Stephany Writes

Categories: Life

Monthly Review | February 2026

WATCHED

  • Survivor: Cook Islands, season 13 – I’m slowly working my way through past seasons of Survivor (I only started watching with season 41!), and this one had an insane premise: they separated the contestants into four tribes based on their ethnic groups (white, Asian, Black, and Hispanic). This season was released in the fall of 2006. A different time, to be sure!
  • The Traitors US, season 4 – What a satisfying season of The Traitors! This is why I watch and love this show so much.
  • The Amazing Race, season 8 – I’m also slowly working my way through past seasons of The Amazing Race, so I decided it was time to watch season 8. BJ + Tyler 4 ever!

In progress: Survivor 50, The Traitors UK (season 4)

LISTENED TO

  • The Man in the Window (podcast) – This podcast is about the Golden State Killer, and it is creepy. I have not read I’ll Be Gone in the Dark, which is a true-crime book based on this serial killer, but the podcast was a great listen. (I could only listen during the daytime, though, ha. I’m such a wimp!)
  • Shelf Respect (podcast) – I’m so happy that this show is no longer fully behind a paywall. While I believe in paying creators for their work, things get a little dicey for one’s finances when it seems like every podcast now has a Patreon subscription. I already subscribe to a handful of podcast Patreons, and couldn’t justify adding another one to my list at the time. But now, they’re releasing two free episodes every month, and I couldn’t be happier!

BOUGHT

  • Office chair – This office chair was a long time coming, and I am so happy with it! I love that it’s pink, it glides so easily, and it’s comfortable. Eloise is less pleased with this office chair because there isn’t enough room for her to sit when I’m in it. Parenting fail, I guess.
  • End table – Sometime in February, I became obsessed with the idea that I needed an end table for my living room. I couldn’t stop thinking about how nice it would really tie my living room together, and so I found this end table, and I love it. It was super easy to put together, too!
  • Lamp – I love this lamp! I found it at Target. It’s so cute!

LOVED

  • Our Super Bowl party – While the game itself was a snoozefest, we had a great Super Bowl party! It’s a small event – just my mom, my brother, my nephews, and me – but we had plenty of food to keep us busy! I thought the halftime show was incredible, and it was especially sweet to watch it with my nephews, who are half-Puerto Rican.
  • Trivia nights – My mom and I started attending trivia on Wednesday nights. It’s just the two of us and our general knowledge is, ahem, not as thorough as it should be to win at trivia, but mostly, we’re there to have fun and laugh at ourselves.
  • Galentine’s Day – I had the best Galentine’s Day! My mom, Bri, and I went out for dinner, and then we saw & Juliet at the Straz. It was an amazing show. I didn’t expect to be so moved by it!

LOATHED

  • Joint pain – While I started on long-term medication for psoriatic arthritis in February, it’s going to take some time to see any sort of improvement. And even then, it might not be a strong enough dose to provide the relief I need! So I am in this trial period of figuring out the right meds and the right dose for my PsA, and I need to be patient. I’m still having joint pain (my left shoulder, my left ring finger, and my hips from time to time), and I’m still taking prednisone, which keeps the intense symptoms at bay. This is a slow process, though, and I’m trying to accept that.
  • Other medical ailments – After getting bloodwork and X-rays done, my rheumatologist noted a few “extra” ailments I need to speak to my primary doc about (enlarged heart, possible Hashimoto’s diagnosis, and high thyroid levels). I don’t have the energy to deal with anything else, so I haven’t made an appointment yet.
  • My eating habits – I first wrote “bad eating habits” and then realized I had just read a book about body image and not moralizing our food choices! See? My mind can still slip into fatphobia, even though I’ve been on an anti-diet culture/fat acceptance journey for a decade. What I want to say here is that I haven’t been nourishing myself in a way that makes me feel good. I really want to focus on hydration and getting more fruits and veggies into my days.

