BOOKS

Reading Stats of June

• Books read: 10
• Number of pages read: 3,701
• Average star rating: 4.1
• Average time to finish a book: 6 days
• Format breakdown: 50% print books, 40% audiobooks, 10% e-books
• Genre breakdown: 80% fiction, 20% nonfiction
• # of DNFs: 2 (On Our Best Behavior by Elise Loehnen and Done and Dusted by Lyla Sage)
• Audiobook reading: 39 hours, 54 minutes (actual listening time: 22 hours, 59 minutes)

Reading Superlatives of June

• The best book I read in June: The Man Who Died Twice by Richard Osman
• The book I didn’t expect to love as much as I did: This American Woman by Zarna Garg
• The book I thought I would love more than I did: Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy
• The book that lived up to the hype: Home of the American Circus by Allison Larkin
• The book that taught me the most: Stamped From the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Ibram X. Kendi

Reading List (from favorite to least favorite)

1. The Man Who Died Twice by Richard Osman (print, 2021) ★★★★★
2. The Paradise Problem by Christina Lauren (print, 2024) ★★★★☆ 1/2
3. Home of the American Circus by Allison Larkin (print, 2025) ★★★★☆
4. The Takedown by Lily Chu (e-book, 2023) ★★★★☆
5. Stamped From the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Ibram X. Kendi (print, 2016) ★★★★☆
6. This American Woman: A One-in-a-Billion Memoir by Zarna Garg (audiobook, 2025) ★★★★☆
7. The Brilliant Life of Eudora Honeysett by Annie Lyons (audiobook, 2020) ★★★★☆
8. Before I Go to Sleep by S.J. Watson (audiobook, 2011) ★★★★☆
9. Everyone Here is Lying by Shari Lapena (audiobook, 2023) ★★★★☆
10. Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy (print, 2025) ★★★☆☆

MEDIA

• Survivor 37: David vs. Goliath – I’m on a mission to watch older seasons of Survivor to prep for Survivor 50 next year. (As in, getting to know the returning players. This is not an announcement of being on the show because LOL NO.) There are three returning players from season 37 (Christian, Angelina, and Mike). I fell head over heels for Christian, couldn’t stand Angelina, and grew to really like Mike (who, coincidentally, is the famous Mike White of The White Lotus fame!). I’m excited to see all three of them play again, though!
• The Amazing Race, season 4 – I just finished this season of The Amazing Race yesterday! It was a pretty boring season, though, and there weren’t any standout teams. I did find it interesting to learn that one of the contestants ended up dating Lance Freaking Bass a few years after the show!
• Brooklyn 99, season 2 – Rewatching my beloved Brooklyn 99! I love this season because it’s when Amy and Jake have their flirtmance and eventually get together. So cute!
• Clueless – It’s the 30th anniversary of Clueless, so I went with two friends to see it in a movie theater. It was so much fun and ugh, the movie is just perfection.

MONEY

Favorite purchase of June:

Hoop nose ring – I replaced my stud nose ring with a hoop, and then said a little prayer that my CPAP mask wouldn’t bother it. (I had to remove my nose ring last year when I started using a CPAP machine because the pressure of the mask against my nose made the piercing hurt.) And good news – it doesn’t! So now I can have my cute lil hoop nose ring and sleep deeply at night. A win/win!

Most delightful little indulgence of June:

ThermaCare heat wraps – I have always struggled with using a heating pad for period cramps because of my belly. So I picked up these heat wraps on a whim. They are designed specifically for menstrual cramps and you just attach them to the inside of your underwear and within 30 minutes, you’ll start feeling the steady heat against your body. It feels so good! You can wear the heat wrap for up to 8 hours, too!

Most regrettable purchase of June: 

Pride cat scratcher – I love this cat scratcher and I think it’s so fun, but the cats have not used it a single time since I put it out a few weeks ago. Are my cats homophobic?!

Number of books purchased in June:

ZEROOOOO. I should celebrate by buying some books!

Best recommendation: 

Period underwear – I can’t believe I waited so long to buy period underwear, but you guys: it’s life-changing! It feels almost like a security blanket, as I wear it as a backup on my heavy flow days. I’m a fan!

BLOG/PODCAST

On the blog, I told you all about my medical woes happening right now. I also took you on a journey through other Junes of my life, starting with 2008, the year I lost my beloved dog Minnie. I told you how I use Goodreads and The StoryGraph, and gave you a snapshot of a regular day in my life.

On the podcast, we interviewed our dear friend Lynn, who lost her home after Hurricane Helene in September 2024. This was an emotional interview, and I hope it shines a light on how these natural disasters can affect people in big and small ways.

Then, we lightened things up a bit and released an episode about our pets’ personalities! This was a really silly episode where we talked about our pets (Bri has two greyhounds) and then typed them according to our favorite personality frameworks. (I typed Eloise as an Enneagram 6, The Loyalist, and Lila as an Enneagram 4, The Individualist.)

JOURNAL

Samples from my One Line a Day journal

• June 2, 2025: Started the week with a great morning workout. I should do this more often.
• June 3, 2025: Melting Pot night with Amber, Lynn, and Kim. <3 It was so good but so expensive!
• June 4, 2025: We booked our hotel and a lot of our excursions today for London. Whee!
• June 8, 2025: A very productive day! I got all my chores done and then afterwards went to Mikaela’s to hang out with her and the girls.
• June 10, 2025: Saw a GI doc finally. I need so many tests. Blood tests + abdominal ultrasound + stool sample + colonoscopy. I am overwhelmed.
• June 11, 2025: Book club! Our dolphin cruise got rained out so we went out for ice cream instead.
• June 12, 2025: Eloise’s dentist appt! She did so well. But she was a maniac when she got home. Anesthesia’s got nothing on her.
• June 15, 2025: Father’s Day. I was very melancholy all day and stayed off social media.
• June 21, 2025: A lovely day where I got to read a lot! The dogs were very receptive to my snuggle and read agenda.
• June 26, 2025: Gyn follow-up. Best option for my heavy periods is ablation, which would mean I can’t ever get pregnant. Having a lot of feels about that!

Previous years:

• June 13, 2022: Today, we went to the American side of the Falls and there, I had the best experience of the vacation: Cave of the Winds!
• June 9, 2023: Bri and I had a wonderful lady date to celebrate 9 years of friendship. <3
• June 22, 2024: Big day! I went to the best bookstore ever with Kim and then we went to the Popcast Live! What an incredible show.

SUPERLATIVES

• This month’s chapter title: In My “I’m Falling Apart” Era
• Weather notes: Hot and humid, with lots of afternoon thunderstorms. We’re also officially in hurricane season, although things don’t get “exciting” until September/October.
• Favorite meal/snack: Melting Pot! Is there anything better than cheese and chocolate fondue? I think not!
• Something I learned: The proper way to take a passport photo at home
• An unexpected delight: This Instagram page. I would die for this cat and I’m not being dramatic.

What was your favorite book of June? What was your favorite meal or snack last month?

BOOKS

Reading Stats of May

• Books read: 9
• Number of pages read: 2,891
• Average star rating: 3.4
• Average time to finish a book: 7.6 days
• Format breakdown: 44% audiobooks, 33% print books, 22% e-books
• Genre breakdown: 78% fiction, 22% nonfiction
• # of DNFs: 1 (When We Had Wings by Ariel Lawhon)
• Audiobook reading: 36 hours, 13 minutes (actual listening time: 21 hours, 33 minutes)

Reading Superlatives of May

• The best book I read in May: The Third Gilmore Girl by Kelly Bishop
• The worst book I read in May: Pete and Alice in Maine by Caitlin Shetterly
• The book I thought I would love more than I did: The Three Lives of Cate Kay by Kate Fagan
• The book that lived up to the hype: Look Closer by David Ellis
• The most disappointing read: The Wishing Game by Meg Shaffer

Reading List (from favorite to least favorite)

