Well, it’s been quite a week. After three electric days in New York, I boarded my plane last night, prepared to wedge between two bodies into 14B only to find A and C were vacant. So I stretched out across all three seats, balled up my scarf beneath my head, curled my hands around my face like cat paws and passed out for the two-and-a-half hour flight.

I have this inclination to downplay how exciting these past few days have been–to reiterate the fact that real life is in the small moments and the backyard picnics and the evenings when we slide into bed and hold our sleeping babies’ hands. That’s a given though, right?

So I’m going to go ahead and be straight. Sweet Mother of Moses, it was a crazy amazing week. Like maybe I jumped on the bed in my hotel room.

And, first thing’s first: I have to thank you all. Thank you for buying the book, for sharing the trailer, for telling your friends. In the back of a cab Wednesday afternooon, my editor and I huddled around her cell phone to answer a call that shared the news…Bloom made #11 on the New York Times best seller list this week.

There were hugs and calls, a few glasses tapped together and a very present sense of “this is pretty awesome.” So many people were a part of this great, beautiful thing.

Oh, and I cried. Because I’m a crier.

This is pretty awesome. So thank you.

The Bloom team at William Morrow had a little surprise party


Shelby, Jessica and Cassie–publicist and editors

If you missed the Today Show interview, you can scroll down HERE to watch it. Everyone was kind and generous and, to answer the many e-mail questions I’ve been getting–yes, I did see Pauly D and no, I did not touch his hair.

Now that that’s out of the way, I can definitely say that the best moments this week–the most memorable–came from the things that were sandwiched between the bigger ones. Amid the Today Show and answering a call that announced our book had made the list were dinners with friends, walks in Central Park, coffee shops, conversation and connection.

The city was alive with tulips in bloom and cherry blossoms that frosted thin branches like pink icing.

I spent Thursday morning walking alone in Central Park, stopping several times to take pictures and call Heidi to tell her how much she would have loved it. Actually, I rubbed it in. I’m pretty sure my first call went something like, “Hey, what are you doing?” When she said “I’m on my couch in my pajamas, what are you doing?,” I tried to hide my smile as I answered “sitting on a rock next to a stone bridge, eating an almond croissant dunked in cappuccino while I watch an artist paint cherry blossoms in Central Park.” I won’t repeat what she said back because my dad would call and ask me to take it off the blog.

I thought this was the sweetest:

And one of my favorite Central Park moments? Of all the places in Central Park that are totally Zen and peaceful, this guy chose this driveway to do his Tai Chi. There were flowered paths everywhere and yet Dude wanted to peace out behind a step van. That’s cool. To each his own.

My dear friend and literary agent, Meg, gave me the real tour this trip. We wandered up and down the streets of East and West Village, Soho, and the Meatpacking District, stopping to visit shops, walk the High Line and make time for friends and babies.

Le Labo Perfume Shop (Nolita):

Bookstore Art, McNally Jackson Books (Soho):

Bluebird Coffee Shop (East Village):

The High Line, an elevated park that overlooks the city, built and preserved from old train tracks:

Nella’s first boyfriend, Otis:

And one of my favorite things to do now every time I’m in NY is to slip into one of the big churches and just sit and take it in. The loud colorful chaos of 5th Avenue is so quickly transformed when you step into the quiet sanctuary of this massive church and breathe in the stillness.

I am still amazed by the way this story has unfolded, thankful for all the wonderful people we’ve met because of it, and excited for what tomorrow holds. As for the city, I cannot wait to bring my family back. Adventure calls.

Thank you to Amy Reiter for her insightful questions for a Barnes and Noble interview you can view HERE.

And thank you to Target Baby for the wonderful Twitter party they hosted Thursday evening. It was great to talk to so many of you! View Target’s A Bullseye View interview HERE.

Our family will be at Barnes and Noble, Waterside Shops in Naples tonight at 7:00 p.m. for a book signing and Q & A session. If you’re local, we’d love to see you there!

While our plans call for lying low this weekend, I’m feeling grateful and flying high.

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Give a kid glitter shoes, and that’s all she’ll ever wear. We’re thrilled to have Tea Collection returning.

