I’m a vintage book enthusiast, a Seattleite, a bit of a Burt’s Bees snob, and a definite lover of OPI. And I’m an English major.

Yes, that is me in the mustard costume. And yes, I think that’s my best look, too.

When I first learned to read, my whole world changed. I was finally granted access to this secret and incredible society of books, and I was honestly angry at my mom for not teaching me sooner. Street signs and restaurant menus contained meaning for the first time. It was that moment, when my life of hieroglyphs became comprehensible, that I knew reading would come to characterize my very identity. During car rides, no matter how far, I would read every piece of information and try to win each passenger over by my seemingly magnificent skills. Even today I am floored when people aren’t as awed by literature as I am.

One of my favorite books is The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck.