2025 in Review

As 2025 winds down, I’ve been taking some time to reflect on meaningful moments throughout the past year. 

There’s no compartmentalizing in small business — life and work are all one thing. So I scrolled through my camera roll and cherry-picked some bright moments from my year: author events at the bookstore, personal milestones, and … lots of puppies. 

Thanks for being part of our story this year!

- Ally

January: 

January is always so quiet at the bookstore. The bitter cold, the piles of snow. We began 2025 with both of those. As much as I dread with the darker days of winter, I do love January. 

It’s when booksellers get to take a brief pause from the holiday hustle and bustle. And, we also take inventory. I find it so satisfying to lift every book off the shelf, to scan and dust and spray and wipe, to start with a clean slate, to account for every last item in the shop. It feels like a proper way to start the New Year.

Flurries (and lingering Christmas decor) rang in the New Year. 

On the personal front, January was for the dogs, quite literally. We fostered our first tiny puppies.

My kids adored these tiny house guests, who we fostered from ten days old. 

The literary-litter, as they became known, all had bookish names: Poetry, Novella, Chapter, Lyric, Verse, Story, and Fable all helped kick off my family’s passion for puppy fostering.

The puppies landed us a shout out in Real Simple Magazine, in a piece about all the way dogs can help us. Fostering became an unexpected antidote to my seasonal depression. Sunlight be damned — apparently all I needed was a pack of furry, wiggly little puppies. 

The article featured a picture of Poetry nursing her little ones. The photographer? My then seven year old daughter, who got her first photo credit in print!

At the bookstore, we also hosted some big events — including one offsite at the Lyceum with shop-favorite thriller writers Lisa Jewell and Clemence Michallon.

Clemence, Cate, and Lisa. Note Cate’s book-cover-matching suit! 

March:

By February, the literary-litter all went home to their new forever families. 

Snoopy (formerly Fable) with his new family. 

Later in the month, I visited my daughter’s classroom for a career conversation about owning a bookstore. I brought a “Who Is” book for each kid in her class.

Their questions were adorable and all over the place.

E.g.  -“Have you ever been ROBBED?” (The answer? Yes, yes we have.)

Talking bookselling (AKA: going over in detail how my laptop once got stolen) to a classroom of third graders.

Back at the bookstore we had our first tattoo and piercing pop up with Sheila from Let’s Get Inked and Molly from Creative Chaos. This inaugural event sparked a long lasting partnership. Who would have guessed we’d be hosting body art events all year long?

Lane and Kim with their new ink!

Next up event-wise, we hosted Penny Reid, of the beloved Winston Brothers series, for the re-release of a special edition of Truth or Beard. It was a packed house, with much plaid to be had!

There’s no better energy than a room filled with romance readers. 

We had more snow in February. Isn’t the store so cozy looking amongst the drifts? Though I admit, I didn’t do much of the shoveling…

Shoutout to Jake for doing all the shoveling. 

Later in February, Cate and Kim flew to Colorado to attend Winter Institute. This annual bookseller conference hosted by the American Booksellers Institute is where we go to learn all about forthcoming books, and where every year booksellers share knowledge and network

Cate and Kim en-route to Colorado for Winter Institute 2025. 

Feeling like my nest was rather empty after sending home the literary-litter, I decided to foster three more puppies. They were the most adorable and floofy Border Collie/ Great Pyrenees mixes. We hosted them for puppy yoga in the bookstore, as a fundraiser for Mid-Atlantic Border Collie Rescue. 

Puppy smooches and yoga? No wonder this event always sells out so fast. 

March:

In March, we sponsored the Book Buddies program at the Animal Welfare League of Alexandria. This awesome program invites school-aged kids to read to shelter animals.

Fostering a love of reading AND helping pets? Right up our alley.

In keeping with the dog theme we have going… in March we hosted a Dog Man movie screening with more than 100 friends and fans of these bestselling books! 

High fives for filling the theater for a private Dog Man screening! 

At the bookstore, club leader Nicole launched reading groups with a Feminist Reading Groutime for Women’s p just in History Month. It sold out so quickly! They read Toni Morrison. 

Thanks to Nicole and Leah, our reading groups have taken off. 

I started taking my writing a bit more seriously this year, joining a writing group and polishing some essays for submission. In March I got an essay accepted in Roxanne Gay’s Substack, The Audacity.

I also published a travel piece in Edible DC about the Loudoun County food scene, which was a blast to research (read: eating lots of tasty food.)

The best kind of writing research - eating all the delicious things!

Back in the store, Melissa held a wildly popular Middle Grade panel with four of our beloved, bestselling authors: Katherine Marsh, Kate Albus, C.C. Harrington, and Anna Lapera. Excited to share that Melissa has plans to recreate it in 2026!

A special night under the tree chatting about middle grade books. 

In March, my oldest turned 8! Time flies. We also celebrated birthdays for my younger two in January and October. But the oldest turning 8 felt like the big milestone - a big kid now! Here’s the whole fam at her birthday party.

