Recurring Series

TGIF (v. 38)

The high of my week was having dinner with Mikaela and Olive on Wednesday night (aka, Olive’s birthday!) We went to a Mexican restaurant and they sang happy birthday to her with maracas. It was really cute! And just special to have this time with Olive on her birthday. I haven’t gotten to spend much time with Olive, since she was quarantined pretty heavily during her cancer treatment, and I’m glad I can finally actually get to know this special girl!

The low of my week was finding out the antibiotic cream my doctor wants me to use for the rash under my nose will cost me $107! Ack. Thankfully, I have an HSA, so I won’t feel the hit to my wallet, but dang. I hate being on a high-deductible plan for my health insurance, but I really love having an HSA. Except I’m not really saving much since I’m spending so much on copays at the doctor’s office. Meh.

A funny Tik-Tok I saw this week was this hilarious “if libraries were like delis” skit. Ahh, Internet people can be the greatest sometimes.

A podcast episode I enjoyed was Strange Bedfellows’ episode on “A Scot in the Dark” by Sarah MacLean, mostly because they had Tanner’s wife, Jaime, on and I always love the way the dynamic changes when she joins the podcast! It was such a fun listen.

I’m currently reading four different books, again. I’m still slowly making my way through Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation by Kristin Kobes du Mez. It’s good but hasn’t been life-changing for me so far. I’m also reading Disability Visibility: First-Person Stories from the Twenty-First Century, which I am finding so valuable. There is so much about disability rights that I don’t even think about, like deaf people in prison not having an interpreter. (That seems like such a human rights violation!) I just started A Gentleman Never Keeps Score, a queer romance by Cat Sebastian. And, finally, I’m still making my way through A Better Man by Louise Penny (just two hours left to listen to!)

The best money I spent was $100 on Christmas presents! Woohoo—finally got my Christmas shopping started. I don’t buy Christmas presents for a ton of people (my extended family doesn’t exchange gifts, and that is such a blessing, lol), just my mom, my brother, my sister-in-law, my nephews, my stepdad, and some friends. It feels good to get it started, though!

My plans this weekend include dinner and/or a reading date with a friend tonight. Tomorrow, I have a writing date with Mikaela and then in the late afternoon, it’s time for one of my most-anticipated events of the year: RUNNING OF THE WIENERS! AHHHHH! They didn’t have this event last year for obvious reasons, and I can’t wait to see how Chip and Lucy do in their races. Mostly, though, I’m excited to be surrounded by dachshunds for a few hours tomorrow. MY FAVE. And Sunday will be a low-key day of watching football with the fam!

What was the high of your week?

Categories: Recurring Series

Three Things Thursday (v. 6)

Three Things Thursday is one of my semi-regular posts where I choose 10 different categories and write down three things that apply to each of them. Feel free to steal the prompts to do them on your own blog—or choose your own categories to write about! 🙂

Three confessions

1) I feel very guilty about the lack of time I spend playing with the cats, especially because they get so excited when I bring out a teaser wand. They get lots of pets and snuggles and attention, but I really need to devote time every day to playtime.

2) If I’m going to rate M&M flavors, here they are: 1) Peanut, 2) Crispy, 3) Plain, 4) Pretzel, 5) Dark Chocolate, 6) Peanut Butter. (And I know there are more flavors, but those are just the ones I’ve tried.) I know people are fanatic about peanut butter M&M’s but I just don’t like them. I bought one of those “classic mix” bags of M&M’s that has plain, peanut, and peanut butter M&M’s and I threw out all of the peanut butter ones. BLASPHEMY, I KNOW.

3) My all-time favorite movie is Tommy Boy. I haven’t watched it in a while, but my brother and I quote it to each other constantly, even to this day. It’s such a classic comedy!

Three cars on my wishlist

1) Kia Soul – The car is just so cute! And it gets good reviews. I want it!

2) Hyundai Tucson – This car just gives me so many heart eyes when I see it on the road.

