Recurring Series

TGIF (v. 46)

The high of my week was our belated November book club meeting. I got to pick the restaurant, so I chose my favorite local pizza place, and we had a fabulous time chit-chatting, talking about the book (The People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry – one other person didn’t care for it, so at least I wasn’t in the total minority!), and going over some changes we want to make to our book club meetings in 2023. I also got showered with gifts, which was super fun!

The low of my week was the news that Stephen “tWitch” Boss died by suicide this week. I have never been more shocked, more saddened, more distraught over a celebrity dying. I’ve never cried when a celebrity died, but I have shed many tears this week over him. It just doesn’t feel real. It feels like I’m living in this alternate reality. He was such a light, such a joy, such a hopeful, positive person. I am still trying to wrap my head around the fact that he is truly gone from this world. My heart breaks for his wife who lost the love of her life and his three children who lost their father just days before Christmas. My heart breaks for tWitch and the immense pain he must have been in to see no other way out. We truly never know what other people are going through. I hope he’s at peace now.

An Internet find/blog post I loved was this really powerful video from B Mo the Prince. I cried for 5 straight minutes after I watched it.

One nagging task I marked off my to-do list this week was cleaning out my robot vacuum. I usually dump out the dustbin after each vacuuming job, but I’m really bad about taking out the rollers and cleaning them out. So bad that when I removed all the hair from one of my rollers, I could have easily made a toupee for my stepdad. Eeks! There’s no way my vacuum was cleaning effectively! (In fact, I know it wasn’t because my dirt event count for my last cleaning job was 6 and today, it was 181. LOLZ.)

I’m currently reading Three Nights with a Scoundrel by Tessa Dare (historical romance, nearly finished!), The Queen of Hearts by Kimmery Martin (contemporary fiction, the light-hearted book that I need right now), and The Summer Before the War by Helen Simonson (audiobook).

A podcast episode I enjoyed was True Crime: The Phantom of Heilbronn on Stuff You Should Know. You guysssss. This episode was amazing. I literally gasped when everything was revealed. It was so unexpected! I need everyone to listen to this episode. I’m not even going to tell you a single thing about it. I just want you to listen to it and report back what you thought.

The best money I spent this week was $5 on a peppermint mocha that I drank while strolling around Target on Tuesday. Such a simple joy!

My plans this weekend include lots of fun Christmassy stuff! Tonight, I’m going to Bri’s to record a few podcast episodes. Tomorrow, I have a writing date with Mikaela, pictures with Santa Paws with the dogs, and the annual visit to Robert’s Christmas Wonderland (a wonderful little Christmassy shop!) with my mom. Sunday is football and we’re going to do our annual Christmas cookie decorating night! A fun, full, happy weekend, and my heart needs it.

What’s the best money you spent this week?

Categories: Recurring Series

Everyday Moments | November 2022

1 – The first day of NaBloPoMo! I am so excited to get things going with this fun blogging challenge.

2 – Waking up from a midday nap to see that Lila had snuggled up on the couch near me.

3 – Finding out that the cruise excursion I really wanted to do was no longer sold out on the Royal Caribbean site. Yay! Booked that sucker right away. (This was the Jamaica excursion that ended up being my favorite one of the trip!)

4 – Finally getting my hair re-highlighted and cut. I had gone a little longer than I wanted to for the highlights and things were getting dire. Since I want to grow out my hair a bit (probably just to my shoulders), I had my stylist cut my hair to one length and give me some curtain bangs.

5 – Watching too many episodes of Love is Blind after a long, busy day. It felt good to turn my brain off!

6 – Making my fave oatmeal chocolate chip cookies during football.

7 – Starting Week in the Life on the blog. It’s so fun documenting a full week in my admittedly mundane life. 🙂

8 – Having dinner with Rachel, Mia, and my mom.

9 – Going over to Mikaela’s for dinner and to give Olive her birthday presents. I honestly didn’t expect Olive to be so excited to see me, but she was just a doll.

10 – A dreary day where I could stay inside and be cozy. I love working from home so much, and especially so when it’s rainy outside and I don’t have to go anywhere!

11 – An easy workday followed by a lovely long nap and a nice walk outside.

12 – Running of the Wieners! This is one of my favorite events to attend and it was made even more exciting this year as Chip placed 2nd overall! What an exciting achievement!

