Recurring Series

TGIF (v. 31)

The high of my week was meeting up with my friends to discuss our trip to Boston next week! We don’t have a super strict itinerary because a lot of what we’ll be doing is just walking around to see the sights. We are planning a day at an apple orchard, a food tour, and potentially a trip to Salem, and I have expressed my strong desire to do the Freedom Trail. We’re going to have fun no matter what! The weather looks great (highs in the low to mid 60s so cold enough for this Florida girl) and I’m just hoping for lots of beautiful fall foliage.

The low of my week was the four-year anniversary of my grandma’s death. The date snuck up on me this year. It’s hard to believe it’s been four years since that horrific day in her hospital room, all of us saying goodbye to this woman who meant so much and lived so fully. My mom and I met for dinner because I think we both needed to be with each other. And, as it turned out, it was free pizookie day at the restaurant (pizookies are basically big cookies served in a deep-dish pizza pan, and it’s the best dessert in the world). I’d like to think that was the perfect way to celebrate my grandma who loved dessert like no other.

An article I loved was… What is Idiopathic Hypersomnia? My Life with a Rare Sleep Disorder by Greatest Escapist. My friend Kate was recently diagnosed with idiopathic hypersomnia after years and years of feeling perpetually tired and like she could fall asleep at any moment. In this post, the first of a series talking about this disorder, Kate talks about what IH is and how it has affected her life.

“Imagine yourself at your tiredest, right before bedtime, & now imagine that you feel like that frequently, midday, at random, & at times when you almost assuredly can not go take a nap. That’s me. And yes, it’s pretty problematic.”

A podcast episode I enjoyed was Votes for Women on Call Your Girlfriend. I’m about a week+ behind in my podcast queue so I just listened to this episode a few days ago and it was excellent. One of the hosts talked with a bunch of different people about voting rights, both for women and for marginalized people. I found the interviews with the activists (one from Mississippi Votes and one from Woke Vote) to be the most intriguing.

The best money I spent was $156 for the Airbnb we’re staying at in Boston. My friend found us a fabulous place in Southie that looks darling. We won’t be spending a ton of time there since we have a full itinerary planned for our four days but it will be a nice little space to come home to at the end of all our activities.

My plans this weekend include not much of anything! I am meeting up with a friend for a gym date this evening, want to take a trip to HomeGoods to see their fall decor, and need to put together my bookcase. And, of course, there’s football with the fam on Sunday! Should be a nice, low-key weekend. 🙂

Tell me the high of your week!

Categories: Recurring Series

Monthly Recap | September 2019

READING

I read 12 books in September – woop! I’m at 101 books for 2019 so far so I upped my reading goal on Goodreads to 125 books. It’s been a good year for reading, that’s for sure. My top three books this month were:

Bad Blood by John Carreyrou, a nonfiction account of Elizabeth Holmes and her scam medical testing company Theranos. This book read more like a crazy thriller than a real-life story but it IS real life and that is what is most scary.
Shanghai Girls by Lisa See, a brilliantly written historical fiction book about two young sisters whose father arranges marriages for them to take care of a debt. The two men are, thankfully, brothers but they live in California so the girls must leave their home in Shanghai for America.
The Mother-in-Law by Sally Hepworth, a totally engaging thriller that reads more like a family drama. It had me on my toes until the very end!

WATCHING

Schitt’s Creek, season 4 – What can I say about this show that I haven’t already said? It’s wonderful, and funny, and the perfect show to binge after a long day at work.
Cheers, season 2 – Now that I have a gym to go to (!), I’ve been watching episodes of Cheers on my phone whenever I’m on a piece of cardio equipment. Each episode takes me nearly to the end of a 30-minute workout and I’m flying through the second season now.
The Good Place, season 3 – Another Ted Danson show! 🙂 When I saw that season 3 was available on Netflix, I was stoked. This is one of my favorite shows and season three was so delightful.
Downton Abbey, the movie – My mom is a huge Downton Abbey fan and when we saw the commercial for the movie one night, she mentioned wanting to go see it. We both were free last Saturday, so we went and saw it! I have never seen one single episode of Downton Abbey so maybe it was silly for me to go, but I didn’t have too much trouble following the plot and now I really want to watch the whole series! Such a great movie and all those wonderful accents, ahh. (Although, I can’t lie: I got visibly disturbed to see Dolores Umbridge on my screen as the sweet Lady Maud. HEM! HEM!)