SUPERLATIVES

  • This month’s chapter title: Let’s Make This House a Home
  • Weather notes: It was pretty nice around here! We had some super cold (for Florida) days where my car even had a snowflake next to the temperature! And then we had some really nice, warm days in the 70s. It makes me excited for spring and wanting to spend some time at my pool!
  • Favorite meal/snack: Girl Scout cookies!
  • Something I learned: I was curious why Chip (my fur-brother) seems to delight in chewing holes in blankets. Is this anxiety or a nervous tic? According to ChatGPT, it’s a self-soothing behavior. It makes him feel calm, and it’s part of his relaxation routine. I told my mom that it’s a great business idea, though. Ever felt too hot while under a blanket, but then when you remove the blanket, you’re cold again? INTRODUCING… The Chip Blanket! With strategically placed holes, you’ll never be too hot OR too cold! 😉
  • An unexpected delight: A wonderful present from Kim out of the blue! It was so thoughtful!

What chapter title would you give to February? What’s something you loved this month?

Categories: Life

A Tour of My New Home

I moved into my new apartment at the end of October, and I think I’m finally ready to show it off on the blog! The new apartment has so much space, which is something I haven’t had in a long, long time. I spend a lot of time scrolling Wayfair and thinking about how to make each corner of my home as “me” as possible. So, let’s take a tour, shall we?

ENTRY

Welcome to my home! My brother recently visited and said, “I wasn’t sure if I had the right apartment… until I saw the doormat.” Muahahaha.

Right as you step inside, there is a small alcove. On the right, I have a place for hanging up keys, my purse, and other odds and ends. I also have a mirror and my taller friends would probably laugh at how low it is on the wall.

On the left is a closet and this is where I house cleaning supplies, my valet trash can, and suitcases. I also keep a plastic bag filled with other plastic bags! (Once it’s filled up, I take it to Publix to recycle.)

A QUICK TOUR

Here’s the quick version of the tour: once you have stepped inside, you’ll see my dining room and living room in front of you. There’s a door at the far end of the living room that leads to the patio. To your right, there’s my kitchen and a small hallway. As you walk down the hallway, you’ll pass my office on the left. Then, you’ll reach the end of the hallway and can either turn left (my bedroom) or right (my bathroom).

But you guys don’t want the quick tour, right? Let’s get into the nitty-gritty of each room!

DINING ROOM

My dining room is so spacious, and I have no idea what to do with it. I would like to replace the table at some point, although I don’t have an exact reason why other than aesthetics. I’d like to get some sort of corner shelving unit or maybe a hutch to replace the small cube shelf. I don’t know what to put on the walls. I like the map where it is, but I’m not sure about the other wall. Maybe a large clock? The dining room is a work in progress, is what I’m saying!

LIVING ROOM

My living room is ginormous. It makes my large sectional look tiny! I also recently got rid of my small coffee table, and I want to replace it with a really comfy and big ottoman. I still love my cube bookshelf as a TV stand, and my rainbow shelf of my Book of the Month hardcovers. When I moved in, I wasn’t sure where to place the sectional. Should it be against the wall, near the window? Should it be centered with my TV stand? I decided on the second option, but then that leaves a weird little space between the couch and the wall. And that’s why I asked for a litter box enclosure for Christmas! I really like this enclosure, but this area still feels a bit lackluster. I’m thinking that a tall fake plant could be a good addition.

PATIO

I love my screened-in patio! The patio at my old place was not screened in, so I always had to worry about bugs or Eloise slipping through the slats. One of my 2026 goals is to decorate my patio because I moved in with nothing. I got the zero-gravity chair for Christmas and recently added this rug (although I don’t love it). I’m thinking of adding a small bistro set and maybe some lounging options for the cats.

OFFICE

My office gives me heart-eyes. I have wanted a space like this for so long, and sometimes I have to pinch myself that I made it happen. It’s part-office, part-book nook. One corner has my reading chair and my obnoxiously fluffy rug. My bookshelves line the only full wall of this room (I seriously don’t understand how this is a room that someone would live in, especially because the doors are made of glass!), and eventually, I want to get another 8-cube bookshelf to replace the 4-cube one. I’d also like to get some sort of corner cabinet or desk or shelf where I can put my laptop, printer, shredder, and other tech-y things. (I keep the laptop off to the side because it’s plugged into my power bank, so I need it for my monitors to work, but I don’t use it unless I’m not working from my desk. I also have to keep the laptop on an inclined riser because otherwise, Eloise would sleep on top of the warm keyboard all day long.)