13 – Putting up Christmas decorations while watching Sunday Night Football. It’s getting cheery in here!

14 – More episodes of Love is Blind. Why do I love this show so much? It’s so messy.

15 – A super helpful therapy appointment where we dug into a big anxiety trigger I experience.

16 – Ordering Ubereats on a day when I had meetings from 11:30-4. I was able to shovel in some food during a 15-minute break between meetings!

17 – A really fun meeting with my team of writers. I had us play a Thanksgiving-themed “Never Have I Ever”!

18 – Olive had surgery today to get her chemo port removed. A super exciting milestone in her cancer journey!

19 – A full day of shopping with Mom and then recording a podcast episode with Bri. A day that made my heart really, really happy.

20 – A rainy Sunday spent inside watching football and being with my fam. Heart eyes.

21 – Ordering grocery delivery on a day I just felt like being lazy and staying in.

22 – My last day of work for 12 days! I even got all of my pressing to-dos wrapped up early, which never seems to happen the day before a long work break.

23 – Sleeping in, shopping for my mug swap partner, and making cookies to take over to my mom’s for Thanksgiving

24 – A wonderful Thanksgiving dinner made by Robert, my stepdad.

25 – Running errands with my mom and then coming home and taking a long nap.

26 – A slow day at home to pack and clean my apartment.

27 – Embarkation day! A smooth drive to the port (2 hours) and a super easy embarkation process.

28 – My birthday! While the hot air balloon ride was fun, I think the best part of the day was sipping fruity cocktails in the gorgeous pool in the Bahamas.

29 – Sleeping in and having a very lazy day at sea.

30 – A super fun excursion in Jamaica where I jumped into a waterfall and tubed down a gorgeous river.

Categories: Recurring Series

Five for Friday (v. 88)

1) Misc Cruise Tidbits

There was a baby born on our cruise! While you aren’t allowed to cruise if you are past your 22nd week of pregnancy, a woman who was just over 5 months pregnant (so probably right around the cutoff mark) gave birth to a baby on Tuesday, November 29, and then was transferred to the hospital when we reached Jamaica the next day. The baby was just over 2 lbs when born, but everything appears to be fine. They kept the baby’s body temperature stable by wrapping him in Saran wrap (from the kitchen!) and used their normal medical equipment to keep his airways clear. Isn’t that just crazy? Apparently, mom and baby are doing well still!
When Mom and I were in Haiti, we were sitting on a bench and this couple walked over to the trash can near us to throw something away. There was a lizard on the trash can and the couple was just MARVELING at this lizard. Living in Florida, lizards are very commonplace and not something to even point out. They pointed the lizard out to us and we were like, “Yesss?” And that’s when they said they were from Canada and don’t usually see lizards hanging out on trash cans where they live. Haha… after getting that context, this little story just warmed my heart and made me think about all my Canadian bloggy friends.
It’s always hit-or-miss if our cabin is going to be set up with two single beds or one big bed together. Obviously, we prefer to have single beds but it’s not a huge deal if we have to sleep in the same bed. This time around, it was one big bed and I’m happy to report that my earplugs still worked great even though my mom was snoring right next to me! Sometimes I could hear her, but the sound was muffled and not too distracting.

2) Christmas Delivery

I was so excited to get my mail this week and find a package from my beloved Kim! Kim is beyond generous and so thoughtful when gift-giving (like most enneagram 2s I know!) I was particularly charmed by the set of keychains, one for Ellie and one for Lila, and the cute rock she painted for me. I now have a nice little collection of Christmas rocks from Kim, and I’m determined to find a fun way to display them with my other holiday decor! And, of course, Kim added a fun toy for the girls to play with. Ellie immediately started batting it around the apartment once I gave it to her. They go nuts for those catnip toys, I tell ya!

3) San’s Secret Santa Mug Swap

A second piece of exciting mail this week was getting my gift from San’s Secret Santa Mug Swap. This was the first year I participated, and I do not think it will be my last. It was so much fun to get a sweet gift in the mail from a dear blog friend. Anne fully outdid all of my expectations: I literally gasped when I saw the mug she sent me. Is it not the most perfect mug ever?!

She also gave me a delicious sample of coffee (called “chocolate nirvana”) that I can’t wait to brew, the cutest little gnome ornament to hang on my tree, and some presents for the girls. The little squid has already gotten batted around the apartment a bunch, so I know that will be a much-loved toy for them.

