Small Wonders Is Here!

I am writing this in a kind of heady dream a few days ahead of when you will read this. The feeling is not too dissimilar from the schools-out-for-summer energy of childhood. Do you remember those last warm, light-hearted, unregulated days before school let out, when studies were finished and you’d be tasked instead with cleaning out your desk and sent outside for extra-long recesses? When everything felt light and celebratory, and all the seriousness of the school year had evaporated into the lush promise of summer? That’s how I feel — in an excited suspension from reality, with all the legwork and midnight oil behind me. Landon has a bottle of good champagne chilling in the fridge, and we have the launch party tonight and our trip to Charleston tomorrow. The cake has been baked; it’s time to enjoy!

Magpies — !!! We did it! Elle est arrivee!

There is a special note to you at the end of the book, and without repeating too much of it here, I just have to let you know that you are the primary reason this book exists. Yes, you. Your loyal readership, your consistent commenting, your patronage of my early and middling work — all of it empowered me to pursue Small Wonders and also — candidly! — attracted the attention of the publisher who who eventually draw this book into being. “Thank you” feels pathetically inept at communicating the breadth of gratitude I have for you, but — it’s just one of those words that’s too small for its meaning and I hope you’ll accept the arch of its intent nonetheless. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

If you’ve not yet ordered, you can do so now here! (And it can probably show up later today.) If you are attending one of my book events, I cannot wait to see you and maybe give you a big bear hug if you’ll permit it. We’re going to have such a good time! Landon pouring drinks, smart friends asking me questions about writing and noticing (my two favorite topics — and also synonymous with one another), little bookmarks I had printed for you, fabulous independent booksellers and boutiques hosting me — ! Big bad book girl party energy!

And if you are a remote Magpie and can’t come to a book event, drop me an email at hello@magpiebyjenshoop.com and I’ll send you a signed bookplate as a tiny token of appreciation.

But as always and ever, I’ll see you right back here in the morning with fresh musings as we together make sense of this wonderful wilderness of life.

Onward, onward —

Post Script.

You know I can’t help myself from living by asterism (it is in fact the central thesis of my book — the way searching for love and meaning in its smallest increments gives us hope, courage, meaning) so I had to share two kismet moments from this launch week: a) driving my son to his baseball game yesterday, we drove by a house with a young girl standing in the front yard blowing dandelions! She was barefoot in a stand of them and it was the most beautiful avatar for one of my favorite pieces in the book — and also a reminder that the book, its ethos, is absolutely everywhere around me right now! I felt like the universe was waving to me! b) I conclude my note to you in the book with a comment that writing for a living feels like “the wildest of spacewalks” and that working on the book was like “landing on the moon.” I am struck by the symmetry between that analogy and the lunar trip that consumed our collective imaginations last week. (BTW, if you’ve not yet seen the interview with the astronauts after returning to earth, you must! I cried through it! Gorgeous.) Which is not to say that my writing this book has anything to do with them but that there is a wild kind of circularity to the thoughts we have, to our ambitions and dreams, and to what we notice in the world around us.

Onward!

P.S. You know I can’t help myself from sharing good shopping news. A note that the Sephora sale opens up to all levels of loyalty today — my top picks here, to which I would add an old favorite I’ve used twice this week, the Clarins Instant Lift Effect Mask (dramatically de-puffs and boosts glow — plus, it feels wonderful! Like a cold plunge for the face! So invigorating and refreshing!) and a new entrant: Sarah Creal’s showstopping back-of-the-cab mascara. OMG. How did I not try this?! I’m such a fan of her other products but was put off by the tubing quality — I prefer something I can remove with a makeup remover. I was incorrect. This is probably the best mascara I’ve ever used! Fans and lengthens lashes to an insane degree.)

P.P.S. Also, Zappos is offering 20% off a ton of rarely-discounted items, including my favorite Brooks running shoes, iconic Lilly Pulitzer dresses for girls, the sneakers my kids wear every day (pull-on!!! and a very high quality — these have outlasted most other brands we’ve tried despite DAILY heavy use), the best gym shoes, and my current favorite barely-there everyday sandal.

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Top two images by DC Collab Collective.