Your Friday Five

I wish you the courage to trust yourself. The bravery to love yourself. The strength to put yourself at the top of your "to do" list. The patience to know that anything worthwhile always takes more time than you think and less time than you imagine.

The wisdom to remember that January 1st is just another day - and that every day bring a new opportunity to chase the feelings and actions that bring you alive. Happy holidays.

I know I just said the January 1st is another day AND I do love having a word (or two) that become my north star and guiding principle for decision making. 

My words for 2026 are Booked and Bountiful. 

I'd love to hear what your word is for 2026.

Remember you can change it anytime. 

AI came in for the win on this one. I had two larger boxes to ship across country last week. Small thank you gifts, but big enough that I was preparing for shipping sticker shock. 

I asked Claude AI the best method for shipping and they mentioned Pirateship.com

I had never heard of them, but gave it a chance and had a 100% positive experience. The only thing to note is that you will need to know the size and weight of anything you want to ship. 

I saved $20 per box on typical UPS charges. Highly recommend. 

I am an avid reader. I like to read non fiction in the morning and fiction at night. Occasionally I will pop on an audio book, but I really prefer paper in my hands. Here are my two favorite books from this year.

Non Fiction: Stolen Focus by Johann Hari. One look at my sticky notes will tell you all you need to know. There are at least 100 of them. A really important wake up call as to why we/I feel so fragmented with my attention. 

Fiction: Two Nights in Lisbon  by Chris Pavone - or any of his books. He writes just the right amount of suspense for me, so that I can read in bed and still be able to go to sleep. 

Where did you surprise yourself this year? 

As always I would love to know.