One of the reasons I left my full-time job last spring was to rebalance my brain power.

I was in a job that was too draining, physically, mentally and emotionally. I wrote down a quote (can’t remember where I saw or heard it) that said:

“We have a finite amount of fuel to sustain/propel us—how do we spend our energy? If this is more important to me, what I can do to make it happen?”

What a bummah when signs of summer’s end are near. The sun is setting earlier. It’s grey and damp instead of bright and blue. You actually need the duvet at night. 

New York enjoys a nice little micro-climate and I like to think that summer easily extends all the way through September. Even so, I’m conscious of every day and the warmth and activities that I associate with my favorite time of the year.

One of my favorite things about book launches is the opportunity to talk to people. That’s when you can share stories, ask questions, and have the chance to really connect. It’s when you discover a new fan with a mutual obsession with sweets, or you find out about someone’s niece who wants to be a writer and you get to share a couple pointers, or you get carried away with a handful of people, gushing about your favorite bakeries in Paris, feeling like you could all jump on a flight right then and there and have the best time together.

It's been a little over four months since Brooklyn In Love came out. Which actually feels twice as long. It's been a busy and fulfilling four months of traveling and writing and reconnecting with friends and the city. I'm feeling so lucky and beyond grateful for this time. If I can continue freelancing like this, I will be a happy girl indeed.

Not a moment too soon. What a long, grueling winter it was. But now the forsythia, dogwoods, cherry blossoms, daffodils and all the other pretty, pastel trees and flowers are in bloom. It's magnificent.

I’m loving my freelance life, with a contract three days a week working in-house at a fashion brand. Which gives me two days to pitch and write articles, meet friends for breakfast or lunch, hit the gym or a matinee. It somehow still manages to be hectic, but by no means stressful.

The freelance life. I'm digging it. 

To be sure, it's been more the life of leisure than the freelance life this past week+ as I haven't really been working. But that's exactly what I was anticipating and hoping for. Just as much as I'm  planning on some projects coming in soon. 

In 2001, I moved to New York as a freelance writer. I had big dreams of getting a multi-deal book contract, being wooed over lunch by magazine editors, and never really having to work in advertising again. 

Needless to say, that dream didn't pan out.

When Brooklyn In Love launched earlier this month, it was a thrill. So much anticipation and joy, so many people cheering me on, it was great. It was also a relief as it had been years in the making.

As soon as I published Paris, My Sweet, I knew I wanted to write another book. But about what? Just like Paris, My Sweet couldn't have happened until I had lived in Paris, Brooklyn In Love couldn't have happened until I met Andrew, moved to Brooklyn and had Parker.