Linking up with Kelly.

—1—

It was an enjoyable, snowed-in weekend here in New York:

Mostly we stayed inside, played board games, and ate ice cream, but we ventured into the snowdrifts to explore for a little bit, too. The subways were down so I couldn’t leave Queens, but I didn’t really need to. The deli on my block was open, so I didn’t even need to have groceries in (although I would have had enough to survive the weekend).

—2—

Post-blizzard NYC in a nutshell:

The 2016 Slush-Jump Olympics Are Now Underway

105 million pounds of snow are currently melting into slush piles throughout the city. Basically this means I’m bringing an extra pair of shoes to work for a while, and my ability to strategically jump across street-corner puddles is being honed.

—3—

Around New Year’s I joined everyone who was using the Random Saint Generator to pick a saint for 2016. I got St. Catherine of Bologna, and after reading her bio she seems like a perfect fit. Her feast day is March 9, which is the day I was confirmed, and she is the patron saint of the arts. I’ve actually visited Bologna once while I was traveling through Italy during my year in Rome, and it was in Bologna that I realized that I wanted to seriously pursue writing and take writing classes. I remember the moment very clearly; I had just attended Mass and was skipping across the cobblestone streets with my friends, dodging the rain as it began to fall. And I knew I was supposed to be a writer.

So I’m excited to get to know St. Catherine of Bologna more this year! Her bio says that she loved reading, writing, music, singing, drawing, and painting. I’m hoping that she can inspire me in some of my artistic endeavors :)

—4—

Last night I saw An American in Paris on Broadway for the second time. It was incredible! I was so glad I got the chance to see it again, because the music and dancing are just mesmerizing. I was especially impressed by the dancing and choreography, because I have zero dancing ability myself, and their movements are so intricate and expressive. It’s an excellent show, and I highly recommend it if you’re in NYC.

—5—

One of the children’s books I edited, The Brownstone, was released this month, and it’s gotten a lot of great press! It’s been reviewed in the Wall Street Journal, Shelf Awareness, Brain Pickings, Kottke.org, and the New York Times Book Review. I’m excited to see it doing well—it was one of the first books that I was in charge of as a production editor, and it’s a really sweet story with fun, lively illustrations.

—6—

I’m listening to Audrey Assad’s new album of hymns, Inheritance, today and loving it! It doesn’t officially release until February 12, but I was able to download it today because I had preordered it a while back. I especially love “Be Thou My Vision” and “Ubi Caritas.”

—7—

I’m going skiing this weekend! So excited to get back on the slopes again and to spend a weekend with my friends in the mountains.