LISTENING TO

Decoder Ring – Decoder Ring is a monthly podcast that is centered on cracking cultural mysteries. From the Baby Shark phenomenon to laugh tracks in sitcoms, the podcast explores the history behind all of these different pieces of pop culture and tries to figure out what they mean and why they matter. It’s an easy podcast to binge since there are only 15 episodes in the archive and I’ve listened to just about all of the episodes so far. It’s super interesting, especially because I’d never guess the true story behind some of our cultural phenomena. (Be warned: if you listen to the Baby Shark episode, you will have that earworm stuck in your head for days.)
Last Seen – Last Seen is a docu-series about the greatest unsolved art heist in history. In 1990, 13 pieces of artwork valued at $500 million were stolen from a museum in Boston and the paintings nor the thieves have ever been found. It’s INCREDIBLE to think that these 13 paintings are still at large, nearly two decades later, and this podcast delves into the theft, the investigation, and all the crazy leads that the investigators followed for years.
Imagined Life – Imagined Life is back after a long hiatus and I am so happy for that! It’s one of my favorite podcasts and I highly recommend it to anyone. Every episode takes you on an immersive journey through the life of one famous person, but the catch is: you don’t know who this person is until the end. Instead, you spend the whole episode trying to figure out who this famous person could be. The podcast is hosted by two great voice actors and it’s so well-produced. Definitely give it a listen if you haven’t yet!

BUYING

INFINITIPRO by CONAIR flat iron ($35) – I’m on a mission to learn how to curl my hair with a flat iron but I was having major difficulties with this goal because I was using such an old flat iron. It was at least five years old and while it worked fine, now that I’m using a new flat iron, I’m realizing how outdated it really was. It took multiple swipes through to straighten my hair and trying to pull my hair through the plates to curl it was nearly impossible. With my new flat iron, straightening is so damn easy and I’ve also been somewhat successful with curling it. Yay!
Three-shelf bookcase ($15) – Yes, I bought a big beautiful bookcase from IKEA a few months ago and I love it so very much, but I needed a second bookcase. I didn’t want to shell out another $150 nor did I want to spend hours putting another crazy IKEA bookcase together, so I bought a small, cheap bookcase for the time being. It will hold any of the books that won’t fit on my shelf (I only have half a shelf left on the big bookcase!) and other trinkets.
Pela phone case ($30) – I’ve been craving a new phone case, as the one I’m using is over a year old now. It’s an Otterbox and I’ve been loyal to Otterbox cases ever since I shattered my (brand new!) phone when it was in one of those cheap, pretty cases. (I’ve been too terrified to use anything else!) But I got drawn into an Instagram ad (ugh) and purchased this case from Pela. It’s made from sustainable materials (no plastic!) so it lives up to the eco-friendly goals I’m working towards.

THE HIGHS

My gym is open! – Only nine months after we expected it to open, my gym is now up and running. Woohoo! I love having a gym to go to, and it’s only a five-minute drive for me so it’s just so convenient to get in a workout. The class schedule is not super ideal but I hope it will change soon. (It appears they are launching a few more classes soon, so yay for that!) I have taken two BodyPump classes and am eyeing a Zumba and BodyCombat class to attend soon.
Meeting Lisa Unger – I went to a really fun author event in mid-September where a much-loved author, Lisa Unger, was discussing her latest release. As a wannabe novelist, it’s so gratifying to hear successful authors talk about their work and the process of writing. It makes me feel so much less alone in my struggles!
A friend’s birthday party – One of my dearest friends opened her home to celebrate her birthday. She did it in the most “2” way possible (she’s a classic Enneagram 2!) by feeding and hosting all of us. I got to catch up with a lot of former coworkers, which was so lovely!

THE LOWS

Gosh, I can’t think of anything to include in this section! September was a really wonderful month and my anxiety is at an all-time low. I really don’t know what has caused the shift – maybe the nicer weather, maybe the start of my favorite time of year, maybe the trips I have to look forward to. Or maybe, you know, all the hard work I’ve put in with therapy! But I’m feeling good and I’m so grateful for that.

ANTICIPATING…

BOSTON – Our annual girls’ trip is coming up soon! We leave two weeks from yesterday and I CAN’T WAIT. I am ready for cooler weather, fall colors, and spending four days with my favorite people. We’re going to have such a good time!
Chip duty – The day after I come back from Boston, my mom leaves for a work trip so that means I’ll be on Chip duty for a few days. I love that wild child to pieces and we’ll have a fun few days together.

Tell me something good that happened to you in September!

Categories: Recurring Series

Friday Questions (v. 15)

Happy Friday! I have a pretty low-key weekend planned, although I’ll be spending the majority working on a side project since it’s due on Monday. In the midst of that, I have a massage planned and my nephew’s birthday party. I’m also hoping to put together my gallery wall (nope, didn’t do it last weekend!) and assemble a small, three-shelf bookcase I picked up from Target a few weeks ago. So I think I’ll have plenty to do to fill my time!

