Hello! Apologies for my radio silence. I had a nice long 4th of July weekend in which I attempted to disconnect from the internets for a bit. I’m working on coming up with a more regular blogging schedule. Time will tell if I stick to it.

Here are three things that made my week:

1. One of my favorite blogs did this lovely post asking “What’s the most beautiful thing you’ve ever read?” More than 600 people responded! I LOVE beautiful sentences–borrow a book from me and you’ll notice all the turned-down edges with my favorite lines on them–so this was just blog post heaven to me. I still need to go through them all and add them to my Tumblr where I collect such things.

2. I’ve said this before, but it bears repeating: when you’re stuck on plot problems, get away from your computer. When I’m stuck, like really stuck, sitting there staring at the screen hopelessly, 99% of the time all I need is a little distance. In yoga class last night, the issue I’d been struggling with came to me in a burst of clarity while I was in high lunge. It was all I could do not to race out of class that moment and jot it down. Instead, I worked through it inside my head for the remaining half hour of class, doing the complete opposite of what they ask you to do in yoga class, which is be present in the moment. It was worth it, though. I went home and wrote for three hours straight. I got to bed way too late, but again: worth it.

3. My friend and her husband just got back from the Amalfi Coast, which is SO on my list and has been since I saw this movie. Her pictures are amazing and now all I want to do is plan a trip there, since we still don’t know where we’re going this year yet. But it’s quite pricey. If anyone has any Amalfi Coast tips, please let me know!

Reading: I just started The Moon and More by Sarah Dessen. I haven’t actually really read Sarah Dessen, which is a crime, I know, as a YA lover (and YA writer!) All I can say in my defense is: too many books, too little time.

Watching: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver is now my favorite thing to watch during Monday dinner. I generally don’t watch the news, because it’s usually awful (I keep myself informed by reading about it instead) but John Oliver has this way of making awful, important things palatable–but not in an insensitive way. He’s like Colbert and Jon Stewart, but somehow funnier. You didn’t think that was possible, did you?

Listening to: A New Found Glory. Yes, I’m a teenager in the nineties again.

Photo by Denise Jans on Unsplash