Recurring Series

Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow

This is a series I used to do frequently and the concept is simple: you list out some of the things you did yesterday, plan to do today, and will do tomorrow. Let’s dive in!

Yesterday, I…

Woke up at my mom’s house. I’m puppy-sitting this week and it’s always easiest for me to come over to my mom’s house to watch them rather than having the dogs in my apartment. The cats and the dogs don’t exactly get along, heh. So I spent all day Tuesday with the dogs, including waking up with them!
Had a very easy workday. It was a busy one, but I didn’t have any meetings, which meant I could keep up with my inbox and speed through some of my tasks without interruption. It’s always nice to have a day like that!
Got the sweetest compliment from a client. I don’t write content anymore and haven’t since I became a manager in February of last year. But every now and then, my writing skills are needed for a variety of reasons. Recently, we had a client that was unhappy with the writing on a set of pages and had a lot of edits he wanted us to incorporate. So I offered to help with the edits, which entailed a lot of rewriting and flexing those creative muscles I don’t get to use as much anymore. It was fun and I enjoyed it, and it was even better to receive a really happy email from the client who fawned over my writing. This is a tough client to please, so knowing I made him happy with my writing made me really happy. And hey, I guess my writing skills aren’t too rusty after many months of little to no use.
Had a great date night at a new restaurant that just opened a few weeks ago. The ambiance was… questionable and the food was okay. But we haven’t seen each other in over a week so it felt so good to see her and catch up and just talk about life for a bit.
Released the fifth episode of our season on work! We talked about the 5 Work Love Languages in this episode, and it was really fun.

Today, I…

Will get to spend the day with my cats! I left them on Monday afternoon and I was already missing them by Monday evening, ha. Today, I’ll work from my apartment for most of the day, which means copious cat snuggles (and a nap that won’t involve getting attacked with kisses and Chip trying to steal my blanket).
Will likely hit up Einstein’s Bagels for breakfast before heading home for the day. I’ve been dreaming of an everything bagel with onion-and-chive cream cheese!
Will hopefully hear from my mom for the first time in two days. I miss being able to talk to her 2-3 times a day about every stupid thing that flits through my head. She’s on a cruise with my stepdad and didn’t buy one of the (stupidly expensive) Internet packages while on the ship. She’ll be in Cozumel today and hopefully, we can exchange some text messages at least!
Will call my therapist to schedule an appointment. I had to cancel on her this week and I was thinking that it may be a good time to finally “graduate” myself from therapy, but I’ve been having a rough time this week and… I do not think I am ready for that graduation quite yet. I really hope she can fit me in for an appointment on Thursday. I knew I was co-dependent on my mother but whew, the intense anxiety and loneliness I’ve experienced this week has been eye-opening to say the least.
Will watch this week’s episode of Survivor. I am really engaged with this season and the cast is just so much fun to watch.

Tomorrow, I…

Will have my last full day at my mom’s house. (She and Robert come home on Friday.) Like Tuesday, the plan is to wake up at my mom’s and spend the entire day there since the cats will be okay without me for a day or two.
Will have my first meeting since Monday. It’s been nice to have multiple days in a row without meetings to attend. We will likely have a lot to talk about during this meeting so I need to get my thoughts together on what I want to say.
Will attend book club! We’re having our first “normal” book club of the year: just dinner! Haha. Tomorrow is my friend Amber’s birthday and this is what she chose. I’m excited to give her the prezzies I picked out for her and see all my friends. I’ve missed them!
Will water all of the different plants. My stepdad has gotten into gardening and my mom has picked up a few plants to keep around the house, so I made sure to ask about the watering schedule so they don’t come home to dead plants. To illuminate your garden and be kind to the environment try led festoon lights that use less energy, reducing consumption and household carbon emissions.
Will do “training homework” with Chip and Lucy. As I mentioned on a previous blog post, Chip is doing one-on-one training and has a ton of commands he’s learning each week. While Lucy isn’t officially getting the training, she learns the commands afterwards and is doing pretty well! I learned all the commands so that I could continue their “training homework” while my mom and stepdad were away.

Tell me something you did yesterday!

