Recurring Series

TGIF (v. 57)

The high of my week was no more roofing work! Last week, my apartment building’s roof was being repaired by experts like Tampa roofing company, and let me tell you, being on the top floor of a building that’s getting roofing work done is no bueno. So much banging! And they started at 7am every morning (EVEN ON SATURDAY!!!). All of the loud noises scared Lila so much that she hid under the bed all day and only came out at night when they were gone—I missed having that little fluff around! I’m glad the roof is repaired, but even more glad that I don’t have to hear constant banging while I’m trying to get work done.

The low of my week was canceling my April vacation. Ugh. My mom and I decided to cancel our cruise/trip to California in April because I was feeling very stressed out about the expense. I’m not feeling great about where my finances are at right now (holidays + student loan payments unpausing + paying off LASIK = a lot on my plate), and I need a breather for the first half of the year to catch up on credit card payments and savings. We’ll still take a nice vacation next year, but it won’t be in April.

One nagging task I marked off my to-do list was finally working through my “deal with it later” bin. I haven’t gone through this bin in months and it was overflowing with documents to file, random items to put in their correct spots, and more. It felt good to finally get it all cleared out!

A Reel I loved was this sweet video of a doggo making a build-a-bear. Heartwarming!

I’m currently reading three books. On audio, I’m listening to State of Wonder by Ann Patchett. (So far, I’m liking it! The premise is not enticing at all, but everyone I know who has read it has loved it.) In print, I’m reading The Henna Artist by Alka Joshi. (Sooo good.) And my e-book is A Lot Like Love by Julie James, which is a reread for me.

A podcast episode I enjoyed was The Wreck of the Costa Concordia on Stuff You Should Know. I love it when they do deep dives on these random events in history, especially shipwrecks. And this one was fairly recent—2012!

The best money I spent was on gifts for my book club! We are having our book club Christmas party on Sunday and we are doing a “favorite things” gift exchange. I had a lot of fun figuring out what my “favorite thing” was going to be (we wanted to keep each gift around $10 since we had to have five of them), and I think I came up with a great one. We’ll see! (I’ll reveal what the gift was on Monday—don’t want any of my friends finding out ahead of time!)

My plans this weekend include so many things! Let’s review:

Today, Bri is taking me on my birthday adventure: A day at Disney for Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party! I haven’t been to Disney in so long and I’m excited to soak it all up. Plus, it’s going to be a gorgeous day: A high of 74!
Tomorrow, I’ll kick off my day by shipping off my Secret SANta Swap gift and then meet up with my friend Amber for her birthday present to me: brunch! We’re going to a place downtown that has a very delicious-sounding menu.
In the afternoon, I have a writing date with Mikaela and then I’m coming home and vegging on the couch for the rest of the night.
Sunday morning, it’s our book club Christmas party! Bri is making breakfast and we’ll play some fun games and swap gifts.
After the party, I’m headed straight to my mom’s for football with the fam.

Whew! It will be a busy weekend, but such a fun one. I’ve been looking forward to this weekend for a long time!

What was the high of your week?

Categories: Recurring Series

Currently in November

Loving… the sweet package I received from Kim this weekend! She gave me the best cat-themed package with a cozy blanket, a rock she painted, an ornament, and a tote bag. Kim is such an excellent gift-giver and the package made my day. (Funny moment, the gift arrived in an Amazon package and when I got home on Saturday, I was like, “Wait, what did I order from Amazon?” and was racking my brain trying to remember… and then I saw the package slip!)

Loathing… cancer. While I saw my grandma go through cancer treatments for 8 years (she had colon cancer), there has been something different about seeing the way lung cancer has leveled my uncle. He is not the person he was even a few months ago, and I know it’s been so hard on my cousin and her family. Cancer is so brutal and unfair.

Reading… three books. On audio, I’m finishing up The Displacements by Bruce Holsinger, which has been quite the adventure. (A category 6 hurricane blows through Florida and wipes Miami completely off the map, eeeks.) In print, I’m reading Recursion by Blake Crouch and The Stand-In by Lily Chu.

