Stephany Writes

Categories: Recurring Series

Five for Friday (v. 63)

1) The saga of my dining room table. Did you know that I’m still waiting for my dining room table to be delivered? I ordered it in August and while I was understanding that my delivery would be delayed due to COVID, it started to get a bit ridiculous. First, I was told my dining room table would be delivered in early October. That date changed to late October, then early November, then mid-November… until I called the furniture store last week to find out the new date was mid-February. SIX MONTHS AFTER I HAD ORDERED IT! So I canceled the order. I’m not too sad about it because I had a tiny bit of buyer’s remorse about the purchase. (Which I didn’t want to admit to anyone, ha. But I definitely wasn’t super excited about the dining room table.) Instead, I found a gorgeous dining room set on Wayfair that will be here in early December and I treated myself to a professional installation. (A lot of the reviews said it took a long time to put it together, and I would just prefer to not deal with that.) The bad news is, I still do not have a dining room table. The good news is, I will have one in a matter of weeks—and I don’t have to install it myself!

2) A new bookshelf. Sadly, I had to say goodbye to my big, beautiful IKEA bookcase this week. As much as I loved that bookshelf and the aesthetic it provided, it just wasn’t very functional for me. The backing was constantly moving out of place and the shelves weren’t sturdy enough to hold my books. After three of the four shelves collapsed on me while I was trying to decorate the bookcase for Christmas, I was done. It was time for something new. So, I bought a cube bookcase! I already have one of these bookcases (it serves as my TV stand and holds most of my Book of the Month books) and it definitely seems sturdy enough to handle my book collection. (It’s also incredibly easy to put together—it takes, like, 20 minutes tops.) As you can see from the below picture, this bookcase is already full (mostly filled with books I haven’t read and favorites that I want to keep) so I’ll probably buy another cube bookcase soon to hold more books and other odds and ends.

3) Hurricane/Tropical Storm Eta. Last week was a bit of a doozy! I woke up on Wednesday morning to all these crazy weather alerts and the real possibility that we could get hit by a hurricane by the end of the day. Thankfully, Eta shifted north and all we got was a ton of rain and wind, but I don’t think I got anything done that day work-wise! I was spending time panic-scrolling through my phone, getting constant weather alerts about tornados and storm surges, and trying to make a plan for what to do if I needed to evacuate quickly. (My apartment is located in the first evacuation zone.) It made me realize that I need to have an actual plan for evacuating with my cats! Like, I’m not going to actually carry their huge litter boxes with me, right? (I panic-bought disposable litter boxes on Wednesday morning when things were looking bad, lol.) It’s time to put together a hurricane prep kit so if I do have to evacuate quickly, I’ll have everything I need. (You’d think I, a Florida native, would have a hurricane prep kit but I most assuredly do not.)

4) Christmas. I started decorating for Christmas last weekend, which is the earliest I have ever decorated! I used to be a very strict “no Christmas until after Thanksgiving” person, but I just needed the cheery energy in my home. I bought a fake, pre-lit Christmas tree this weekend and it makes me so happy to see it all lit up at night. I started putting out all of my decorations, and I have even more than usual since I brought home the Christmas decorations I kept at work (I used to decorate my desk every December). I’m also planning on putting lights on my balcony and around my windows. I bought the Balsam Fir candle from Bath & Body Works this weekend (their three-wick candles were $10 off!) and have been lighting it every evening so it’s definitely cheery around these parts!

Oh, and how are the girls handling the Christmas tree? They were very curious about it when I brought it home and I’ve found Eloise climbing up the inner pole of the tree a few times, but they mostly leave it alone. Sometimes they’ll nap under the tree and use it to hide from each other when they’re playing, but so far, no ornaments have been destroyed. Of course, anything breakable is up high and I think I’ll add a few “soft” ornaments (stuff they could play with) at the bottom so they can indulge in their biggest cat fantasies, hehe. So far, so good, though!

5) Weekend plans. My weekend should be a lot less hectic than the last few weekends have been. I haven’t even had time for napping! Tonight, my friend is taking me out for a pre-birthday date. We scheduled a 30-minute in-person shopping visit at one of our local indie bookstores and then we’ll go out to eat somewhere nearby. I’ve been meaning to visit this bookstore but just never got around to it so I’m excited to spend time in a bookstore. (And try my best to adhere to my spending limit.) Saturday, I have my writing date and not much else, which is just what I want. And Sunday is for watching football with the fam!

Have you decorated for Christmas? What are you up to this weekend?

Categories: Recurring Series

October Recap

We’re nearly halfway through the month of November already so this post is comin’ at ya LATE. But let’s take a look back on October, shall we?

