welcome to 2016, friends!

this weekend i am:

putting the last of my stuff away, making some plans for later in the year, and having dinner with aarthi and balaji on sunday evening.

interesting things from around the interwebs:

all the states ranked by food and drink — tennessee is number 8!

i want to be part of tina and amy’s squad.

wiseacre is one of the next big breweries to keep an eye on in 2016.

rescuing matt damon has cost nearly $1 trillion. that’s crazy.

why women were awesome in 2015.

beautiful photographs of istanbul, one of my favourite cities in the world.

a new reading challenge from the new york public library! sounds like a good way to diversify what i’m reading. thanks for sharing, bee.

someone illustrated leslie knope’s compliments to ann perkins, and they are spectacular.

ellen degeneres just won a humanitarian award and donated the money to st jude. because we needed more reasons to love ellen.

geoff + katie have created an adult colouring book for travellers and travel lovers. this is going on the list for when my book-buying ban is lifted.

new york city’s phone booths are being turned into link stations providing free internet browsing and domestic calls. well done, nyc.

i finally decided it was time to create a facebook page for my blog, so here’s your chance to like and share it with all of your friends. thank you for all of your support!

and lastly, in honour of elvis’ 81st birthday today, here is a pretty good playlist i found on the youtube. happy birthday, king.

in case you missed it:

my guide to memphis went live on hippie in heels over the holiday. check it out for some of my favourite things to see and eat in the 901!

xx