It's 5:13am and I'm wide awake. After an hour of trying to get back to sleep I gave up and got out of bed. In my house, it's very quiet. Andrew still sleeps upstairs and so in an attempt to not wake him I just grabbed my robe and started my morning routine. The smell of fresh coffee is beginning to waft through the living room as I open the curtains. This is a routine usually done at a little later, but this morning my mind was filled with heavy thoughts…

I have re-written this first sentence what feels like fifty times. As a result, I have finally given up on writing something coherent and valuable, and have decided just to write. Sometimes, when he have commitments that we want to stick with, we need to stick with them even when we know it's not the best.  

Every once in a while, someone unsubscribes from my weekly email. I can't deny that it hurts a little bit. I wonder what I did wrong that week to make them say I don't want this anymore. But just as quickly as I start to doubt myself, I force myself to change the soundtrack in my head. I stop the negative self-talk and remind myself that it's okay.  The more of yourself you put out into the world…

As I walked the streets of Dublin, I snapped a picture from the corner at The Temple Bar and sent it to my old Ireland buddies. It was one of hundreds I would take in just the few days I would be in the city. As I reminisced and shared stories of my time back then, I wondered if any of my pictures were still on Facebook and so I pulled up the app…

How far would you go for a croissant? On July 12, 2022 Albert Van Limbergen arrived at Boulangerie Roy Le Capitole after cycling 870 miles across two countries. In CNN Travel, Chrissie McClatchie shares his story of planning and executing his adventure, all for the special lavender croissants found in the bakery in France.  When I heard this story, what intrigued me was not the 870 miles, but it was how the dream was born.

Last year, Andrew and I went to an Art in The Park exhibit to support our friend who had some paintings on display. While we were walking around and looking at the other vendors, the picture above caught my eye. I asked the young girl about it: how did you capture such a moment? She then told me about the work that went into the set up…

The high five is something deeply ingrained in our society and so it's odd to think of a time before it existed. Years ago, I listened to a RadioLab podcast about the origin story. I remembered it being interesting and thought it would make for a good Sunday Starter, but when I reread the transcript this morning I was taken on an unexpected journey and into a topic that goes far beyond the high five itself. 

As many of you already know, this week I became a published author. Publishing a book has been a dream of mine, but I kept it to myself for so many years. When I finally mustered the courage to admit to someone that I had this lofty goal, it took another 10 years after that to finally start pursing it. I think what put me off for so long was the overwhelming feeling of playing the long game…

Tuesday night, March 28, I couldn’t sleep. At 7pm I received an email that required a decision. It was an email I wasn’t expecting; a decision I didn’t seek out. Yet there I was, like a traveler making their way through the forest I turned a corner and found myself at a fork. All night I thought through what I should do. Do I continue on the path I had been on? Or do I take this new road and see where it goes? 

Today, is Easter Sunday. No matter where you stand on religious beliefs I think anyone would agree that this holiday is celebrated all across our country. Some celebrate by going to church. Some dye eggs. Some hunt for plastic and chocolate hidden by a mystical bunny rabbit. Some do all of the above. When I think on all the different things that have made their way into this once religious holiday, I can’t help but ask the question: What would Jesus say?  

In March we spent 10 beautiful days in Costa Rica. During that time, in a new environment with no deadlines or pressure to do anything, I became a different person: relaxed, care-free, and spontaneous. The shift was so dramatic from the anxiety that I had been carrying the last few months that Andrew and I started to jokingly refer to me as Costa Rica Kristen. In the past when I would take time off, it would be very difficult to shift into vacation mode and leave Corporate Kristen behind. Like the rest of America…

The day I started this post was March 13, 2023, five years to the day since my brother died. I choose to say died instead of some softer version like saying he passed away or since he left us… or the more annoying since he went to heaven. I can only speak from my personal experience, but I have often felt a pressure to change the words I say for the benefit of others. No one wants to talk about death so we try to gloss over it. But the truth is…  

This is your reminder to take a sick day when you need it. Take vacation when you need it. You can be a responsible person and love the people in your life, while still putting up boundaries and taking care of yourself. And in case it wasn’t obvious…. I am sick. So that’s the post.

Imagine walking the streets of Washington D.C. and finding a high security ID badge on the side of the road. You flip over the badge, and on the back are a set of directions. Intrigued, you quickly take out your phone and find a satellite view of the area. You click along the road following the steps: left turn here, right turn there. Eventually the path takes you way out into Virginia, dead-ending at a mountain. What kind of thing could possibly be located in a mountain that needs a high security badge?

In the 1920s, Air Force cockpits were designed for the "average man." Using many dimensions of pilots at the time, they created the spacing for the seat and everything they needed to reach according to the average of those measurements. Over time, they started to notice that pilots were having trouble flying the planes. And by trouble, I mean people were crashing and dying at an alarming rate…

With my Pinot Noir in hand and a fire under the mantle, I sat contemplating the roller coaster that had been my last few weeks. My favorite chair faces the big front window of my living room, giving me a view of a few trees but mostly open sky. With not much else to distract me, I was tempted to sit and dwell on the difficult moments of my month. As my mind started to trend in that direction, a tiny plane interrupted my train of thought…

A pumpkin costume… that’s what I was wearing when I broke my skull. No, it was not Halloween. Yes, I was the only one in costume. It was 1990-something and I was seven. Or maybe I was eight. Hard to remember. Literally. I’m not sure what led my little mind to put on the costume that day and climb up on the desk. Maybe I was trying to entertain my little brother? Maybe I was acting out because my older siblings wouldn’t let me play Scram Ball? Whatever it was I slipped that pumpkin over my head, climbed up on a desk, and after a slip and four-foot fall I was in the hospital for a week…

Today is my 100th Sunday starter email. 100 weeks I stuck with my commitment to writing something new. 100 Sunday mornings I successfully sent out an email. When I saw the number it made me think about how much work I had done over the last two years to get to day 100. It took sacrifice. It took passion. It took commitment. But looking back, I think the hardest part was not getting to Day 100, it was getting to Day 1.  

Today, I had a really great day; a perfect day. Yet tonight, I am sitting here with a weighted blanket on hoping that this feeling of panic will pass. I should have been in bed hours ago but I am still awake, unable to sleep; unable to shake this feeling that is making my heart race and my body uneasy. I’ve learned over the years that this is a pattern that emerges after something big…

This shit ain’t going to help you… the stranger said that to me as I perused the business section, looking for something specific I needed to read for work. I happen to be in front of the business for dummies books when he walked by, laughing and judging me, saying, “The best way to learn about business is to be in business. This shit ain’t going to help you.” I smiled and gave an awkward chuckle, grateful that he continued on his way and I didn’t have to start a conversation that would have surely led to him condescendingly explaining “business” to me…