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New Year Catch Up

Last week, I wrote a lot about big picture goals and themes of 2026. But, like many of you, we had our share of post-holiday pain points that piled on! So today, let’s do a quick catch up. Here’s what’s been going on lately. *Last week where everything broke, all at once, and all the small annoyances piled up. While we were potty training my toddler, our oven broke, the car got a flat tire, the bumper broke after the car was towed, our garage flooded, and I got food poisoning. Many dollars and repairs later, everything is fixed minus the garage which we still need to trouble shoot to avoid future flooding. There were a lot of days last week where I plopped onto the couch after the kids went to sleep and felt completely wrung out. Fortunately this week is much more routine, and I’m feeling grateful! *It definitely felt cognitively dissonant to spend time setting goals amidst what felt like a less than ideal week, but I think the process of writing about goals and having them fresh in ...
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2026 Goals

Earlier I wrote about my word of the year, and how I haven’t set annual goals in a long time. This year, I decided to try it out again and see how I liked it. I tried to focus on goals that related to habits or things I was already doing that I wanted to maintain or deepen this year. Other goals are more focused on things I want to try or experiment with. A lot of them tie back in with my word of the year, place : connecting to the place I am in (home, neighborhood, and environment), putting everything in its place, and having my important relationships in a good place. Personal: *100 strength training workouts. I’ve been averaging 3 strength workouts a week in the last few months of 2025, and I want to continue this habit. 100 seems like a manageable goal that accounts for weeks traveling, sick, etc. but still demands a regular routine. *Experiment with the Read Harder Challenge. I used to love doing Book Riot’s Read Harder Challenge. It has many different prompts for the year,...

Word of the Year: 2026

I’m generally a person who enjoys the energy a new year brings. I find it helpful that the new year prompts me to reflect on life as it is now and any changes I hope to make. However, since having my younger daughter, I haven’t set annual goals or a word of the year. I did use a planner and would sometimes set monthly goals and overviews, but a year seemed like such a long time to imagine with two little kids, and I got out of the habit. As 2025 came to a close, I found myself listening to many of the year-in-review episodes and feeling inspired. I always love the Happier podcast’s end of year episodes, and the Girl Next Door reflection episode is often one of my favorites of the year. Then I read the first few chapters of Best Laid Plans , and felt inspired to delve into annual planning since it hasn’t been part of my routine the last few years. So, this year I decided to pick a word of the year and set goals. My word of the year this year is place . I have a couple of associations...

Favorite Books & Music of 2025

I love hearing about what media people are engaging with and love seeing the best of the year lists come out. I don’t always go back and review my favorites from the year, but this year I decided to join the fun and list my favorite books and music of the year. Reading is my most established (and favorite) habit, so I had a lot of great books to choose from. I’m trying to get back into listening to more new music, so I had fewer favorites. I hope next year that I have more new music I’ve listened to a lot and love. I also added in the Goodreads graphic of all the books I have read (to date) this year. My favorite books of 2025: 5.) These Heathens by Mia MacKenzie. I really loved this short book set in the south during the 1960s. It follows Doris, a seventeen-year-old from rural Georgia, who travels to Atlanta for an abortion. The story takes place over the course of one weekend, and features several Civil Rights leaders (Martin Luther King, Coretta Scott King, and Malcolm X among ot...

Holiday Snapshots

Hoping you and your families have had warm, cozy, and festive holidays! I’ve been a bit quiet in this space as we’ve been immersed in lots of fun and festive family events. I thought I’d share a few of the moments that I want to remember from the holiday season this year. For context, we are an interfaith family that celebrates both Hanukkah and Christmas. I want to remember… *Our first Hanukkah party at the synagogue we joined this year. A was shy at first, but by the end was running and playing with all the kids and it was beautiful to see a table filled with lit menorahs. Particularly after the horrific shooting at Bondi Beach, it was good to be together with a larger group of Jews to celebrate. *The 80th year of our family Christmas party. This party has been thrown every year (except 2020) since 1946. My mom’s side of the family gathers the Sunday before Christmas and Santa visits. A was delighted to see Santa, M was full of tears and retreated to another room for snuggles. This...

5 on a Friday (Vol. 5)

We are in full-on festive season mode! Hanukkah began on Sunday, it’s the last week of school, and then with Christmas next week everything feels full, but in a mostly fun way. Usually I’m pretty minimalist/simplicity focused; I like going to bed early, having quiet time to myself, and habits and routines. But this year, I’m kind of leaning into a more is more philosophy, particularly when it comes to gatherings and celebrations. 1.)This has been a big week for hosting/gatherings. We had a feast of the seven fishes party (biggest hits were the tuna pasta & whole ocean white fish), and the next night we had another family over to celebrate Hanukkah with brisket, latkes, and dreidel! Then, this weekend, we are also going to a Hanukkah party at the youth rabbi’s house on Saturday, and a family Christmas party on Sunday. This is a lot for one week, but I think it will be a fun and memorable week and after lots of quieter holiday years, I’m kind of loving all the time to connect and ...

Some Messes I'm Trying to Embrace

In this season of parenting, something I can struggle with is the constant mess and tidying cycle. I’m definitely guilty of letting a nice moment pass me by because I’m focused on all of the clean up that will have to happen later, but lately I’ve been trying to remind myself that it looks like a six and two-year-old live here because they do. I’m trying to see the bigger picture of what kind of life I want our family to have rather than snapping at kids or feeling like I’m the only one who ever cleans up (which isn’t true, but feels like it some days). Instead of reacting to the mess in a passive-aggressive way, I’m trying to focus on decluttering, having a clear place where things go, and resetting as a family regularly. There is a lot of stuff still to declutter, but it helps to focus on our main living area where we spend 80% of our time at home. Do these systems work all of the time? Definitely not. Do I still sometimes get snippy on days when we spend a lot of time at home an...