3) Mazda CX-5 – As you all know, I test-drove this car last weekend and I fell completely in love with it. It was a fun car to drive.

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

1) Maintenance Phase – For a while, I was listening to You’re Wrong About but I stopped listening because one of the hosts drove me crazy. However, the other host (whom I loved!) also hosts this podcast, which is all about the wellness industry, so I have it on my list to give it a listen soon.

2) Mall Talk – A podcast that reminisces about malls and all the different stores in the mall? I’m here for it!

3) 9/12 – It’s hard for me to consume media about 9/11 because it’s too emotionally devastating for me. But this podcast takes a spin on the traditional 9/11 media, discussing some of the ways regular people adjusted to our newly altered reality. I think I can handle this podcast!

Three things I’m looking forward to

1) My birthday and “Day of Stephany” – I turn 34 at the end of the month, which is MIND-BOGGLING to me. How am I in my mid-thirties already? Ahh! Since my birthday falls on a Sunday, I’ve decided to do my “Day of Stephany” the following day. For those who are new here, “Day of Stephany” is how I celebrate my birthday each year! I spend a full day pampering myself. I get a massage and a pedicure. I get my birthday Starbucks drink (usually a peppermint mocha!) and spend an hour reading at Starbucks. I take a nap. And I finish off with dinner with my family! It’s my favorite tradition.

2) Decorating my apartment for Christmas – I’m waiting for Thanksgiving week to decorate for Christmas, but I truly cannot wait to transform my apartment into “Stephany’s Christmas Wonderland” again. I go all out for Christmas and it makes me so happy to see my apartment all dressed up for the holiday season.

3) Two weeks off in November and December – I am seriously looking forward to some time off over the next two months. While I’m not traveling anywhere, I’m looking forward to sleeping in, reading lots of books, and watching lots of holiday movies. Yay!

Three favorite Christmas movies

1) Elf – I try to watch this movie every Christmas Eve!

2) The Santa Clause – We watched this movie every year when I was growing up and I have such a sentimental love for it!

3) National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation – Is there a more quotable Christmas movie? I just adore this one!

Three TV shows I’m watching now:

1) Survivor – I’ve never watched a single season of Survivor, but I decided to start this year just to see what all the fuss is about. Well, I am loving it! I may need to go back and watch some of the other seasons!

2) The Bachelorette – I only watch The Bachelorette so I can listen to recaps from The Popcast. I’m enjoying Michelle’s season!

3) Brooklyn 99 – I’m halfway through season 4 of my rewatch and this show makes me oh so very happy.

Three books I just added to my Goodreads TBR:

1) The Journey Toward Wholeness: Enneagram Wisdom for Stress, Balance, and Transformation by Suzanne Stabile – I couldn’t add this book to my Goodreads TBR list fast enough when Jamie from The Popcast recommended it. She loved it and I have a feeling I will, too.

2) Tokyo Dreaming by Emiko Jean – After finishing Tokyo Ever After, I was so excited to learn there was a second book in the series releasing in 2022. Added to my list!

3) All the Lonely People by Mike Gayle – On a recent episode of Currently Reading, Kaytee raved about this book (it even put her in a book slump!) and compared it to A Man Called Ove.

Three of my most-used apps yesterday

1) Overcast (1 hour, 15 minutes)

2) Happy Color (1 hour, 3 minutes)

3) Instagram (36 minutes)

Three things I say to my cats all the time:

1) “Do you need some mama love?” – “Mama love” is when I sit on the floor of my bedroom and let Eloise rub herself all over my legs. She also uses this time to practice her tumbling, hehe. (Her previous owner called her “Flip-Flop” for a time because she loves doing flips!) Whenever Ellie sees me walking around, she will meow loudly at me and then run over to the bedroom, as if to say, “Mama love time!” It’s so cute.

2) “Lila! You’re back! We missed you!” – Lila usually sleeps under the couch for hours at a time, so whenever she emerges, I usually get so excited and say this because I missed that little floof.

