Happy almost holiday week! Now that I'm coming out of the chute of book events, I've finally be able to start enjoying summer. That's mean a lot of outside time reading, a lot of harrumphing about the humidity, and one trail race. On Sunday, I ran an REI trail 5k in Historic Smithville and finished seventh woman. Not bad! I got a cup for being one of the first 40 finishers. My goodie bag had a 20% off coupon, which I'm using to buy a camp kit that includes tent, sleeping bag and sleeping bag pad. Because that's right kids: I'm going camping! I just got an assignment that's going to take me into the mountains of Western North Carolina, so there are adventures to be had. In August. More on that in a future newsletter.
(Oh and if you're an REI member, make sure to see if there's ever a discount on classes as part of their big sales. I wound up doing this one for free as an add on to what I bought at their May anniversary sale).
In much more important news: if you've been following me for a while, you know that last summer I started a love affair with Joe Fresh. It's a brand that's sold in Canadian grocery stores and started to dabble in the U.S. My one complaint was that their sleepwear wasn't available in the U.S. No more! All the pink flamingo and parrot PJ bottoms you could ever want are now being shipped to the U.S. Is this a silly thing to be excited about? Of course! But it's been a slow week, so I'll take what I can get.
No newsletter next week – I've been working on site for a client for the last two weeks and this week, so I expect to extend my holiday weekend an extra day. Don't be sad. I'll come back chock block full of stuff to you the week after.
And on with the show!
Recent Bylines
Someone asked me this week how many stories a week I file. I said there's no average because it's always all over the map. So here we are without any bylines again – however! There's a lot coming, including a few this week. I'll tweet them out when they do.
People Talk about Jen's Book
"22 Life-Changing Wellness Books to Read This Summer" on Mind Body Green. Well that was nice! Also, they used a picture of a gal with a Jack Russell Terrier for the story. Win win.
What I'm Reading
Super-Scenic Motorway: A Blue Ridge Parkway History by Anne Mitchell Whisnant. This is an exhaustive (and engaging) history of what happened to make the Blue Ridge Parkway possible (the good, bad and the ugly). I drove t he parkway last summer and am going back there for this story, so I wanted to get a better – and more historically accurate – idea of what happened to put that roadway there.
What I'm Watching
Orange is the New Black. I was going to save this for later in the summer, but I'm worried about spoilers, so here we are now. No surprise that I think it's very good. There are so many issues they wrap into one show while also showing real women – it's just so worth watching.
Until next time – in two weeks!
Jen A. Miller
jenamiller.com
runningalovestory.com
twitter.com/byjenamiller
instagram.com/jenamillerrunner
Leave a Reply