The Year in Review

It’s the end of a year and a decade, both of which feel equally impossible. I’ve decided to give myself a couple of hours at the computer this morning to write a year end review of my favorites from this past year. (And here I still am at 6 PM and just wrapping up! Please note that as soon as I publish this I know I’m going to think of 1 or 2 or 20 things I left off this list. Please feel free to leave your best recommendations from this past year. I’d love to hear them!)

The two biggest things for our family and me personally were moving into our accessible dream home and publishing my first children’s book, When Charley Met Emma.

Our accessible dream home has been as dreamy as we hoped. When accessibility is a daily part of your life and you live in a world that remains mostly inaccessible, it is amazing–life altering really–to have a space that works so well for your family. For us this includes wide hallways and doorways, bathrooms with 5′ foot turning radius’, grab bars and fold down seats, an elevator, ramps, open space and even leveling much of the sloped, wooded lot to create a flat, accessible yard. Additionally, it’s a beautiful space. From the moment we walked into the home when it was a complete wreck with trash and belongings strewn about, an abundance of spider webs and overgrown weeds, the original beauty of the home still shone through and we fell in love. The challenge was always to mix form and function, without sacrificing one for the other and it feels great to say that for the most part, mission accomplished. Of course, I don’t know that anyone ever finishes a home and doesn’t find a few things here or there they wish they would have done differently, and that is certainly the case here. But overall, I’m not sure a day has gone by where I haven’t felt absolute joy and gratitude that this home came into our lives.

Next, my first children’s book, When Charley Met Emma, was published this past March and it has been one of the biggest pinch me events of my life, not to mention one of my proudest accomplishments.Not only did the book sell out it’s first day on Amazon (!!!–a big deal my editor assured me) it has gone on to win a Moonbeam award as well. Something I wasn’t even aware of before it actually won–ha! But without a doubt, the biggest rewards have come from hearing all the wonderful stories you have sent in about you and your children’s experiences with the book. Many of you have told me about wanting to teach your children about disability but not knowing how, and then after reading the book it opened up wonderful conversations with your kids. Many of you with kids who are disabled, have shared photos of your children taking the book to school and reading it aloud to your child’s class. Many of you have shared photos of your kids reading the book, many of whom insist on reading it 3 or 4 times in a row, or it becoming a new nightly favorite. Many of you tell me about buying copies of the book to give to your kids’ teachers for gifts, or to donate to your children’s schools or even local libraries. (Although, usually you can fill out a form online and request your library to purchase a specific book.) And many of you have shared how it has helped your children see their disabled peers with a better understanding. One of my favorite messages I’ve received thus far is below:Someone recently asked me how long it took from the original idea of the book until it was actually published, and the answer is a little over 3 years. At the time I thought it would be a matter of 3-6 months–ha! And for those of you who may have missed my announcement on Instagram, my second Charley and Emma book comes out September of 2020!!! This one is primarily from Emma’s point of view and is entitled, Awesomely Emma. I can’t wait for you to read it!

I wanted to share some of my other favorites from this past year–books, movies, and more. Some of these are a little random, but for one reason or another I think you’ll enjoy them!

Books:
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte–I can’t believe I waited this long to read this beautiful book, but I loved it. I think I let high school and college impressions of people telling me how boring books like this were stay with me for far too long. Far from boring, this was a gripping, beautiful book until the bittersweet end. Definitely one of my all time favorites.

Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen–Thankfully after Jane Eyre I went on a classics binge and fell in love with Jane Austen. Having long loved the movies Sense and Sensibility and Emma I was pretty sure I’d love the books as well, and I did. I plan on adding more classics to the rotation again this year.

If At Birth You Don’t Succeed: My Adventures with Disaster and Destiny by Zach Anner–OMG this book. Funny, insightful, and touching at times (I’m sorry Zach, I feel like that is a term you would hate). This is a memoir by the hilarious Zach Anner who is a writer, actor, TV personality and who also happens to have CP or cerebral palsy, thus the hilarious title. I was familiar with Zach from his funny videos with the CP foundation and his cameo on Speechless. But I had no idea Zach has been working in show biz for a long time now, studied movie making in college and even won a reality show on Oprah’s network, OWN. I highly recommend this book to everyone and most especially to parents of children with disabilities or medical conditions. But really, to everyone. If you care about enriching your world view and understanding life from various perspectives, then put this one on your list immediately.

The Tatooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris–While this says it’s a novel, it’s also based on the life of a real family. I have always loved reading WWII era books, but it had been a while since I read one–maybe before I had kids? And so to read a book about the horrors of WWII again, but this time being a mother, well it broke me right open. I wasn’t sure I wanted to carry on with it, but I’m glad I did. It will never cease to amaze me of the horrors we are capable of committing against our fellow man, and how completely numb and twisted people–large groups of people! Not just 1 or 2 random ones here or there–can grow to be toward their fellow man. The horrors remain as incomprehensible as ever, but so does the will to survive.

Where’d You Go Bernadette? by Maria Semple–A fun and interesting book with an unusual plot. It’s a fun read and I just realized that I never watched the movie (with Cate Blanchette, Kristin Wiig and Billy Cruddup) as I had always intended! Don’t worry, I’m on it.

To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before series by Jenny Han–This was super fun, YA lit that I didn’t want to put down. Technically, I believe I watched the Netflix movie first, but I really enjoyed them both. High school romance, first love, warm family drama… yes, yes and yes. Light, fun reading that pulls at those teenage heart strings. (Plus there are two more Netflix movies in the works!)