3) “Oh, you guys think it’s time for yum-yums, don’t you?” – “Yum-yums” are what we call treats. Usually, I’ll find them staring at me pretty hard while I’m working and the minute I stand up from my desk, they run over to the dining room table, which is where I give them their treats. Silly ladies!

Three things that are not on my bucket list:

1) Skydiving – Nope, not for me. There are some risks I am willing to take for the thrill of it, but jumping out of an airplane is not one of them.

2) Running a marathon – Listen, I tried for many years to like running and it’s just not for me. Running a marathon is definitely not on my bucket list!

3) Ringing in the new year at Times Square – While it looks magical on TV, I know the reality is anything but. I’ll enjoy my New Year’s Eve at home where I can go to bed soon after the ball drops (if I even make it to midnight!)

What’s one thing you’re looking forward to? And tell me your favorite Christmas movie!

Categories: Recurring Series

Snapshot of My Day | November 9, 2021

Hey, friends! Let’s take a snapshot of yesterday, shall we? As a reminder, this post idea comes from Torrie at To Love and to Learn. It’s a fun way to take a quick look at a day in my life. 🙂

Time I woke up: 6:00 a.m. (Well, full disclosure, my alarm went off at 6 a.m., but I snoozed it until 6:30, ha. The cats were being snuggly and I just didn’t want to get up!)

First thing I did upon waking: A Peloton workout! I queued up a 30-minute spin class with Cody Rigsby, and if that’s not the best way to start a day, I don’t know what is.

Today’s weather: It started off in the low 60s and then warmed up to the upper 70s. Sunny and gorgeous all day long! Florida will be going through a bit of a warm-up over the next few days (highs in the upper 70s) but then should get cool again over the weekend, yay!

An out-of-the-ordinary thing that happened today: Probably all of the meetings I had today! I had five meetings in total, which is very unusual for me. Typically, I’ll have 1-2 per day but I was popping in and out of Zoom chats all day long.

Last thing I read (not on the Internet): Disability Visibility, which I just started last night.

Last thing I read (on the Internet): A Reddit forum devoted to discussing Crooked Media podcasts. I just finished listening to Saturday’s Lovett or Leave It episode and had some strong opinions about one segment and wanted to see if others felt the same way.

Last website I visited: My own blog to find the prompts for this post! Hehe.

Last show I watched: Brooklyn 99 (are you surprised?)

Last thing I said: “Aww, look at those sisters. You two just love each other!” (I was folding laundry and saw Lila grooming Eloise on the head. It was adorable.)

Last thing I ate: An ice cream bar.

What I was doing an hour ago: Editing and uploading the pictures I wanted to include in this blog post

What I will be doing an hour from now: I’ll be cozied up in bed with my book! Yay!

Current whereabouts of other members of my household: Lila is currently sitting next to me rubbing her face against my laptop screen while Eloise is eating a late dinner. 🙂

One thing I crossed off my to-do list today: Work-wise, I needed to re-post a bunch of website pages because the content I published last month somehow disappeared (annoying) and I got that done during one of my (many!) meetings. Personal-wise, I wanted to do a load of laundry (mainly, all the towels that I used to dry my kitchen floor when my washer flooded). And yes, I can use my washer again! Maintenance came by on Monday morning and apparently, one of the hoses in the washer got dislodged. So, no new washer/dryer for me (ha), but I’m glad it’s usable again.

What was your weather like yesterday? Tell me the last thing you read!

Categories: Recurring Series

A Weekend in Pictures

I woke up from my nap on Friday to this sweet face right next to me. What a doll! She often interrupts my sleeping to beg for pets (often by poking me with a claw right on my face), but I can’t even be mad at her. She’s too cute!

After my nap, I took a trip to Target. I needed to get a gift for Olive for her birthday as well as one for Mikaela who just had a birthday. I couldn’t help stopping by the books section, but I didn’t buy anything. I was good!