Watching… Quarterback on Netflix. It’s a documentary following three quarterbacks during the 2022 season: Patrick Mahomes, Kirk Cousins, and Marcus Mariota. I love it! I am a football fan, so I find the whole documentary to be fascinating, from how the players prepare each week to being in the huddle with them throughout each game. And it’s fun to get a glimpse into their home lives. I’ll admit that I never thought I would relate to an NFL quarterback but Marcus Mariota talking about how Sausage McMuffins are his favorite breakfast—kindred spirit.

Listening to… Christmas music. Is anyone surprised? I started listening to it sometime this month here and there, but now that we’re past Thanksgiving, it will be all Christmas music all the time!

Anticipating… the holiday season. My December has filled up with so many fun plans! There’s our annual book club Christmas party, a gingerbread house decorating event, Christmas cookie decorating with the fam, going to look at holiday lights with my mom, and even a casual Christmas hangout with work (our first since 2019!). Bri also gifted me a day at Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas for my birthday, and I cannot wait for that! And I won’t even hit the after-Christmas lull because my mom, stepdad, the dogs, and I leave for Tennessee the day after Christmas!

Thinking about… my 2024 goals. I already have a few goals in mind to tackle next year and I’m not sure how I’ll organize them. Maybe 24 goals in ’24? That feels like a lot of goals, but I think I can sneak some fun one-off goals into this list. Right now, I have 4 goals for next year: Read 6 novels by Agatha Christie, go on a solo vacation, watch 5 movies that Knox and Jamie (of The Popcast) have green-lit, and launch a new blog theme with reorganized categories/tags. More to come, of course!

Buying… Christmas gifts! I am nearly done Christmas shopping, but still have a few more gifts to buy. And I have to go shopping for my Secret SANta Swap partner! I am excited to buy an assortment of fun gifts for my person. Yay!

Grateful… for a really fun birthday week ahead. I have a day date with my mom today and then dinner with Bri tonight, a full Day of Stephany planned tomorrow with dinner with my whole family in the evening, and book club on Thursday! It will be a great week filled with lots of love.

What are you currently watching and anticipating?

Categories: Recurring Series

Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow | The Black Friday Edition

My cousin’s cat Muffin is 19.5 lbs of pure love and sass, and she is my soulmate.

Yesterday, I…

Had a lovely Thanksgiving dinner with my family. My contribution was cookies, which I baked up in the afternoon. We had delicious food, great conversation, and lots of animal snuggles (my cousin has 3 dogs and 3 cats!).
Wore a full face of makeup for the first time in months. I rarely wear makeup, other than filling in my brows and putting on mascara, these days. (And I only do those other things if I have meetings or something because they make me look less tired, lol.) It was fun to get all dolled up for Thanksgiving dinner, but it also felt good to come home and take it all off!
Got cozy on the couch in the evening with the football game on in the background (on mute) and finished one of the books I’ve been reading. Eloise was sleeping right above my head on the top of the couch and Lila was snoozing on the other side of the couch, and it was a wonderful scene with my little family.

Today, I…

Started my day early with a car service appointment. My car turned two years old a few days ago (well, two years since I bought her), and she needed an oil change, inspection, and tuning diesel upgrades. I love getting my car serviced because they have an amazing waiting area where I can work while my car is being taken care of. For auto repair Forest, VA call Forest Automotive. So I’m catching up on blogs and working on this post!
Have a few errands to run once my car is finished. I have an order to get from Target, books to drop off at the library, and a prescription to pick up from Publix. Should be easy enough, as I only need to get out of the car for one of those errands, ha.
Will watch the Dolphins game at 3! It’s such a weird day and time for a football game, but I’m excited to watch my boys play and hopefully come home with a win.

Tomorrow, I…

Will have my usual writing date with Mikaela! I’ll be working on my blog recategorization project and probably trying to catch up on blog comments.
Will probably go grocery shopping for the week after my writing date. It’s going to be a weird week to shop for, as I have plans more nights than not since it’s my birthday week!
Will definitely take a nice, long afternoon nap. The best part of every Saturday! Ha.

What is something you did yesterday, will do/did today, and will do tomorrow?

Categories: Recurring Series

Three Things Thursday (v. 12)

Three confessions

1) I’m not putting up a Christmas tree this year. Since we’re leaving for our Tennessee trip the day after Christmas, I don’t want to leave it up while I’m out of town. (I don’t trust those sweet, darling cats of mine!) I’m sad not to have a gorgeous sparkling Christmas tree to enjoy, but I have enough other decorations to keep the place merry and cheerful.

