What Ana Does

Another trip around the sun and I'm ready!  My 40s ruled! My kids grew up. We moved back to the east coast. We lived in friggin PARIS. I made a career change. We adopted our adorable dogs, including my best friend Pepper. We killed it  So yes, I'm ready for my 50s. BRING. IT. ON.  Here's 10 things about Jessica at 50: I read A LOT. And mostly romances. And I love it.  I love to travel. My days are empty unless I'm planning for our next trip.  My kids are my favorite people. How did I get so lucky to have two of the greatest young women who call me Mom? Who knows.  My hubby of 20+ year is also darn amazing. Again, not sure how I got so lucky as I am still very much in love with that guy. He's just the best.  I have to mention my bestie Pepper, too. She follows me around, jumps in my lap every chance she gets. And protects me against every and all perceived threats. Bestie.  I'm still very much an introvert who doesn't like calling offices, has a so...

 I joined a Romance Book Club at the end of last year. And then I joined a second one that I learned about at the first one.  So now, I'm in 2. Two book clubs.  For me, who has been reading Romance for the last, oh, 20 years, and not having an outlet to really discuss or dissect what I read, these meetings are like opening the flood gates. And I've realized how absolutely nuts I am.  The experience and depth of knowledge I've gained from reading sooo many books over such a long time, I am beyond crazy when I talk about these books to these two groups that: a) seem to skew young, like 20s and 30s and b) haven't read all that much.  I was quiet at first, hoping to figure out group dynamics, etc. But then ... books are brought up that I've read years and years ago -- and it jogs my memory and I get so so so excited that I can't contain the glee.  Like, "oh gosh Lick really is the best rock romance I've read and how absolutely perfect is that drunk-Las-Veg...

The Pantry, the little room off the kitchen, was a big selling point when we toured this house. It was full of cabinets and had a door on it that was ideal for storing platers and appliances, and tossing things I didn't want people to see while hosting.  But, it was also an afterthought to the owners. The cabinets were shoe-horned in, the floor was still an ancient linoleum and the counter was clearly just remnants from another job, which was clear due to a big crack in one piece. But it had a door, so it was livable.   I laid out the vinyl floor tiles when we first moved in five years ago. But they've since started to wiggle around on the floor. So a decision needed to be made, do I replace the moving tile pieces, or do we go for the renovation we've been putting off thanks to bigger projects.  This pantry should have been done with the rest of the kitchen , but budgets got tight, so it became a phase 2. Well ... it was time to tackle it because another vinyl tile j...

With 2025 over, it's time to review my reading for the year. I read 97 books: 64 audiobooks and 33 books. And 203 Kindle books.  I stayed exactly in the romance genre. I reread Ali Hazelwood books on audiobook and created a definitive list of favorites, plus she had three books out this year that were all spectacular. She's still my favorite author in the genre, hands down. I reread Penny Reid books getting ready for the third Three Kings book in January. I read a fantasy series that Alice recommended so we could talk and swoon about it. Tessa Bailey had two books out this year in her sports romance and they were both so much delightful fun.  But the book I'm crowning my favorite, after the Ali and Tessa books, is "First Time Caller" by BK Borison. I just fell for the characters, the vibes, the goodness, the sweetness. I must have paused my work and "awwed" over phrasing and kind feelings so many times. I guess this year I just needed a book that was all...

 So the builder left this big nook in-between two closets in the guest room. I suspect it was meant for a dresser but it's a dumb space that I've been struggling with since we moved in.  It's been a reading nook with bench, a desk, I've moved dressers and cabinets in there. Nothing looked right.  After the success of the towel nook in the bathroom, I knew that installing a base cabinet in this space would finally put an end to my torment of finding the right solution to this space. So that's exactly what I did.  I bought a cabinet from Home Depot for about $200. I went with a cabinet and not drawers because I wanted to store my sewing machine and other crafting tools. And I got a butcher block top for about $100 to go on top.  First, I had to pull out the rug, because installed cabinets need to be placed on solid floor. That was easy, other than those annoying tack strips.  Then, I pushed the cabinet into place and secured it to the wall. I got lucky with t...

Long title, but now that we've gotten through a bunch of professionally-supported renovation projects, I've learned a thing or two about how to keep projects moving.  Always be there on Day 1 morning. Work from home. Take the day off. You'll need to be there to talk through the final plans, and figure out if you have all the supplies you agreed you'd gather.  Before anyone arrives, I clear out the space (that's obvious, but a big courtesy). And clear out the path to the door. And close all the doors. There will be dust. It will settle on every surface of the house. But keeping doors closed does help. I'll also write on the walls with pencil. "Tile here" "Demo out" "Outlet Here" "Keep this" -- communication is key.  Display all the plans or drawings . Some construction guys come in from other jobs and I'm sure they all get mushed together eventually. I also tape up to an adjoining wall the plan so I can point to thing...