1. The Third Gilmore Girl by Kelly Bishop (audiobook, 2024) ★★★★★
2. Look Closer by David Ellis (audiobook, 2022) ★★★★★
3. The Journey Toward Wholeness: Enneagram Wisdom for Stress, Balance, and Transformation by Suzanne Stabile (e-book, 2022) ★★★★☆
4. Nine Rules to Break While Romancing a Rake by Sarah MacLean (e-book, 2010) ★★★★☆
5. The Three Lives of Cate Kay by Kate Fagan (print, 2025) ★★★☆☆ 1/2
6. Let’s Call a Truce by Amy Buchanan (print, 2025) ★★★☆☆ 1/2
7. The Wishing Game by Meg Shaffer (print, 2023) ★★☆☆☆ 1/2
8. Lease on Love by Falon Ballard (audiobook, 2022) ★★☆☆☆
9. Pete and Alice in Maine by Caitlin Shetterly (audiobook, 2023) ★☆☆☆☆

MEDIA

• The Amazing Race, seasons 2 and 3 (Paramount+) – It’s been fun to revisit the early seasons of The Amazing Race. So much drama and fighting! And so much old-school technology. In one episode of season 2, one of the contestants convinces a woman to give him her cell phone and said he would mail it back to her. Damn! (I also giggled during one challenge where the contestants used a digital camera to get a picture of themselves in front of a landmark, and then had to find a photo shop to print out the photo.)
• Survivor 47 (Paramount+) – I was satisfied with the winner of this season, even though I really wanted someone else to win. But it was a fun season, even if superfans found it a bit boring.
• New Girl, season 2 (Hulu) – I finished season 2! Nick and Jess, Nick and Jess! A Taylor Swift cameo! I’m looking forward to moving on to season 3 soon.
• Dirty Dancing (Fandango) – All of the heart-eyes for this movie! I understand why so many people love it, and young Patrick Swayze can get. it.
• Over Under Achievers (podcast) – I had deleted this podcast from my feed a while ago since it seemed like all of their episodes were behind a paywall and I didn’t feel like coughing up the money. But they must have changed course because now all of their episodes are free again, so I’m very happy to listen to them talk about sports and pop culture and Survivor and other nonsense.

MONEY

Favorite purchase of May: 

The girls’ newest scratching sleeper – I don’t know what to call these items, other than a scratching sleeper. It’s basically a big scratching pad that had a small indentation in the middle, perfect for curling up and sleeping. While I personally do not think sleeping on a scratching pad would be particularly comfortable, the cats definitely do. They use the sleeper daily and sometimes fight over who gets to sleep in it. So I bought a second one with flamingos all over it, and they are very happy. You can see both sleepers in the picture above. Eloise is lying on the new flamingo sleeper, and the other one is behind her. (I usually find these at Home Goods or TJ Maxx, FYI!)

Most delightful little indulgence of May: 

Felt-lined dice cup ($7) – We love playing Yahtzee during game night, but I despise how loud the plastic cup is when you’re shaking the dice around. Plus, in the game we recently bought, the cup can’t even stand up on its own! (Design flaw.) So I paid $7 for this felt-lined dice cup, and it makes those Yahtzee games so much nicer.

Most regrettable purchase of May: 

Boxing gloves cat toy ($9) – I bought this toy as part of the girls’ birthday present, and they could care less about it. I hung it up and tried to get them to play with it, but they just looked at me like I was crazy. Win some, lose some.

Number of books purchased in May: 8

• The Names by Florence Knapp (BOTM)
• Home of the American Circus by Allison Larkin (BOTM)
• The Secret Book of Flora Lea by Patti Callahan Henry (BOTM)
• The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley (Barnes & Noble)
• The Courage to Be Disliked by Ichiro Kishimi (Barnes & Noble)
• Say You’ll Remember Me by Abby Jimenez (Barnes & Noble)
• The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters (Barnes & Noble)
• People Person by Candice Carty-Williams (Barnes & Noble)

Best recommendation:

Mystery coloring book ($10) – I mentioned this coloring book in one of my TGIF posts, and I am here to give it my whole-hearted recommendation. I am obsessed with this coloring book. It is so much fun to use and I keep it open on my dining room table so I can color a little bit at a time. I will say that the boxes that you need to color in are quite small, so it could be aggravating for some people to use. But I’m loving it so much!

BLOG/PODCAST

On the blog, I gave you some of my mundane bathroom details, based on a post from Diane. I wrote When Hard Work Pays Off, which is about what I did to help improve my bloodwork numbers. I also invited you to take a tour of my bookshelves and shared my new Admin Sundays routine.