2) Earlier this week, my apartment complex sent me a note that they will start charging a flat rate for our water bill. Previously, it’s been charged by usage and I never paid more than $50 a month. My flat rate will now be $70 and I am so annoyed. But the bright side is that guess who’s about to do the smallest dishwasher and laundry loads she’s ever done? Two baths a day? MAYBE. (I’m joking, of course.)

3) Riddle me this: I don’t like raisins on their own or in oatmeal cookies or in most other forms. But I am obsessed with cinnamon raisin toast, and I eat the raisins in the toast. I find them delicious! How is this possible?!

Three podcasts on my to-be-listened-to list

1) Megacorp – This podcast released in 2022, discussing some of the unethical and downright dangerous practices of Amazon.

2) Corporate Gossip – This podcast is hosted by a brother-and-sister pair and they discuss all sort of crazy and wild corporate news in a gossip-y, fun way.

3) The Crossbow Killer – A true crime mini-series that sounds pretty wild.

Three things I’d like to do in Tennessee

1) Go snow tubing – We’re thinking of spending a day at Ober Gatlinburg and I want to go solely for snow tubing. The last time I went on a winter vacation like this, I was in 6th grade and we had a day where everyone went snow tubing, and I was too scared to try it. I need to do it for 12-year-old me!

2) Spending time in the Smoky Mountains – We’re staying in Sevierville, which is about 20 miles north of the Smoky Mountains. I’ve planned two days of our trip to spend there; once with the dogs (there are two dog-friendly hikes we can do) and once with just us. I’m scoping out very easy hikes for us to do because strenuous hikes are not for me.

3) Lots of lazy cabin nights – We booked such a beautiful cabin and I’m really looking forward to utilizing it to its fullest extent. There’s even a hot tub!

Three favorite game apps

1) Happy Color – My mom just started using this app and now we get to gush about how obsessed we are with it. Yay!

2) Cooking Fever – The app that takes all of my money and I’ve learned to be okay with it.

3) NYT Games – I play Wordle, Connections, Letter Boxed, and Tiles on a daily basis through this app. It’s so much fun!

Three cute things my cats did recently

1) Eloise trying to chase her tail while she sat in a pile of garland.

2) I was sitting on the couch reading and I turned my head to the left to see Lila on her back, staring at me with one of her paws outstretched. She was impossibly adorable and I had to give her all of my love and attention!

3) Every time I walk into my bedroom and they’re sleeping on the bed together. They don’t snuggle with each other, but will sleep in their own spots and I find it so cute.

Three of the highest-rated books on my Goodreads TBR list

1) Just for the Summer by Abby Jimenez (4.78 stars on 77 ratings) – This book doesn’t come out until 2024 and there are a handful of 5-star ratings from people who have not read the book, but are confident they will give the book 5 stars. So annoying.

2) The Night Parade by Jami Nakamura Lin (4.75 stars on 53 ratings) – This book just came out a week ago, and Jamie Golden gave it a “green light” on The Popcast, so I’m intrigued! It’s a speculative memoir that sounds really intense, but incredible.

3) Dear White Peacemakers: Dismantling Racism with Grit and Grace by Osheta Moore (4.7 stars on 1,022 ratings) – This book was published two years ago and hasn’t gotten a whole lot of attention, but those who have read the book have loved it. This one isn’t available through Libby or through my library, so it’s one I would have to buy and I haven’t felt particularly inspired to do so.

Three goals I have for 2024

1) Get my nose pierced – This was a goal for the end of 2023, but I don’t think it will happen. That just means it’s a goal for 2024!

2) Go on a solo vacation – I’ve never been on a vacation alone! It’s not cheap to vacation solo (nobody to share the cost of the accommodations!), which is why I haven’t done so. But in 2024, I am going to make a point to take a solo weekend away.

3) Launch a new blog theme – Once my blog recategorization project is complete, I want to find a new blog theme (I use Etsy!) and spruce up this place a bit. I’ve earned it!

Three recent purchases

1) A set of 11×20 black picture frames. (Here’s what I did with them!)

2) A new litter mat for the girls. The one I have now just isn’t working as well as I thought it would, and it’s time for something new.

3) Mrs. Meyer’s hand soap in peppermint scent. Yay for holiday soaps!

