Welcome to Friday, I’m so happy to be back in your inbox again this week! I’m putting the finishing touches on this newsletter on Thursday evening after returning from the “Dine & Donate” event hosted by Hazy BBQ benefitting Friends of the Danville Library. It’s the collab I always needed!
Today I’m sharing a recent find at a Little Free Library, reflections on a goal I did not achieve last year, a visit to a new-to-me library, kid-friendly fun in the East Bay, and I have some advice to “just buy the tickets.”
Little Free Library Find. A few weekends ago, I remembered that I had a box full of board books in my car, so I made quick stop at a Little Free Library on the way to the grocery store. My plan was just to make a donation, but of course I was in for a fabulous surprise – big fan of bookish serendipity. I spotted this beautiful copy of The Man Who Died Twice by Richard Osman. It’s on my TBR and is the second book in The Thursday Murder Club series.
Falling Short of a Goal. In 2025 I set a goal to walk 1000 miles. And guess what? I didn’t achieve it! However, I did walk 951 miles, which was 400 miles more than I had ever walked before in a year. I’ll consider it a success. I learned so much about what motivates me (coffee) and was able to determine small changes for 2026. For instance, I definitely need to front-load miles in the summer when the days are longer. I’ll keep you posted on my progress!
Tales for Sale. I kicked off the new year with a trip to a new-to-me Contra Costa County library. My son and I were driving around town and he spotted a sign that read “Library Book Sale.” He knew that I could not turn that down. We hopped into the Ygnacio Valley Library, and although we didn’t buy any books, we did end up checking out a few!
Hikes with Lindsay Wildlife. Back in December, I knew that our January was going to be a bit slower, so I started looking for some fun weekend plans before our Spring fills up with kid sports! Last weekend we met up with some friends for the Newt Hike with Lindsay Wildlife. It cost $25 for non-members and it was worth every dollar! The hike lasted about 90 minutes and we walked 2.5 miles in the Briones Regional Park – perfect for a second grader!
Just buy the tickets. When I was younger, before I booked a flight, purchased concert tickets, planned a trip, or scheduled a babysitter, I always had this moment where I thought, “What if someone gets sick or a conflict comes up?” I’m not sure how or when I got over this. Maybe it was having every single plan in 2020 cancelled due to the pandemic? Somewhere along the way I realized that, for me, purchasing tickets and having a plan makes life actually much smoother than leaving my calendar wide open and having nothing to do. After all, the time will pass anyway. So yes, I am the person that subscribes to all the local event emails and sits down to buy the tickets, adds the dates in our shared family calendar, and finalizes our schedule. I probably say, “Just buy the tickets” to myself at least once per month!
Thanks for reading along! Here are a few questions for your weekend:
- Do you have a favorite Little Free Library find?
- Have you ever fallen short of a goal and still considered it a success?
- Do you like to have a plan or keep your schedule wide open? Or somewhere in between?
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