Movies/TV Shows:
Unbelievable–I watched this entire series twice. First by myself, and again with my husband after he read the book. This is an 8 part series on Netflix that is disturbing, gripping, truly sad and depressing to watch at times and ultimately delivers a satisfying ending. This is a true story that I became familiar with through an episode of This American Life years ago, which came about because of a Pulitzer Prize winning article written about the subjects. The story is so, ahem, unbelievable, that a book and this series followed. You should know that it deals with the very heavy subject matter of sexual assault, but even if you don’t know the story beforehand you will enjoy diving in. So far it has received multiple Golden Globe nominations all very deserving. 

When They See Us–-Another Netflix multi part series that is also based on a true story. This series is all about the Central Park 5–the 5 boys who were all Black and Latino and who were charged with rape and attempted murder of a female jogger found beaten and unconscious in Central Park in 1989. Eventually, the real perpetrator would be found, confirmed by DNA testing and all 5 would be exonerated, but not before spending years of their life in prison. If you think you know this story, you probably don’t. Along the same lines–a HUGE tabloid story from the 90’s in a new light, I’d also highly recommend Lorena, about Lorena Bobbitt.

Booksmart–Ohmygosh, ohmygosh, ohmygosh. I don’t remember the last time I loved a movie so hard. This was the movie 17 year old Miggy could only have wished to exist. (I speak good.) Yes it’s cussy and fowl and dirty at times, but I’ve never seen female friendships represented so well and I don’t remember the last time I LOL’d during a movie as hard as I did with Booksmart. Also, Kaitlyn Dever who stars in this movie alongside Beanie Feldstein, also stars in Unbelievable and is incredible in both.

Leaving Neverland–Gosh, it seems like all I did was watch heartbreaking true crime stories, but this one–like the others–is really important. If you don’t know, this is the docu-series about 2 men coming forward and telling their stories of being sexually abused by Michael Jackson. It’s hard to watch and listen to at times as they go into graphic detail about what happened to them. While I think Unbelievable and When They See Us are important in that society needs to own up to the ways in which we hurt those we are supposed to help, and what happens when the legal system goes terribly wrong, many of us don’t have direct ties to those processes. But this series is important in the sense that it gives parents and caregivers a real look into the grooming process that can happen when young children are violated in this way. As Oprah says, (and I’d recommend also watching her after show interview), “It’s a seduction.” As parents you always think you’d know if something like this was going on with your kid, but this series shows you exactly why it’s not that easy.

Homecoming. Beyonce. Need I say more?

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel–I love this show and for me the recently released season 3 was even better than the second season.

Seth Meyers Lobby Baby–I don’t watch the Late show and never really thought of Seth Meyers as a hilarious stand up comedian, but this special was great. It’s not edgy, provocative, or crass, but it is some spot on 100% parent comedy that I super appreciate.

Gary Gulman: The Great Depresh–Another fantastic stand up performance that is funny, while also insightful, tender and little heartbreaking. But funny! It’s interesting seeing these stand-up/mini-documentary style series that are mostly stand up, but also take you into their lives beyond the stage show. You should watch it. You might remember Gary Gulman from this hilarious stand-up routine that went viral a few years ago.

Music + Misc.
Golden Coil Planner–This is my first year having a paper planner in years? decades? I don’t know, but I love it. You can customize it in so many different ways from the format of the calendar pages to extras like meal planning, goal pages, finances, social media planning, etc. I just ordered my next one for the new year and I can’t wait to get it.

Lizzo–We all fell hard for Lizzo this year. Hard. She’s got confidence and talent galore. I would kill for her pipes!

The Shine Box Anti-Racism Course by Monique Melton–This is an online course to teach white people (mostly) about anti-racism work. It is created by Monique Melton–a woman of color–for those of us who are not people of color to not just learn about racism, but to help dismantle it. This has been a challenging course–I have had to start and stop a few times to process–but it’s been really good. Monique really knows her stuff and multiple times I found myself thinking, “Oh wow… she knows exactly what I’m thinking.” I’d highly recommend this course, or another one like it, if you are wanting to take a deeper dive into what it means to really be an ally as a white person.

MicroDermaMitt–Best exfoliating mit for your skin! Use while in the shower or bath and watch your dry skin rub right off.

Houseplants: The Complete Guide to Choosing, Growing and Caring For Indoor Plants–Honestly, this book saved a couple plants for me this year and helped my oldest daughter learn about propagating. Technically, this should go under books but since it’s not a “reading” book, I put it under misc.

Talyor Swift’s Lover. I admit to being a full on fan girl of Taylor. I think she’s an amazing singer songwriting and a hit-making machine. Regardless of whether or not you like her music, I think you should at least respect her work ethic and constant drive to make more art. As a woman and an artist, she inspires me.

Dolly Parton’s America–I haven’t invested a lot of time in Podcasts this past year, because I’m usually listening to books instead, but I loved this podcast and learned so much about Queen Dolly. If you haven’t listened to this yet, your life isn’t as good as it could be.

Leon Bridges–Technically I believe I found Leon in 2018, but I still listened to him a whole lot this year.

Me4Me by Koyotie–One of a handful of songs I loved discovering this year.

Brookly In the Summer by Aloe Blacc–Another random song I loved.

My God Has A Telephone by The Flying Stars of Brooklyn–Yep another single song.

Sure Don’t Miss You by The Dip–Last single song discovery of this past year I loved.

The Ordinary AHA and BHA Peeling Solution–My favorite skin care potion of this year that is also SO FREAKING CHEAP!

Ok that’s it! Please let me know about some of your favorite things in the comments below. 2019 was a crazy year for many people–the world at large–but it was a great year for me and my family personally. That being said, I’m ready to move forward. Super excited for you 2020! Happy New Year everyone!

XO,
Miggy