I finished writing my book...

Plus, twenty-five good things from 2025.

Hello, loves. Are you easing into the new year? Or did you charge in with gusto? Somehow, more than a week into 2026, I have only just now taken down the last of our decorations, removing the photo cards taped to our kitchen hutch, tossing so many smiling faces, with reluctant reverence, into the recycling bin. Much as I enjoyed the holiday cheer, it’s bracing to sit in the stillness of a living room stripped bare, swept and dusted, nary a pine needle in sight, the kids shuffled out the door, the windows cracked to let in the cool air, the scent of rain.

All that to say, I welcome the fresh start, but I’m also slow to make plans and set intentions, reticent to close the books on the year that was, whatever griefs and hopes it held.

In the spirit of taking an appreciative look back before rushing headlong into the year to come — inspired by Austin Kleon’s annual list — here are 25 things that made my 2025:

1. Manuscript: I finished writing my book! Many of you know that I devoted the last year to completing my debut essay collection on early motherhood, climate change, and hope. (More on that soon, including a cover reveal!)

2. Spring blooms: The fall bulbs we planted — pom pom rose and sweet ocean daffodils; akebono tulips — delighted us with sunshine-y frills and ruffles.

3. Fun interviews: It was an absolute pleasure to chat with novelists Barbara Kingsolver and Aisha Muharrar, chefs Samin Nosrat and Nicola Lamb, writer Youngna Park and many more smart, funny women for Big Salad.

4. Bike rides: I made it up to the trails for regular mountain bike rides this summer, sometimes as a family, sometimes sans kids.

5. Movie dates: One of my best friends and I started monthly meet-ups at our local indie theatre. I wept into my popcorn over The Summer Book and Train Dreams — each film quietly beautiful in its own way.

6. Camping: We ferried our pop-up camper to the San Juan Islands for a week filled with beach walks, birding, bike rides, and saltwater dips. We also camped with friends at state and county parks closer to home.

7. DIY repairs: I’ve tried to fix many a thing, but I’ve never felt more accomplished than when I neatly restitched the corner seam of our camper’s tent canvas.

8. Suspenseful novels: Book research meant I read lots of nonfiction, but once finished, I surprised myself by gravitating toward mysteries and thrillers. First, I read God of the Woods and Wild, Dark Shore, then listened to Tana French’s The Searcher and The Hunter.

9. Beans: Like everyone else, I’m hooked on Rancho Gordo beans, specifically the yellow eye beans. I make Jenny Rosenstrach’s crunchy-cheesy bean bake and her braised beans with burrata.

10. Garden produce: A neighbor loaned me a trellis for growing honeynut squash and the experiment yielded more than three dozen gourds. We’ve been enjoying the unexpected bounty in a few fave recipes: Julia Turshen’s winter chopped salad (from What Goes With What), Alison Roman’s squash soup with lentils and herbs, and, with sautéed mushrooms, atop this farrotto.

11. Circus: Every summer, the Shoestring Circus sets up its big top at the downtown waterfront. Somehow this year’s performance was even more magical than the last, which starred Severance’s Helly R.

12. School drop-off: We joined our first-ever neighborhood “bike bus” on its route to school. For me, it was the realization of a yearslong dream, which began when Portland’s bike bus went viral.

13. Volunteering: By some miracle, I’ve managed to make it to all the monthly PTO meetings and I’m loving volunteering in my first grader’s classroom. Turns out, I’ve really missed phonics worksheets and carpet squares.

14. Work uniform: My everyday work-from-home outfit consisted of soft pants (I lived in these) plus a sweater with slippers, a la Cameron Diaz in The Holiday.

15. TV: We were late to season one of The Pitt, so we streamed it all at once. I’m looking forward to watching season two as intended, week by week.

16. Knitting projects: I mostly knit garments for my kids, but this year they requested stuffed animals for their birthdays. I just finished making a wild rabbit for my daughter. Next up, a raccoon for my son.

17. Note cards: I kept my desk stocked with blank cards by Nikki McClure, one of my favorite children’s book authors and illustrators, to reach for when only a handwritten note will do.

18. Gatherings: We invited friends and neighbors over for many potlucks, parties, and backyard fires. Sometimes hosting meant pulling out the tablecloths and good dishes, other times it meant pizza boxes stacked on the kitchen counter.

19. A fake holiday: We observed an entirely made up Fall-iday holiday as an excuse to make apple and pumpkin dishes and celebrate all things autumnal.

20. Green jacket: I recommitted to the “millennial green jacket” by throwing this quilted number on over everything.

21. New books: Is there anything better than new books by longtime faves? I read Catherine Newman’s Wreck and Kate Baer’s How About Now and spent all fall pressing them into the hands of friends.

22. Potato dishes: We fully embraced J. Kenji López-Alt’s cheesy hasselback potato gratin as our holiday potato dish of choice, but then my friend brought over Deb Perelman’s Potatoes Anna and we lost our minds.

23. Ambitious desserts: I tried my hand (twice!) at the Chez Panisse-inspired herringbone apple tart I saw on Samin Nosrat’s newsletter. The second time, I served it with freshly whipped cream and it was pretty perfect.

24. Used gear: After standing in line for an hour to gain admittance to the local ski swap, I acquired the scuffed up but necessary equipment for falling down a mountain. I’m learning alongside our kids and determined to graduate from the tow rope and white knuckle my way onto a chair lift…

25. An invitation: My friend, the brilliant novelist and writing coach Chelsea Bieker, invited me to participate in the winter intensive she’s hosting at The Fountain. It starts this coming Monday, January 12th, and I can’t wait to dive into my next project with the structure and support of a committed writing community. (If you’d like to join us, use code KAITY for a 10% discount at registration.)

Finally, guiding me into 2026 are words from the wise, beloved, and dearly missed poet, Andrea Gibson:

So build yourself as beautiful as you want your world to be. Wrap yourself in light then give yourself away with your heart, your brush, your march, your art, your poetry, your play. And for everyday you paint the war, take the week and paint the beauty, the color, the shape of the landscape you’re marching towards. Everyone knows what you’re against; show them what you’re for.

Already, like those that preceded it, this year is off to a tumultuous start. Already, we have terrible heartaches to bear, small hands to hold, urgent work to do.

That’s all, for now. I’m grateful to re-introduce myself and spend more time with you in this space as it evolves this year. Sending lots of love.

With care,
xoKaitlyn

A few things I’m reading:

“Care, unlike terror, is a renewable resource.” — Garrett Bucks on the murder of Renee Macklin Good in Here’s What the Merchants of Hate and Fear Will Never Understand (includes a growing list of organizations worth supporting in Minneapolis)

“Her advice is gentle, understanding — even more so once you learn she’s a Kennedy, which I only realized after she wrote the story. She understood that food was a form of human pleasure that no amount of “shoulds” can shake. She liked dairy. She ate meat sometimes. And yet she believed in making small, incremental changes because they’d lead to bigger ones.” — Ali Slagle on the late climate journalist’s approach to planet-friendly meals in Tatiana Schlossberg’s Rice Bowl

“Our agency is real but limited. We choose some things, influence others, and control little. Pretending otherwise exhausts, not empowers, us. . .Trying to try is a refusal of this fantasy. It is a way of saying: I am not broken because I cannot perform endlessly.” — Kate Bowler on the moral charge of New Year’s resolutions in Trying to Try