It’s the end of the month, which means it’s time for another round of Friday Questions from the Real Talk Radio podcast. Let’s dive in!

1) Fast forward five years. Your future self is talking to you. What advice does your future self give you right now?

I think my future self wouldn’t want me to spend so much time worrying about my love life and that I’ll never find someone to spend my life with. Because maybe I won’t! And isn’t that okay? I’m so happy with what my life looks like today – I have a career I love, friends I adore, and two perfect cats to dote on. I’m financially independent, self-sufficient, and have so many hobbies that I’m never bored. That’s a beautiful life, even if it doesn’t include a partner. My future self would want me to be happy with where I am now – while still continuing to put myself out there and be open to meeting new people – and to stop wasting mental energy worrying about what the future holds.

2) What’s one thing that helps you when you’re feeling very overwhelmed or stressed?

Making lists! Work right now is insane and I’ve been feeling very stressed about my workload (it should all calm down around October 8th). So I wrote out a list of every single thing I needed to do this week and next week and then organized all the tasks into a daily schedule. So, I know exactly what I need to do every day for the next two weeks. It helped my stress levels immensely. There’s a lot going on, yes, but as long as I stay focused, I can get it all done.

When I’m stressed about something not work- or deadline-related, it still helps to make lists. Maybe a brain dump of my thoughts if I’m feeling stressed about a personal situation. If it’s my budget, it’s listing out my upcoming expenses to get a better grasp on my financial situation. I’m a visual person and just being able to see everything laid out and understanding exactly what I need to do helps me to take a deep breath and feel less stressed.

3) What’s the one thought that gives you the most butterflies right now?

I’m pretty excited about NaNoWriMo. I’m looking forward to immersing myself in my book for the month of November and making serious progress on it. I’ve attempted NaNoWriMo a few times and only succeeded at it once, but I remember how much fun it was the one time I succeeded. I was so fully committed to writing each and every day, and I had the time of my life. This time, I have a much better plot and more fully fleshed-out characters so I’m hopeful the process will be easier and even more fun than last time.

4) What’s one thing you’ve had to learn to accept about yourself?

My quietness. I used to be very self-conscious about it, especially because I’d always have to answer the fateful question, “Why are you so quiet?” (Which, how do you even answer that?! I don’t ask people why they talk so much!) I’m never the loudest person in the group and even with my best friends, I’m the one sitting back and letting everyone else talk. Maybe I’ll interject a comment here and there, and if it’s a topic I’m especially amped about, I’m happy to jump into the fray, but mostly, I let everyone else do the talking. It took me a long time to come to terms with my quietness because I always used to view it as a negative part of my personality. I always thought it meant I was boring and that was why I’d never have friends. But it’s not! It’s just part of who I am and it means when I do speak up, it’s because I have something to say, something I feel is important and worth opening up my mouth for.

5) Who’s someone (writer, blogger, podcaster, etc.) who has had an impact on your thinking this year?

Robin DiAngelo. She wrote the book White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism and it was a life-changing read for me. No matter how “woke” you think you are (“you” being the collective white person), we all have implicit racism. We all laughed at a racist joke, even if we didn’t think it was funny because we wanted to “belong” to a group. Robin’s book digs into why whiteness is considered the superior identity and it has helped me recognize all the tiny ways we engage in racist behavior. It all matters. Robin DiAngelo does such an amazing job at unpacking how we interact with racism in so many ways, from our schools to our neighborhoods, and it’s astonishing all the ways people of color have to care for white people’s feelings. (Ugh, we are so damn fragile. It’s disgusting.) Anyway, she has changed my worldview and helped me to better understand my own racism so I can try to be a better ally. I still have a long way to go and I work every day to dismantle my own implicit bias. I can’t recommend this book highly enough.

What’s something you’ve had to accept about yourself?

Categories: Recurring Series

A Day in the Life: Friday, September 20th

Happy Monday, friends! Typically, on Mondays, I have a reading recap for you. But I didn’t read much this week! I’m basically reading the same books this week as I was last week so it wouldn’t have made for a very exciting update. Instead of that, I thought I’d take you along on a day in my life! Friday was a very busy day for me – much more than it normally is – so it seemed like a good day to document. Enjoy!

6:10AM: My body insists it’s time to wake up, but it’s not. I go to the bathroom and then go back to bed, but I don’t sleep very much since Lila jumps on me and demands pets.

