Meet my co-host, Abby!
Allow me to introduce you.
As we prepare for the *official* launch of ITAT on 6/12, we thought it was important that you get to know who you’re listening to. After all, not everyone is a mom/husband/friend/domesticated animal of one of the co-hosts (hello to all of the moms, husbands, friends, and domesticated animals out there supporting us!). For better or for worse, it’s not always easy to see ourselves clearly. Others—especially those who love and care about us—tend to do a better job at that.
In that spirit, I have the very fun job today of introducing you to Abby!
You’ll hear more on Episode 1 about how we met and evolved our friendship. Here, I’m going to focus on Abby as an individual, one I’m lucky to know and share the mic with.
Abby lives in Portland, Maine with her husband and their two cats. Back in November, I was lucky enough to spend the night at their place, and I can tell you that it’s one of the warmest, coziest homes I’ve had the pleasure to be in. Abby decorates for holidays and seasons and has excellent taste in candles and throw blankets. When I arrived after a nine-hour drive, she was waiting for me with a big pot of chili and corn muffins. It happened to be Halloween so there was a lot of candy, but I kind of think there would have been candy there for me, anyway, because she knows I love it. Abby was excited to introduce me to her cats but also mindful of their personal space, and we had lots of fun playing with them from a respectful distance.
A writer and marketer by trade, Abby also has a rich creative writing life. She’s currently nearing the end of the first draft of her first novel (!!!!!!) and it’s so good. It combines a super cool contemporary witchcraft world with a friendship story that we mere mortals can relate to. Since Abby digs all things witchy and is wiser and more thoughtful about friendship than almost anyone I’ve ever met, it comes as no surprise to me that she’s woven these elements together into something I know a lot of people will love. Abby is always trying out a new creative hobby like painting or drawing, and even on a ski trip to Japan (also cool!), she found a way to make something by taking a pottery class.
I’m not sure she would say this herself, but I see Abby as someone who romanticizes her life. Though Portland is still a new-ish home for her, she can almost always be found showing up in the community in some way: biking to the coffee shop, helping the owner of a new bookstore stock their shelves, reading at the beach, supporting any and every small business that comes to town. I admire her commitment to building community wherever she is and to cultivating meaningful relationships with people in a period of life that can often feel awkward and funky.
Abby drinks out of cat-shaped mugs, writes with fluffy gel pens, and texts you if you’ve gone radio silent for a day or two. She takes screenshots of book covers she thinks you’d like and sends them your way. (Honestly, it occurs to me now that her camera roll is probably overflowing with pictures of books she has no interest in reading but that she knew I’d be excited about.) When she sends a birthday gift, it’s never just the gift—there’s also a quirky sticker or two, a bookmark, a heartfelt card. Abby is a friend who is just as happy to join you and your toddler for pancakes on a Wednesday morning when she’s in from out of town as she is to help you pop champagne (literally) at an event you’ve planned together in her home city. She’s unfairly good at puns, nicknames, and finding the right GIF for almost every occasion. She makes me laugh, holds space, and gives excellent advice. (She worries that advice is unsolicited, but it’s always good.) She cares deeply about the world, loves her people hard, and is equal parts interesting and interested in others.
If you haven’t gotten the idea already, know this: