Recurring Series

Five for Friday (v. 87)

1) Missing: My Sunglasses

Somehow, I lost my only pair of prescription sunglasses. I do not know where they went. I have searched my car and apartment multiple times and they are nowhere to be found. How is it that I can keep my $20 pair of Target sunglasses for years and years and years, but my expensive prescription sunglasses just go missing in an instant? Argh! I’ve already been perusing Warby Parker for some new prescription sunnies, since I cannot be without them. (I have light eyes, which are more prone to sun sensitivity, so I always wear sunglasses when I’m outside, even on an overcast day!) What do you want to bet that the moment I order new sunglasses, I’ll find the old ones?

2) NaBloPoMo 2022

It’s almost NaBloPoMo time! And yes, I’m joining the craziness once again. It was so much fun to participate last year and I honestly didn’t find it all too challenging to get a blog post up every day. (Of course, I do not have a partner or kids and my job is very flexible, so I have many advantages that make this kind of project easy!) I have already drafted my editorial calendar for November so I know what I will be posting every day, with the understanding that I may have to shift focus if I don’t have much creative energy and just want to get up something quick and easy. I’m someone who struggles with writing those quick and easy blog posts (shouldn’t every blog post take me hours to write?!) but NaBloPoMo forces me to embrace that aspect of blog writing. I like the challenge of trying to think of something to talk about on a daily basis and I’m excited to get started. I’ve also decided I’ll devote one week of November to “Week in the Life” (in which I write a “day in the life” style post every day for a week). I skipped Week in the Life last year, so it will be fun to bring it back in 2022. Plus, that takes care of seven blog posts for November.

The one challenging part of November is that I leave on my cruise on the 27th, so I’ll need to draft up a few posts to carry me through the end of the month, but I’m not too worried about that! Anyway, if you want to participate, please take a second to let San know. She’s the unofficial fearless leader of this NaBloPoMo event and is pulling together a list of participants!

3) Season 2 of The Friendship Paradox

We launched season 2 of our podcast this week! I am so excited for you guys to hear these episodes because they have been so much fun to record. This season, we’re talking about events and how differently we approach them based on our personality types. We’re going to talk about weddings, family events, parties like baby showers, birthdays, and our book club. These are the kinds of episodes I envisioned us recording when I thought about the podcast, and it’s been fun to put this little idea into action! Make sure you’re subscribed to The Friendship Paradox so you don’t miss an episode!

4) Uber Driver, At Your Service

I’ve been playing chauffeur for my mom for the last few weeks. Right before the hurricane hit, my mom’s car stopped running properly so she had it towed to her repair shop. The Saturday we came back, she found out her car would cost $4,000 to fix. The car is 10 years old and American-made, and she really didn’t love the idea of putting so much money into a car that would likely continue to have problems. So, she sold the car back to the dealership and we went car shopping the first weekend of October! She ended up buying a 2023 Kia Sportage, but it wouldn’t be delivered until Oct. 22 at the earliest, which means I’ve been chauffering her around for the past few weeks. Thankfully, these days, being car-less for a few weeks isn’t too difficult, as she can work from home, do grocery delivery, etc. There were a few appointments I had to take her to, and I’ve been the lucky beneficiary of Friday night dinners (her and my stepdad always go out to eat on Friday night, so I get to tag along and get a free meal!) I’m excited for her new car to arrive, though. It has so many bells and whistles that her old car didn’t have, like wireless charging, a back-up camera, a digital dashboard, and Bluetooth. Am I a little jealous, even though my car is basically new, too? Yes, yes I am.

5) Weekend Plans

It’s going to be a busy weekend for me! Tonight, I’ll be meeting up with my mom and stepdad for dinner. Tomorrow, I’ll be chauffering my mom and the dogs to PetSmart for their grooming appointment, meeting with Mikaela and Eleni in the afternoon for a writing date, and then spending the night recording the podcast with Bri! We’re going to bang out the last three episodes of season 2. And Sunday will be a lovely, low-key day of sleeping in and then going to my mom’s to watch football with the fam.

Are you doing NaBloPoMo, too? What are your weekend plans?

Categories: Recurring Series

Everyday Moments | September 2022

1 – A really excellent mid-year review with my boss. She had lovely things to say about me and my progress so far this year, and that felt so, so good.

2 – Day 1 of girls’ weekend! We had a lovely night in where Bri made pizza for us and we watched fun rom-coms.

3 – Pool time with my girls, mini-golf, and learning how to cross-stitch.

4 – Visiting a cat cafe and going on a sunset cruise.

5 – Getting home from vacation early and taking a long nap with my cats. I missed them so much!

6 – An extra day off! I didn’t do much with this day off, since I was dealing with a toe injury, but I did get a lot of reading done so that was lovely.