I’m so glad I participated in the mug swap this year!

4) Christmas Shopping

On the drive home from the cruise port on Saturday, I saw a billboard that proclaimed there were only 22 days until Christmas. 22 days? I hadn’t even started Christmas shopping yet! OY VEY. Thankfully, I don’t have too many people to buy for. We don’t do gifts with our extended family so I only buy for my mom, my brother, my SIL, my two nephews, my stepdad, and a few friends.

This year, I got my family to use an app called Giftster. Usually, we just text each other our lists (like, texting one link at a time) and it’s very inconvenient. With Giftster, you just add your ideas/links to items to a list and people can shop right through the app. Then, when they buy something off the list, they mark it as “purchased” so that other people who have access to the list know it’s been bought. Genius, right? I’ve been really happy with it and it’s made Christmas shopping so much easier this year.

By the end of the weekend, I had finished shopping for my brother, my SIL, and my older nephew. On Monday, I did about 90% of the shopping I needed to do for my mom. Yesterday, I finished shopping for a friend. I still need to get something for my stepdad, my younger nephew, and another friend, but I should be able to get that done this weekend. So I’m very nearly done, whew! I’m feeling good about where I’m at, and it’s been fun to start getting packages delivered. I can’t wait to sit down and wrap all of the gifts soon!

5) Weekend Plans

It’s going to be a busy, busy weekend over here. But that’s just how it seems to go in December, isn’t it? Today, I have a day to myself and I’m hoping to get over to the library to pick up a book and to Target to pick out a few lingering Christmas presents. I may also pop over to Homegoods to check out their selection of 2023 planners. Saturday, I have a writing date with Mikaela and Eleni at 9:30am (I haven’t seen them in weeks!) and then I’m meeting up with some coworkers to have lunch and decorate gingerbread houses. In the evening, my friend Amber is taking me out to dinner to celebrate my birthday. Sunday, thankfully, should be a low-key day where I will watch football with the fam. My brother requested I make peanut butter blossoms for our get-together, and I am more than happy to oblige.

How’s your Christmas shopping going? What’s something fun you’re doing this weekend?

Categories: Recurring Series

Currently in November

Feeling… excited for the holiday season to really kick into gear. I’m looking forward to buying presents, wrapping presents, and making my family members happy. I can’t wait for more peppermint mochas, cooler weather (PLEASE, FLORIDA?!), and holiday movies. I’m ready for the annual visit to Robert’s Christmas Wonderland, a dazzling Christmas store filled with holiday delight. I want to drive around looking at Christmas lights and enjoy a little post-Christmas shindig with my book club girls. The holiday season is when I come alive.

Watching… lots of Netflix reality shows. I watched the new seasons of Nailed It, The Floor Is Lava, and Love Is Blind this month and loved them all. Nailed It gave me lots of laughs, TFIL was just silly and the kind of distraction I needed, and, of course, LIB is the ultimate in messiness. I love that show, even though it makes me cringe!

Listening to… If Books Could Kill. When the host of one of my favorite podcasts, Maintenance Phase, said he was starting a new podcast where he and a co-host dissect and criticize popular books, I was down. Plus, his co-host is Peter Shamshiri who I’ve recently gotten to know and love from Peter’s other podcast, 5-4. (His voice is like butter.) This podcast has been a huge bright spot in my life lately. So far, they’ve talked about Freakonomics (a book I loved, but am now horrified when I realize how terrible the book is), Outliers, and Bobos in Paradise. The podcast is hilarious, filled with research, and just fun to listen to.

Grateful… for so many things, but I am mostly grateful for my family. I am grateful to my stepdad for cooking us a delicious Thanksgiving dinner. I am grateful for my mom and the close bond we have. I am grateful for all of my pets and the love they lavish on me. I’m grateful for my brother and the love and support he always provides. And I’m grateful for my nephews and the privilege of seeing them grow older.

Anticipating… putting up my Christmas tree when I get home from my cruise. It’s been so nice to have a little slice of that Christmassy feeling with my decorations but I am so ready to get out my tree and enjoy the glow of the tree lights at night. I can’t wait to add all of my ornaments, put up more lights around my apartment, and really dive into Stephany’s Christmas Wonderland!