Once home from my Target expedition, I took a hot bubble bath that was so relaxing. The rest of my night was fairly low-key—I Facetimed with my mom, watched a few episodes of Brooklyn 99, wrote Saturday’s blog post, and read my books.

My busy Saturday began with a long walk around my apartment complex. It was a brisk 61 degrees when I woke up, and the walk felt really good. I listened to the latest episode of Office Ladies during my walk. I don’t *love* this podcast (the deep dives on random subjects are kinda ridiculous), but all of the behind-the-scenes info about life on the set of a TV show are super interesting. It’s amazing how much work goes into even a one-second scene!

I test-drove a 2021 Mazda CX-5 on Saturday (my mom came with me), and man, was she a beauty. Both to look at and to drive. I have four other cars on my list that I want to test-drive and I’m not in any rush to buy, so I’m taking my time with this research assignment and only went to one dealership this weekend. I had a really good experience with the car salesman (shocking!) and he didn’t pressure me at all to make a decision. All in all, it was a pleasant experience and made me so excited to finally have a new car sometime in the near future.

I was so excited that I finally got the alert that this book was ready for me to pick up at the library! I’ve been on hold for over a month now, which is unusual for my library system. It’s a 2020 release and I usually never have trouble getting those books fairly quickly. It just means a lot of people are requesting it, which is a good thing since this is an important topic!

Saturday was Olive’s birthday party! If you remember, Olive is my dear friend Mikaela’s baby who had a rare and aggressive form of cancer (her chance of survival was 9%). Somehow, she made it through an incredibly risky surgery and countless rounds of chemo and has emerged victorious from her cancer treatment. She’s had a few scans since she finished treatment, and all of them have been clear. Even more astonishing is that her treatment didn’t stunt her development at all! Both physically and cognitively, she’s right where she should be. Isn’t that incredible?! Warrior baby, for sure.

Olive turns two on Wednesday, and we celebrated with a very fun birthday party for her. Myself, I enjoyed chit-chatting with my friends Amber and Lynn (we wore party hats and got tatted up, as shown in the picture above) and watching Olive destroy her cake. 🙂 It was such a joyous day!

Saturday evening was an eventful one! I wanted to do a load of laundry so I started the washer and went on my merry way. The way the water was filling the basin sounded different than usual, but I didn’t think much of it.

… Until my downstairs neighbor knocked on my door to tell me that water was leaking into her kitchen. Sure enough, when I looked at my own kitchen (my stackable washer/dryer is lodged into the space across from my fridge), there was an inch of water on the floor! I immediately shut off the washer (and discovered that no water was even flowing into the basin!) and called emergency maintenance.

What a mess! I live in a third-floor apartment and learned that water had not only leaked into the second-floor apartment below me but also into the first-floor apartment and the concrete outside. OOF. I felt terrible! I know it wasn’t my fault (I’ve never had an issue with my washer before!), but damn. There wasn’t much maintenance could do for me on Saturday night. Because of the way the kitchen is set up, they are going to need to first remove my fridge so that they can move out my washer/dryer to get into the space where it sits to figure out what’s causing the leak. So I’ll have maintenance in my apartment all day today—a day in which I have three meetings, argh!

I’m crossing my fingers and toes that they’ll just set me up with a new washer/dryer since the one I have now is super old and makes so much noise. I usually can’t run my dryer if I have meetings at work or I’m watching something on TV. I’ll even turn it off when if my mom Facetimes me while it’s running. Super annoying.

Once the mess of my leaking washer was solved (at least for that night), I ordered dinner and watched a few episodes of Brooklyn 99. I was in bed a little on the early side and read my books for a bit before calling it a night!

I woke up way before my alarm on Sunday. While I despise Daylight Saving Time (especially in the fall), it was nice to wake up around 7 feeling fully rested! I spent my extra hour curled up on the couch with a blanket, finishing up Ginny Moon.

