20 Little Smiles Vol. 8
Summertime snapshots among some sadness
First of all, let me get something out of the way.
My last 20 Little Smiles post—which I shared on June 4—looked like this:
Less than ten days later, we had to say goodbye to that sweet guy dressed in black tie for his doggie daycare prom. We didn’t see it coming—we probably couldn’t have seen it coming. It’s been almost a month since we lost Irv, and while the new routines feel a little more familiar each day, it’s been a really tough couple of weeks. I’m thankful to everyone who has reached out with their own experiences grieving a furry family member or to share their memories (IRL or online) of my very special boy.
Some days, the grief feels more raw than others, but we are looking for—and finding!—smiles wherever we can. For that reason, it seems like the perfect time to revisit this series, which is all about stepping back and intentionally noticing the happy things… even if/when that requires some extra work.
Here are my latest 20 Little Smiles : )
1. A summer family day in our backyard with a splash pad (who knew this was something we could own?), a water table, and PB&J
2. Reading an entire book—and a really beautiful book that happened to be a weirdly perfect mix of literary and pacey—over the course of a single weekend
3. Basically anything related to the second season of America’s Sweethearts on Netflix, especially the Be There in Five recap episodes HERE and HERE
4. Anticipating the arrival of advanced copies of my book, coming very soon! (I shared more recent updates from my writing life HERE)
5. Clean-out-the-fridge-style pasta salads that are truly always delicious
6. Trying a new ice cream and water ice spot with my husband on a recent date night, only to discover that their cotton candy gelati is delicious and also pink (when it’s blue at other places, as other frozen-cotton-candy-flavored-treat aficionados will know)
7. Hearing positive feedback about Is This A Thing?… especially because I continue to have a true blast every time Abby and I record a new episode
8. A really good cry during a recent therapy session (the smile came after, I promise)
9. Literally every last little detail of Will’s summer daycare programming, which is working so hard to be a camp that we even have a visiting day next week
10. Chatting with my new “2026 Debuts” group chat about all things related to releasing first novels into the world next year
Currently Reading: Five-Star Stranger by Kat Tang
This one’s been on my shelf for a minute and I really regret leaving it there for so long. I’m not sure what I was expecting from it, but whatever those expectations were have been far exceeded by the 50-ish pages I’ve read so far. The writing is gorgeous and I love the way the author is exploring the ways in which our lives have been impacted by technology from such a human perspective.
11. A fresh new bulletin board that is (at least for the time being) a neat grid of potential future book ideas
12. The news that the on-sale date for Too Blessed to Stress has been moved up a week from 3/10 to 3/3 (!!!!)
13. Returning to an old nuuly standby this month: a pair of overall shorts that I will surely wear too much
14. Watching Will frolic through a bookstore with my mom the way I used to frolic through bookstores with my grandmother
15. Successfully making and posting my first-ever TikTok, only to discover that it’s actually pretty fun (though it’s weird I haven’t gone viral yet…)
16. Love Island USA memes, even if they spoil me on what’s happening later in the season
17. Learning that the bagels at my supermarket’s bakery are actually pretty good
18. Looking through Matt’s old soccer photos with Will and seeing him realize that it’s his dad in the pictures (and not just the balls, which he does insist on pointing out at every possible opportunity)
19. Commiserating chatting with other toddler parents at a restaurant over the weekend
20. A neighborhood walk to the playground and then for frozen yogurt
I recently started following you! I’m a first time mom of a 9 month old little boy so I love your musings about parenthood. Congrats on your book! I’ll be anxiously awaiting any details on pre ordering so I can support!