And just like that…Christmas was gone.

I don’t know about you but I’m still getting used to dating things ‘2017’. As keen as I was to see the back of 2016 it does seem a bit discombobulating that we are suddenly in a new year. On top of that, our baby has transformed into an almost-one -year-old. Crawling, giggling, standing, toothed. I’m no longer able to turn my back – she’s fast, determined and adventurous; hell-bent on climbing any stair, stool or incline, getting through any gate or small gap. This darling girl is our last baby. And she’s not really a baby anymore. The thought makes me feel like someone used my chest as a gong.

But with things passing, there are things just beginning. I’ve been running (slowly, wheezily), getting out of the house more, working and drinking wine (not together. Often.) B2 starts school this year, B2 goes into her second year at school and the baby will have the run of the house for scaling, tunnelling and wreaking havoc. They have been playing together as a trio more regularly, which is utterly adorable. Tonight they even took their baths in three big plastic tubs on the back deck, all lined up in a row. In the middle of the year we launch “A French Wedding” in North America with Doubleday, which I am VERY excited about. There are good, new things to look forward to. And not just because of three adorable babes in tubs, this year has been ace so far. For Christmas we went to Sydney to catch up with Matt’s family and friends and doggedly ate as many prawns and mangoes as a person can bear (quite a lot it turns out), splashed about in ocean pools and enjoyed balmy evenings cluttered with cicada song. In February we head away with my family, up North, for a long weekend. So I am going into this new year as fresh and optimistic as I can be; hopeful it might just be pretty great if the start of it is anything to go by.

And with that amount of chirp, and speaking of good, new things, here are some of my favourites of 2017 so far…

The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead – This was our Bookclub read for the summer, so I am sworn not to discuss it until we reconvene in February but, wow, I’m still reeling. All I will say is that reading it was like experiencing a firework to the brain – blinding, dizzying and not completely pleasant. But still – wow. Searingly real and yet, surreal. Brutally truthful and fantastical.

Koko Black chocolate – Now this is 100% pleasant. My favourite is the chai tea chocolate that is cinnamon-mighty. Made in Melbourne, Koko Black chocolate can be found in several locations across Australia. (They were once in Queenstown, New Zealand, but they closed. Why????!!! *crying into palms*)

Peace Lily – Like the good, middle-aged Mom that I am I have started to buy houseplants. I know nothing about their odd ways so they routinely drop all their flowers and practically hitch up their roots and leave me; however, I am still keen to buy and have them. My latest addition is a Peace lily in the bathroom. They detoxify the air! NASA said so.

Houston Design Co. – A friend of mine, Holly, runs this incredible ceramics business. I should say – she IS the business (see what I did there?). I finally got myself a beautiful, Houston Design Co. mug, generously proportioned and black-sand-speckled, which they use to serve tea at my favourite cafe, Little & Friday. It might just be a mug or it might be a magical transportation device to take me directly to my happy place.

Other delicious and good, new things include some gorgeous, matte, square prints from Artifact Uprising, kids kayaks for the girls (a christmas gift from their Nonna), party-planning for B3’s first birthday, getting started on Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises, discovering poet Hera Lindsay Bird (my favourite poem, thus far, here), summer peaches so ripe and juicy they erupt as soon as your teeth sink in, drinking Pukka Three Cinnamon Tea, afternoons by the pool with old friends, wine in the evenings with new ones and easy, early dinners with my sister and her family. All in all, I’m giving January, at least, two thumbs up.

How has your year been so far?

What are your good, new things?

New books, new food, new adventures in home additions, anything at all that makes your heart happy… we’d love to hear all about them.

With love,

Hannah x

PS. As always, I am not sponsored to be enthusiastic about any of the products mentioned. Enthusiasm is just my go-to. Here is a similar post, written two years ago.