Loathing… nighttime anxiety. I thought switching my anxiety meds from morning to nighttime would help with the rising panic I start to get when the sun goes down, but it hasn’t had the dramatic effect I had hoped. (It’s been a few months.) It’s something I want to talk more about with my therapist to find some different coping skills, but I may also look into some CBD gummies and try the free d9 gummies if this will be effective for me. Anything to help me feel better at night!

Experimenting… with guided meditations as I go to sleep. Usually, I turn on ASMR videos on Youtube to help me fall asleep, but one night when I was having some pretty rough anxiety, I decided to search for “guided meditations for anxiety” on Youtube and found a lot of great options. I’m a newbie when it comes to meditation, but I am hoping that by allowing myself 10-15 minutes of slow breathing and listening to someone else guide my thoughts, I will find it easier to fall asleep at night.

Thinking about… doing Project 365 in 2023. Project 365 is a photo project where you take one photo a day for the entire year. I’ve done it twice already and both times, I would post the photo to Instagram every day with a caption. It’s a lot of work, especially on those days when nothing special happens, but I also love looking back on the photos and challenging myself to take a photo of the big and small moments of every day. I’m still debating if I’m going to do it.

Buying… fun gifts for San’s Secret Santa Mug Swap. This is the first year I’ve participated, despite knowing about it since its inception! But I get very overwhelmed about mailing packages so I just decided not to participate. But the peer pressure got to me this year, so I signed up and had a delightful time shopping for my partner. I mailed out my package on Friday and I’m excited for my partner to get their goodies!

Loving… peppermint mocha season, painting my nails, Snickers Christmas trees, when Lila shows me her belly, curling up on the couch with a good book, time off work, NaBloPoMo 2022, the ability to cruise again, the way Ellie meows at me and then runs to my room when she wants me to sit on the floor and pet her, Christmas decorations, and pine-scented candles.

How are you currently feeling?

Categories: Recurring Series

Three Things Thursday (v. 9)

Three confessions

1) I really enjoyed doing my Week in the Life series this year and I’m happy that the rest of you guys liked reading about my mundane little life. It’s really fun to read back on my posts from other years because my life has changed so much!

2) When it comes to dating apps, my toxic trait is connecting with someone, sending a message, getting a message back, and then completely forgetting to respond for days and days. Something I need to explore in therapy, probably.

3) I bought a standing desk so I could have the opportunity to stand throughout my day. Sitting all day isn’t good for anyone! Do you know how many times I use the standing part of my desk? Barely ever. Maybe I need to set myself a schedule? Like, I must use the standing portion every day at 9AM, 1PM, and 4PM for however long I want to. I dunno.

Three apps I recently downloaded

1) Mixtiles – Mixtiles is a company that makes 8×8 canvas prints of your photos that can be easily stuck (and unstuck!) on your walls. I have a whole photo wall in my living room with Mixtiles and I have some empty spaces that need to be filled out. I re-downloaded the app over the weekend so I could find out what sorts of sales they’re running now (they often have amazing sales – like buy 12 prints, get 12 free.)

2) Cooking Fever – Cooking Fever is an app game that I was obsessed with earlier this year. But then I found myself spending too much money on in-app purchases (since it seems to be the only way to move forward through the levels, ugh), so I deleted the app. But I missed playing the game, so I redownloaded the app and have set myself a budget for in-app purchases.

3) Etsy – I haven’t used my Etsy app since I got my new phone a few months ago, so I had to re-download it in order to start doing some Christmas shopping. If you’re seeking a seamless app experience, collaborating with an ios app developer could be a wise consideration.

Three of the lowest-rated books on my Goodreads TBR

1) Imposter Syndrome by Kathy Wang (3.29 stars)

2) A Lady’s Guide to Mischief and Mayhem by Manda Collins (3.44 stars)

3) The Verifiers by Jane Pek (3.51 stars)

Three things I’m looking forward to on my cruise

1) Stepping on the ship for the very first time – Is there anything more exciting than those first few moments on the ship? I think not! It’s a little overwhelming, for sure, but all I need is a fruity cocktail in my hand and I’m good.

2) Not having to make any decisions about where to eat for a whole week – I know so many people love this part of a vacation: deciding what restaurants to hit up each day. For me, as someone who is a picky eater and not much of a foodie, it’s just stressful and not fun. That’s what I love about cruises: I don’t have to make these decisions! I just show up at the dining room and choose my meal from a pared-down list.

