The theme for the last thirty days was travel and reinvention.

I visited my family in Massachusetts for the Thanksgiving holiday and my niece’s baptism. Cousins I hadn’t seen in years guest-starred in the holiday festivities. It was fantastic.

It also got me thinking about family and how I can better balance my desire for independence, my guilt for ‘abandoning’ them, and my longing to play a larger role in their lives. I haven’t reached a perfect plan, but I’m working on it.

After five fun-filled days of family love, I returned to DC and focused on work. I managed press at two big events, edited a newsletter and finished a direct-mail piece.

I also started dissecting how I spend my time and reevaluating my priorities. When I’m in ‘work-mode’ — it’s all about the client, the job and deadlines. And when an assignment is completed, I’m all about celebrating and fooling around.

Same goes for exercising – I’m either all about the workout… or completely M.I.A. from the gym. There is no happy medium, only extremes.

So I took a break from contemplating life changes and squeezed in a trip to Manhattan – all play and distraction.

Christmas focused on the baby. Little kids make the holiday so much better. I was in heaven, rocking my 6-month old niece to sleep in my lap. I spent a small fortune on presents this year…. but like my mom always says, “you only live once.”

In the midst of all the festivities and travel and frantic last-minute shopping, I found time to do a little winter cleaning and give the ol’ blog a facelift.

I hope you all enjoyed a memorable holiday and are looking forward to the new year. I’ll be with a few friends at an intimate soiree this New Year’s Eve — a welcome change from the usual crowded black-tie bash.

What do you have planned for New Year’s Eve?