READING

It was another great month of reading for me! I read 13 books for a total of 129 for the year. This means I’m just 6 books away from my goal of 135! I really thought that was a stretch goal for me this year, but apparently not. My top-three for this month are:

WATCHING

  • The Good Place, season 5 – I watched the final season of The Good Place and I really enjoyed it. The finale was a wee bit triggering for me (as someone who is so very scared about death), but all in all, an excellent show! JANET 4EVER
  • Big Brother – This season of Big Brother was rather boring with one big alliance running the house the whole game, but at least we had a satisfying winner, right? I hope the producers make some changes to the game for next season, though.
  • The Amazing Race – It is so lovely to watch The Amazing Race right now. This season was filmed sometime in 2019 (they were filming another season early in 2020 that had to get shut down due to covid) so it’s a beautiful representation of the “before times.”

LISTENING TO

BUYING

  • Etsy prints ($16) – I bought a handful of cute Etsy prints early in October that I still need to get printed so I can hang them up. Originally, I was planning on hanging them up in my little office nook and I might still do that, but I also might put a few on my gallery wall. Inhale/Exhale | Writing | Books | Words
  • Painting supplies ($51) – My mom and I have grand plans to paint a bunch of ornaments we found at Michaels. She bought the ornaments and paintbrushes and I bought all of the paints. I really hope this project doesn’t turn out horrible, haha.
  • Command strips ($20) – I put up my gallery wall this month and I needed to purchase a whole bunch of Command strips to do so. I love how it turned out and it definitely has room to grow!

Highlights

> After all the hubbub around mail-in voting, I had no trouble with getting my ballot received and counted in less than a week. My mom and my brother also mailed in their ballots (my brother did it 10 days before the election) and there were no issues!

> I helped my brother register to vote! Yes, he should have been registered to vote a loooooong time ago but at least he did it for the most consequential election in our lifetimes.

> I spent a week detailing my life in a series of Week in the Life posts and had so much fun with that. Those posts always get a great response, which I’m happy about because I love doing them and glad you all love reading them!

> I finally got my hair cut! It had been almost six months since my last cut, which may not seem that long for most people, but I’m used to getting a trim every 3-4 months. I went to a cosmetology school for the haircut to save some money ($12 vs $60, ya know) and it was a good experience. While it took fooooorever (two-and-a-half hours!), I really enjoyed the stylist I worked with and watching the education process. Would I go again? I’m not sure. Saving so much money was really nice but it took so long for such a simple haircut.

> I purchased a new desk and was super grateful for my stepdad and mom coming over to help me put it together. It’s so much bigger than what I had previously!

> I went to my office this month to pick up my desktop. My company announced early in October that we would be moving to a remote workforce (based on how productive everyone has been working from home and the fact that we all want to continue doing so, even when things go back to “normal”). Our office will switch to more of a coworking space, which means every employee has to pick up their work desktops (previously, we’ve all been remoting into our desktops in the office through our laptops). Getting my desktop set up at home was easy and my work life has gotten so much better. Hooray!

> I had a lovely lady date with my girl, B. We used to have a standing monthly lady date, but that fell by the wayside with the pandemic. But we’re both feeling pretty comfortable going to restaurants and seeing people right now, so we’re baaaaack. This month, we had a delicious meal at a restaurant downtown and it was so nice to have two hours of uninterrupted time with her.

> My writing partner, M., had a birthday this month, and the timing couldn’t have been more perfect as we decided to bring back our in-person writing dates a few weeks before her birthday. We meet at Panera and I suggested that we surprise her at the end of one of our writing dates! She was completely shocked, which made it all completely worth it. 🙂

> I haven’t been dating since the pandemic began (er… or before it, lol) but I had the best friend-date with my friend, A., this month. I told her it was the best date I’d been on in a long time, haha. We started at a cat cafe where we spent 45 minutes petting cute cats that were up for adoption, went to a nearby park to read by the water for 30 minutes, and then went to a local restaurant for dinner. If all of my actual dates could be that perfect, I would love dating!

> October is a hard month for my family, as it’s the month that Grandma and Pops died. We marked five years since Grandma died on the 9th and two years for Pops on the 28th. Those griefstones were horrible, but on Pops’ anniversary, my cousin suggested meeting up for dinner at his favorite restaurant and that was so very needed. I haven’t been around family all year long with the pandemic and such, so it was really nice to reconnect.

> Halloween 2020 was a weird one! I usually spend all month planning out a “punny” costume to wear to work but not this year. The only plan I made was to go to my mom’s house to help pass out candy. We weren’t sure if people would be out trick-or-treating, but we saw 27 kiddos (yes, we kept count, haha) and they were oh-so-cute. My mom and I sat on the porch, wore masks, and sanitized our hands between each candy drop so it was as COVID-safe as it could possibly be. Hopefully next year COVID-19 will be a thing of the past and we’ll see lots more kiddos!

