The Magpie Diary: 4.19.2026.

I haven’t had time to write the past week, which is to say: I haven’t had time to think. Even now, I am writing in the margins of my day: my daughter needs me to pick her up in thirty minutes. You know me, though: I need to write, and I will write amidst the scraps and the weeds whenever I have a small opening to do so.

So let me write this: I haven’t yet unpacked last week, and am instead aware that I just experienced an enormous, luminous life event that I’ll be processing for a very long time. It’s like sun-memory: a warm, lit-up feeling on the skin even when I’m not looking directly at it. And as I’ll explain below, the lit-up feeling has almost nothing to do with the book itself. Or maybe — the book was the context, but it was the outsized, over-generous showering of love and support I experienced that has completely knocked me sideways.

I went into last week on the wing of very good advice. My neighbor, standing barefoot in the cul de sac in front of our homes, said: “I don’t know how you’re feeling about these events, or about the book coming out, but I hope you can enjoy it. I hope you can approach it with curiosity.”

I needed those words. I was nervous, and I was anticipating my own nervousness, and those two things can drain even the happiest moment of some color. I wanted so badly to arrive on the dais and in the TV studio a more polished version of myself: held-together, poised, not prone to tears, capable of doing great justice (on the fly) to the book. And I tried (with some success) to replace those expectations with curiosity, but I wasn’t quite able to tamp down the nerves. This is OK. I am giving myself the widest berth of grace here because — I should be nervous, or at least, I should be awash with emotion. This week has been the climax of my vocational life to date. If I wasn’t riddled with emotion, if I wasn’t an enormous heart teetering around on stilts, if I wasn’t adrift with joy and nerves, I think I would be worried about myself.

Still, even a little nervous, I approached the week reminding myself to stay open to the shapes it might take. To be curious about how I’d respond. I was surprised by how emotionally intense the first event was. I was a heart on fawn legs when responding to the question: “tell me about your dedication to your Dad,” because I looked out into the audience and I saw his face peering back at me, and I could read the pride and tender-heartedness from ten rows away, and then I witnessed myself tell him, in front of a room full of people: “Dad, you were right. About everything that’s been good in my life. And here’s why.” Which felt in a way like open heart surgery. I feel now honored to have had occasion to say that to him in such a public way. There are so few opportunities in life to do this! But, yes, profoundly emotional. I am sitting here at my desk almost a week later and the tears are flowing again.

I was mainly, though, bowled over — thinking about it now is making it hard to swallow — by the incredible kindness and open-heartedness of the Magpies that showed up that night. We cried together, we hugged, we laughed. I loved (and I mean LOVED!) the signing line. Maybe a top ten experience in my life, to have a few minutes with each and every Magpie, and to match faces to names, and to hear your beautiful stories and to talk shop about writing, and motherhood, and living life on heartstrings, and what it means to pursue a creative life. I want to go back through that line a hundred times. I felt so held, and joyful, and grateful.

I was also astounded by the many people from completely different parts of my life who showed up to support me that night. We sold out of the book instantly and the store was packed, with standing room only! I couldn’t believe all the neighbors, parents from my children’s schools, aunts and uncles who showed up, even friends with whom I’ve lost touch! A few of my girlfriends came with their mothers, too — that touched me so deeply. Generations of women holding me up. I mean, I was held.

Then there were the hundreds of messages, comments, emails, and book reviews (!!) that you all left me over the course of last week. Can you imagine? It was like having a voicemail box exploding with goodness and grace and encouragement.

So when I write about last week it’s really not about the book at all but about the knee-buckling generosity and encouragement I received.

There is so much more, too; I haven’t even touched upon Charleston, and I need another couple hours to unpack that trip, its magic and meaning to me, and here I am at 5:10 p.m. on Saturday night and I need to run off to pick up my daughter from a playdate —

But let me say very quickly that at the Charleston event, a Magpie reader showed me a line from my blog that she keeps in her grimoire and I asked to take a picture of it that I have since looked at daily. It wasn’t even my words, either, it was my Dad’s: “You’re gonna love it.” But seeing how I had been a conduit to something for her, and seeing how she carried that around with her — it felt like meaning. It felt like purpose. It felt like the answer to why I have been writing my whole life. Yes, to set the darkness echoing, yes to find out what I really think. But also, yes, and mainly, to warm ourselves around words that connect and forgive and explain and soothe.

