Christmas in Missouri

The holidays are way over, but I'm still coming down from a relaxing seven days at home. It's been ages since I've visited Missouri for a whole week, and it was just what I needed in life. Thanks, Santa! My hometown is exactly what New York City is not, in every best way possible: cows instead of homeless people, parks instead of skyscrapers, slow-moving instead of face-paced, and cheap drinks instead of expensive ones.

I spent the majority of time reading (The American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld, who just might be my favorite writer in the whole wide world, and A Visit From The Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan, which was wonderfully weird and kept me entertained my whole flight back) in between marathons of Christmas movies (Home Alone, Annie, and The Holiday) and the least cheerful show ever (The Walking Dead).

I caught up with a few new magazines and lots of old ones (ElleGirl, CosmoGirl, YM, and a very short-lived TeenStyle), which actually inspired me to impulse-buy iloveteenmagazines.com. I'm clueless about what I'll do with it, but I was feeling awfully motivated by my quiet schedule and the impending New Year. So if you have any ideas...