Four or five years ago, I had breakfast with my friend Kim. We were chatting about cookbooks and cookbook writing. I told her that I had criticisms, looking back, of my first cookbook. It isn’t the fact that the book focuses on raw foods. It’s true that the recipes in there aren’t really reflective of how I eat now, or my nutrition philosophy overall. But that’s OK. We grow, we change. In some ways, it’s nice to have that book as a record…

First, a thank you for the kind comments and wishes last week, as I was venting about hitting a wall. That mood carried right through the early part of the past week. By Tuesday evening, I felt as though I was only a few millimeters away from a good, old-fashioned meltdown. And then it was Wednesday. And there was the inauguration, and Amanda Gorman’s beautiful poem, “The Hill We Climb,” and a sense of relief that was more profound than I expected it…

I hit a wall this week. I’ve been overwhelmed, super irritable, snapping and freaking out over nonsense, and exhausted. So, so exhausted. It must be going around, because I’ve had conversation after conversation this week with people who are feeling the exact same way. Even with vaccines on the horizon, any kind of recognizable normalcy still feels very far away. Meanwhile we’re still home all the time, with no escape from work, parenting, lack of privacy, or total isolation, depending on the circumstances….

I’ve been trying to write something all day, without much success. Events of the past week have left me at a loss for words. I was thinking that I’d post a weekend pause, telling you that I’d be back with regularly scheduled programming next week. But in the back of my mind was an exchange that I’d had with a friend earlier in the week, on Monday. For some reason, I can’t stop thinking about it. And I thought that there must be…

I vetoed It’s a Wonderful Life on Christmas eve. My mom suggested watching it. Under normal circumstances, it’s a holiday movie that I enjoy. But I just wasn’t up for Frank Capra this year. I didn’t want to contend with the movie’s heartwarming notes or its dark ones. I felt OK, but it took a lot of work to feel OK, to contain my underlying sadness about the year and the strange holiday season. I knew that if I took in any extra…