Lately
An addition to the family, one year married, and a mini TBF recap ✨
I’m on my lunch break on the last day of work before a long weekend, which seems like a perfect time for a quick life update. I’m trying to do more writing and less thinking like I talked about here, so let’s see if I can finish this before I have to clock back in.
LOUISE
On October 14th, this girl officially joined our family! We didn’t expect to get a new dog so soon after losing Edie, but when I saw this picture on the rescue’s Instagram and read that she was rescued from a hoarding situation (just like Edie was), I knew we had to have her.
After debating various old lady names, we settled on Louise (Lou, for short) in part because of her pink ears a la Louise Belcher, but it turned out to be even more fitting because she also has the same chaotic energy. She is so small (less than seven pounds), so feisty, and so cute. Her skin is pink! She loves to play! She has a tiny underbite! I simply can’t take it. She’s been a happy distraction as of late.
TEXAS BOOK FESTIVAL
Texas Book Festival is my favorite weekend. I look forward to it every year, and I literally plan my life around Texas Book Festival. (Last year, I had my bachelorette party on Friday night, only had a couple of drinks, and made a point to get home early because I had TBF the next day. #priorities)
My haul is pictured above minus The Insiders by Mark Oshiro, which I literally bought last-minute as they were packing up the sales tent. I think I’m going to start with The God of the Woods.
There were only a few authors at TBF this year who I had read before, which meant I got to discover a lot of great new authors and listen to some really interesting panels I may have otherwise missed. Some of my favorite panels featured authors/books that I didn’t purchase (because I have to draw the line somewhere and seven books (six of them hardcover) seems like the line), but I added them to my TBR! Here a few more I’m excited to get to eventually:
American Diva: Extraordinary, Unruly, Fabulous by Deborah Paredez
Magical Realism: Essays on Music, Memory, Fantasy, and Borders by Vanessa Angélica Villarreal
First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston
Liliana’s Invincible Summer: A Sister’s Search for Justice by Cristina Rivera Garza
ONE YEAR!
Dylan and I celebrated our one-year wedding anniversary and seven-year dating anniversary on November 18th! We’re taking a little anniversary trip to San Antonio this weekend, but the day of we celebrated with a few games of pool at Slick Willie’s (which is what we did after our reception and before our karaoke afterparty) and a tasty dinner at Fonda San Miguel.
Since our wedding and dating anniversary are on the same day, I think we were both trying to come up with ways to make our wedding anniversaries a little extra special (whether we realized it at the time or not). For example, the decision to play pool before dinner came from having a later reservation, but I hope we do it every year. Dylan chose the restaurant and kept it a surprise, and we decided that next year it’ll be my turn to pick. We never do gifts for our anniversaries (opting for an anniversary trip instead), but I asked if we could make a point to write each other a card each year. I also ended up wearing my wedding jewelry after struggling to decide on a pair of earrings for ten minutes, which I think I’ll make a little tradition just for me.
I’ve always loved a tradition, and it’s fun to have a reason to make up some new ones.
So what’s been going on with you lately? It’s so nice to catch up.