On the podcast, we released two episodes. First, we released an episode about motherhood from the perspective of two childless women in their thirties. This was a very spicy episode because neither Bri nor I are interested in having children, and we have some very particular ideas why. I was heartened that two friends (who are mothers themselves!) reached out to say how much they loved the episode. I was really worried we were going to hurt some feelings!

And we released an interview with one of Bri’s friends, Jackie. She’s an enneagram 4 and a surgeon, and I was very surprised when I learned her enneagram number! (Enneagram 4s are the “feelers” of the enneagram and tend to be more creative types.) This episode was interrupted multiple times by Jackie’s cat, Tootles, and he was very pleased with his podcast debut.

JOURNAL

Samples from my One Line a Day journal

• May 1, 2025 – My bloodwork came back! Fasting glucose is normal, A1C is down, and cholesterol is normal. Oh, happy day!
• May 2, 2025 – So much anxiety last night. I wonder if my Lexapro taper is kicking in? Starting Prozac today.
• May 10, 2025 – Saw a horrific accident near Starbucks. I hope everyone is ok.
• May 12, 2025 – Met up with Amber and Mom to do more London planning. The itinerary is coming together.
• May 18, 2025 – My first drag show! It was so much fun and so beautiful to see the queer community celebrated.
• May 19, 2025 – Vet appointment for Eloise. She gained a pound – yay! But she needs dental work – boo.
• May 21, 2025 – New fave routine: HIIT class and then going into Publix for a Dr. Pepper and candy bar.
• May 24, 2025 – A fun day with Mom! We did a lot of shopping and then ordered pizza and watched Dirty Dancing. <3
• May 27, 2025 – Met Moose, Mark’s new dog! He is so sweet and lovable. He kept bringing us toys to play with!
• May 28, 2025 – Eloise’s is officially a Banfield cat! $650 a year for their wellness plan, which includes dental cleanings.

Previous years:

• May 3, 2022 – Grandma would have been 80 today. I miss her so much. I can’t believe she’s been gone for 6+ years.
• May 10, 2023 – Met up with the girls to celebrate Katie’s birthday. Told them that I’m bi and have a girlfriend!
• May 30, 2024 – We saw Nate Bargatze! He was amazing!! We also explored NOLA – aquarium, brunch + drinks. A good day!

SUPERLATIVES

• This month’s chapter title: New Experience, New (Fur) Nephew
• Weather notes: HOT. It’s summer in Florida. Most days have highs in the low 90s with 60% (or greater) humidity.
• Favorite meal/snack: I had a delicious sandwich at a new-to-me place this month. It had this amazing aioli spread and then the bread itself was so good. Yum, yum!
• Something I learned: The best way to remove period stains from fabric (ugh).
• An unexpected delight: My brother adopting another dog! They didn’t expect to, but Moose fit in so well with their family (and other dog, Cici) and needed a loving home.

What’s the best book you read in May? What has the weather been like where you are?

Happy May! I’m going to start this post with some really good news. I had follow-up bloodwork done on Wednesday and received the results yesterday. My A1C is no longer in the diabetic range! (It’s still in the prediabetic range, so I still need to work on lowering it, but we’re trending in the right direction now!) I am so relieved, and this gives me the motivation to continue to work on my eating habits so I can get all of my numbers to a normal range. I talk more in-depth about my bloodwork below, but I wanted to share this very good news upfront.

BOOKS

Reading Stats of April

• Books read: 11
• Number of pages read: 3,842
• Average star rating: 3.9
• Average time to finish a book: 6.9 days
• Format breakdown: 55% print books, 37% audiobooks, 8% e-books
• Genre breakdown: 90% fiction, 10% nonfiction
• # of DNFs: 1 (Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll)
• Audiobook reading: 36 hours, 11 minutes (actual listening time: 20 hours, 40 minutes)

Reading Superlatives of April

• The best book I read in April: I’m That Girl: Living the Power of My Dreams by Jordan Chiles
• The worst book I read in April: Beautiful Ugly by Alice Feeney
• The book I thought I would love more than I did: Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance by Alison Espach
• The book that lived up to the hype: The Grey Wolf by Louise Penny
• The book with the most unique structure: Confessions by Kanae Minato