The walk-in closet lining the other side of the room is also my favorite. I keep all of my Christmas bins on the right side of the closet, and then I’m still trying to figure out what to do with the left side. Right now, it has a small file organizer, my “junk bin” where I throw things I don’t have time to put away nicely, my yoga bag, my stack of air filters that I bought in bulk, and other odds and ends.

KITCHEN

Another room, another happy sigh. I adore my kitchen. It’s so much bigger than my old one, which was galley-style, and I felt like I could barely move around in it. I love my full-sized pantry and the immense amount of counter space, and all of the different drawers and cabinets. There are so many empty shelves in those cabinets because I only have so many dishes as a single gal! But it’s nice that I can organize everything in a more spacious way.

BEDROOM

Oh, my bedroom makes me so happy! It’s the first time I’ve had a non-carpeted bedroom so I bought the pink area rug before I moved in, and I think it really ties the room together. There is so much more I could do with this bedroom, and I’m still deciding how I want to utilize all the extra space. The little corner near the window (where I have a cat bed and my smaller bedside table) could use something—I think a bench would work really well here. I’ve also thought about making it more of a cat jungle gym area with a cat tower, window perch, etc. So many possibilities!

I closed the walk-in closet for the pictures, but the door is open all the time since I have a litter box in the corner. I love this closet and all the great shelving options. There are so many empty shelves because I’m not used to having so much space! How should I use this long shelf in the middle? I guess I could use it for organizational bins, maybe?

BATHROOM

I love my bathroom! It’s so much bigger than my other bathroom, with way more storage. When I toured the apartment originally, I imagined Eloise sitting on that ledge next to the toilet while I was taking my baths, and sure enough, she loves this little ledge.

It has a deep tub, a great big closet that I have organized to my heart’s delight, and a long countertop with drawers. I haven’t had bathroom drawers since 2016! Maybe I’ll do another post all about the ways I have organized this apartment because it’s been a dream.

There is a set of double doors in the bathroom that leads to a small laundry room. Considering my last washer/dryer was this teeny-tiny stackable shoved into the corner of my kitchen, I am in love with this laundry room. First, I have a full-sized washer and dryer (it’s at least double the size of my older washer!), and second, there is tons of space for hanging clothes and keeping laundry items organized. The laundry basket is where I throw all my washcloths and reusable wipes that I use for my skincare routine.

And that’s my home! I am in love with this space, if you couldn’t tell. I love all of the natural light, all of the space, and, of course, having my own office to work from. While I don’t enjoy living on a third floor again (no elevator), it is nice to not have any neighbors above me! The girls seem happy here, too, and Eloise loves doing zoomies up and down the hallway. I feel so lucky I get to call this place home.

When was the last time you moved?

Categories: Life

One Photo a Day | January 31 – February 6 (With FIGs!)

It’s another set of photos from the week – and since it’s time for the Finding Joy in Gratitude Collective (Elisabeth’s brainchild!), I’m including each thing I’m grateful for in this post.

January 31, 2026 – I had a lovely reading date with my friend Amber at the new President Barack Obama Main Library. I used to visit this library often when I was younger. I have so many memories! The new library is gorgeous, and Amber and I giggled, wondering how many people refuse to visit this library because of the name. I started reading The Age of Innocence during this reading date.

February 1, 2026 – A cute “stay cozy” note from my Starbucks barista. It was so cold this morning. My car even had a snowflake next to the temperature! I’ve never seen that before.

Today’s FIG: I’m glad my pantry and fridge are stocked with GOOD SNACKS because the prednisone hunger has hit me hard today.

February 2, 2026 – Look at my girls! They were posing so pretty in the morning light.

