I need to give myself a reading weekend just to make even the minutest of dents in my ever growing TBR.

I went out to dinner with one of my friends on Thursday. Whilst perusing the menu, I spotted a small list of mocktails. I try not to drink on weeknights, so I was overjoyed to see something fancy without the alcohol.

I selected the Apple Cinnamon Sparkler. It was a mix of apple cider, cinnamon simple syrup, and soda water. The mocktail had just the right amount of warming spice and fizz. Plus, it came with a cinnamon stick!

This is why I love that mocktails are a thing. I hope they're a trend with staying power.

Sometimes I don’t want alcohol, but I also don’t want to default to water or soda. Mocktails give me a choice, and let me order something that still feels special. Also, not everyone drinks. Seeing mocktails on a menu is a small but meaningful signal that everyone can partake.

Also, bartenders can be rather innovate when building their drinks. There's so much you can do with mixers and syrups and bubbles.

What do you like to drink?

Last night, I went out to dinner with a friend. In addition to my yummy omelet, I had an apple cinnamon mocktail. It was delicious! Just the right amount of warming spice with some pleasant fizz. I'm glad that fancy mocktails are a thing. 

Here's what else made me smile this week:

• The kiddo remembered we needed to return her school library books (when I had forgotten)
• Seasonal window clings
• Meandering friend chats
• Mythbusters
• An utterly charming romance story
• Kiddo's excitement to do a 100-piece puzzle with me
• Finished providing edits on a book manuscript I was asked to review (I really hope it finds a publisher!)
• Finally worked on a project I've been putting off and made HUGE progress
• Reading alone on the couch when I was up way too early

The Primal of Blood and Bone
Jennifer L. Armentrout

I just started book 6 in the Blood and Ash romantasy series. Thanks to a stupidly early morning wake up from a head cold, I've been able to dive straight back into this world. I've forgotten the roles of some of the side characters, but I'm mostly back up-to-date on this one. Also, I enjoy how the author has found a way to split our romantic leads apart while still having it make sense. This entry is a bit complicated with the early lore-dropping. Hopefully, the passages I glazed over don't turn out to be critical moments. It's just a lot when the author is info dumping hundreds of years of history in a few pages.

*Books shared here are affiliate links for Bookshop.org

Spring semester classes started today. After a quiet interim period, the library is slowly filling up with students again. This place really comes alive when there are people in it. But I’m also aware of the students who aren’t here. Or, if they are in the library, they never talk to a librarian. 

I'm an outreach librarian. My job is to connect the library to our community - students, faculty, and staff. No matter how many reels I post or newsletters I write, there are still people who think the library is not for them.

Students stay away from the library for a lot of reasons. Some worry they’re supposed to already know how to do research. Others don’t want to take up anyone’s time. There's a shocking number of people who think they have to pay extra to use the library. And, some think that asking a librarian for help is a kind of cheating.

Using a librarian isn’t cheating. (Not at all!) It’s part of learning how research and academia function. Librarians don’t write papers for students or even choose their sources. We help them understand expectations, find information, and make sense of an information landscape that often assumes too much pre-existing knowledge.

When students don’t use the library, they often end up working harder than they need to. Or, paying $40 for an article they find on Google. Or, these days, trusting everything ChatGPT feeds them. Students spend more time feeling stuck, second-guessing what they're doing, or relying on whatever information is easiest to find. None of that makes them better learners. It just makes the process lonelier and less efficient.

Early in the semester feels especially important. It’s when students are still forming habits and deciding where it’s safe to ask questions. A single positive interaction with a librarian can make the rest of the semester feel more manageable, even if they don’t come back right away.

I wish more students knew that the library isn’t a place you go only when you’re in trouble. It’s a place where you’re allowed to be unsure, curious, and still figuring things out.

That’s not cheating.

​That’s learning.

Our freezer has four different kinds of baked goods in it right now. There are two breakfast items - peanut butter oatmeal muffins and an astounding number of cream scones. There are also two kinds of cookies - snickerdoodles and chocolate ginger. Oh! And I just now remembered the four mini sweet breads my mom brought for the holidays.

I have a love hate relationship with these items.

I hate how much space all of this takes up. We have a large freezer, but the many Ziploc bags of baked goods amount to about a quarter of our storage space. I hate that I forget these items are in there so they stick around for a long time. And, when I do remember them, I hate how easy it is to give myself a treat. 

At the same time, I love that we have these treats on hand. It's so easy to pull out one or two individual items and defrost them from whoever wants them. Breakfast on a busy morning? Solved. A quick afternoon sweet? Don't mind if I do! I love that we save money by using what's on hand instead of buying something from the myriad of local bakeries. Most importantly, I love that freezing things reduces our food waste. Nothing goes stale on the counter, or grows mold and ends up in our compost bin.

So, yes, the freezer is crowded. And, yes, I sometimes side-eye it when I’m digging around for whatever I need to defrost for the next day's dinner. But, overall, it feels like a small trade-off for convenience, savings, and less waste.

How do you handle "excess" baked goods?

I just spent three-ish hours setting up my materials for the classes I'm embedded in. Stealing an idea from a colleague, I made a complete roster of all the students in my courses. Right now, I've got 176 students on my list. That number will fluctuate until we hit add/drop, but I'm excited to be working with students again. The library is too quiet during breaks.

Here's what else made me happy this week:

• Work provided lunch twice this week
• Trying a new-ish activity as a family
• Dropping off a ton of donations
• Restocking our family friendly study space with some new goodies
• Kiddo wrote her first thank you cards
• The walkability of city living
• Hoodies
• Nuking leftovers for an easy lunch
• Kiddo was still adorably fast asleep when I went to wake her up for school

I finally compiled all of the books I saved over the holidays.

Y​ou can see my complete TBR list on Pinterest.
​
*Items featured here are Bookshop.org affiliate links.

Last week, I set up my bullet journal for 2026. There's just something about a fresh, uncracked spine and blank paper that makes me feel energized. It's the aura of possibility. While things are mostly finished with the set up, I saved the design for my Word of the Year page for later. 

My word for 2026 is "Connect." It embodies all of the things I am hoping for in my personal and professional life. As I was planning, I discovered that "connecting" begins with disconnecting. I plan on doing my annual digital clean out this month and I decided that several things have got to go. First on the list, Facebook. It doesn't serve me any more. I kept telling myself that I needed to keep it to run my work Facebook and Instagram accounts, but that turns out to not be the case. On Friday, I separated the work Instagram from Facebook. I also decided my library didn't need Facebook anymore. We get no engagement so it's not worth it. So, next week, I shall begin the process of deleting my Facebook account.

In order to "Connect" to what serves me now, I need to do less of so many other things. I've been visualizing this like a power strip. You only have so much space to plug things in. I've always done a digital clean out, but this year, I'm going to be ruthless. If it's not useful, it goes. If doesn't bring me joy, it goes. If it in any way makes me feel things I don't need to feel, it goes. And then, when I'm done with my digital life, I'm moving offline. I can't exactly "unsubscribe" from things like laundry, but I can certainly stop doing things I don't need to be doing any more.

All of this disconnecting will let me free up space for what matters to me now.

​What changes are you making for 2026?