Mikaela and I had a lovely Sunday morning writing date at Panera! I set my fantasy football lineup before writing my Sunday stream-of-consciousness blog post. We also spent a lot of time talking about the party yesterday and reflecting on what an incredible day it was. Mikaela said that Olive had a blast, and I was so happy to hear that!

The rest of my Sunday was spent at my mom’s, watching football and snuggling the dogs and sneaking in a few chapters of my book in between plays. I love these Sundays so much—it’s just a low-key afternoon with my mom, my brother, and my older nephew. I cherish this time!

Of course, there’s more football to watch when I get home from my mom’s! Ellie will sometimes sit on the edge of the couch and watch the game with me. It’s always so funny when she does that! I ate a late dinner while watching the game, and also put the finishing touches on this blog post.

And now it’s a new week and is shaping up to be a good one. I have plans with two different friends and work shouldn’t be too much of a killer (here’s hoping, at least).

How was your weekend?

Categories: Recurring Series

TGIF (v. 37)

The high of my week was starting NaBloPoMo! I basically started this on a whim, after reading a post from San two days before the challenge was set to begin. It just felt like the right time, since I’m not doing NaNoWriMo this year (writing 50,000 words in one month) and since I was away from blogging for most of October. It’s been fun so far and I have my whole month planned out. It feels really good to get back to writing and my blog.

The low of my week was dealing with this minor skin rash beneath my nose. It’s been bothering me for a few weeks now, and I know I should see my doctor about it but at first, I wanted to see if it would go away on its own and then I got sick and didn’t have the energy to worry about it. But it’s still bugging me. Right now, I’m putting Neosporin on it at night and it seems to be helping. I’m going to keep applying it for the next few days to see if it cures the rash. Otherwise, to the doctor I go!

An internet resource I’d like to share is Anne Helen Peterson’s newsletter. I subscribed to this newsletter a few months ago, and I really enjoy it. I don’t read every email that comes my way (I typically skip anything involving an interview) but I do love the way she writes about being a woman in today’s society (especially a childless woman) and work. She’s also been doing a deep dive into the weird subculture of Peloton, which I am loving. That was actually the reason I subscribed! As much as I love Peloton and have a special fondness for some of the instructors (Cody Rigsby 4Ever), it is a weird, wacky world and I’ve loved her pieces on the subject.

A podcast episode I enjoyed was an episode of Over My Dead Body. This season has been truly fascinating with lots of interesting twists and turns. I’ve enjoyed it! I don’t listen to a ton of true crime podcasts because I’m too much of a scaredy-cat, but this one is really, really good. This season, they’re following the investigation of a police officer who was murdered.

I’m currently reading four different books at one time! What the what. My “slow but steady” read right now is Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation by Kristin Kobes du Mez. I’m reading about a chapter a day. In between that, I’m reading Ginny Moon by Benjamin Ludwig, which I am loving, and Rainy Day Friends by Jill Shalvis. On audio, I’m listening to the 15th book in the Chief Inspector Armand Gamache series, A Better Man. Whew!

The best money I spent was $4 on a package of SUPERPRETZEL Soft Pretzel Bites. You don’t even know how excited I got when I saw these bad boys in the freezer aisle the last time I was in Publix. They haven’t been stocked for over a year at this point, and it’s made me really sad. (They had the regular big pretzels, but not the bites.) I love popping a few bites in the oven for a mid-afternoon snack, and I had to restrain myself from buying out all of the packages.

My plans this weekend include possibly test-driving some cars (my friend who just bought a car said that most dealerships have barely anything to test-drive these days, which is WILD, so we’ll see if I can make this happen). I’m doing it solely for research purposes, as I am not yet ready to buy. I also have Olive’s 2nd birthday party to attend (what a joyous party that will be!) On Sunday, I have a writing date with Mikaela and football with the fam. It should be a good weekend—and it’s going to be a CHILLY one for Florida! (Saturday’s high is 64!)

What was the high of your week?