diff --git a/emily_sidecar/app.py b/emily_sidecar/app.py
index 9f430b9a2..ac4186c3d 100644
--- a/emily_sidecar/app.py
+++ b/emily_sidecar/app.py
@@ -24,6 +24,9 @@ class Meta:
 url = os.getenv("EMILY_CHAINSTATE_URL",  "http://host.docker.internal:3031/chainstate")
 deployer_address = os.getenv("DEPLOYER_ADDRESS", "SN3R84XZYA63QS28932XQF3G1J8R9PC3W76P9CSQS")
 
+logger.info("Using chainstate URL: %s", url)
+logger.info("Using deployer address: %s", deployer_address)
+
 headers = {
     "Content-Type": "application/json",
     "x-api-key": api_key
@@ -37,22 +40,24 @@ def validate_json(schema, data):
     try:
         return schema.load(data)
     except ValidationError as err:
-        logger.warning(f"Validation error: {err.messages}")
+        logger.warning("Validation error: %s", err.messages)
         raise ValueError({"error": "Invalid data", "messages": err.messages})
 
 @app.route("/new_block", methods=["POST"])
 def handle_new_block():
+    logger.debug(f"Received new_block event")
     if not request.is_json:
+        logger.error("Request was not JSON")
         return jsonify({"error": "Request must be JSON"}), 400
 
     data = request.get_json()
-    logger.debug(f"Received new-block event: {data}")
 
     schema = NewBlockEventSchema()
 
     try:
         validated_data = validate_json(schema, data)
     except ValueError as e:
+        logger.error("Failed to validate new block event: %s", e)
         return jsonify(str(e)), 400
 
     chainstate = {
@@ -64,11 +69,11 @@ def handle_new_block():
         resp = requests.post(url, headers=headers, json=chainstate)
         resp.raise_for_status()  # This will raise an HTTPError if the response was an error
     except requests.RequestException as e:
-        logger.error(f"Failed to send chainstate to {url}: {e}")
+        logger.error("Failed to send chainstate %s to %s: %s", chainstate, url, e)
         # lets return an error so that the node will retry
         return jsonify({"error": "Failed to send chainstate"}), 500
 
-    logger.info(f"Successfully processed new block: {validated_data}")
+    logger.info("Successfully processed new block for chainstate: %s", chainstate)
     return jsonify({}), 200