Three TV shows I have no interest in watching

1) Sex and the City – I feel like this is the kind of show that you had to watch while it was live and doesn’t exactly hold up in today’s times. I know many people who loved this show, but I think I’m just fine not understanding which SATC character I am.

2) Orange is the New Black – Prison storylines are triggering for me, and a whole show about prison? Nope.

3) Girls – I’m not a Lena Dunham fan and I have no desire to see this TV show.

Three things on my to-do list

1) Fix my clock – Ugh. So, I took my big wall clock down so I could change the time to the correct one. And I guess I didn’t stick the clock back on the wall as firmly as I should have (it’s hung using Command strips), and the wall clock fell off my wall and a sliver of the top section broke off. I can fix it with some wood glue, I think, but ugh, I am so mad at myself!

2) Call maintenance – I need a bunch of things fixed in my apartment (my tub drain, some lighting fixtures, my toilet seat, etc), and I just keep putting off the call to maintenance. And now that I know that one of our maintenance guys is McDreamy-level hot, I’m going to have to make sure I’m looking my best whenever I do make that call. He won’t catch me unaware again!

3) Hang up my floating shelves – I bought a pack of drywall anchors that I can screw into the wall with just a screwdriver (h/t to Elisabeth for alerting me to these products!) so I think I can hang up these shelves myself. I want to give it a try, at least.

What’s a TV show you have no interest in watching?

Categories: Recurring Series

Week in the Life: Sunday, November 12th

MORNING | No alarm this morning, so today my bladder wakes me up at 8:30. I attempt to go back to bed after attending to it, but no dice. I get up, feed the girls, and then sit on the couch to read for a bit. Then, I take a shower, get dressed, start a load of laundry, and make myself coffee and a bowl of cereal for breakfast. It’s a little after 10 by the time I’m finishing up breakfast, so I wash out my bowl, brush my teeth, brush out my hair, and take care of a few tasks around the apartment. By 11:00, I’m out the door for the day. First, I stop at Publix to pick up a prescription and then I pick up my mom. We head to TJ Maxx to check out their Christmas decorations. I only buy TWO holiday signs, which is honestly impressive for me. (Will hold for applause.) Then, we’re off to Publix for grocery shopping! We always go to Publix on Sunday before football to get the supplies we need for the day. (I always get a Pub sub for lunch, and we make a dessert.) Lately, I’ve been doing my weekly grocery shopping during this trip. It’s crowded and busy at this time, so it can often make me shake my fist at humanity, but I get it done somehow.

AFTERNOON | My mom and I arrive home right around 12:40 and put away our groceries (I store my groceries in her fridge/freezer until I go home). Then, I sit on the couch for dog snuggles. Right around 1:00, my brother and older nephew arrive and I make such a rookie mistake when letting them in (keeping the door open too long) and Lucy and Chip take off running. They’ve been getting better about not escaping from the house, but today was not that day. Thankfully, they just ran around the yard for a bit and my mom was able to get them inside with the promise of treats. Hey, ya gotta do what ya gotta do! The rest of the afternoon is wonderfully low-key! I eat my sub and then settle into an armchair to watch the games. I read a bit of my book, scroll through Etsy and Amazon for Christmas gift ideas, chat with my family, eat some very good cookies, and enjoy copious dog snuggles. My team is not playing this week, so my stress level is at zero, which is a nice change! Instead, I cheer on my brother’s team (the 49ers) and watch some kinda blah games.

NIGHT | I hang out at my mom’s until 7:45 p.m., and then I take all of my groceries and head home. The girls are happy to see me (and to get dinner!). I unpack my groceries and then sit on the couch with my book and the Sunday Night Football game in the background. I munch on a bag of popcorn and I’m surprised that the game keeps my attention. Throughout the evening, I work on this post, fold laundry, read some blogs, do my skincare routine, brush my teeth, and tidy up the apartment. It’s only when I think I’m done with everything and can finally go to bed that I realize I forgot to scoop the litter boxes. Dang it! Even though I want to delay that task until the morning, I know I need to get it done tonight so I do so. Now it’s after midnight when I’m finally getting into bed and I’m going to be a sleepy girl tomorrow!

sunday in the life: 2022, 2020, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014

Be honest: How much do my late bedtimes make you cringe? What I have learned the most from documenting a week in my life is that I have to get into a better nighttime routine. Argh!