6:45AM: My alarm goes off. I get up, turn it off, and then read a chapter in Anne of Windy Poplars.

7:10AM: I finally get out of bed and make myself a bowl of cereal and iced coffee. I eat breakfast while reading blogs.

7:35AM: I start getting ready, which basically entails pulling my hair back in a ponytail and throwing on yoga pants and a tee. I also pack a bag for this morning. I’m accompanying my mom to her endoscopy, so I pack my laptop and a book.

7:50AM: Drive to my mom’s apartment.

8:00AM: I pick my mom up and drive to the surgery center, which is only about 20 minutes away. It’s busy in there this morning but I find a chair tucked away in a corner next to an outlet. They have WiFi, thankfully, so I decide to spend the time I’m waiting doing work for a side project.

9:30AM: An entire hour after her procedure was scheduled, my mom is finally taken back for her endoscopy. I continue working on my project and finally wrap it up around 10:30, right around the time the nurse comes to get me.

10:35AM: Mom looks good and isn’t too groggy from the anesthesia! Funny story: she had so many people asking her if she was cold and/or wanted a blanket. She was wearing a tank top and shorts while everyone else was covered up. My mom just naturally runs hot (she keeps her AC at 70!) but it was funny how many people expected her to be freezing in what she was wearing. She’s given a soda and her doctor meets with her to discuss what he did (took some biopsies and widened her esophagus), and then we can leave! Yay!

11:00AM: We leave the surgery center and we’re both starving at this point so I drive us to IHOP. Another story that’s very indicative of our relationship and how much we both hate making decisions: I asked her where she wanted to eat and she immediately responded with, “Oh, no, I’m not allowed to make any decisions for the next 24 hours.” (Since she was under anesthesia, she was told not to make any crazy decisions until it’s worn off completely. FUNNY, MOM.)

11:15AM: We get to IHOP and it’s surprisingly packed. We get a seat quickly, though, and order. I’m nearing a hypoglycemia episode at this point, as it’s been four hours since I last ate and what I ate wasn’t very filling. Thankfully, our food comes quickly before I’m in a full-blown episode. (I’ve been doing pretty good at keeping these episodes at bay, and this was the first one I’ve had in a few months at least!) I get an omelet with a side of toast. Mmm! So good!

11:50AM: After eating, we stop by Publix because my mom wanted to pick up some supplies. She’ll be confined to her apartment for the rest of the day, until my stepdad arrives home late in the evening, so she needs to make sure she has food on hand.

12:20PM: We’re back at her apartment, yay! I decide to come in to help her with Chip for a bit. We take him on a walk and then I play with him.

1:00PM: I leave my mom’s place and drive back home. Right now, I’m regretting the fact that I didn’t cancel my therapy appointment because all I want to do is take a nap! Alas, no rest for the weary today.

1:15PM: I’m home and I get the mail. Is anyone else terrible at getting their mail regularly? I probably pick it up once a week when I need to be getting it every three days. Oops. Anyway, my Sephora PLAY! box has arrived, woohoo! I open my box when I get inside (after loving on the kitties for a bit, of course). It’s a decent box, although some stuff I’ve gotten before.

1:25PM: I have about 30 minutes before I need to leave for therapy and as much as I want to just lie on my couch and read, I know I’ll fall right to sleep if I do. So, instead, I put in some more time with my side project.

1:45PM: I close my laptop and put it away. Then, I get dressed in workout clothes, fill up a water bottle, and head out. I drive to my therapist’s office.

2:15PM: I have a great therapy appointment! It was surprising how much we had to talk about, but then again, not really. My therapist is just so good at figuring out exactly what I need to talk about, even when I show up with nothing on my mind. We discussed an issue I’m having at work (#impostersyndrome), dating, and a whole bunch of other stuff. It was a really great appointment and I’m glad I didn’t cancel it.

3:07PM: After therapy, I drive to my gym and get in a solid workout. I spent 20 minutes on the recumbent bike and then 15 minutes using some of the weight machines.

4:18PM: I’m home and I take a hot shower. So nice! So necessary! I’m trying not to wash my hair as much as I used to (I wash it every three days now) so I just wash my body and shampoo my bangs.

4:30PM: I use dry shampoo for my roots and then dry my bangs and quickly run the blow dryer through the rest of my hair.

4:41PM: I lie down on my bed to read but I only read one chapter before my eyelids feel heavy and I’m zonked out.