We sprung for catering from The Little Well, and I drank delicious cold brew until eyeballs shook. 

Amazing how they look so tiny in this picture, from just nine months ago (insert tearful emoji here.)

And last but not least, March marks when I started experimenting in the kitchen with ice cream, and the seed of the idea for Fabled Ice Cream took root.

April:

In April I attended a Zigbone Farm Retreat and worked on some writing. I loved the place and people so much that we’re partnering with them in early 2026 for a collaborative reading retreat! Just a few spots remain if you’re interested in getting cozy, eating delicious healthy meals, and reading and writing with new bookish friends.

My cozy writing nook at Zigbone Farm, one of the most peaceful places on the planet. 

By April, our kids bookstore events were really gaining traction, thanks to the dedicated work of Melissa and team Old Town Books Junior. We hosted Katherine Marsh again for a sold out event, in conversation with Greeking Out’s Kenny Curtis and Jill Hughes. 

In April our team of amazing booksellers also took part in a Trans Rights Readathon, raising $2,750 for the Virginia Anti-Violence Project. So proud of this team!

Then, more ice cream. Throughout April I also kept researching for Fabled Ice Cream. AKA using every opportunity to taste test ice cream!

May:

We updated the shelves at M.M.LaFelur in Georgetown in May, where we have a pop-up bookstore right inside their beautiful Wisconsin Ave showroom.

Next, we launched our Summer Reading Guide. I was especially proud of this one — the team read SO many books and narrowed down their very favorites for this guide. It was filled to the brim with perfect summer reads. Kim and Cate led the way, and Robyn produced the final printed guide. It looked great. 




Not just beach reads, but every sort of book you can imagine on the Summer Reading Guide.

In May, I also hosted the first Write Time Retreat at the bookstore. I was joined by 18 other writers as we ate snacks, drank coffee, read poetry, and wrote over the course of four hours. It was bliss. We’re excited to continue these writing retreats in 2026 – join us on Saturday, January 24 for the Winter edition.

Some of the books we browsed at the Write Time Retreat.

Next up in May, Fabled Ice Cream launched a fundraising campaign on HoneyComb Credit, and raised $30,000 in less than 48 hours. This enabled us to buy an ice cream cart and machine, and get our foot in the door at a commissary kitchen.

Step one towards a brick-and-mortar shop some day!

And, of course my family kept fostering dogs.

Cuddle bug Hilde got adopted not long after this pic was snapped.

In May, I turned 41, and indulged in a set of wall-to-wall bookshelves for my home office as a birthday gift to myself. (And yes, I do have a bathtub in my office, doesn’t everyone?)

My happy place. Just insert walls of books!

At the end of the month, I went to Ice Cream School to learn about commercial ice cream production. I had a blast learning about running an ice cream business.

Blending up strawberry ice cream!

June:

We celebrated Pride at the bookstore with a Pride Reading Party led by Lane. Lane’s Queer Book Club really took off this year!

We started hosting craft workshops at the shop, to much acclaim (thanks, Leah!). This mini bookshelf one? No notes. Just perfect.

From book-bedazzling to mini-bookshelves, our bookish craft classes were a surprise hit this year. 

In June I went on a field trip to Richmond to - you guessed it! - try more ice cream. My favorite spot, Spotty Dog Ice Cream, allowed me to visit their kitchen to observe and learn.

It’s a tough job but someone’s gotta do it. The ice cream won’t sample itself!

June was also the month we hosted our annual Hot Book Summer, our all-day ode to summer reads. We began the day with some firefighter storytime, and for the first time ever, they didn’t have to leave in the middle of it for a call, hooray!

We love our neighbors at Station 201.

Hot Book Summer also marked the first event of Fabled Ice Cream. We set up shop (er, cart) inside the bookstore and scooped away. It was so lovely to see the joy in the eyes of kids and adults alike — because what’s better than books AND ice cream? Not much, I’m certain.

From our first day scooping in the shop!

Last but not least, June brought more puppy yoga!

It might not be the most chill yoga class you’ll attend, but it is certainly the cutest.

July:

In July at the bookstore we hosted a Where’s Waldo search all across town. We collaborated with other local businesses to hide this iconic kids book character and awarded folks for finding him. 

We needed a Slack channel update every time we moved Waldo so he didn’t get lost in the store.

This summer we also started taking our content creation more seriously, and had several reels go viral! We had more than a million views on several videos we posted, reaching even more bookish friends than ever before. 

I’m so proud of the team for getting in the groove and helping us be more active online. They played a huge role in recommending books, being in the videos, and contributing creative capital to this new project! Because of their support, we’re up to more than 70,000 followers on Facebook and nearly 30,000 on Instagram.

We’ve been learning, growing, and trying to get better about being on social!