To that end, two of my friends (Grace Atwood and Jillian Eversole) graciously introduced and interviewed me at that event and I will forever carry their words around with me, too. I continue to turn them over, to visit with them. And so I think the theme of this week was the web of words and people I carry with me everywhere, and who have carried me with them, too.

So off I go, a puddle of tears, carrying your words with me —

how did this good thing happen to me!?!

Post-Scripts.

Came back from getting my girl and decided not to redline anything I’d written in the above diary and instead to leave it sort of…sticky-fingered. The writing above is, like the emotion behind it, a little clumsy, a little imprecise, because I’m still aglow! In editing, when you are leaving incorrect grammar or a misspelled word behind for purpose, you use the denotation “SIC.” It signals that the word is transcribed exactly as it was in its original form and that any mistakes belong to the author rather than the editor/transcriber. The above is very much intended to be read with an “SIC” denotation.

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Reminder that I’m running a virtual list poetry workshop tomorrow, 4/20, at 7 pm, with LitSociety! So excited. You do not need to be a poet or to even consider yourself creative. It will be a fun (and low-stakes, low-pressure) opportunity to do something creative for 30 minutes. I’ve had a blast preparing for this.

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+You’ll be shocked at how much wear you get out of this sweater. Perfect to throw on over athleisure, jeans and a tee, or a more finished look. Looks put-together when you want it to but feels so cozy (like a sweatshirt) all the time. It’s the kind of thing I wear with my pajamas ALL THE TIME. Obsessed. Really soft, stretchy, brushed cotton, and just feels like a hug. Has that “I just grabbed this and ran to get coffee” casual vibe. LOVE LOVE.

+Our new “anticipating summer” kitchen runner! I love this company so much. The quality, the plushness, the patterns, and the smaller sizes are machine-washable (apparently the larger ones are, too, but I don’t know who can launder those). I appreciate the price point. These are rugs for families with children, dogs, husbands who track mud into the house…! Rugs for living. We still do use these padded standing mats right beneath the sink. They REALLY help and are also wipeable/water-resistant. Love the designs!

+Unsurprisingly, the two top sellers from the Sephora sale among Magpies have been: this incredible blow dry spray (gives you the glossiest, glassiest blowout) and this insanely good mascara. I’m hooked. Also, I wore the mascara last week while pretty much crying daily and it doesn’t smear/drip/etc! I think the sale ends today, and I really stand behind these two buys.

+Obsessed with this new jacket at J. Crew.

+Magpies are also LOVING this short-sleeved, boxy tee. I had to order as well after I saw how many of you picked it up! I need to test! Another standout surprise from last week’s curation of links: these toile shorts. You are LOVING them. I get it. Super polished and versatile. Pair with a tee and black flat sandals or dress up with a white button down or black vest top situation…so good!

+Ordered myself this dress last week. I couldn’t resist. Also obsessed with this new white eyelet short and shirt combo! Use JEN-15 for 15%. off.

+Chic athleisure shorts in great colors — a little less $$ than the Varley, esp if you use my code (SHOOP20).

+My new bedding is on sale — 15% off with code PREVIEW! I’m obsessed with the washed, lived-in hydrangea blue color. I look at it and feel transported to someone’s cozy lakehouse, and to the feeling of bare feet and reading on a dock and open windows and nothing fussy. They have a great lived-in t-shirt feel to them, too. But I also need you to know the BEST bed blanket (a top regrettably worth it item for me) is also on sale and I had to get it in the new whipstitch pattern to go with the hydrangea bedding. Swoon. J’adore!

+This striped ditty!

+Your husband needs this in his summer wardrobe.

+The kind of cardigan I layer over everything — other patterns, a white tee and jeans, a floral dress!

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