7 – Dinner with some girlfriends. Beforehand, I was feeling a little moody and a little “woe is me, my friends don’t even like me,” which is just something that happens from time to time. But I had a wonderful time and was reminded why these ladies are in my life. <3

8 – My toe finally starting to feel better. I can even walk normally again! Yay!

9 – Finishing Superstore! It was an excellent show and I’m excited to rewatch it sometime in the future.

10 – Cuddles with Eleni during my writing date with Mikaela. She’s become a very great little sidekick to these dates.

11 – The first day of football Sunday! And my Miami Dolphins had a great win against the Patriots, which made today even sweeter.

12 – Completely failing at making a grilled cheese sandwich, but managing to salvage dinner by making breakfast for dinner!

13 – A nap on my bed with Ellie curled up next to me.

14 – Starting a really fun project for work.

15 – Homemade nachos and starting a new season of Masterchef.

16 – A super long, super restful nap after a very busy day.

17 – Shopping for fall decor with Mom!

18 – A crazy historic win for my Dolphins. My heart is still recovering from that game.

19 – Bri’s birthday! It was fun to spoil her on social media.

20 – Taking a walk before starting my workday. I really need to do this more often!

21 – A clean colonoscopy for Mom! What a relief.

22 – A lovely evening spent at book club. And getting a Dairy Queen blizzard on the way home – great decision!

23 – A really relaxing facial. I meant to do some errands afterwards, but I was feeling so relaxed that I just went home and took a nap, ha.

24 – Visiting with my Briber, who broke her ankle so bad that she needs surgery. It was nice to be able to offer her some company since she’s going to be laid up for a few months!

25 – A fun, full day spent with Mom. We went to my nephew’s birthday celebration, then got ice cream, and then went back to her house for football and the Big Brother season finale (which was the most satisfying season finale in YEEEEARS).

26 – Being able to book a last-minute Airbnb so I could safely evacuate when it looked like Hurricane Ian was headed directly to us.

27 – Being able to take the day off work to evacuate and drive to Ft. Lauderdale. Also, finding Ellie when I thought she was missing!

28 – A lazy day. I am so grateful that we weren’t expected to work during this crazy time. I put in a few hours in the morning and evening, but also let myself take a nice long nap in the afternoon.

29 – Reports from friends who returned to their homes after evacuating; very minimal damage!

30 – An easy drive home from Ft. Lauderdale. Having power when I got home. A long nap in my own bed.

Categories: Recurring Series

Currently in September

Feeling… in a much more stable mental health space this month. And the funny thing is: I don’t know why! One of the changes I made over the past month was to start taking Lexapro at night, and maybe it’s a placebo effect, but it has made a real difference in my nighttime anxiety. But just like I can’t predict the days when I’ll feel bad, I also can’t predict the days I’ll feel good. For now, I’ve had many, many more good days than bad days this month and I am cherishing that.

Watching… new seasons of Survivor and The Amazing Race, as well as an older season of Masterchef (I’m in the middle of season 10 right now). Right now, reality TV is what my soul needs so that’s what I’m giving it.

Listening to… All-American: Venus and Serena. All American is a podcast series that spends every season focusing on a specific athlete and discussing the ups and downs of their sports career. Season 1 was all about Tiger Woods. I was super excited when they announced that the Williams sisters would be the focus of season 2. It’s been great to get an insight into their careers, as I don’t follow tennis very closely but I’ve always loosely followed what Venus and Serena were up to.

Grateful… that I didn’t break my toe! While it wasn’t fun getting injured on the last day of my vacation, I am grateful that it didn’t affect our plans too much and that the toe started feeling a lot better after a few days of ice and rest. I was in so much pain the first two days after the injury and I was convinced I had broken my toe (especially since it bruised up almost immediately), but I probably just strained a muscle or something during my tumble down the stairs.

Anticipating… recording the rest of season 2 of the podcast and launching it into the world! We still have three episodes of season 2 to record, and the plan is to record those in mid-October. However, everything is a little up in the air at this point as my poor podcast bestie broke her ankle and is having surgery on it this week. We’re taking things day by day, but I’m hoping she’ll be able to record a few weeks post-surgery! Our trailer for season 2 will likely launch on October 11th, so be on the lookout!

Loathing… Florida’s governor. He’s always been a despicable human (remember how he opened bowling alleys and movie theaters back up in May of 2020?). But he hit a new low when he promised a bunch of immigrants who are seeking asylum (a LEGAL process!) jobs and homes and shipped them off to Martha’s Vineyard… where there were no jobs and no homes. The amount of callous disregard for human life (ya know, from the party that believes in a “right to life”) Republicans have is staggering, and I just don’t know what I will do if DeSantis doesn’t lose his governorship this year. I am so sad for these people who were stranded in an unfamiliar place, pawns in a governor’s political scheme, and so grateful for the people in Massachusetts that stepped up. Once again, I’ll say it: You cannot be a Christian, you cannot believe in the teachings of Jesus, teachings of peace, hope, and love to EVERYONE, and be a Republican. There is just no way.

