happy monday! (and committing to...)

happy monday, friends--how were your weekends? mine was good--aside from the never-ending cold, which i think is finally in its final stages--i celebrated my friend t.'s 30th birthday again on siesta key, walked around in the beautiful weather, danced with some of my favorite people, and finished the book i'd been reading--the piano teacher, by janice lee. people, i may have been a little ambivalent about kathryn stockett's the help, but not so with this book. it was fantastic, and a little reminiscent of atonement, another of my favorites. i was having a conversation recently about how i think some writers feel like they have to adopt a certain, affected personality in their text--feel like they have to sound a certain way--and that simple, clear prose does not take away from the power of an idea, or make complicated thoughts any less so, and lee does a really great job of illustrating this point in the piano teacher. (oh, and next on my book list? nicholson baker's the anthologist.)


also, i watched the september issue--finally!--this weekend, and thoroughly enjoyed (as a former magazine editor myself, the publishing process still completely fascinates me), and i also found myself caught up in, and enjoying, the new show parenthood, which may have made me cry once or twice.

so that was my weekend. and now, here's what i'm committing to this week:

+ kicking this cold's butt once and for all!
+ getting back to the gym once i do the above. i miss working out.
+ taking a beach walk at least one night this week. march in florida = beautiful.
+ making sure to reach out to a good friend who i think feels a little left behind recently.

tell me what's going on with you! what books and movies have you been enjoying recently, and what are your goals for the week? xoxo.

{ sweet, bookish engagement photos via love and lavendar }