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Have a wonderful weekend. I’ll be back Monday with today’s Friday phone dump and more adventures.

I have a lot of e-mails to attend to this weekend, so please bear with me. I’m trying to get back to as many of you as possible!

Home has had a double meaning this week, defining both going home and coming home–the former nostalgic and inspiring; the latter–well, the same, I guess. Knowing last night was our last among such a different landscape–one that had me slayed and hesitant to give up–I obsessively drank it in. I took two walks on the snowy trail behind my cousin’s house yesterday, each with a different child.

My cousin Joann, who might as well just be a sister.

I watched more attentively as the sky changed from a cold white to an elusive periwinkle come dusk.

I made note of how cozy it was to fall asleep between my girls, under the warmth of an electric blanket, lulled to sleep by wind that whistled outside a frosty window. And I breathed in the contentment of knowing just past our bedroom door was a hallway that led to family. Little cousins, big cousins. That has been the best part of all of this.

The girls offered their help with Cousin Brooklyn’s homework. Brooklyn even let Lainey write in some answers…because it was just a “rough draft.”

I lived in Michigan for twenty-four years and never realized that snow-dusted pines or the silhouette of a bare-boned tree against icy blue sky was so breathtaking. I don’t know if it’s being away for so long, growing up, or gaining more photographic perspective, but Good Lord, I could not shut up about just how picturesque my home state is.

Houghton Lake

I took a gazillion photos, practically hopping out of the back seat while the car was still moving to catch a barn in the snow, a bird in the snow, a vibrant-colored anything against the cold white snow. A little something I learned: I dig snow photography. So much, I made my cousin’s girls brave the wind one afternoon for a sister shoot.

And I was shocked at just how much my sun babies loved the change in pace. They never complained about the cold–not once.

I love when sisters hold hands, unprompted.

Lainey and I made a snow bunny yesterday, my snow specialty.

He now resides in my cousin’s garage freezer.

Followed by hot cocoa.

Favorite moments?

Thinking so many times to myself, “Lainey will never ever forget this trip.” I imagined how she will describe it years from now–how it carved little grooves in her memory of the importance of family, the thrill of adventure, the inspiration of new places and experiences.

Giving the girls nightly baths in the big tub and all the cousin girls coming in to the bathroom to circle the tub and talk while they soaked.

A true Michigan welcome of grilled venison tenderloin dinner.

Cousin time.

Thank you, Lisa, for coming up to see us! xoxo

Following trails of snow tracks and listening as Lainey hypothesized on all the things it could be. She concluded it was “a scary kitty.”

Watching the budding walker. She’s been walking for a while, but this trip she really walked. Like determinedly. Falling down and getting right back up. And she likes to wear glasses while she does it. They’re courage glasses.

Getting to attend my little cousin’s cheer practice and watching my girls adoringly take it in.

Seeing Lainey stop and drop a snow angel like it was her job.

Cocoa mustaches.

Anything red in the snow. Barns, walls, scarves. They’ve got a thing going there, that red and white combo.

And finally, I am loving coming home. A different one that might not have bewitching tree skeletons in the snow or icy blue night skies or evergreen trails that beg for walks with blankets and mittens and hats, but still nostalgic and inspiring–warm and energetic. As our plane descended into Fort Myers tonight, I began gathering our coats and hats with which we boarded and tucking them away in our carry-on. The vast blue Gulf slowly came into view, its waters magically catching the light from the late afternoon sun. I was again inspired with new perspective. How wonderful it is to live by the sea.

It was strange walking in tonight, the tree still lit, toys we forgot about lined against bedroom walls, the familiar scent of “our home” drawing me in. It took being gone so long to come back and realize our home has a scent–a welcoming, cozy signature scent that is ours.

I woke up in the middle of the night last night with the stomach flu–so bad, I was certain we’d have to change our flight. But I knew it was time to come home, and I was ready. After the most trying flight of my life (girls were great, I was a hot mess), I can’t tell you what a relief it was to walk in our home tonight and feel the comfort of our own space and the promise of what it holds for this year.

I am ready to embrace new creativity and the productive storm that follows a good needed rest. I am so inspired by this past week–just the fuel I need.

Wherever home may be, there are so many ways to appreciate it.