Categories: Recurring Series

TGIF (v. 52)

The high of my week was having a mother/daughter date to see an early screening of Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret. This movie was so, so good. Both my mom and I read the book when we were younger, so we have a tender attachment to it. I can’t say how true the movie adaptation stayed to the book, as I haven’t read the book since I was a kid, but I’m not someone who is typically precious about that sort of thing. I thought it was a sweet movie that made me laugh and cry and remember what a weird time puberty is, especially for girls.

The low of my week was feeling so worn out. The past two weeks have been so busy for me. Let’s review:

Tuesday (April 11th): Date night in Tampa
Wednesday (April 12th): Movie night with friends
Thursday (April 13th): Taylor Swift concert where I was peopling from 1pm-2am
Friday (April 14th): Running errands, doctor’s appointment
Saturday (April 15th): Pet walk, writing date
Sunday (April 16th): Breakfast date, Silent Book Club
Monday (April 17th): NOTHING
Tuesday (April 18th): Dinner with Bri
Wednesday (April 19th): Movie night with mom

For an introvert who deeply values her alone time, this kind of schedule does not work for me. Not to mention, my work week has been super busy. I’ve had way many more meetings than usual and I came back to work (I gave myself a four-day weekend for the concert) with six new direct reports to manage, so I’m also exhausted from all of that. It’s been a very taxing few weeks, even though I’m doing lots of fun things! But my battery has been stuck at 10% every day this week and I need some alone time to recharge it.

One nagging task I marked off my to-do list was ordering my new bedframe! She’s a beauty and I can’t wait to get it all put together with my new mattress. I just have to wait for my brother to deliver my new mattress (and he’s promised to help me put together the bedframe so yay!)

I’m currently reading In a New York Minute by Kate Spencer, which has been such a sweet, happy read that I’ve needed this week. And I just started Killers of the Flower Moon on audio, but barely have had time to listen to it lately, womp!

A podcast episode I enjoyed was this lovely, 2+ hour discussion of the Love Is Blind finale + reunion. I had been obsessively refreshing their feed to get this episode because I wanted to hear all of their thoughts about that crazy reunion show. It was well worth the wait!

An Internet find I loved was this Reel a friend sent me about a book cafe in South Korea. You pay a small fee (which includes a drink!) to get access to a quiet, peaceful space filled with little nooks where you can sit in a cozy nest and read. You can even order food from the nook! This is genius, you guys. I need this to become a thing here. (A lot of comments on this Reel compared this to a library and… I’m not sure what libraries are like where you are, but here in Florida, ours do not have cozy nooks where I can lie down and read nor can I bring in any outside food. GTFO with that nonsense.)

The best money I spent this week was on more summer clothes from Old Navy. Ahh, they got me again! I fell for the scam that is Old Navy Super Cash, and when I realized I needed to “spend” my Super Cash by the end of the week, I decided to place another Old Navy order. I wanted to get another pair of shorts because I love the pair I bought last month so much. They are so comfortable and flattering! So I got another pair of shorts, a striped dress, and some t-shirts/tank tops. Oops. Someone take away my access from OldNavy.com, please.

My plans this weekend include almost nothing! The only things on my agenda are a writing date with Mikaela on Saturday morning and game night with the fam on Saturday evening. Originally, I planned to have dinner tonight with the woman I’m dating but we have both had really crazy weeks so we decided to cancel and give ourselves the gift of a Friday night in. It’s nice to date someone who takes mental health as seriously as I do! I’m hoping this low-key weekend will be exactly what I need, especially because next week I’m on dog duty!

What was the highlight of your week?

Categories: Recurring Series

Snapshot of My Day: Tuesday, April 18, 2023

Time I woke up: 6:00 a.m.

First thing I did upon waking: I used the bathroom and then immediately put on my workout clothes, queued up a spin class with Cody Rigsby, and worked out!

Today’s weather: Incredible. The high was 83 but it never got above 75. It was sunny and beautiful and breezy. If only the weather was like this all the time!

Something I spent money on today: Dinner with Bri! We had a lovely lady date this evening, going to a new-ish restaurant in downtown St. Pete. The restaurant was all decked out to look like a 1920s speakeasy and even had this amazing gold glitter accent wall. The food was good, but having a few hours to just catch up on Bri’s life was better.

