Hello everyone! To those of you in the states, it's the 4th - yeah! Have fun celebrating our day of Independence. Living abroad on the 4th is the hardest for me because I once loved how Boston came together for the gorgeous concert and fireworks on the 4th on the Charles River. I really miss going there with my friends. It's amazing to me how close home is to my heart yet in reality, how far away I really am! How are you doing today?

I've gone a bit MIA, I know... Missing in action. And for that, I am truly sorry. I've been very busy, a bit too much, and I've finally wrapped up my next book. I wrote the final page yesterday and today, I am sorting out the photo credits and directory. It's been a massive undertaking! In addition to that, I've been teaching nearly 700 students online in my Blogging Your Way e-course for the past 5 weeks. It's been lovely and today is my last lesson there. I love teaching online and am so grateful that I hired three amazing women and bloggers, Jeanette, Nicole and Katrina, to stand by my side and work along with me to teach this dynamic, exciting class. Thank you ladies SO MUCH. I love the community that BYW has built and the many meet-ups BYW students are having in spots all over the world from London to San Francisco.

So... What is inspiring you lately? I am inspired by large-scale floral patterns, polka dots, vanilla nail polish sent to me from a friend in Denmark, my friend Steffi's new business cards and blog redesign, and how beautiful the new lavender on my balcony looks and smells - it's the simple things, right?

I miss you all, soo sooooo much. I will be regularly writing here daily next week and going forward. My online class is wrapping up, my German language course is soon to end, my lecture in Wiemar is this Saturday and my second book is finished - now I can return to you on a full-time schedule once again.

With love, Holly xo