hey, friend.
Back in 2000, when I was single, I packed up everything I owned and moved to London with my job — I was the attorney responsible for negotiating deals in Europe, Africa and the Middle East for my employer. Even though I grew up moving around a lot, this was the first time that I was moving far away all on my own. It was exhilarating, but I was also really concerned about maintaining my friendships. I was headed to a city where I didn’t know a soul.
Since this was a time before any social media, I decided to send group emails, blind-copying all of my friends — a newsletter, really. I’d share stories about how even though I clearly spoke English, I kept using the wrong words in my new adopted home (pro tip: “fanny pack” has a whole different meaning in England). I talked about my drive from the airport to my hotel on a business trip in West Africa, when my impatient driver became so upset with the car blocking his way, he pulled out a horsewhip and started smacking the driver of the other car through his open window when they drove past each other. And after September 11th, I sent a message to all my friends, after having watched the twin towers fall from my hotel room in the Middle East, about taking in an American friend at my flat in London, since all planes were grounded, and he had no way to return home to his wife in Austin for at least a week.
I sent these emails and more for the almost two years I lived in London, and I really loved it — and I think my friends enjoyed them too, since occasionally they would request that friends of theirs — people who I’d never met! — be added to my email list. The fact that they liked them was a big part of the reason I felt brave enough to start a blog a couple of years later, when I was married and my new husband Marcus and I were awaiting the birth of our daughter, Alex.
It’s been over 17 years since I started blogging, and a lot has happened in that time: Marcus and I became parents. We moved to Trinidad. We moved back to the States. We lost our home. We rebuilt our home. Alex has grown up and is about to start her final year of school. And like all of you, we’ve endured a global pandemic.
Through all of this, I’ve continued to blog. And while I love this blog, these days I’m finding myself missing the intimacy of those first newsletter emails, when, instead of writing for the entire world, with posts that stay on the internet indefinitely. I don’t plan on shutting down the blog, but I think I’m going to step back a bit, and instead focus on a monthly email, one that’s more introspective and intimate, at least over the next few months.
If you’re already on my newsletter list, then you’re good to go. If you’re not on the list and you’d be interested in receiving an email from me (no more often than once a month; more likely every six weeks or so), all about things that are on my mind (like my random thoughts posts), as well as good things I find around the web (like my little list of good things posts), then I’ll invite you to sign up with your address below. As always, this content will be completely free — no plans on a paid newsletter anytime soon.)
Happy summer, friends. Here’s to easy livin’, staying connected, and making light.
A little about the new book.