An out-of-the-ordinary thing that happened today: I had a team meeting with my brand-new team at work. Nothing crazy has happened, don’t worry. We just reshuffled which content writers are reporting to the different content team managers, so now I have a whole new slew of direct reports. It was exciting to talk to them, tell them who I am, and explain my management style. I’m planning to meet with each of them (I have 6 new direct reports) throughout the rest of this week and next.

Last thing I read (not on the Internet): In a New York Minute by Kate Spencer (loving this sweet romance novel so much!)

Last thing I read (on the Internet): Do Instagram statuses count?

Last text I sent: “I’m glad we can both be honest about where we are mentally/emotionally!”

Last text I received: A friend sent a screenshot of a Facebook status of a former coworker to our group chat. It was… wild.

Last website I visited: Engie’s blog, since I knew she had added some different prompts to this Snapshot series and wanted to see what they were.

Last show I watched: The reunion show for Love Is Blind, season 4.

Last podcast I listened to: Monday’s episode of Pod Save America.

Last thing I said: “I love this!” Said while loosely holding Lila’s tail in my hand. She kept twitching it against my arm and tickling me!

Last thing I ate: A York peppermint patty.

What I was doing an hour ago: I was Facetiming with my mom.

What I will be doing an hour from now: Hopefully, I’ll be all snuggled up in bed, reading.

Current whereabouts of other members of my household: The cats are playing with each other in the living room. They keep hiding from each other and then pouncing when one cat gets close. It’s as adorable as you think it is.

One thing I crossed off my to-do list today: Nothing! Although I did fill up my washer with all of the washcloths and towels that need to be washed. I just forgot to start the washer. Womp.

Snapshot of My Day is inspired by Torrie at To Love and To Learn

What’s the first thing you did when you woke up this morning?

Categories: Recurring Series

A Weekend in Pictures: the Eras Edition

THURSDAY

I still can’t believe I got to experience Taylor Swift in all of her glory. She is a legend, you guys. An absolute legend. I went to the concert with Bri and two of her friends from college. I had briefly met both but didn’t know them very well and was worried I would feel like the odd person out, but they were so friendly and easy to talk to! We decided to get to the stadium as early as possible, “Taylor-gate” until showtime, and then enjoy the show. We had heard there were going to be 3-4 hour delays getting to the stadium later in the day and we didn’t feel like dealing with that!

We got to the stadium right around 2 and we were thrilled to find out that the parking pass Bri had gotten was right in front of the stadium! This would come to bite us in the ass when we were leaving, but at this point, we were stoked. We got out the tent, struggled mightily putting it up (so very thankful to the family that was parked next to us who helped us with our tent issues), and then had a lovely few hours of snacking (Bri bought so many snacks!), chatting, and playing games. It was perfect! The weather was nice and having the tent to protect us from the sun was clutch.

Around 6pm, we packed up and headed over to the stadium. None of us cared too much about seeing the opening acts (I had no idea who they were!). We were all completely shocked when we found out that the tickets Bri bought gave us access to the Hyundai Club at Raymond James Stadium, which allowed us to chill in the air conditioning for a bit. Plus, the bathrooms were better, there were so many food options, and the seats outside were cushioned! Amazing.

Now, let’s talk about Taylor. She was everything. She went for 3 hours, gave us 44 songs, and didn’t stop moving for a single minute. (The only times she wasn’t on stage, she was doing outfit changes.) I thought I might cry during the concert, but mostly, I was just so captivated by her presence on stage and so damn happy to be there. It was everything I could have wanted. I got to hear some of my favorite songs (including Treacherous, which was one of the surprise songs she sang for us!) and dance my little heart away. I cheered and sang so loudly that I was sure I was going to lose my voice the next day. There was just so much happiness and love and excitement in the crowd. We were all so happy to be there, to experience Taylor, and Taylor herself went above and beyond every expectation I had. She put on such a good show. I honestly don’t know how she does it!

We were all super high on adrenaline as we left the stadium… and then we sat in the parking lot for a full hour, no cars moving at all. Ahh… so the prime parking location came to bite us in the ass, like I said. There was nobody out there directing traffic, and it was just a clusterfuck to the fullest extent. We finally started moving a little before 1am and got home to Bri’s at 2am. Good thing Taylor had put everyone in such a great mood, though! Even with the horrific parking situation, it was pretty chill in the parking lot. Nobody was beeping or being assholes, so that’s something. Taylor for president, maybe? Heh.