Reading List (from favorite to least favorite)

1. I’m That Girl: Living the Power of My Dreams by Jordan Chiles (audiobook, 2025) ★★★★★
2. Only Mostly Devastated by Sophie Gonzalez (audiobook, 2022) ★★★★★
3. The Grey Wolf by Louise Penny (audiobook, 2024) ★★★★★
4. The Austen Playbook by Lucy Parker (e-book, 2019) ★★★★☆
5. Autoboyography by Christina Lauren (print, 2017) ★★★★☆
6. Confessions by Kanae Minato (audiobook, 2014) ★★★★☆
7. Lavender House by Lev AC Rosen (print, 2022) ★★★★☆
8. We All Live Here by Jojo Moyes (print, 2025) ★★★☆☆
9. Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance by Alison Espach (print, 2022) ★★★☆☆
10. Icebreaker by Hannah Grace (print, 2022) ★★★☆☆
11. Beautiful Ugly by Alice Feeney (print, 2025) ★★★☆☆

MEDIA

• Big Brother, season 3 – My mom and I are having a lot of fun watching older seasons of Big Brother. This season has been talked about a lot, and it’s fun to see all of the gameplay in action. Of course, there is still some troubling language (so much fatphobia and some uncomfortable bullying), but that’s the early aughts of reality TV for you!
• The Amazing Race, season 1 – On a whim, I decided to start watching The Amazing Race from the beginning! The first episode of this show aired on September 6, 2001 and the contestants started the race in NYC. It’s wild to see the Twin Towers in the background and to know the episode itself aired a few days before 9/11. What a wild time. The contestants are this season are so mean to each other and it’s kind of hysterical to watch!
• American History Tellers, J. Edgar Hoover’s FBI – I am not yet finished with this miniseries on the American History Tellers feed, but it’s been very eye-opening. It’s also wild to compare this time in history (1920s – 1970s) with what’s happening now. Hoover was spying on ordinary Americans and putting a stop to any negative press, and people back then thought he was a god. History seems to be repeating itself with today’s politics, with our president disappearing people who have different viewpoints, trying to keep certain news organizations out of the White House press briefings, and cutting off funding for schools and news organizations that speak negatively about him or his policies. It’s frightening to see the parallels.

MONEY

Favorite purchase of April:

A flight to London – My mom and I booked our flights to London! We’re leaving September 30 and will arrive in London on October 1. We’ll have six full days to explore to our heart’s content.

Most delightful little indulgence of April:

Meat shredder ($6) – I had seen this kitchen tool on a few TikToks and knew I had to have it. All you do is pop the chicken in the device, push down the lid, and then twist it from side to side. Within seconds, you have perfectly shredded chicken. LIFE CHANGING.

Most regrettable purchase of April:

Portable charger ($20) – This charger is fine, but it just doesn’t charge very fast and that’s annoying. It also takes forever for it to recharge itself once the battery is depleted. I’m going to keep it because something is better than nothing, but it’s not a charger I would recommend, unfortunately.

Number of books purchased in April: 4 (*bows*)

• Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall (Book of the Month)
• Six Days in Bombay by Alka Joshi (Book of the Month)
• Murder Your Employer by Rupert Holmes (Tombolo Books)
• Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry (Tombolo Books)

Best recommendation:

Book stand ($28) – I love this book stand! Now I can eat lunch and read my book rather than scrolling Reddit forums. It’s a little annoying to turn the pages since you have to slide the page from beneath the right-side clip and then tuck it into the left-side clip, but it’s a small price to pay to be able to read my book at the table without having to physically hold it open. An impulse purchase that I don’t regret for a second!

