Busted!  No weekend highlight picture for you today, my friends.  This was such a low-key weekend that I actually didn’t take any pictures.  Can you believe it?  Well – I took one picture, of Rebecca mixing us up some old fashioneds, but she didn’t like the way her hair looked and I deleted it.  And that’s it!  But the takeaway from that should be – YES, Rebecca is here!  New friends: Rebecca is my very very very very bestest best friend in the world.  We met as college freshmen and pledge sisters and quickly became inseparable, and we have been friends ever since.  Rebecca was in my wedding and she is godmother to both of my children, and Peanut and I were in her wedding this fall.  But we haven’t lived in closer than D.C./Virginia Beach since college – other than one summer when she did some professional training in D.C. – and for long stretches of our friendship, we haven’t even lived on the same continent (Rebecca has worked for long stretches of time in Africa and the Middle East).  Anyway, she has MOVED TO NOVA and I am beyond excited.  She arrived on Saturday afternoon and our first order of business was to spend Sunday together.  Peanut and I swung by to see her new apartment and then we all hit Target together (she is in the moving phase where you go to Target A LOT and I have small children so I always need something there) and then spent the afternoon at my house.  It was as fabulous and amazing as I imagined it would be to have my best friend living in my local area and I can’t wait to see her all the time now.  The only negative was that I felt rotten all day.  I let myself get too hungry (Nugget ate my breakfast) and got a headache, then I ate too fast and got digestive pyrotechnics.  Fun stuff.  But – REBECCA IS HERE!

Reading.  I was actually hoping to read less this year (more on that when I talk about my 2018 goals in a week or so) but it seems I am already failing at that goal.  Early in the week I finished Origin, the new Dan Brown, which I started in 2017 – it’s always interesting to see what the first book of a year ends up being.  Then I tore through Period Piece: A Cambridge Childhood, by Gwen Raverat, and looooooooved it.  First five star book of the year!  I have a gorgeous Folio Society edition that Steve and the kids gave me for my birthday, which I had been saving, and it was the perfect antidote to a bitterly cold week.  I savored it over several days, but finally had to finish it – lucky for me, my library holds came in to distract me and I am now almost done with Letters to a Young Muslim, which is fascinating and illuminating.

Watching.  I am sorry to report that Steve and I finished up Season 2 of The Crown and are now bereft.  It was better than I was expecting – after hearing that the focus of the season would be on Phillip (all the eyerolls – did they not have any interesting women to write about? be better, Peter Morgan) I had really low expectations.  And while it was far from a perfect season of TV, the big budget and gorgeous settings and costumes do cover a multitude of sins.  Now we’re looking for the next show to get sucked into, and I think we’re going to make the very short leap over to Victoria, although I am also trying to convince Steve to give Alias Grace a chance.

Listening.  Podcasts, podcasts, podcasts.  I was saving all the new year’s episodes of my favorite podcasts for this week and I have been enjoying lots of chat about resolutions and fresh starts – one of my favorite topics.  But the best listen was the fiftieth episode Q&A of my favorite podcast, Tea or Books?, which I was hoarding and which was delightful – of course.

Moving.  I need to get back to the yoga and barre studios, but I have been waiting until the January crowds ease up.  It’s been kind of a rough week; I’ve been feeling a little off (not pregnant) and while a workout would probably actually make me feel better, it’s fallen by the wayside.  Plus with the bitter cold weather, a run is just not going to happen, unless I wend my way down to the treadmill at work, and I’m not sure I’m that desperate.

Blogging.  So sorry, y’all, but I have a bit of a braggy post coming on Wednesday.  I had an amazingly bookish Christmas and while I rarely post “look what I got!” blogs (although I enjoy reading them on others’ blogs) I just couldn’t resist showing you all the books I unwrapped – they are just so beautiful.  And then on Friday, I’ll share my December hike, which – well, it’s a bit of a stretch to call it a hike, but I’m going to make that stretch.  It was the best I could do last month, so go with it.

Loving.  On New Year’s Eve, Steve and I and the kids piled into the car and headed over to my high school BFF, Jenn’s, house, for a playdate.  The kids had fun palling around with Jenn’s daughter (who is a little older than Peanut), Steve watched football with Jenn’s husband, and Jenn and I chatted as fast as we could and caught up on all of the gossip.  (A mutual friend is mad at Jenn because she insulted James Oglethorpe, the founder of Georgia.)  Anyway, as it often does, our conversation turned to running and food, and Jenn mentioned that she had not been feeling herself and was planning a cleanse for January.  I said I didn’t want to do a cleanse, but I also was not feeling myself and could use an accountability buddy to help me make sure I was prioritizing my own well-being in addition to everything else I had going on.  Jenn and I immediately signed up to help each other stay on track with our goals, and have been exchanging almost daily text messages ever since.  I gently remind her to stay hydrated, and she browbeats me into taking five minutes for myself each day.  It’s lovely to be more connected – while we adore each other, we both tend to get busy and let communication slip – and to have a coach and cheerleader as we chase our personal and professional goals for 2018.

Asking.  What are you reading this week?