Thinking about… my next apartment. You guys, I am already so, so excited to move next year. I still have more than a year until that will happen! I need to temper myself. But I can’t help looking at apartment listings right now. Most apartments have virtual tours of some of their floor plans and it’s so fun to take a look and imagine myself in these beautiful apartments. My hope is to find a 2-bedroom, 1-bathroom apartment within my price range. It’s a bit harder to find those floor plans because 2 bed/2 baths are much more popular, but I really don’t need a second bathroom (nor do I want to have to keep TWO bathrooms clean). I’m also excited to not have to contend with three flights of stairs every day! I’m hoping to find a first-floor apartment or, at worst, a second-floor apartment. Third-floor apartments are for the birds.

Needing… to decide on our cruise excursions! Okay, so we still have quite a while until the cruise (62 days!) but I’ve been starting to peruse the cruise excursion options at our ports of call (we’ll be stopping in Jamaica, Haiti, and Royal Caribbean’s private island in The Bahamas). So far, we’re thinking about river tubing in Jamaica, doing a “sip and paint” excursion in Haiti, and the Bahamas is a bit up in the air. We’ll be there on my birthday, so I have my eye on a hot air balloon ride, since I’ve never done one.

Buying… hurricane supplies. Ha! As I type up this post over the weekend, Florida is hunkering down for a hurricane. We’ve gotten real lucky this hurricane season, and from the latest hurricane trackers, it appears the Tampa Bay Area will be spared once again from a direct hit. But things were looking a little scary on Friday/early Saturday with the signs pointing to a potential Category 2 hurricane hitting us, so I got prepared! I bought a set of flashlights, bungee cords to tie my patio furniture to my balcony railing, an extra carrier for the cats, and lots and lots of snack foods. At this point, I’m expecting a lot of rain and wind, but nothing too serious. If things change, I’ll likely evacuate to my mom’s house with the cats. I don’t think it will come to that, but I’d always rather be over-prepared for emergencies like this.

Loving… football season (and the way my Dolphins have been playing!), the Fetch app, hurricane snacks, my apartment being decorated for fall, reorganization projects, Olive continuing to have clear scans 14 months post-treatment, breakfast for dinner, and when the cats show off on my Zoom work calls.

Categories: Recurring Series

TGIF (v. 43)

The high of my week was my beloved Miami Dolphins’ historic win over the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday! I think my heart rate is still trying to recover from that game. The Dolphins played like shit all throughout the first half and I was just hoping they could go into the locker room at halftime, adjust their strategy, and come out strong in the second half. But as anyone who has been a fan of a struggling team knows, I had very little hope of anything good happening. AND YET. They pulled out a win, overcame a 21-point deficit, and made history. Did you know that teams down 21+ points going into the 4th quarter are 0-711? Well, now that stat is 1-711 because the Dolphins pulled out a W. WHAT A FRIGGIN GAME. Can you tell that I am still on a high, five days later?

The low of my week was a dear friend going through a really, really tough time. It’s so hard when a friend who is usually so sunshine-y and supportive goes through shitty circumstance after shitty circumstance, and there’s nothing you can do to help, other than offer love and support. My heart is really heavy because she’s hurting.

An Internet find I loved was this amazing Tik Tok. I love a good hype girl!

One nagging task I crossed off my to-do list this week was calling my insurance company! When I went to pick up my birth control last week at my pharmacy, I found out that I was charged $36 for a three-month supply. What?! Isn’t birth control free? When I called my insurance company, they gave me the weirdest reasoning: Apparently, I can only get a free fill of my birth control twice a year. If I want to continue getting free birth control, I need to use UnitedHealthcare’s mail-order prescription service. ?!!?!? It’s so weird!

A podcast episode I enjoyed was Adnan Is Out on Serial. AHHH! I was so excited when I saw that Serial released a new episode to discuss the news about Adnan being released from prison. Like everyone else in the world, I was obsessed with the first season of Serial and I came away feeling very certain that Adnan Syed was not guilty. Maybe you feel differently and that’s okay. But after everything that came to light in the past few years and the way the investigation was fully botched by the police department and prosecutors, I am very, very glad that Adnan was freed from prison and I hope he can be fully exonerated soon.