3) Spending my birthday in another country – I always have high expectations of my birthday, and spending it on Royal Caribbean’s private island doing a hot air balloon ride? That’s going to exceed all my expectations! (Hopefully.)

Three goals for 2023

1) Move to a two-bedroom apartment – It’s tiiiime for me to have a bigger place where I can have a separate room to use as an office. I’m so excited to make this goal happen in 2023!

2) Have $3,000 saved in an emergency fund – The general consensus is that you should have a six-month emergency fund saved up at all times. For me, that would be about $12,000 on the low end. And while I have an emergency fund, it is sure as shit not at $12,000. But it’s time to work on that, so that’s going to be one of my goals for 2023.

3) Buy a new mattress and bedframe – I have over $1,000 saved for a new mattress, but a good mattress typically runs over $1,500. So I have a little more I need to save up and then I also want to replace my bedframe because my current one is a little worn down.

Three things I’m doing this weekend

1) Getting a pedicure – It’s time for my pre-cruise pedicure! Gotta get those toes lookin’ pretty for the ship. 🙂

2) Recording a few episodes of the podcast – We released our final episode of season 2 this week and will be taking the holidays off. But we’re going to start working on season 3 over the next month and a half so we’re ready to release our third season in early January!

3) Shopping for Thanksgiving – We’re not doing a big family Thanksgiving this year for a variety of reasons, so instead, Mom and Robert will be hosting me and my brother and his family at her house. I’ll be helping with the meal and will accompany Mom on her trip to Publix this weekend to buy what she needs.

Three TV shows I recommend

1) Brooklyn 99 – I think Brooklyn 99 might be my favorite comedy series of all-time. I mean, I love The Office but my latest rewatch of the series has shown me how poorly that show has aged. And maybe I will find that Brooklyn 99 ages poorly in another decade or so, but it’s my go-to comedy recommendation.

2) The Baby-Sitter’s Club – Oh, you guys. I am so sad that Netflix canceled this delightful series. It was everything I wanted. The actresses were perfectly cast, the episodes were heartfelt, and I just wish we could have more seasons.

3) Revenge – If you’re looking for a soap opera-like thriller TV show, Revenge has everything you need. There are rich people behaving badly, a girl-next-door with a crazy secret, and lots and lots of hooking up. I would love to rewatch this show someday.

Three things in my Amazon cart

1) A new mouse pad ($9) – My current mouse pad has served me well, but is getting a little dingy. It’s time for an upgrade and this flowery one looks perfect.

2) A new insulated water bottle ($25) – I love Camelbak’s insulated stainless steel water bottles, but I only have one. It can keep my water cold for more than a day, which is quite a feat in my opinion. But why do I only have one? If I had a second one that I could keep at my desk, I think it would improve how much water I drink exponentially.

3) A pack of headbands ($17) – This feels very pricey for a set of headbands, but there are eight headbands in the pack and this brand comes highly rated. Plus, free returns if I hate the way the headbands look on me.

Three things not on my bucket list

1) Getting married – I’m not saying I never want to get married. I’m open to it happening. But it’s not something I’m striving for anymore. There are way more interesting goals to reach than that! If you’re planning to get married, you should consider meeting with attorneys like Fedor Kozlov to help you draft a pre-nuptial agreement.

2) Writing a novel – I always thought I’d be a world-famous novelist when I grew up. But it’s one of those goals that I’m not longer working towards. Maybe one day, well into the future, but it’s not a goal that affects my day-to-day life anymore.

3) Retiring early – It’s just not in the cards for me! And that’s okay.

Three things that made me happy this week

1) Getting tickets to Taylor Swift (!!!) – Bri was the kind soul who braved the Ticketmaster site to get a group of us tickets to see Taylor when she comes to Tampa in April. I am so glad I didn’t have to wade through the mess. It was nerve-wracking at first because she kept getting kicked off and her code stopped working at one point, but she got back in and got us tickets. I am so pumped!

2) Lila snuggles in the morning – Tuesday morning, I laid in bed for probably 20 minutes after my alarm went off, snuggling Lila and petting her soft fluffy fur. It’s the only time she’ll snuggle with me, and I take full advantage.

3) Cooler weather – We’re getting a “cold front” this week. (In Florida-speak, that means we’ll get lows in the 50s for a few days.) I am so looking forward to enjoying some cooler temps because it’s still godawful hot outside and I am over it.

What’s a TV show you recommend? What’s something that made you happy this week?