JOURNAL

• April 1 – Mom and I bought flights to London! We leave 9/30. 🙂
• April 3 – Robert and I had a very spirited debate about Trump. I’m really proud of how I handled myself!
• April 5 – Mom and I did the Fight for Air climb! It was so damn hard. I wanted to quit so many times.
• April 9 – Checked into the VRBO to start my reading retreat. It’s such a cute space.
• April 12 – My first pedicure in probably 8 months. My feet look so pretty!
• April 13 – We had Lynn on our podcast to talk about losing her home to Hurricane Helene. She was fantastic!
• April 15 – Long day. We had an offsite meeting and it went really well! Better than I anticipated. But it was a 13-hour day – oof.
• April 18 – God this new HIIT format for Friday mornings is awful! I thought I was going to die by the end of it.
• April 24 – Bri came over for a girls’ night. We had pizza, chatted, and played Yahtzee. So fun!
• April 30 – Follow-up lab work this morning. I can only hope I did enough to lower my blood sugars.

Previous years: 

• April 30, 2022: We recorded the first episode of our podcast. It was so much fun!
• April 13, 2023: TAYLOR SWIFT!!!!!! What an amazing night. I can’t believe I got to experience it.
• April 24, 2024: My doctor’s office called me: I have severe obstructive sleep apnea. Yikes. This is a lot to process.

OVERVIEW

What went well

• The Fight for Air Climb – My mom and I successfully completed the Fight for Air Climb in early April. It was the hardest physical challenge I’ve ever done, but I am so glad I pushed through (thanks to my mom!) and got it done. And I am 90% sure I’ll never do it again. (I mean, never say never, but I’m very close to saying never ever.)
• A cheesy photoshoot – Our book club experience in April was a cheesy JC Penney photoshoot! We had the best time, and you can see all of the great pictures we got throughout this post. Our photographer had fun with us, too, and even had some pose ideas for us! I don’t know what we’ll do with all of these photos—maybe a hilarious coffee table book?!
• A reading retreat – I spent a few days at a nearby Airbnb while my tub was being refinished, and my sole goal was to read as much as possible. While I didn’t read as much as I had hoped (10 hours over 2.5 days), that was mostly because I was stressed out about my cats, who accompanied me on this staycation. Lila especially was not having a good time, so I cut the trip a bit short so she could be back home in her comfortable environment.
• GOOD BLOOD WORK!! – As I mentioned above, I got bloodwork done and the news is GOOD. My A1C has reduced enough that I don’t think my doctor will want to put me on medication. In other great news, my fasting glucose dropped 30 points and is now in a normal range. And my total cholesterol dropped 30 points and is now normal. And while some of my other cholesterol numbers are still high, all of the numbers reduced significantly. My triglycerides were down 15 points, my LDL was down 30 points, and my non-HDL was down 35 points. !!! The changes I made to my diet are working, and it is such a relief to see those numbers trend in a much better direction from January. My doctor also had me submit a urine sample to make sure I wasn’t experiencing any kidney issues from my elevated blood sugars (one of the earliest signs of diabetes, but also a silent one for the most part). And everything for that test came back normal! I think this will further prove to my doctor that I don’t need to be on medication. This was the news I really, really needed, and while I know it wouldn’t have meant I failed if my A1C didn’t decrease from these changes, it feels good knowing I won’t have to add yet another diagnosis to my repertoire.

What was challenging

• Medical bills – It was a spendy month for medical bills. Between bills for my CPAP equipment and an insurance adjustment for therapy after learning they were under-charging me for the appointments, I spent $500 just on medical bills. That kinda makes me want to throw up. The good news is, I’ve met my deductible, so now I can go to therapy for free. Take that, greedy insurance companies!
• Work challenges – There has been some leadership upheaval at my organization over the past year and with that comes a level of uncertainty for me, where I wonder if I fit into the new leaders’ vision of the organization and if I will have the support/guidance I need. I was feeling a lot of that uncertainty recently, especially with some shifts and changes. Thankfully, the off-site meeting helped solidify my identity within our organization. I was especially gratified when my boss reached out to me to say that our senior VP had reached out to her to say I really stood out at the meeting, and he thinks I am a real asset to our department. That was what I needed to hear!
• Digestive woes – I’m not going to get into the nitty-gritty here, but suffice it to say that my digestive tract has been unhappy over the past few weeks and I’ve started to feel like one of those people in a commercial for IBS, where I have to be near a bathroom at all times. I’m not sure what is causing this nonsense, but thank god I have an appointment with my doctor next week!

What was the best book you read in April? What was the most delightful purchase you made?