6:00PM: My alarm wakes me up. Oh yes, don’t you worry. I had a distinct feeling I would fall asleep if I lay in bed and read, so I set an alarm beforehand. It was a really perfect nap, though. And I made sure to sleep on my back so I didn’t disturb my bangs. I wake up in what I call my “cat sandwich,” where I have one cat lying next to me (although I guess it’d be more of a Stephany sandwich?!) It was so hard to get up with my girls snuggled next to me, and they definitely gave me an annoyed look when I did, but up I go. I do my hair and makeup for tonight.

6:45PM: I leave my apartment and head to a friend’s house for her birthday party!

7:10PM: I arrive and show up right as a friend and her husband do, so we give each other hugs and walk in together. I hand the birthday girl her gift, which she opens up right away (on my insistence).

It’s a really fun party, made even better because it’s a combination of my book club girls (my faves!) and former coworkers. It’s so much fun to catch up with some of them and chat about lives and jobs and travel. There is pizza and brownies and a really cute doggo that I can’t help loving on. He is the sweetest!

10:22PM: I leave the party and I am pooped. This was a really full day and I am looking forward to tomorrow, as I plan to do nothing but sleep, read, and play with my kitties.

10:48PM: I’m home. I say hi to my girls, put on my nightgown, take off my makeup, and then do a face mask.

11:15PM: I wash off the face mask, brush my teeth, and then start my nighttime routine of cleaning the litter boxes and tidying up the apartment.

11:33PM: I’m finally in bed! I plan to read a few more chapters of Anne, but mostly I scroll through Instagram and then watch 10 minutes of an ASMR video on YouTube.

12:04AM: Lights out! Here’s hoping I can sleep in tomorrow.

Categories: Recurring Series

Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow

Happy Friday! I haven’t done a “Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow” post on my blog in over a year, so I thought today would be the perfect time to bring it back. Let’s chat!

Yesterday, I…

Woke up early to go to my first BodyPump class in over a year. I can’t remember the last time I took a BodyPump class – it must have been early 2018. But my new gym has a class at 5:45am on Thursdays and while I like to try to sleep in on Thursdays (since it’s my work-from-home day), I knew I’d feel better if I woke up early and got in a great workout before 7am. It was a hard workout but felt so good to be back pumpin’! I think those early morning Thursday workouts will be a new part of my schedule.
Got to snuggle with my kitties during my work-from-home day. Having a work-from-home day once a week has been life-changing for me. It is so nice to have a day at home every week where I can get a lot of work done but also be in my pajamas and spend time with my kitties.
Had my weekly mom date night. My mom and I have started this routine of hanging out on Thursday nights. It’s perfect for me because it allows me to have some social interaction on my WFH day. (Although, let’s be real, I really enjoy not talking to anyone all day!) We usually go out to dinner and lately, I’ve been coming back to her place to watch Thursday’s episode of Big Brother (and to play with Chip, of course). I don’t know what we’re going to do when Big Brother is over!

Today, I…

Took the day off from work so I could take my mom to a doctor’s appointment. She’s getting an endoscopy to check out this weird issue she has sometimes where she can’t swallow while she’s eating. It doesn’t happen all the time but it’s frequent enough that her doctor wants her to get it checked out. (Not to mention scary!) It’s likely she needs her esophagus widened (she’s had it widened before) so I don’t think it’s anything serious. Anyway, she needs a driver to take her to and from the appointment, and I’m more than happy to be that person!
Have therapy. I was actually considering canceling my appointment today because I’m feeling really good and my anxiety has been at an all-time low. I can’t even pinpoint why. I just feel good! I’ve been going to therapy for a little over a year now, and while I’m not someone who thinks you ever “graduate” from therapy, I do think I’m in a place where it’s not as vital to my mental health as it once was. That’s such a great feeling! Even still, I think I’ll continue with monthly appointments (or maybe appointments every other month) because it’s nice to have that mental health check-in and chat about things going on in my life.
Will celebrate a friend’s birthday with a pool party! It should be a fun night. I don’t know how many people are coming but I do know there will be lots of pizza and a dog to love on. That’s all I really need!

Tomorrow, I…

Will sleep in! It has been a very busy week and a half for me and I have been looking forward to Saturday because I have no plans. I’m mostly excited to wake up without an alarm and try to sleep in to the best of my ability. (Why does my body insist on waking up early on the weekends?)
May try to go on a long walk. I’m debating between a long walk or going to the gym. The high for Saturday is 90 degrees, so the gym may win out. But I have to do something active because I need to work out every day from now until the end of the month to reach my goal of reaching 100 workouts for the year.
Will attempt to put together my gallery wall. This is one of my goals for September and it’ll be nice to mark it complete! (And to clear off my kitchen island, which has been housing all the stuff that I’m using for my gallery wall for weeks and weeks.)

What’s your “yesterday, today, tomorrow”?