The high of my week was a bedazzling girls’ night with Bri! I gave her some different options for her birthday date night with me, and she chose the one I was most excited about! She came over, we ordered pizza, and then we bedazzled while watching travel vlogs on YouTube featuring all of the places I’ll be visiting next week. (Bri is an evangelist for travel vlogs to get her excited for her travels!)

The low of my week was feeling like a chicken with its head cut off as I tried to prepare to be out of the office for two weeks. I really didn’t know how I was going to get it all done because I had to finalize October assignments, edit September content, and create tons of handoff docs detailing what I do. (The last thing I want is anyone covering for me to feel like I didn’t prepare them enough!) I’m also trying to set things up so my coverage people won’t have a ton to do since they already have enough on their plates! And in the midst of it all, there have been client fires and random meetings and a surprise project to handle. I love being busy, so I don’t mind all of this, but hoo boy, I will be very glad to shut things down at 4PM today and delete Slack/Gmail from my phone. (I don’t play around when it comes to my vacation time!)

I’m currently reading only one book right now! (Very strange for me.) I’m about halfway through Sipsworth by Simon van Booy. This is our October selection for book club. It was my recommendation, and it’s getting very mixed reviews. One friend gave it 2 stars and said she was being “generous.” Eeps! So far, I’m kinda bored by it, so it might be a whiff from me!

A Reel that made me smile was not one Reel, but a series of Reels by a new creator I found, Olima Omega. He basically finds the craziest influencer videos and spoofs them, essentially showing the ridiculousness that is today’s Internet culture. This is the one that started my undying love for him!

A show I watched this week was the Big Brother finale! Okay, so I’m writing this post before the finale, so I have no idea what will happen. I think I will be happy with any of the final three winning, but my heart is set on one person taking it home. Fingers crossed!

The best money I spent this week was on so many different tours and excursions for our trip! I booked a brewery tour in Vermont, a very expensive gondola ride in Vermont (but everything I read said that it’s totally worth it), a day pass for Acadia National Park, and a ghost tour in Boston. We’re going to have a great time (please send all the good vibes that neither of us will get sick or injured on this trip. We are very unlucky when it comes to stuff like this.)

My plans this weekend include so many things! Today, I have a massage scheduled at 5PM and afterward, I might poke around Target for a few trip items I need. Tomorrow, I have a writing date with Mikaela in the morning, and the rest of the day is free! I’ll be spending most of the day packing, cleaning, and getting everything set up for the girls’ cat sitter. And Sunday is football with the fam! I’m staying over at my mom’s house since our flight is early on Monday, so it’ll be easier to wake up in the same place and have everything we need ready to go.

What was the high of your week?

The high of my week was spending an evening with a friend, watching episodes of Drag Race. We’re watching the season that was released earlier this year, and it’s such a delight! What’s even more fun is watching with someone who loves this show so much and talking about our faves together.

The low of my week was learning that Chip has been banned from Rover. Oh, boy. We thought we found a great dog sitter for Chip, but a little over a week ago, Rover contacted my mom to ask for more details about an “incident” that happened while Chip and Lucy were at the dog sitter’s house. We didn’t know much about this incident, only that Chip had nipped him, but the dog sitter seemed fine to watch the dogs even after all that, so we figured it was all okay. Imagine our surprise when they banned him completely from Rover because of this incident.

That was a major blow for us, but we believe we have found an alternative. My friend recommended the dog boarding place she’s taken her dogs to, so Chip and Lucy had an evaluation this week, which they passed, and they’ll spend today there to make sure it’s a good fit. Chip isn’t reactive around other dogs, but he can get nippy with people if they try to pick him up or handle him a certain way. So, we’ll see! (Fingers crossed it all works out because omg, I never thought it would be this hard to find a dog sitter!)

I’m currently reading three books, as always! I just started Sky Daddy by Kate Folk. It is very weird, but I am trying to push through my uncomfortableness because so many of you have loved it! My romance is If Not You by Ellen O’Clover, which has been delightful so far. And on audio, I’m listening to Adult Assembly Required by Abbi Waxman, which has been a light, easy read.

A Reel that made me smile was the Cat Olympics! One of my favorite cat IG accounts does this event every year, and there’s nothing I love more than opening Instagram to see another video from him! My favorites have been the Great Cup Long Jump and Air Jail Hold.

A show I watched this week is the premiere of Survivor 51! It was a great premiere, and I’m excited for another crazy season.

The best money I spent this week was $40 on the softest, warmest jacket for my New England vacation! OMG. I love it so much. It’s so cozy! I want to wear it all the time, although it’s a little unnecessary for Florida. But hey, we got some seriously cold days last winter, so it might come in handy more than I think!

My plans this weekend include a lot of fun things! Today, I’m meeting up with Bri and Mikaela to record a podcast episode, and after that, I’m meeting up with family because it’s my nephew’s EIGHTEENTH birthday today. (No, I am not okay.) Tomorrow, I have a hair appointment and then a brunch date with my mom, Bri, and Bri’s husband. And Sunday, I have a pedicure date with my mom and football with the fam. Yay!