Categories: Recurring Series

Week in the Life: Sunday, October 18

morning // After not going to bed until nearly 1am, I have a very lazy morning. I don’t get out of bed until almost 10 and it feels incredibly divine to just drift in and out of sleep all morning. Eventually, though, I know I need to get my day started. My mom FaceTimes me and we make a plan for this morning, and then I make an easy breakfast of cereal and iced coffee. I eat while reading over yesterday’s Week in the Life post and publish it. Then, I get ready and drive to my mom’s. I pick her up, and we drive over to Michaels to find a pillow form. She has an old shirt of Pops’ that she wants a friend of mine to sew into a pillow, so the friend just asked us to get the size pillow we want, and she’ll do it. We also wind up finding all of these paint-your-own ornaments and Christmas decorations and decide to give ourselves an art project for the holidays. I spend FIFTY DOLLARS on paints, ooooops. I definitely did not mean to do that!

afternoon // After our trip to Michaels, my mom and I stop by Publix so I can pick up a sub and then head back to her place for a day filled with watching football! My brother and older nephew arrive soon after we did and after eating lunch, I get cozy in an armchair and proceed to watch football while talking with my family and playing games on my phone. So relaxing! My mom bakes a delicious pumpkin treat as well as double chocolate cookies, so we munch on those goodies all afternoon and into the early evening.

evening // We order pizza around 5 and eat while watching the late afternoon game. And then there’s more lounging around, chit-chatting, and watching football. I love football Sundays with the fam! I leave halfway through the fourth quarter (since it’s obvious the Packers aren’t going to pull out a win, wah!) and arrive home around 7:30. The girls are very happy to see me and I sit down with them for a bit, giving them pets and some treats. Then, I take a relaxing bubble bath and read my book. Afterward, I work on this post and then do my nighttime routine. I’m in bed by 9:30 with my book and super tired, so I don’t think I’ll get too far before it’s lights out. 🙂

Sunday in the life three years ago, four years ago, five years ago, and six years ago

Thanks for coming along with me this week! It was super fun taking you through a regular week in my life, even though it was busier than usual with social plans. I’m definitely experimenting with what feels comfortable to me in terms of being out and about right now, and I think that’s true for a lot of us. I hope this was enjoyable for everyone to read, and I encourage you to do it on your own blogs or social media. It’s a lot of work, but really fun to look back on (especially since all the other times I did “Week in the Life” Dutch was still alive and taking care of him was such a bit part of my daily life! So different this time around with two cats and working from home full-time).

Categories: Recurring Series

Week in the Life: Saturday, October 17

morning // I wake up a few minutes before my alarm is set to go off at 8am. I pet Eloise who is on my bed and meowing at me, and then take a shower. I blow-dry my hair, straighten it, and put on a little makeup. Then, I say goodbye to the girls, check that my hair straightener is turned off approximately 40 times, and head out the door, laptop in tow. I take a pit stop at Walgreens for birthday cards and gift cards for two friends who have birthdays next week, and then head to Panera for my writing date! (Last week was the first week we re-introduced in-person writing dates and I am so happy to have them back! I feel comfortable doing this, as my friend is keeping rather isolated and we try to find a table that’s tucked away in a corner.) I order an iced latte and breakfast sandwich, and then my friend and I spend a little time chit-chatting while we eat, before getting down to work. I spend my time plotting out a few chapters of my novel.

afternoon // Right as M. and I are finishing up our writing date, our other friends show up for a birthday surprise! M.’s birthday is next week, so we hatched a plan to surprise her during our writing date. She wasn’t expecting it at all! We spend an hour sitting at Panera, just chit-chatting, and it is really nice to see everyone. This pandemic has made regular book club meetings and dinners nearly obsolete, and I hate that. So at least we have these near-monthly birthday surprises to catch up! After leaving Panera, I return home and do a photoshoot with my Warby Parker sunglasses to figure out which style I like best. Problem is, three of the five styles are nearly identical (oops!) and those are the ones I love the most. I guess there’s no bad choice, though?! Hmm. Then, I take a nap for almost three hours, and it is exactly what this girl needed! I get up around 4:15, redo my makeup and hair, and am out the door a little before 5 for tonight’s fun adventure!

evening // My friend A. and I originally made plans for a reading date tonight, but it morphs into so much more—a really fun date night. Yay! We start at the Sunshine Kitty Catfe where we spend 45 minutes petting and playing with adoptable kitties. I seriously want to bring at least three of them home, including this adorable black-and-white girl who curls up right beside me. Ahh… she is so sweet! Alas, there will be no more kitties for me. I’ve got my hands full with Eloise and Lila! 😉 It was super fun to spend time with the kitties, and the Catfe took lots of precautions for covid safety, including requiring everyone to sanitize beforehand and wear masks the whole time. They also only let 8 people into the room at a time (and it was a big space with a large open room, long hallway, and separate “zen den”). I feel very safe! Afterward, A. and I meander over to a park for our reading date, sitting on a dock by the water. It is such a nice night and after getting situated, I set a timer for 30 minutes and we read silently. I’m still slowly working my way through Hidden Valley Road, but it’s pretty interesting and I’m glad I didn’t abandon it. Then, we get some dinner (we sat outside) and I scarf down my pizza since I haven’t eaten since my breakfast at Panera! I get home a little after 8 and since I need to decompress, I sit on my couch and play Candy Crush while listening to a podcast. The best. Then, I take a bubble bath, start working on this post, set my fantasy football lineup, and do my nighttime routine. I don’t end up crawling into bed with my book until nearly midnight. Loooooong day, indeed!

