Archives - Weekly Update

What a fabulous, but whirlwind, week I had. It started last Saturday with 36 hours in Santa Fe, which was just terrific. Before heading there, I had done some basic research on what to see and do, but my friend Wendy Sheanin and I lucked out on Sunday as Sarah Bagby from Watermark Books in Wichita, KS and her husband, Eric, toured us all over town. They had spent a lot of time there; in fact, they were married there.

Later in the day, Luisa Smith from Book Passage in Corte Madera, CA joined us. She spent summers in Santa Fe when she was growing up, so she also shared her favorite haunts. It was a brilliant couple of days with these folks talking books and life, while we ate, toured and shopped our way through the town. We went to The Shed for dinner, Cafe Pasqual's for breakfast (twice) and Coyote Cafe for lunch. There was also a fun dinner at Maria's with a larger group of booksellers; the menu boasted 200(!) margaritas.

I was supposed to head out to Albuquerque on Sunday, but a “possible fast-moving storm in the New York metropolitan area” has me accelerating my travel plans to leave tomorrow for the American Booksellers Winter Institute Conference. While the events do not kick off until Tuesday night, I have learned over the years that I want to get in as early as possible when traveling, to eliminate the chance that I may not get there at all. So on Wednesday, I was talking to the airline to change my flight, and I was lining up a new hotel plan. As soon as I land on Saturday, my friend Wendy Sheanin and I are heading to Santa Fe for a couple of days.

Just as expected, this felt like the looooongest week; it felt like a month. In conversations with work colleagues, I got the impression that everyone was dragging themselves just a little after the relaxed spirit of the holidays. By Wednesday, they were ready for it to be Friday! I can see people kicking it back a notch and getting lots of sleep this weekend. We still have Christmas adorning the house, and this weekend that will be packed up and returned to the attic.

We’re back in the office, and we quickly have jumped back into the groove. Thanks to Tom, our Editorial Director, who executed this update in three days. Amazing!

Now to what happened over the last few weeks. It was a lovely break. I watched more than a dozen movies, which means I am prepped for the Golden Globes on Sunday night (my thoughts on those films and more in the News & Pop Culture section), we cooked some lovely meals, I worked on a knitting project that has such confusingly written directions that I am not sure how it is going to turn out, and I kicked the routine back a big notch.