Often times when I meet someone new or visit with a friend that I haven’t seen in a while, I ask them certain questions. I want to know what books they are reading, and what interesting recipes they have made recently. I am finding immense comfort in reading these days, and I love to hear about books that have made an impression on people. You know I love to cook (and eat) and I really love to talk about food. It got me thinking about what you guys like to talk about, read about and think about, which led me to this week’s topic- what’s on your nightstand?

I think you can learn a lot about a person by taking a peek at what they keep by their bed. Maybe it’s not even on a nightstand. Maybe it’s just in a pile on the floor. Or maybe it’s just your literal nightstand. A hodgepodge of items that defines where you are at this very moment in time. On any given day, I have a stack of books on my nightstand; these are books I have already read, or that I’m going to read in the future. Sometimes I have a favorite book in the stack, one that has stuck with me over time. I had You Are A Badass on my nightstand for many months. But I’ve recently joined two book clubs, so I don’t have room for superfluous books taking up space. Right now I’m reading Wrong Place, Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister, The Latecomer by Jean Hanff Korelitz and A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara. The last one is not a book club book, but it was recommended as a must read by several of my new friends. It is supposed to be a real tear jerker, and I welcome that right now.

One thing that has eluded me lately is sleep. I long for an uninterrupted night of sleep where I don’t wake up thinking about the kids, my mom or dad, or what I need to do the next day. I’m not usually one to take medicine at all, let along something to help me sleep. But after many more sleepless nights than I care to count, I have resigned myself to the fact that I need help in this department. So right now I am relying on Tylenol PM (occasionally). But before you email me and tell me how bad this is for me, I also have a bottle of lavender pillow spray on my nightstand, which also helps, and I know is a much better solution to the problem. 

It’s already pretty crowded on my small bedside table, but in a perfect world I would have some photos there too. Over the summer our family took one of our best pictures at a wedding, and I would love to have that on my nightstand. I would also like to have one of the last pictures I took with my mom and sister- that one was taken at a wedding too. I’m not sure I’m ready for that yet, but hopefully in time I’ll be ready. 

This pretty much sums up where I am right now: reading a lot in order to forget my problems, yearning for sleep filled nights, and holding on tightly to memories made with my biggest support system, my family.