Along with my year-in-review post (coming next week!), this annual superlatives round-up is such a fun way to remember each year. The things we wear, eat, read, listen to, and do repeatedly mark us, don’t they? Especially because several of these favorites were gleaned from a savvy and/or wise acquaintance, I’m happy to pass them on to you. I hope they can serve as an opportunity for a little reflection on your own 2025, if you haven’t had a chance for it yet! Drop a few of your best memories, finds, and favorites in the comments, if you’d like. As always, I can’t wait to hear! Best adventure, travel, or trip: Easy – Acadia! After a lifetime of adventuring in Maine, it was a treat to visit her national park for the first time (and to do it with dear friends!). We also spent a rainy long weekend in Wilmington, and though a recap didn’t make it on the blog we loved staying in this downtown mansion (yes), trying Britt’s for the first time, and eating dinner in the lush garden of Indochine. Favorite outfit: If your kids joined mine on swim team this year, you already know the answer: the Lululemon mesh tennis skirt and light-as-air lavender tank I wore to literally every meet, and plenty of days in between — my only hope of looking cute and staying cool(ish) in the dog days of summer. Milestone celebrated: Our beloved long-term babysitter graduated high school, and to celebrate, John and I took her and her older sister (already in college, also a long-term babysitter of ours) out to dinner. Sitting around the table with them for 3+ hours, asking questions and offering encouragement as they work their way into adulthood, was just the tenderest opportunity. Best trend you tried: Watercoloring? Is

Though I have been to Maine almost every year of my life, I had never been to Acadia National Park until summer 2025. This often surprised people, and felt like a gap that needed be filled in my Maine resume. Last year, we decided to rectify the situation, and in August, we made it happen. I’d love to share some photos and a few details on what we did, if you’d like to see! Like many national parks, Acadia takes a bit of work to reach. We flew into Portland (Breeze has a direct flight from Raleigh!), rented an SUV, and drove an hour and a half north to spend a few days with my family on our island in the Midcoast region. And we weren’t alone! It was a delight to travel with family friends and get to introduce them to our beloved place.  Day One After a few days in the Midcoast, we drove 2.5 hours further north to reach Mount Desert Island, home to Acadia. We arrived in time for a late lunch at the appropriately-named Lunch Bar Harbor. It’s on the Village Green (one of two central hubs in Bar Harbor — the other is the waterfront) and it was tough to find parking even on a Tuesday afternoon. This made us thankful we’d rented bikes for the week, meaning this was one of the only times we’d need to find parking downtown. We ate our paninis and grilled cheeses on the green, picked up a few cookies from The Sweet Bite to bring on our hike, and hopped back in the cars to head to the park. John had mapped out our hikes in advance, and Tuesday afternoon’s was the Gorham Mountain/Cadillac Cliffs loop. As usual, he did a fantastic job, selecting a hike that

What a difference a month makes! Over the last few weeks, my perspective on our new home has steadily shifted: from a feeling of dislocation (and frenetic energy to make it less so) to a feeling of almost total peace and contentment. Yes, there are still things I’d like to do over time, and there is still artwork leaning against the wall and a bin of things to give away, but in the midst of it all I feel at home. While it’s tempting to attribute this cozy, settled feeling to the familiar Christmas decorations that now surround us, this shift predated them all. Time, and the way it makes space for rational sense to take root, definitely played a role. What made the biggest difference, however, was two things: the gentle encouragement from those around us to embrace this in-between stage (including many of you in the comments – truly, it made an impact!) and welcoming loved ones into our home. In November alone we hosted three families for dinner, a pair of pals for post-kid-bedtime chatting, and the inaugural Articles Club at our new address (not to mention neighborhood friends crashing in and out on a regular basis). While these gatherings revealed a few gaps (fitting ten in our dining room was a tight squeeze!), they much more so shone a spotlight on all the best parts of our new home: the kitchen island it’s so easy to gather around, the flat cul-de-sac and big backyard that so safely allow kids to run and play, the aerie-like loft that so generously houses our kids as they stretch out and create. Our friends’ presence and encouragement allowed me to see our home through their eyes — to see what I couldn’t quite yet see on my own — and

While I don’t hold tightly to any one gifting formula (e.g. something you want, something you need, something you wear, something to read), I’ve realized we do try to check at least two boxes with each gift collection: an experience, and something that will bring immediate delight (a kit, a toy). This year, the experience is the same for all three kids, and it’s a big one: a day at Disneyland with the cousins when we’re in California at Christmas. I’ve never been, and I can’t wait (and I can’t wait to see their faces). We’re also gifting our trio the Wingfeather Saga boxed set – read aloud delight awaits! For everything else our kids will be finding under the tree this year, read on… June (who is almost 10), will be receiving: — A weekender of her own. She has been asking for a small duffle for weekend trips and sleepovers, and this colorblocked version is quite fun.— “Fashion” sneakers. Fourth grade came with a noticeable uptick in brand/trend interest, including a desire for fancier sneakers. She picked out this style in the store but we’ll surprise her with the online-only lavender colorway.— A Camp Snap Pro camera. We got Shep the original Camp Snap camera (a screen-free, old-school, easy-to-use digital camera!) for his birthday this year; he he has loved toting it on adventures and snapping away. June will love this upgraded version (and to stop borrowing her brother’s.)— A Kavu sling bag. June came home from camp requesting a Kavu bag after seeing many other campers toting one. She likes that they’re big enough to pack a paperback :) Other ideas I gave to relatives: Crocs, a small jewelry case for earrings, outfits and accessories for her American Girl doll, a Doodle Crate subscription, the Mysterious Benedict Society books she doesn’t