January: A Month of Deep Breaths

And lots of reading, apparently.

Jan 30, 2025

View from my new Sunday routine - doing stairs at China Cove. I know - I barely recognize myself too. But with this view? How lucky am I?

How many months was January? I feel as though I lived one hundred lives. Keeping this first monthly roundup quite simple and offering a handful of snaps from this scattershot month. Let’s get into it.

What I Read:

This whole “not having social media” thing has produced at least one indisputable, positive outcome: Reading. Way more reading. I clocked a total of 7 (!) books this month (including both audiobooks and on my Kindle). A few were holdouts from 2024 that I was finishing up, but I’m loving how much more time I’ve been dedicating to reading this month.

My favorite: Sea Wife, Amity Gaige
A captivating story of a family who leaves their ordinarily challenging suburban life behind to sail around the world for a year. Loved the emotional layers of the characters - would be a great bookclub pick!

One I’m still thinking about: Stolen Focus, Johann Hari
I spoke a bit about this one in my last newsletter, but I think this book has changed my life? A look at how our brains and attention are being co-opted in this age of technology and distraction. There were parts that lost me and I didn’t always agree with everything, but I would still highly recommend - I listened on Audible!

Feel free to ask me anything about the others! No major stinkers in the bunch this month.

🚨 Charming Documentary Alert! Just watched The Booksellers on Amazon Prime last night. One of those simple documentaries about a niche community of everyday but special humans (see also California Typewriter and Catwalk: Tales from the Cat Show Circuit). Though it did not make me want to start collecting rare books, I do feel some level of disgust with my use of the Kindle this morning. Would recommend.

I Made This:

At the end of the year, I took my first knitting class at a local yarn store (The Sheared Sheep, if you’re nearby!) I took my second class a few weeks ago wherein I signed up for 3 more sessions. My suspicions that I would absolutely love knitting, if I only had someone to show me how, have been confirmed.

I’m about halfway done with this little sweater vest made from yarn I bought in Portland in 2019 (!). I’m not not convinced that it’s going to turn out to be incredibly ugly, but I’m having a blast making it.

On top of all of that, the peace my soul is finding by taking two hours on a Saturday afternoon to move in a trance like state from one stitch to the next, snacking on a few pieces of cheap chocolate and listening in on the harmless gossip being shared by the other ladies in the class cannot be overstated.

I am already quite certain that this will be one of the highlights of my year.

Foods of Note:

Alison Roman’s Sticky Apple Cake (except this time, with pears!)
I’ve made this cake dozens of times and it never fails. I made it again for a few friends who came over for a Saturday night dinner and we all remarked on how it sort of tastes pancake-like. It’s even better the next morning with a cup of black coffee.

I’ve also swapped it for peaches too and, surprise, surprise, still delicious.

I made this Poached Salmon Curry with a Steamed Japanese Sweet Potato for dinner on Monday. This sort of thing is my favorite food. Healthy, nourishing, warm, full of flavor and very forgiving of added or missed ingredients. I’ll send a recipe for this in a separate newsletter next week :)

Hey, look!

Made a quick trip to Las Vegas to see The Eagles play the Sphere for my mom’s birthday.

Las Vegas: definitively not for me. The last time I was there, I swore I would never return, but I’ll do anything for my mom, so I made an exception. Reseting my declaration: I don’t see myself going back… ever?
The Eagles: very much for me. For some inexplicable reason, I’ve been obsessed with their 3 1/2 hour documentary, The History of the Eagles, since college. Something about the combination of their complete lack of self awareness, massive egos and songs I know every word to... Plus, I have a massive soft spot for Joe Walsh ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ (potentially the only likable member of the band). After watching them live, I’m not totally convinced they all don’t actively hate each other? But I had a blast anyway.
The Sphere: Truly very, very cool and worth seeing at some point. It definitely lived up to the hype and, I suspect, the visuals will only get more impressive as it continues to offer very talented designers the opportunity to play with the space.

Lastly, thank you all for your encouraging welcome back to Substack. I won’t take the 13 unsubscribes quite as personally, as many more of you said kind and encouraging things about my writing ;)

Looking forward to more exploration here in 2025.