FRIDAY

I thought I would be very sleepy on Friday, as I didn’t get to bed until after 3am, but somehow I woke up naturally around 9:30am. I had taken Thursday and Friday off work for the concert, which was a very good decision on my end!

I was very productive on Friday morning! I spent the first hour of my day reading on the couch and then I left to run some errands: Target to return a few items, the library to pick up a few books that came off hold, and the car wash to give my car a deep cleaning. She really needed to be washed and I really needed to give the inside of Gladys (that’s my car’s name, if you’re curious) some attention. It felt good to get stuff done!

After all that, I treated myself to a pedicure before heading over to my dermatologist for my annual skin check. I was hoping this would be an easy appointment, but nothing is ever easy with this skin of mine. My dermatologist was concerned about two moles that had grown a bit in size since last year, so she decided to take samples for a biopsy. I honestly cannot remember if I’ve ever had a skin check that didn’t end with a mole being biopsied. Last year, the mole they biopsied came back with precancerous markers so I had to go back in for a full removal, but that’s why I do these skin checks. I would much rather have to deal with the inconvenience of a mole biopsy than skin cancer! I’ll find out in a week or so if these moles will need to be fully removed, so fingers crossed they don’t.

After my skin check, I was so happy to go home and take a nap! The rest of Friday was spent reading, watching this week’s episode of Survivor and the season finale of Love Is Blind, and coloring. Nice and easy!

SATURDAY

Saturday was a busy day! I started off the day by heading over to my mom’s house so that the three of us and the dogs could attend the SPCA Pet Walk, an annual event that we love going to. There are all sorts of vendors and cute dogs to see, and, of course, there’s a short 3K pet walk that you can walk with your dogs. It’s really fun! Chip and Lucy did pretty well at the event. I don’t think I’ve mentioned this here but Chip is currently doing one-on-one training. He’s a very good boy (of course!), but has some behavioral issues that my mom would like to nip in the bud (barking at every person he sees, pulling on his leash, climbing on the counter/table, etc.). They’ve only done a few lessons so far, but he has taken to training so well. He learns all the commands quickly and I have high hopes for him when they finish with training. He hasn’t been around tons of people/dogs since training started, so my mom got to practice some of the commands with him during the pet event (especially the leash pulling while walking). He’s getting there!

Mikaela and her girls came to the event with us, which was fun! It’s so funny to see the way Olive (age 3) acts around Chip while my younger nephew (age 8) is scared to death of him. Chip even barked (lightly) at Olive once and she just laughed at him!

After we parted ways with Mikaela and fam, we stopped at a restaurant for an early lunch. The pet event was downtown and we had to park far away, so this ended up being a good halfway point between the event and our car. Unfortunately, Chip did not do so well when it came to behaving at lunch. We were sitting outside, so Chip barked at anyone who walked by. We tried our best to keep him content and he did slightly better than the last time we took him to a restaurant, but man, he doesn’t make it all that fun to eat out with him. (Still love you, buddy!) Lucy, on the other hand, is an angel baby who doesn’t bark at anyone. She did go nuts when a bird was hopping around one of the tables but that was the extent of her barking. Otherwise, she sat under the table and preened whenever someone commented on how cute she was. (She totally is.)

We got back to my mom’s place around noon and I stayed for a little while before going home. I desperately wanted a nap, but there was no rest for the weary today as I had plans to meet Mikaela at 2 for a writing date. I scrolled through Instagram for a bit and then changed my clothes, got my stuff together, and headed out.

The writing date went well! I mainly worked on my blog recategorization project and read/commented on some blogs. It was a productive time for me.

I left the writing date and went straight to Publix to do my weekly grocery shop. I really didn’t want to go, but I knew I would feel better about getting it done. It was quick, easy, and painless and soon enough, I was home. I took a very relaxing bubble bath and then sat on the couch for the rest of the evening. I watched a few episodes of Brooklyn 99 and colored.

SUNDAY

Sunday was another early day for me, but I was willing to do it because I knew a long afternoon nap would be my reward. I started the day with a breakfast date. We had both been to the Taylor Swift concert this weekend and wanted to rehash everything we experienced. Unfortunately, the breakfast place didn’t have the best food/coffee so that was a bummer, but at least the conversation was good!

