Looking Back: 2019 in Review

Personal:

* Hiked in Acadia National Park

* Found a great ice cream place in Bar Harbor

* We celebrated 16 years of marriage

* I turned 40

* My family created a fun celebration of 40 days to 40

* Spent a week in Walt Disney World eating lots of great food and chatting up characters

* Rediscovered my love for pie

* Visited San Diego and had a great time, especially at the zoo

* Helped volunteer for the zoo with a photo tracking giraffe project which was really cool 

(They're working on an owl project now. And it's easy to help)

* Built Harry Potter Lego Set - Hogwarts Castle

* Put in a new kitchen floor and backsplash with my husband. It made our kitchen looks SO much better. We also had new counters and new appliances put in. Our kitchen renovation is almost complete - just a few finishing touches

* Went to Florida to visit family 

* Visited Historic Deerfield with my family

* Went to the a big fair in Vermont

* Hiked in a park with lots of Waterfalls

* Successfully exited a wine maze

* Saw my friend Val get married - she had an amazingly bookish/witchy wedding

* Saw Ani Difranco in concert with my college BFF 

* Saw the tree lighting in Burlington, VT

Professional:

* Still reviewing books for VOYA, SLJ, and Fresh Fiction

* Created a new section at the library for Emerging Readers (still a work in progress, but so many people have been happy with it)

* I was the co-chair of the Library State Conference where I was a moderator for a panel of romance writers and got to introduce Vashti Harrison, the awesome illustrator

* I also presented with my co-chair about romance novels in libraries

* My STEAM program at the library was written up in the Hartford Courant

* Hosted my friend Regina Kyle for the CT Author Trail event at my library

* Regina and I also went to the finale together

Blogging/Reading

* The blog turned 11 this year

* I hugged Meg Cabot at BEA 

* I attended the first (annual I'm hoping) New England Kiss Con

* Read many many wonderful books

* Lots of great books and ARC sent for review