Today’s FIG: So many good things today! I won Suzanne’s giveaway for Nicole’s book, got some fun mail from Kim, and made myself a very excellent dinner.

February 3, 2026 – My triumphant return to the gym! Unfortunately, I did not feel great after this workout, so it was probably too much, too soon.

Today’s FIG: Even though the workout didn’t go as planned, it felt good to be back at my gym. I missed this place!

February 4, 2026 – My mom and I went to a sports bar for trivia night! It was just the two of us, so we weren’t sure how well we would do, but we did better than I expected! We definitely need people who are better at pop culture than us, especially as it relates to music and movies.

Today’s FIG: I am so grateful that my rheumatologist is letting me increase my prednisone dose. I started high and tapered down to 10 mg, and my pain started to return when I was on the lower dose. Womp. But at least I have a responsive and proactive rheumatologist! 

February 5, 2026 – A lovely late afternoon walk. It was 55 degrees and windy, and I was so cold! (I was also laughing at myself because this weather would probably feel downright TROPICAL to my northern friends.)

Today’s FIG: I’m so grateful for the different walking paths in my new apartment community. I like a varied walking route so I don’t get bored, and there are so many options here! (Plus, there’s a great, longer walking path that I’m looking forward to using once I can take longer walks.)

February 6, 2026 – A lovely evening! I watched the Opening Ceremony for the 2026 Winter Olympics, and Eloise was enraptured for a good 10 minutes! I also worked on podcast outlines because Bri and I are recording a bunch of episodes today!

Today’s FIG: I am grateful that we have the Olympics to look forward to! Do I have complicated feelings about chanting, “USA! USA! USA!” right now? Sure do. But it’s nice to see everyone come together for these few weeks.

Categories: Life

Monthly Review | January 2026

WATCHED

  • The Celebrity Traitors UK – I started watching this with my mom on NYE and finished it within the first few days of 2026. It was excellent! Bonus: Nate from Ted Lasso was part of the cast, and he was brilliant.
  • Next Level Chef, season 3 – I hate cooking but love cooking shows. Riddle me that, Batman.
  • Only Murders in the Building, season 5 – I’m finally caught up with Only Murders! I enjoyed this season a lot. It felt like a love letter to NYC.
  • The Cutting Edge (1993) – I am once again attempting to watch one movie every month. And in January, I did! (Yay!) I watched The Cutting Edge since The Popcast is recapping the movie for one of their bonus episodes. I loved it! TOE PICK.

In progress: The Traitors US season 4, Friends season 5 (rewatch), and Survivor: Cook Islands.

LISTENED TO

  • Sabrina Carpenter, Man’s Best Friend (album) – Another small goal for 2026 is to listen to one new album every month. I did this in 2024 and really loved listening to music that was not Taylor Swift. I enjoyed this album a lot. Favorite songs: Manchild, Nobody’s Son, When Did You Get Hot?, and House Tour
  • The Last Invention (podcast) – I have many complicated feelings about AI, and this podcast explored the good and bad that will come our way as it rises. I work in digital marketing, so I have to be well-versed in AI and understand how consumers are using it for search. It’s not something I just can’t use because GEO (generative engine optimization, aka optimizing content for AI search) has become a big focus in the digital marketing space. But I can still use it responsibly, and that’s my goal. This podcast was fascinating and very well-produced.
  • Is Oprah Winfrey a Bastard? (podcast) – I’m still catching up on older episodes of Behind the Bastards, and in early 2025, they did a six-part series on Oprah, and it was enlightening to say the least.

BOUGHT

  • Nightstand – I love my new nightstand so much! It’s the perfect height so I can easily lean over and turn my CPAP machine on and off every day, and it has lots of great storage. And it’s pretttty!
  • Fluffy rug – Once I had my perfect reading chair (excuse me, Eloise’s napping chair) in my office, I needed a rug and I wanted it to be obnoxiously fluffy. I found the perfect fluffy rug that is so soft and luxurious under my feet.
  • End table – I had a different table next to my reading chair but I wanted something smaller, so I found this perfect option on Amazon. It’s small, inexpensive, and took five minutes to put together. Right now, it’s a little bare while I try to figure out how I want to use the bottom and second shelf.