Just a quick note: I know that it may seem like I’m living in the “time before” with my comfort level (re: going to restaurants, meeting up with friends). Please know that I do take this pandemic VERY seriously, and since my county has a mask mandate in place and every place I go to adheres to social distancing and sanitizing protocols, I feel comfortable opening my life up in this way. I stick to outdoor dining and always wear my mask, even when I’m outside. You may not feel comfortable doing anything like this right now—and that’s perfectly okay. We all have to do what feels right for our situations, and for me, as a single person who is not high-risk and remains fairly isolated on a daily basis, this feels right for me. I hope everyone can respect that!

Saturday in the life three years ago, four years ago, five years ago, and six years ago

Categories: Recurring Series

Week in the Life: Friday, October 16

morning // My alarm wakes me up at 7:45 today. I had some trouble falling asleep last night (eventually, I listened to ASMR YouTube videos to help relax me). I log onto work to prep for a meeting I’ll have later today with my manager and before I know it, it’s time to call into a meeting to discuss the content plan for one of my clients. The meeting is done in less than 20 minutes—hooray! I make breakfast and a pot of coffee while Face-Timing with my friend, B. We discuss our plans for tonight, work, and all of the desk options on Wayfair. After hanging up with her, I clean up the kitchen and pour myself a cup of coffee before sitting down to get started on work. My main task for today is editing, and I’m barely 10 minutes into that task when it’s time for my next meeting. This time, it’s a one-on-one call with my manager, which we do on a monthly basis. This is basically a “touch base” type of call to discuss my client load, bring up issues, and ask questions. We chat for about 30 minutes and I’m able to do a bit more editing before my third meeting of the morning. (This is very unusual for me!) It’s a company-wide meeting, so I just listen in while continuing my editing task.

afternoon // I order Jersey Mike’s for lunch through UberEats and while I wait for it to be delivered, I continue editing. Thankfully, these pages were written by one of our best writers so there’s not much actual editing for me to do. I finish up the task just as lunch arrives. Great timing! I eat while scrolling through Reddit forums and then get back to work. I start working on publishing content on one of my clients’ websites, and then realize I need to get ready! I have a hair appointment at 1:30! I hurriedly get dressed, do my makeup, and run a brush through my hair. Then, I head over to Clearwater (about 30 minutes away) for my appointment. It’s my first time at this salon, which is a beauty school where a student studying cosmetology will be cutting my hair. It’s a little nerve-wracking because I’m used to seasoned hairstylists working on my hair, but I only need a trim and my stylist charges $60 for a haircut, which just feels insane to me. Instead, I pay $12 for this haircut! And it turned out great! However, I was at the salon for two-and-a-half hours for what was supposed to be a simple cut and style. EEKS! Of course, that’s to be expected since the student has to stop multiple times to get her work checked by an instructor and goes a lot slower than a typical stylist, as she’s learning! Thankfully, I have the time to waste and find it really interesting to listen in on the education of cosmetology. It’s a lot harder than it looks, guys! Anyway, I finish up at 4:00 and drive downtown St. Pete for a dinner date.

evening // I meet up with my friend B. at a restaurant downtown (Stillwaters Tavern). She’s found us a great table outside, and we have a lovely dinner together! I order a mojito to drink, but it makes me break out in hives, so I have to take very small sips from time to time, interspersed with chugging water. We order an appetizer (warm pretzels with cheddar fondue—so yum!) and for dinner, I get the mac n cheese, which is to die for. I want to eat the whole thing in one sitting, but alas, I start to get full way before I want to. Such is life! After dinner, B. and I mask up to take a short stroll around downtown before calling it a night. I get home around 7:15, give the girls some good lovin’, and then FaceTime my mom. We talk for over an hour! We clearly have a lot to say! After getting off the phone with her, I take off my makeup, put on PJs, and take out my contacts. Ahh, nothing like it! I sit down at my computer to finish up the work task from earlier, which doesn’t take long, and then work on this post. Then, I hurry through my nighttime routine because I am exhausted and just want to sleeeeeep. This was a busy day, but tomorrow might be even busier—eeks, what have I done to myself?!

Friday in the life three years ago, four years ago, five years ago, and six years ago