We also got some great opportunities in July to hype folks up about summer reading. Melissa and I got to talk all things Summer Reading Guide on Good Morning Washington. 

Bright lights, big books!

August:

In August, I traveled with the fam to Luray to explore the caverns. (And, um, eat more ice cream.)

…and then we visited Martha’s Vineyard. It was very fun, and I ate so much calamari.

Vineyard views.

Meanwhile, at the bookstore…even though the summer was winding down, Cate and the crew produced a full slate of book clubs and events. They hosted poet Jennae Cecelia, novelist Kate Myers, and novelist Clemence Michallon. 

We also continued our partnership with Hotel AKA Alexandria for our wildly popular Silent Reading Parties. We hosted six of these events in 2025 and began incorporating themed drinks based on the books we were bringing and craft workshops led by Relume.

And of course, there were puppies in August, too. We fostered a mama dog and her two babies. They were, as all puppies are, a complete delight.

This is either Plum or Pear, I can’t remember… Mama was called Peaches. Too stinkin’ cute.

We wrapped up August with an investors’ ice cream social, to thank our HoneyComb Credit backers and to kick off a regular scooping schedule in the shop.

Me and my mini scooping up some ice cream.

September:

In September Old Town Books Junior hosted author James Ponti at a big offsite event.

Melissa stepped up to interview at the last moment, and crushed it!

And Old Town Books Junior turned one!

Melissa getting meta: Holding Mother Bruce stuffy, cutting a cake with a photo of her holding a Mother Bruce stuffy.

The bookstore hosted even MORE puppy yoga, and I hosted even MORE foster puppies!

Sweet Pumpkin, now Mocha, was adopted by a fellow Old Town business owner. Go see her at Fibre Space!

And I celebrated my 15th wedding anniversary! 

Just kids in 2010.

October:

In the fall, it felt like all the planning by Melissa and Kathryn took off — they brought so many great authors to the store and to local schools, including bestselling author and illustrator Chris Van Dusen. We worked with partners like InspireLit and Convene Architecture to donate more than 200 books to students at Cora Kelly Elementary for Chris Van Dusen’s visit.

Throughout the year, we hosted seven authors for 13 school visits. Read all about our school programs in more detail here.

Rapt readers listening to a storytime led by Van Dusen himself!

And Greeking Out’s Kenny Curtis and Jill Hughes came for a second visit of the year.

Costumes, questions, a lively audience for sure!

I moderated an event with Betsy Cornwell about her book Ring of Salt. It was a pleasure talking memoir writing and creative courage under the tree.

The coziest spot for an author event. 

Back on the doggie front…October was Adopt a Shelter Dog Month, so we fundraised for Homeward Trails Animal Shelter. Between our sponsored paw prints and our Beagle Bagel Borkfest event with author Melanie D.G. Kaplan, we raised $1,700 to support Homeward Trails and their work saving animals in need.

Folks sponsored paw prints in honor of their furry friends.

And of course I kept bringing puppies home…

This one is mine forever.

We wrapped up the month with a fun Spooky Town Books, with lots of Halloween themed reads, a pumpkin painting craft, and a spooky after hours tattoo pop-up for the grown ups.

Spooky good books took over the sidewalk all day.

November:

In November we hosted Virginia Evans to talk about her novel The Correspondent, the runaway favorite book of the year. The event sold out so fast, and we learned just how many people we could squeeze in for an author talk!

Melissa in conversation with Virginia Evans in a very cozy store.

Melissa’s annual Kids Gift Guide Live event was a huge success, as usual! 

Melissa in her element, handselling books for kids and young teens.

In November Old Town Books turned 7 years old! We celebrated with an all day party complete with birthday cake mini-cones from Fabled Ice Cream.

All I have to say is “squeeee it’s so cute!”

But the best part of the party had to be storytime with the king of Christmas books, Matt Tavares.

Matt showing us how he draws fan favorites Red and Lulu.

Throughout the whole month of November, we hosted a book drive in partnership with The Campagna Center and InspireLit. With your help, we were able to provide more than 700 new books to Alexandria children this holiday season.

All year long, we worked to support local organizations helping to bring books and a love of reading to children in Alexandria. We:

• Hosted three in-store book fairs and donated a percentage of the proceeds back to the schools;

• Supported tutors with Wright to Read to benefit more than 100 kids; and

• Collected $250 in donations for The Center for Alexandria’s Children.

December:

We wrapped up our year with some festive fun, including our last craft workshop of the year – to make an ornament with our favorite books of the year.

We also gathered our adult book clubs for our annual book club holiday party. About 70 of us enjoyed an evening chatting about our favorite reads of the year over festive bites and sips at Hotel AKA Alexandria.

It was a full house and so much fun catching up!

If you attended a book club, met an author, got a tattoo, adopted a puppy, or enjoyed some ice cream with us – thank you! It’s been a wonderful year because of your support. None of this would be possible without our community – we appreciate you so much.

From my family to yours, Happy Holidays!