Hello, friends, and Happy Monday. How was your weekend? I had a great one. On Saturday, we attended the WGBH FunFest in Boston, where our little one ate his weight in ice cream and cotton candy, listened to music, met (and zealously embraced) Curious George, and got his face painted. After lunch, we went to one of my favorite local indies, Newtonville Books, where I bought myself a couple of juicy reads for my upcoming travels. Later that day, we went to my friend (and fellow Cottager) Anika Denise‘s launch party for her new picture book, MONSTER TRUCKS, where we sipped prosecco and consumed all manner of car- and monster-themed goodies, and watched the author perform her book for a Facebook live feed. Afterwards, my husband and I went to a nearby restaurant called Bywater and experienced one of the best meals we’ve had in a long time (oysters! bluefish paté! duck tacos! burnt sugar ice cream!).

And then, yesterday, we went to IKEA. Why did no one ever tell me about Småland, the playspace in the store where you can drop off your kids for 45 MINUTES of monitored play, while you get your grownup shopping done? You guys, it was like a little Swedish miracle. (While we were there, I bought these insanely good cookies. They are impossibly light and crisp and sweet and salty, and I MAY have eaten a few too many of them last night.) For dinner, we christened our new grill and had a cookout. I made some rosé spritzers (wine +seltzer + homemade strawberry simple syrup), which were divine. And then I binged on a new British crime series on Netflix called Marcella (kinda messy, kinda meh).

So, what’s up for me this week? I’m still slogging through my revision of the second Bland Sisters story. I wish I had a more interesting agenda for you, but I only have one item to address, and believe me, that’s plenty. Once it’s off my plate, I hope (for all our sakes!) my life will be more exciting.

How’s your week shaping up? Hopefully it’s a bit more fun-filled than mine.

P.S. If you’re in the area next Thursday, I’ll be reading in Burnside Park in Providence from  10:30 to 11:30 with fellow local kidlit friends Anika Denise, Gaia Cornwall, and Christina Rodriguez. Hope to see you (and your little ones, if you have ’em) there!