Natalie Pennington

Yesterday I caved and bought a ticket for a flight for $608. Today I looked and it dropped to $300. Quickly took advantage of the 24 hour cancel and rebooked. Feel like I made $308 dollars and there is no way today can improve. 🤣✈️💸

a cartoon character named charlie brown is standing next to a mailbox ALT: a cartoon character named charlie brown is standing next to a mailbox

Sometimes I feel that even if you order something (well in advance) and want it for a trip that it will of course update delivery for the day after you leave. #SummerTravel #FriendTrip

What Friendship Characteristics Are Associated With Well‐Being Among Unpartnered Individuals in the United States? This paper replicates and extends prior work that demonstrated the general importance of friendships for maintaining well-being, with a focus on unpartnered/single individuals. Using data from two qu...

🤳New pub: Can you be a happy single? Maybe-depending on your approach to friendships. Check out my paper with Amanda Holmstrom, @natpen.bsky.social, and Jeff A. Hall, using data from the American Friendship Project. #mentalhealth #wellbeing #relationship onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

What Difference Does a Queer Friend Make? Exploring Familial-Related Benefits Across Friendship Types Queer people are routinely advised to build a community with people of their same identity for social connection, support, and solidarity. This community often serves as a familial network and some...

Love seeing this new work out from Jess Dominguez and Brooke Wolfe, that draws from the AFP datasets to explore the experience of friendship for Queer folks. Check it out online first: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Cinnamon rolls

It’s the end of semester where I am waiting for the final set of papers and exams to grade still, so enjoying the chance to bake with a little free time. Today I made cinnamon rolls for the first time, and it was fun and easier than I thought it would be, and my house smells amazing. 🎉

Do you call your partner your best friend? This study says you’re in the minority A large study suggests that most people separate romantic and platonic bonds. While some do see their partner as a best friend, the emotional benefits of doing so vary by age, income, and relationship type.

Do you call your partner your best friend? This study says you’re in the minority

Is it better when your romantic partner is also your best friend? A new CSU study looked at who calls their romantic partner their best friend and how that may affect their well-being.

Don’t want to read the full paper? I also chatted with @stacyjnick.bsky.social about some of the findings: libarts.source.colostate.edu/is-it-better...

What’s in a label? Exploring the intersection of relationships with best friends and romantic partners with well-being - Natalie Pennington, Brooke H. Wolfe, Jeffrey A. Hall, Amanda J. Holmstrom, Sama... While romantic relationships are often perceived as a significant milestone, there is increasing evidence of the value of friends within one’s network. The pres...

Really loved getting to work with some great friends developing this paper, which reflects on when someone may be more likely to call their romantic partner their bestie, and how that may relate to well-being, check it out online first with JSPR: journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1...

Love conferencing, love coming home to my little family even more. Joe picked me up with both pups in tow and banh mi. True love!

Wednesday 9:00 AM EDT Wednesday 9:00 AM to 12:30 PM EDT Salon B & C Pre-Conference: Translating What We Know to the Public Sponsor: CSCA Second Vice President Chair: Kristina Scharp, Rutgers University Presenters: Amy Aldridge, Middle Tennessee State University Kory Floyd, University of Arizona Meggie Mapes, University of Kansas Natalie Pennington, Colorado State University Deanna Sellnow, Clemson University Stephen Spates, Michigan State University From communicating risk during crisis and teaching teachers how to teach to helping people overcome loneliness, reduce their implicit bias, or engage in social activism, communication scholars, regardless of sub-discipline, can make a meaningful difference in people's lives. Yet, too often our work is locked behind journal paywalls and/or does not reach the people who might benefit from it most. This pre-conference aims to provide practical insights and strategies that help faculty move their research from journal pages and the classroom to the public. Presenters range in their experience and expertise from counselors, administrators, and corporate trainers to people conducting a variety of interventions around health, relationships, and social justice. Each of these presenters also can provide various strategies for engaging with the media (e.g., pitching a story, taking a media interview, etc.), writing for the public (e.g., writing a popular press book, writing a blog, etc.), and/or communicating to and with the public. Attendees will get the opportunity to garner a variety of strategies and lessons learned from people doing public scholarship and ask questions about how they might be able to translate their own work and teaching practices. Thus, the goal of this pre-conference is help people take what they know and translate it in a way that makes the most sense for them. The pre-conference breakfast is sponsored by Rutgers University.

Excited to kick off #CSCA with this delightful pre-conference talking about translating research to the public.

Nothing more freeing than hitting submit and being done a handful of hours before a conference deadline. #NCA Now to enjoy some gyros and fries and get packed. Off to #CSCA in Cincinnati tomorrow!

Dog begging for attention

This little guy has started to cling to my chair in my home office for attention and it is extra and I love him.

Ugh, they fought so hard. Really proud of the game, and the effort from everyone. Lots of young players, hopefully they make another run next year! #GoRams

LET’S GO RAMS! A twelve always beats a five, I was excited to see this match up. Great plays. On to the second round! 🎉🙌🏻

Finding my joy in basketball: LET’S GO RAMS! Time to dance 🎉

Every spring I do a virtual guest visit about friendship and doing research in my sister’s second grade class, and it is so delightful and refreshing every time! A little happiness boost that was much needed.

Wow, sorry this has happened to both of you, that’s awful. How disappointing that people think that’s acceptable.

Why Voice Notes Are a Small Act of Love "It’s a small act of love, I think, to want to talk to someone—however you choose to do it," writes Rainesford Stauffer.

Reach out and connect with the people you care about! Enjoyed chatting with Rainseford at TIME magazine about why voice notes might hit a sweet spot for connection: time.com/7216297/voic...

Strawberries and cream croissant donut

One of the small things bringing me joy is this delightful “doissant” (donut croissant) from a local spot. The February special is strawberries and cream and it might be their best one yet!

Join the Flashes for Bluesky beta Available on iOS

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English muffin, avocado, egg, sausage cheese brekkie sandwich

Also just out here trying to enjoy cheap avocados while I still can. 🫠

I really love teaching methods, and yesterday I pulled up a table from an article and said “no really, it’s not scary, it’s fascinating!” And watch as students had their a-ha moments, it was delightful and the kind of salve to my soul I needed. Sending good vibes out to all of you for those moments.

I gotta assume it’s partially a “I don’t know what I don’t know” moment but also dang. Ice cold for the Mavs to do Luka like that.

Waking up to the Mavs-Lakers trade news and I just don’t get it. I already hated the trade for Thompson in the offseason, but now letting go of Luka, Kleiber, and Morris? I don’t have the faith in AD that others do.

a man in a suit says it 's gonna be cold Alt: a man in a suit says it 's gonna be cold

Also listen, that groundhog better not see its shadow tomorrow. 😵‍💫

Winter break feels like it was years ago, not just a couple weeks. The fatigue of this semester (and January) is real, and I know even more difficult for other folks. Sending all the good February vibes and thoughts. Be kind when you can, to yourself and others.

Quick reminder that if you see a headline from a source you’ve never heard of that isn’t being reported by anyone else, you really should do some due diligence before spreading it around as fact. There’s enough misinformation floating around already; no need to add more.

Cat meowing

Was worried my 16.5 year old cat was sick, but her bloodwork and tests all came back perfect, so actually she is totally healthy and just being a jerk, which also checks out.

Brrrr. I think with windchill we were -18? Last year even colder. The dogs were not interested in going outside. We will be ready for the spring when it decides to show up here 🤣