The best money I spent this week was on fall decor for my apartment! Everyone on Instagram kept talking about bringing out their fall decor and how excited they were about it, and I realized that while I have plenty of Christmas decor, I don’t have any fall decor. I had to rectify that so I spent a little bit of money this week on fall signage, pumpkins, candles, and more to make my home feel a little more festive. It’s still disgustingly hot outside, but at least I can light a pumpkin candle and pretend it’s fall.

My plans this weekend include a facial this afternoon followed by a long, satisfying nap, a writing date with Mikaela and Eleni on Saturday afternoon, attending my nephew’s birthday party on Sunday afternoon (we’re playing laser tag!), and then hanging at my mom’s later that evening to watch the Big Brother season finale. It should be a good weekend!

What was a highlight of your week?

Categories: Recurring Series

Five for Friday (v. 86)

1) I was a bit surprised to find a paper on my door last week about renewing my lease. I can’t believe I have been in this apartment for two years already! I was also surprised to find out that my rent will be increasing by $300 per month. !!! They have never increased my rent that much and it’s a staggering number. I started looking around at rental prices, though, and even with this massive increase, I will still pay $300+ less than anywhere else for the same amount of space. Ugh. So I’m going to renew my lease for one year and start making plans to move out at the end of that lease (November 2023). I’m just not in the financial place to move (nor in the financial place to see a $800 increase in rent!), but if I have 14 months to prepare, I know I can make it happen. I’m already looking forward to the packing/unpacking process! (Not sarcasm; I genuinely enjoy this process.)

2) My big toe that got injured during my tumble down the stairs on my vacation is healing nicely. It’s still a little sore from time to time, but I can walk normally now and I’ve been able to work out again, although I’m trying to take it easy with low-impact workouts. I’m guessing I just bruised the toe; I thought I had broken it because there was a bruise right above the toenail and that’s usually an indication of a fracture, but I think it just got a bit pummeled in my fall and bruised up. I’m just really glad I didn’t have to go to urgent care! There’s not much that can be done for a broken toe anyway, but I would have gone if I was still in great pain/unable to walk after a week. Hooray for saving a few hundred dollars on an urgent care visit. 🙂

3) I had a big dinner failure this week, when I tried to make a grilled cheese sandwich for the first time ever. Can you believe I’ve never had a grilled cheese sandwich? I didn’t love cheese when I was growing up, so it was never something my mom made for me. And most grilled cheese sandwiches use yellow American cheese, which is my least-favorite cheese. But I decided to attempt an elevated version of this recipe, using sourdough bread, sharp cheddar cheese, and this delicious butter spread, cooked in my air fryer. Unfortunately, my grilled cheese sandwich turned out incredibly burnt and disgusting-looking. AND I picked up an unsliced loaf of sourdough bread at the grocery store this week, and trying to slice it up on my own was way harder than I expected. Womp! It was not a good time. I’m going to attempt to make it again tonight, using pre-sliced sourdough bread and bringing down the cook time in my air fryer by two minutes on each side. Fingers crossed!

4) I always listen to audiobooks on 1.75x speed, although I will sometimes bring it down to 1.5x speed, depending on the narrator or book topic. I know people who listen to audiobooks on 2.5x or 3x speed, which seems crazy to me. I’m kinda skeptical that you can really take in a book’s contents when you’re listening that fast, but I digress. I do not, however, listen to podcasts on faster speeds. For some reason, it just felt wrong to listen to podcasts on faster speeds but I’ve gotten woefully behind on my podcast queue so I decided to try speeding up my podcast speed to help me knock out more podcast episodes in less time. I don’t do this for all podcasts, especially ones that are history-based or educational, but the ones that just have people chatting about everyday life? Hey, why not? I’ve been listening on 1.25-1.5x speed for those (and finally utilizing Overcast’s Smart Speed feature to shorten silences). It’s been great! There are a few podcasts that I think sound better on a faster speed, haha.

5) It will be a busy weekend around here! Today, Gladys (my beloved Kia Soul) has her first doctor’s appointment! Last weekend, I got an alert that her tire pressure was low and while I was able to go to one of those drive-up oil change places to get her tires pumped up quickly, I also decided it was time for a service check. (I’ve been waiting until she needed an oil change, but then I found out that I was supposed to schedule a service check after 6 months, which was in May. Oops.) I’m going to do that this morning, since I can work while I wait. I’m also going to retry my grilled cheese sandwich recipe while I watch a comedy special tonight! Tomorrow, it’s another podcast recording day with Bri! We plan on recording two more episodes of season 2. I also have a writing date with Mikaela in the late afternoon. And Sunday is, of course, football! It was so nice having football Sundays back in my life last week. My brother, my nephew, and I spend all day at my mom’s watching the games, and it’s a delight!

Do you speed up podcasts/audiobooks? What are your weekend plans?