Hi, I’m Sarah - it’s nice to meet you!

1.     Sarah—that’s what the first “s.” stands for in my name. The second “s.” is my little secret (pssst: it’s a family name).

2.     I live in Minnesota (near one of the ten-thousand lakes) with my husband and three kids. We don’t have any pets, but we do have a Great Blue Heron and a fox that like to visit our backyard daily.

3.    My favorite way to spend a morning is with coffee, coffee, coffee (and hopefully a good pastry to go along with it). My favorite way to spend an evening is curled up with a good book*, cozied with my family watching a movie with some thin-crust, or having an epic game night with friends.

4.     I collect miniature paintings of birds and flowers.

5.     I feel most alive when I’m creating—whether that’s on the page, on the canvas, or in the kitchen (current biscotti flavor experiment: chai toffee spice).

6.     I have worked in many professions: deli-slicer (by the time I was a junior in high school, I could weigh a pound of thin-sliced turkey to the ounce!), shrink-wrapper (oddly satisfying, if not a bit lonely), barista (making pretty foam was my specialty), school photographer (pre-digital … hilarious), marketing writer (I got to interview so many interesting people), and -my favorite- floral designer. (Did you notice the flower crown in my picture above? I got to design that—how lucky am I?!)

7.     I was once crowned “Cutest Baby” in the newspaper of my small hometown. I think only three babies were born that month, but still—I’ll take an award when I get it!

8.     *I love books where the characters feel like old friends. Some of my favorite children’s books include: The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis (classic), Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling (of course), the Penderwick series by Jeanne Birdsall (funny and relatable), Beauty by Robin McKinley (elegant retelling), and anything by Cynthia Rylant (tender and imaginative).