Hi friends! Happy New Year’s Eve! I hope you have all been having a lovely holiday season. I have, as I alluded to before, been getting a lot of rest, restoring myself to start the New Year refreshed.

2025 was a year marked by a lot of difficult, and frankly, terrifying things in the world, and for me personally there was also loss and sadness. But there were many happy things too: travel, time with friends, seeing my children flourish. My intention every year is to be present and grounded, to find joy in both the ordinary and extraordinary, and I did that. Things weren’t always perfect, but they were really good, and it feels strange to say that after a year that started with threats of our country’s annexation. I guess it’s okay to find joy where we can, to make the world a better place just by shining our little lights as much as possible. What I’m saying is that I know, I know that 2025 was hard, and I am sending hugs and Care Bear Stares, and trying to shine my little light in your direction, friends.

Here’s what happened for me in 2025.

January

I talked about books and having adult children, I had some dental work done, I issued everyone a very gentle yoga challenge which I should have followed up on, but never did, I answered a lot of questions about marriage and also talked about fibre, the postal strike was over and I started to receive things in the mail, I talked about mourning my old body and clothes, and I discussed all the things I love about January.

February

I talked about things that are confusing, the weather turned cold and I listened to a podcast about weird erotica, I discussed the concept of “reseating the theatre,” and I went to Mexico and entered into my tankini era.

March

If you’re looking for a vacation/ beach read, here is a good list, I was grumpy, it was five years from the start of the pandemic and I had five habits I kept from that time, I shared my meal planning techniques, we celebrated our anniversary and a couple of birthdays on the exact same day, I embraced not being in style, and we had a frog in our house.

April

Music is always in my head, and sometimes it leads to wildly varied thoughts; everything from travel to paint night to bumper stickers. I made everyone uncomfortable by asking them to tell me something beautiful about themselves, and the comment section of this post is wonderful. I turned fifty, and I talked about all my favourite things throughout my fifty years. I also had a big party and planted my garden, but not at the same time.

May

I had five cakes over my birthday month, I talked about radical acceptance and unconditional friendliness, except with regards to weirdos on Facebook, all the cool kids were doing A Day In The Life, so I did too, I started the 100-Day Project – spoiler alert! I did not finish it, Homegrown Salad Season started, I discussed ducks, dialects, and Daddy Cool, and I talked about life-changing things such as BCAAs and eyebrow mascara.

June

I wrote a series of posts in June about NOURISHMENT, which was really fun. I talked about nourishing the brain through mental exercises, nourishing the body through glorious food and joyful movement, nourishing the soul through nature, nourishing everything through sleep, and nourishing my relationships. The Favourite Things were, of course, Nourishing! I think I need to write more series in 2026.

July

I had some gardening wins and some podcast woes, I had some strange downward trajectories involving both Peloton and birds, I actually spent a week time-tracking, and it was just as boring as I thought it would be, I toured through my bookshelves and introduced my eclectic book organization system, and I said bye-bye to July with a few Favourite Things.

August

While my husband and son were away, I played…with my friend Birchie, who visited all the way from the American Midwest! (HI BIRCHIE) Then she left, and I was alone with my Greek salads and British period dramas. AND THEN the guys came home to a vast array of homegrown vegetables, I talked about enjoying the things I have, including seventy-seven tee shirts, I reread the transformative Your Body Your Best Friend and mused on how we can be our own best friends, and my Favourite Things were in memory of my beloved yoga students.

September

I was drowning in tomatoes and talking to people in the grocery store, I talked about what I would do in the (improbable) case that I attain billionaire status, I pulled the figurative Ferrari out of the garage, it was the great Judy Blume reread, I talked about AI girlfriends and also updated everyone on my garden, and I talked about fall-themed Favourite Things such as grapes, new shoes, and also a killer hair product.

October

I went to Morocco, I showed you the travel essentials for going to Morocco, I talked about the wonderful and not-so-wonderful people I met in Morocco, and I shared my Favourite Things from Morocco. There was a theme!

November

It was the start of Tiny Secret Festive Season, I shared my enormous library haul and my travel reading list, my coffee maker malfunctioned, leading to panic, I was faced with some very minor mysteries, following in the footsteps of its friend, the coffee maker, my stand mixer malfunctioned, and I fought the November gloom with some Favourite Things!

December

I talked about holiday music and Advent calendars, I got to tour the back room of a Canada Post outlet, I shared five-star books, music, and podcasts, and also confessed that I have turned into my own dad, I relayed that my husband and my own love languages are both Acts of Service, I toured around my holiday decorations, the theme of which is Nostalgic Festive Chaos, and my Favourite Things were warm and yummy-smelling.

Thank you for being here on this journey with me. I wish you all health and happiness in 2026; may the year treat us all with kindness and gentleness. xo