An Introduction (Or: Why I Started This)

Hi. I'm Maddie.

I live in Metro Detroit, which I say with more affection than I expected to have for it when I moved here. I've lived in a few places — mid-Michigan, Chicago for a bit, Denver for a bit — and I've developed the particular personality trait of someone who has moved enough times to have opinions about moving, cities, and the process of slowly making somewhere feel like home. Detroit is currently winning. (Ask me again in February.)

I live with my boyfriend and our Shih Tzu, Lucy, who is eight years old and has the confidence of a much larger dog. She is the best.

By day I work in Human Resources, which is a job I fell into, but have grown to appreciate and mostly enjoy. By not-day I'm usually at Pilates, reading something, or mid-needlepoint project in front of a TV show that probably doesn't deserve the attention I'm giving it. Currently Summer House and Better Call Saul are taking up all of my TV time.

So why the blog?

Honestly? Instagram started feeling like homework.

I don't mean that in a dramatic way — I wasn't burned out, I wasn't having a crisis about it. It just started to feel like every time I wanted to share something, I was doing cartwheels in my head. Is this interesting enough? Does this photo work? Is this the right time to post? And somewhere in all that spiraling, the actual things I wanted to share got lost/pushed to the side for fear of not being interesting enough.

I missed writing. I missed having a place that was just mine, that didn't have an algorithm to please or a grid to maintain. I wanted to write about the book I read last week and the moisturizer I've been using every night and what it's like to live in a city I'm still figuring out — not because anyone asked, but because I find that stuff genuinely interesting and I needed somewhere to put it.

Here's what you can expect from this space:

Real recommendations. If I link something, I'm using it or I've used it. I'm not going to tell you a bag is life-changing if I've carried it twice. I'll also tell you when something was fine but not worth the hype, because that's the stuff I actually want to know from people I trust.

Occasional Lucy content. She contributes nothing financially but she's a presence. Don’t worry—she’s compensated very well by way of treats and belly rubs.

A reading log. I used to read so much, but have recently not been making my way through any books. I want to get back into that.

Life stuff. Not in a dramatic way — just the ordinary life stuff that I would tell you about over coffee. What's been going on, what I've been thinking about, what a random weekend looked like.

And mostly, just a place I can look back at in five years and remember what I was doing. That sounds small but it's actually kind of the whole point.

Glad you found this. I'll be here, mostly.

— Maddie

Some links in this post may be affiliate links, which means I earn a small commission if you buy something (at no cost to you). I only link things I actually use.