Five Happy Things
Monday again. And I've got a busy and fun week ahead of me. There will be a lot of running around and mucho caffeine for sure, but I've learned that these are my favorite kinds of weeks. Here are five things in particular I'm really excited about:
1. This Is Childhood.
My friends and colleagues and fellow HuffPost contributers Lindsey Mead and Allison Slater Tate have dreamed up an amazing blogging project and have asked me to participate. It is called This Is Childhood. Each Tuesday, a different writer will muse on a different age and what that age means. I have the distinct (and anxiety-producing) privilege of going first. Tomorrow is my day so please come back to see what I have to say about the Land of One. I urge you to check out the nine wonderful writers who will also be participating in This Is Childhood over the next ten weeks:
Kristen Levithan Nina Bazin Galit Breen Allison Slater Tate Bethany Meyer Tracy Morrison Amanda Magee Denise Ullem Lindsey Mead
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2. The End of My Year Without Wine.
Last January 16, I stopped drinking alcohol and vowed to stay dry for a calendar year. Well, Wednesday marks the end of my Year Without Wine and I simply cannot believe it. I'm not sure I ever truly believed I would follow through with this experiment, but I am so happy I did. Two more days!
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3. A Happier Hour With Lee Woodruff.
I am hosting my next Happier Hour this week with the lovely and talented Lee Woodruff whose recent and bestselling novel Those We Love Most I absolutely adored. I met Lee last summer at a bloggers' luncheon at Ladies' Home Journal and was struck by her intelligence, poise, and humor. I am thrilled and honored that Lee will be joining all (70+) of us thinking women as we squeeze into my yellow living room to talk and, yes, to get happier.
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4. My New Writing Room.
I could call it My Study. Or My Office. But I will not be studying or working in this room. I will be writing. Thus: My Writing Room. It will also double as a spillover guest room and I have been obsessively scouring the city and the web and harassing my design-genius sister Ceara and my former decorator Blair for the perfect pieces to populate this space. So far, we have settled on his/hers desks from Blu Dot and a sleeper sofa from Room & Board. I think surroundings matter and am starting to read some really groovy design blogs. (Any recs for good ones to read?)
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5. Fiction First.
Related to #4... Last week, arguably inspired by the fact that it is a brand new year, I woke up at 5am every morning to write fiction. This got easier and easier as the week went on and I found that writing during that early hour of darkness - when my creatures were snoozing and my mind was still soft from sleep - worked very, very well. It is my goal to finish my novel this year so putting fiction first literally and figuratively feels right and good. We will have to see if I can keep this up, but maybe with a new-and-improved and super-serene Writing Room, this will become a happy habit? (Btw, I am in the middle of the fascinating book The Power of Habit and have become very curious about the topic.)