If January lasted a year, then February flew by in a week. I know it’s a shorter month—and many people’s least favorite of all—but does anyone else feel as if you blinked and missed February? I know I do.

That could be because I traveled a lot this month, like even more so than average. Typically, January and February are our “slow months,” but this year, we sped right into 2020 at a NASCAR pace: I was out of town 17 days in February, which for a short month, is nothing to sneeze at! Here are the highlights:

The Highs

I was matron of honor in one of my best friend’s weddings. Tracy and Chase’s wedding was probably the most fun I’ve ever had during a wedding week, other than my own. The bridal party came in early on Wednesday and Thursday from South America, Europe and the US, all stayed at the Cedar House for a little bachelorette shindig, then we relocated to Nashville for three days of fun. I needed a week-long nap after all that play (and bourbon)!.

Instead, I immediately went to California for five days. This was a for-fun trip with no work factored in whatsoever: The first two days, I spent with Jade in Laguna Beach; the last three, I went to Ojai for the first time with a group of my gal pals from all over the country. It was the nice sunny break I needed in what has already proven to be our most stressful work year to date!

SVV and I spent this past weekend in Colorado. To get to Cheyenne—where we were going for a conference—you’ll likely fly into Denver, which is less than an hour-and-a-half away. And you know what’s right between Denver and Cheyenne? Fort Collins! We spent a long weekend there three years ago to see our Semester at Sea friends Layne and Brian and were so excited to get to recreate that trip. This time, we spent some time at their new house, brewery-hopped around Fort Collins, adopted a pair of kitty siblings for them, checked out new murals and just had a grand, ol’ time.

I gave not one, but two talks at the Wyoming Governor’s Conference. The first was on working with media and influencers; the second focused on launching your marketing strategy into a new decade. Want to book me for a speaking gig? Let’s chat!

I also confirmed that I’ll be speaking at SATW’s annual meeting of the Eastern and Western chapters in June. Want to know the best part of this? It takes place in my beloved OKC!

And my own conference, Media Grits, is moving right along. If you aren’t already following, check out our travel media conference website and sign up for updates. We’re about at a third of capacity already with a little over five months left to go!

I appeared on my first Talk of the Town segment. It was fun getting to chat with Meryll Rose, who is a Nashville native and beloved local TV personality, about last-minute Spring Break ideas you can plan on one tank of gas. You can watch my segment here.

We relaunched the portfolio section of my site. Due to the HTML coding, the old format was really difficult to update, but SVV and our awesome developer Lee worked together to find a solution. The result? Well, check out allll of (my) Kristin Luna’s magazine writing here!

I turned 37! I celebrated with SVV, Layne and Brian in Fort Collins, then we drove up that night to Cheyenne for the Governor’s Conference, so it was a pretty low-key birthday, but exactly what I needed: friends, brunch, cocktails and murals. Then, I came home to find Yardy Party had decorated the yard and celebrated all over again with SVV, my parents, Kari, Josh and, of course, Charlotte last night.

The Lows

While I didn’t have any personal lows—other than industry idiocy, which dang, that just never seems to end—it’s extremely hard to act like everything is sunshine and roses when so many people around the world are being affected by coronavirus, both directly and indirectly. I feel for my friends where coronovirus has taken hold, for my Semester at Sea comrades trying to keep a ship full of students in the middle of the ocean calm, and for all the health providers and medical professionals racing to find a vaccine that will stop this potential pandemic before it reaches a tipping point. On a personal note, most of SVV’s and my travels are rural and in the South, so we aren’t currently at risk (*knocks wood*), but we’re heading out to Holland in just 2.5 weeks for our 10-year wedding anniversary trip, so I sure hope it doesn’t spread to Northern Europe by then.

Also in the lows category: two back-to-back bad falls for our baby niece. Poor thing had to go to the hospital for the first—which happened at Montessori, before you call the CPS—and get her lip stitched up. But in true Charlotte fashion, she was back to playing and her regular happy self an hour later!

How was February for you?