LOVED

  • Having a diagnosis – I am so relieved to finally have an answer to my chronic pain. Even though it’s not ideal to have an autoimmune condition that will affect me for the rest of my life, I am mostly just glad to be on a path towards feeling better. I really loved my rheumatologist’s office, too, and they have an all-female staff, which is super cool!
  • My new morning and evening routines – I love my new morning and evening routines! My morning routine will need to shift once I’m ready to go back to the gym since I prefer early-morning workouts, but right now, it’s been nice to have a slow start to my morning and a solid evening routine that ensures I’m getting to bed by 10 p.m. every night. Plus, each routine includes an hour of reading time, which makes me oh-so-happy.
  • A bookish date with Jenny – It was so much fun to take Jenny to my favorite bookish spots when she was in Tampa. We went to three different bookstores, one brewery, and one coffee shop! We had a great time together, as always.

LOATHED

  • Stiff, painful joints – January was a really hard month because I was in so much pain for so many days. The whole month was basically counting down to my rheumatology appointment. “Only two more weekends to get through.” “Only one more full week of work!” The appointment felt so far away, and the pain was so intense that there was a point where I wondered if I could go to urgent care for a short dose of prednisone before the appointment. I opted against it, sticking to my high dose of meloxicam, which lessened the intensity of my symptoms but never took them away.
  • Tough family dynamics – An unbloggable situation, so all I will say about this is that I need people to be better.
  • Work stress – I came into January with a whole lot of work from December that I didn’t quite manage to finish before taking some time off at the end of the year. This meant that I was constantly trying to take care of December tasks while January tasks started piling up. It was very stressful and I do not recommend!

SUPERLATIVES

  • This month’s chapter title: The One With the Diagnosis
  • Weather notes: We had weather in the 80s and weather in the low 30s. When we went putt-putt golfing for book club in early January, we were sweating by the time we finished. And then we ended January with snow flurries in parts of the Tampa Bay area (I didn’t see any, wah!). A very up-and-down month in terms of weather.
  • Favorite meal/snack: Peanut butter crackers. I bought a box as part of my emergency snack kits and I’ve become obsessed with them. Who knew chemicals were so tasty?!
  • Something I learned: Some fancy Excel tricks for my budgeting spreadsheet
  • An unexpected delight: Spending these cold January mornings sipping a hot cup of coffee and reading my book is the best way to ease into my day!

What chapter title would you give to January? What was something you watched?

Categories: Life

One Photo a Day | January 24 – 30, 2026

January 24, 2026 – Bri and I had our first podcast recording day of the season! We haven’t recorded in over two months, so I may have been a bit rusty, but I really enjoyed the two episodes we recorded.

January 25, 2026 – I decided to try something new for my magic bars recipe and bake it in a graham cracker pie crust. It turned out pretty good, although I think next time I may add an extra layer of graham cracker crumbles to the bottom of the pan because there weren’t enough graham crackers for my liking.

January 26, 2026 – My nightstand is finally all put together! It took me almost the whole month to put it together because I could only do one or two steps every other day before my joints started screaming at me. I love it so much, though. It needs a few more things for decor, but that will come with time.

January 27, 2026 – I meant to take a cute photo of the front of my rheumatology office, but totally forgot. So instead, you get photos of my meds! Today was my blessed rheumatology appointment and I am glad to finally have a diagnosis.

January 28, 2026 – It was a beautiful day – high 50s and sunny – and I was feeling so good that I went out for a walk. It was pain-free and rejuvenating!

January 29, 2026 – I took a midday break on Thursday after a bunch of back-to-back meetings to sit on my patio and read my book. It was 63 degrees and divine.

January 30, 2026 – The only cat photo you get this week! Here is my darling Eloise looking so majestic and adorable, ready for another day of working. (And by working, I mean she takes lots of naps or sits in front of my keyboard, meowing at me for pets.)

What was the last thing you took a photo of?