about the aesthetic of it than it is about enabling people to easily create their own digital home—a place to share writing, poems, images, mood boards, stories, the schedule of their next poetry slam, their notebook…all without needing to get out the camera, record video content, figure out what the heck they’re supposed to but in that full-bleed hero image spot on the homepage, when their headshot is a grainy square photo taken with their iPhone ..
I want everyone to be able to create their own corner of the internet, free from algorithms and subscriber count.
I’ve launched d a couple template here. Working on another one today that makes room for a bit of imagery.
I like digital spaces that make me feel calm, so I decided to build them.
PERSONAL
Starbucks released PSLs and their fall menu yesterday, which as far as I’m concerned is the unofficial start of autumn, and I couldn’t be more excited about it. I don’t even like pumpkin spice lattes (or pumpkin spice anything), and I haven’t ordered anything from Starbucks except bags of Cafe Verona beans in ages, but I’m all for what it represents—the end of summer. I was so giddy about it that I bought $3 on Harry Potter custom emoji yesterday and regret nothing. (Now to see if I can make it all the way to October for my annual HP viewing, or if I’ll cave and watch early …)
READING
Still making my way through The Ode Less Traveled by Stephen Fry. I was expecting more of an essay style book, but it’s actually more text/reference book, so not really a cover-to-cover kind of read. I just finished The Vietnam War: A Military History, and am still kind of reeling. One of the best books I’ve ever read, but also incredibly haunting and heavy. Next up will be Titan or Truman. Both sit on my shelf calling to me; might have to flip a coin.
WATCHING
Golf is pretty much over the season until the Ryder Cup at the end of September, so it may be time to put the TV away until the Harry Potter binge. But in the mean time I’ve been enjoying watching The Good Witch on Hallmark+ when Anth is gone. It has plenty of feel-good cozy vibes.
Oh! And I’m anxiously awaiting September 4th for the second installment of Wednesday. I watched the first season 3x, and have been holding off on starting the second season so I can watch it all at once.
2025 August 15
☀️ Trying to let August be August, and not eagerly relish the prospect of moody autumn days. I’m better at this some days than others.
📺 If it’s Thursday-Sunday, I probably have golf on during the day. Evenings have been a mismatch of Criminal Minds and X-Files reruns as we impatiently await the next Strange New Worlds episode.
📖 I offhandedly mentioned to Anth that I wished I knew more about the Vietnam War, and he bought be this book. For being so massive a book and heavy a topic, I’m enjoying the journey. More than 2 chapters about so much death starts to weigh on me, so I’m balancing it with The Ode Less Traveled by Stephen Fry, continuing my wobbly poetry journey.
💼 I’ve been experiencing some frustration the past couple weeks, missing the strong sense of purpose I had in my 30s when I had an almost compulsory need to write romance novels. Thanks to my poor, overworked journal, I’m realizing that it’s not so much a what as a how. I keep coming back to the idea of letting my pursuits and creations be as varied as I am, with the unifying thread of simplicity. My soul’s home base seems to be words, both the meaning and the aesthetic of them.
🫥 I’ve dragged myself back to Instagram. I mostly hate it, though I’ve been toying with the prospect of just treating it like old Instagram—post a graphic I find pleasing, and let that be the end of it. I confess my disdain for social media wars with my desire to make a living as a creator. Pinterest used to be my respite, but it’s become almost as useless in terms of Instagram in terms of organic reach, even when I follow all their rules and advice.