What was the high of your week?

The high of my week was celebrating my brother’s 40th birthday! First, we celebrated on Sunday because it was the first football Sunday of the year! (I am so happy football is back!) Then, on Tuesday (his actual birthday), we went out to dinner to celebrate. It’s hard to believe my brother is in his forties now. I’ll be joining him next year, but for now, I can be the bratty little sister talking about how young I am to still be in my thirties. 😉

The low of my week was more psoriatic arthritis pain. It’s not at the level it was before I started treatment, but I’m also not where I was when I was on a higher steroid dose. I’m getting bloodwork done on Saturday and after that, I’m going to start the process of increasing my steroid dose until I’m at a level where I don’t have any pain (per my rheumatologist’s recommendation). I want to see what my inflammation numbers look like at a low steroid dose while on methotrexate/Humira. A science experiment, I suppose! But then I’ll wait until I’ve been on Humira for a full three months (so… end of October-ish) and try tapering again. I keep doing this process because a) I want to get off steroids and b) I need to understand how much of my pain is being managed by steroids vs medication. It’s not just because I want to be off steroids, but also because so far, the steroids have been doing most of the pain management, and if that remains the case after being on Humira for three months, then it’s back to the drawing board.

I’m currently reading three books! In print, I’m reading The Anatomy of Anxiety: Understanding and Overcoming the Body’s Fear Response by Ellen Vora, M.D. I don’t agree with everything she says, but it has given me some very interesting takeaways that I’ll be sure to share soon. My romance is Get Over It, April Evans by Ashley Herring Blake. AHB can be hit or miss for me, and right now, this is middle of the road. I can set it down for days at a time, which is probably not a good sign. And on audio, I’m reading Time to Burn by Ellery Lloyd, which Jamie of The Popcast has been raving about lately. I’m halfway through and so far, I can’t get enough of this book! It’s so good!

A Reel that made me smile was this one about the reality of hotel room lighting. I was CACKLING!

A show I watched this week was The Floor. It’s a silly game show hosted by Rob Lowe, but it has become surprisingly strategic over the past few seasons and it’s a fun one to play along with. (Although I would be terrible at this game because my social anxiety makes word retrieval so difficult for me!)

The best money I spent this week was $22 on this great sling bag! A few years ago, I saw a woman wearing this bag while I was on a trip and I loved it, but when I looked it up online, it was too pricey for me. And then I randomly saw it in a shoe store this week and couldn’t snatch it up fast enough! It’s super roomy and has a spot on the strap to slip your phone/wallet so it’s in easy reach.

My plans this weekend include book club tonight. We’re having a pajama party and breakfast for dinner! Tomorrow, I am getting bloodwork done and then getting my flu/Covid shots (really nervous about how I’m going to feel since it’s the first time I’m getting these shots while on immunosuppressant drugs. Pray for me!). The rest of the day is free! I’m thinking of taking care of some errands (boring) and maybe going for a walk with my mom and the dogs. And Sunday, I have a writing date with Mikaela followed by football with the fam. My beloved Dolphins play my brother’s beloved Niners, so it will be a divided house. (We’re probably going to get demolished by the Niners, so should be a blast!

What are your weekend plans?

The high of my week was the Yesteryear book event! I truly did not expect Caro Claire Burke to come to my little town during her book tour, but I’m so glad she did! Her book talk was hosted by my favorite local indie bookstore (Tombolo Books), and I’m pretty sure it was one of their biggest events yet! The place was packed. I loved hearing Caro talk about her process of writing the book and the path to getting it published (she’s been writing fiction for TWELVE YEARS, you guys, and this is her debut!). I tried not to fangirl too hard when I got my book signed, but I just adore her so much!

The low of my week was dealing with some back-and-forth issues between my pharmacy and my rheumatologist’s office. The not-so-fun news about my psoriatic arthritis treatment is that my rheumatologist wants me to start injections. Basically, while my current medication (methotrexate) has improved my symptoms, I’m still on a moderate steroid dose. If I miss even one day of the steroid, my symptoms return. So that’s a clue that my lower inflammation numbers are closely tied to the steroid.

This means it’s time for the next phase of figuring out my PsA treatment! I’ll still be on methotrexate, but at 25mg, and they recommend injections over pills at that dose because some people’s bodies don’t absorb the medication well (it would be TEN pills!). I am very nervous about giving myself an injection once a week, but I’d rather go with the option that’ll help me know sooner whether the dose is working.