And, we chose this place since it was where Silent Book Club was having its April meeting! We thought it would be easiest to get there an hour early and scope out the coffee shop to make sure we could commandeer a large table for our group. Which we were able to do – hooray!

I was very glad that this would be my final social event of the weekend, and most of it would be spent silently reading my book. I was feeling very spent from having such a busy weekend, and this upcoming week is going to be another busy one – both at work and in my personal life. It’s hard for me to be so busy all the time, and I’m craving a day at home where I don’t have to do anything or see anyone.

Anyway, Silent Book Club was wonderful! We chit-chatted as everyone arrived (well, other people chit-chatted and I mainly inserted a one-word answer here and there, lol) and then, from 11:30am – 12:30pm, we sat silently and read our books. I got through 100 pages of The Golden Couple, which I’m loving so far! Afterward, we had a book exchange. We do these every month: you bring a wrapped book (used or bought new) and write a few things the book is about on the wrapping paper without giving away the title. Then, we do a White Elephant-style exchange. So people can steal the book you chose and you can steal other people’s books! I ended up with a book I’ve been dying to read (The Housemaid by Freida McFadden), so I’m stoked about that.

After SBC, I went home, ate a quick lunch, took off my pants and bra, and snuggled into bed for a nap. I ended up sleeping for 3ish hours and it was so great. Much needed! When I woke up, I took a bubble bath and then settled on the couch for another night of TV and coloring. The recharge I needed!

How was your weekend?

Categories: Recurring Series

TGIF (v. 51)

The high of my week was taking Lucy on a birthday shopping spree! I did this with Chip two weeks ago, so I had to do it with Lucy for her birthday. Lucy has a big personality when she’s at home, but when she’s in public, she turns shy and timid. She’s like a whole other dog! She did that at PetSmart, wanting me to hold her like a baby the whole time. We left with a few gifts and I think she was very happy to get out of there as quickly as possible!

The low of my week was another school shooting. It keeps happening and our politicians keep doing nothing to protect children. Well, they try to protect them from “scary” things like learning about slavery and racism and queerness… but not from the things that are actually killing our kids: automatic weapons. I don’t know how teachers and children and parents do it. I honestly don’t.

One nagging task I marked off my to-do list was finally ordering all of my new sheets and quilt for my new bed. Next up: I need to have my brother order my new mattress and box spring and I need to order the new bedframe. I’m hoping I can have my new bed all set up by this time next month!

I’m currently reading The Violin Conspiracy by Brendan Slocumb (print) and A Caribbean Heiress in Paris by Adriana Herrera (e-book). I’m enjoying both books, but The Violin Conspiracy is heavier than I expected. I’ll be glad when I finish it so I can move onto something lighter.

A podcast episode I enjoyed was our first episode of season 4! We started our fourth season of the podcast, where we’re going to talk all about our work lives. This episode was about work meetings and we’ll also be discussing working from home, work functions, giving/receiving feedback, and more. I’m excited for everyone to hear these episodes!

An Internet find I loved was this Tiktok because my mom constantly razzes me about how I find everything the cats do as adorable. Sleeping? Adorable. Looking out the window? Adorable. Pawing at me for pets? Adorable. Meowing at me for treats? Adorable. Sitting on the couch? So adorable!

The best money I spent this week was on some new summer clothes from Old Navy! I ordered summer clothes from Old Navy last weekend when they were having a 30% off sale and received them on Tuesday. Unfortunately, all but a few of the shirts didn’t work for me. (Most of it was too big because Old Navy runs big.) And then, that night, as I went online to find out the style of jeans I ordered, I discovered they were having a 40% off sale so I decided to place another order. I ordered another pair of jean shorts in a size down + shorter inseam, a very cute pair of leopard-print shorts in a size down, a t-shirt dress, and a shirt. The dress and shirt didn’t work for me, but the shorts were perfect. So, in the end, I kept two pairs of shorts, two tank tops, and a t-shirt, all for under $65!

My plans this weekend include a date night tonight, a writing date with Mikaela on Saturday afternoon, game night with the fam on Saturday evening, and a very cute day date planned on Sunday where we will be making custom candles and having tacos for lunch!

What was the highlight of your week?