Anyway, getting these damn syringes has been such a cluster. I was supposed to start the injections last week, but the syringe order was sitting in pharmacy purgatory for days and days. The actual medication was filled pretty quickly, so when I went to the pharmacy to pick that up, I asked about the syringes, and they said they were waiting on my rheum to confirm that a different size syringe was ok to use. So then I called my rheum, and they said they didn’t have any record of the pharmacy calling them! Argh. The rheum’s office said they would call the pharmacy, but I never heard back from them. Then, the next day, I looked at my pharmacy app, and my syringe order was gone. What the what?! So, I called the pharmacy, and the pharmacist told me that she had gone ahead and ordered a different type of syringe that didn’t need to be approved by insurance and would be the same price. (She made this change right before she left for the day, and was planning on updating the script in the portal in the morning, but I got the jump on her.) I’ll finally have the syringes today so I can give myself my first injection. Yay?

Phew. I guess I need to get ready for all of this pharmacy runaround to happen as I try different treatment methods for PsA.

I’m currently reading two books! I am thoroughly enjoying We Could Be So Good by Cat Sebastian, a queer historical romance that is so damn cute it hurts. And I just started James by Percival Everett. Only 40 pages in, but I’m enjoying it so far!

A Reel that made me smile was this cat video that I could watch over and over again. (Yes, I’m back on Instagram. But only for the cat and dachshund videos.)

A show I watched this week was Friends! I am zooming through my rewatch of season 6, and it’s filling me with a lot of nostalgia and happiness.

The best money I spent this week was on an Oura ring! It was on my May goals list to buy an Oura ring, and it happened yesterday. I can’t wait for it to arrive! It’s a little scary to spend so much money on a tiny piece of technology, but I’m really hoping it will provide some great insight into my health.

My plans this weekend include many fun things! Tonight, I am meeting up with some friends to see the musical, Six. (And I just listened to Noble Blood’s episodes about Henry VIII’s wives, so I am prepared). We’re also trying a new restaurant for dinner, so it should be a fun night! Tomorrow, I am podcasting with Bri and have no other plans on the docket. And Sunday, I will run some errands and also have a writing date with Mikaela. At our writing date last weekend, I wrote the first chapter of my novel, which was such a blast! I hope I can keep the momentum going!

What was the high of your week? Have you ever been to a book signing?

The high of my week was starting to see a difference in my pain levels. It took 8 weeks, which is the timeline my rheumatologist gave me, so I guess I’m not special at all. Heh. I woke up on Tuesday morning and realized I had slept on my left shoulder… and it didn’t hurt! I could do arm circles with both arms (something I haven’t been able to do in months). I could use that arm to leverage myself off the floor, and didn’t have any pain. It’s amazing! My sausage finger still isn’t 100% but it’s a lot more flexible than it was a week ago and I can alllllmost make a regular fist. It’s also a lot less tender than it was earlier this week. PROGRESS! The next step is getting bloodwork done (in two weeks) to find out if my inflammation has decreased, and then we can finally start discussing weaning off prednisone. (It’s a wonder drug, but I’m feeling really self-conscious about the prednisone bloat that’s happening.)

The low of my week was ripping my beautiful reading chair! I am so upset with myself, but I’m hopeful it can be fixed. I was getting up from my reading chair last night and heard a weird sound… and when I looked down, I had fully ripped part of the seam near the arm. ChatGPT told me it can be fixed with some strong upholstery thread, so I guess I’m going to learn to sew?! Fingers crossed this isn’t the end for that reading chair. I love it so much!

I’m currently reading two books. In print, I’m reading The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie, which is the first book in her Hercule Poirot series. I’m only a few chapters in, but there are so many characters that I started keeping a list. On audio, I’m listening to How to Solve Your Own Murder by Kristen Perrin, which has been super engaging so far!

A blog post I loved was Sarah’s quarterly book post, detailing all of the great upcoming releases for Q2 of 2026. I need to sit down with it again and start adding books to my Goodreads TBR!

A show I watched this week was House of Villains. I wanted something easy to watch on Wednesday evening when I wasn’t feeling great, so I turned on season 1 of this show. It’s mindless and a bit silly. I’m not sure I’m going to keep watching because I’m not a huge fan of reality shows that have a lot of fighting and conflict, but we’ll see.

The best money I spent this week was a tip for my massage therapist. I haven’t gotten a massage since January, when I was still dealing with terrible joint pain and hadn’t started prednisone. I told my therapist all about the pain I was experiencing and what areas to avoid because they were a bit too tender at the moment. So it was great to see her again, three months later, and tell her my pain had decreased significantly and all I was looking for was a relaxing massage! She was really happy to see me in a lot less pain, and I was happy for a massage that put me right to sleep. Ha!

My plans this weekend include a low-key evening in tonight (will I watch a movie, or will I keep saying I’m going to watch a movie and then opt for stupid TV instead?). Tomorrow, I have a writing date with Mikaela, where I should be able to finish up my character studies. I’ll probably run some errands and handle some admin tasks afterward. And Sunday, I am meeting up with two friends for a READING CRAWL. We got this idea from an Instagram Reel months and months ago, and we’re finally going to make it happen. I’ll have all the details about this reading crawl on Monday!

What are your weekend plans?