Stephany Writes

Categories: Recurring Series

Three Things Thursday (v. 15)

Three confessions

1) I gave up on Duolingo – After 650+ days of using the app, I lost my streak and decided I was ready to be done with it. I don’t really know if I learned all that much Spanish (and you’d think I’d be fluent after nearly two years of lessons!), and I’m glad I don’t have that streak hanging over my head anymore. Onward to other things!

2) I started playing Sudoku! – Don’t worry, you guys. I didn’t give up one game without replacing it with something new. I decided to start playing Sudoku as part of my morning NYT games routine. I’m only doing the easy puzzle right now because I am still getting the hang of playing Sudoku, but I love that it breaks my brain in an entirely new way.

3) I’m a little anxious about my upcoming move – I think part of the reason I’ve stayed put in my apartment for two years longer than I should have is because it’s just easier than moving. It’s expensive to move, first of all, and it’s a little anxiety-inducing to deal with all of the logistics involved with a move. Plus, I always have a bit of anxiety during my first few days in a new place, so I’m preparing myself for that.

Three books coming up next on my TBR list

1) Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall – A very buzzy book that I’m hoping will be a five-star read for me!

2) Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune – TJ Klune wrote one of my all-time favorite novels, The House in the Cerulean Sea, so I have high hopes for this one, although it seems to get mixed reviews.

3) The Next Chapter by Camille Kellogg – While this romance has a low Goodreads rating (3.64), I’m picking it up based on the review of a friend. We’ll see if it works for me!

Three things we’re doing in London

1) A day trip to see Stonehenge, Windsor Castle, and Bath – All three of these places were on our “must do’s” so I was excited when our travel planner found a great day trip for us. It’s going to be a long day (we have to meet the bus at 7:30AM and we don’t get back until after 7PM), but it will be a fun one, I’m sure!

2) A tour at the Tower of London – When we first started talking about our London trip, Amber recommended this tour, so of course we booked it! I’m looking forward to it.

3) Afternoon tea at The Shard – My mom and I watched this reality TV show on Peacock recently called Destination X, and their final destination was in London! It was cool to see some of the sights that we’re going to see soon. One of the locales was a place called The Shard that looked really cool. It’s close to our hotel and they do afternoon tea service, so this will be our final excursion of the trip. I think it will be a lovely way to relax and reflect on our trip before we have to pack up and head home.

Three workout milestones I’ve hit

1) Being able to do pushups on my toes – I’m a big fan of pushups on my knees, but I decided to challenge myself in a workout class a few months ago to try doing pushups on my toes, and I can do them now! This was a really cool milestone for me, as it makes me feel pretty damn powerful.

2) Box jumps – Box jumps have always been scary for me, but yesterday during HIIT class, it was one of the stations, and I decided to give it a try on the 18-inch box. And I did it! More than once! It was still scary, but I was really proud of myself. My form definitely needs work, but baby steps.

3) Quad stretches – There was a time when I didn’t have the flexibility to do a standing quad stretch, but now I can do one without any issues! That was a real eye-opener for me, showing me that my body was changing and getting stronger.

Three things that made me happy this week

1) Having dinner with some friends – I had a lovely Tuesday night dinner with some friends this week, and it was much needed. There were four of us, and we had a lot to catch up on! One friend’s husband was in the hospital for a few days after a bike accident (he’s ok!), one friend is leaving on an epic New England road trip, and another is planning a fun Paris vacation. So much is happening! When we left dinner, we were greeted with a gorgeous sky as the sun was setting, and I was just so happy and grateful.

2) A great mid-year review – I had a lovely mid-year review with my director this week and all of her compliments made me feel really good. Specifically, she mentioned how I’m focused on keeping up morale in our department while also implementing efficiency initiatives, and have an approachable leadership style. (And yes, it’s weird to do a mid-year review at the end of August, but we do our annual reviews in March so that’s how the timeline shakes out.)

3) A night in with Bri – Yesterday was a lovely lady date with my dearest Bri. I’m on day two of my period and the last thing I wanted to do was go out, so Bri brought over Greek salads and we worked on a puzzle while listening to Christmas music. Ha! The puzzle is one I received for Christmas and it’s a bunch of dogs in Santa hats, so it just felt right to listen to Christmas music. It definitely got me excited for the holiday season!

Three podcast episodes I listened to this week

1) A Superficial Deep Dive on the Primal Question on The Friendship Paradox – Yes, I listen to my own podcast. I don’t edit the episodes (that’s Bri’s job) so this is usually the first time I’m hearing it after we recorded. These days, we’re trying to record as much in advance as possible to give Bri enough time to edit, so this one was recorded in early July! I always forget what I list as my rose, bud, and thorn by the time to episode releases, as well as what I listed as my obsession. I’m learning so much about myself by listening!

2) Summer 2025 Circle Back with Catherine on Sarah’s Bookshelves Live – I always love these episodes! At the beginning of every quarter, Sarah and Catherine share a handful of upcoming releases they’re looking forward to reading, and then at the end of every quarter, they report on those books and whether they worked well for them or not. I enjoyed this episode!

3) Unhinged School Incidents on The Popcast – The Popcast never lets me down with these kinds of episodes and this one had me giggling and saying things like, “Knox! Why?!”

Three of my quirky habits

1) Taking my watch off when I wash my hands – I just cannot stand the feeling of water underneath my watch when I wash my hands. I always take it off, wash my hands, dry them completely, and then put it back on. Luckily, I haven’t lost my watch yet even when using a public restroom!

2) Not getting up to pee at night – I am really trying to break this habit, but I am just so bad at getting up in the middle of the night to pee. Basically, I’ll just hold it until morning rather than taking 3 minutes out of my night to take care of business. It’s ridiculous and I don’t know why I’m like this.

3) Squeezing dog ears – Dachshund ears are the best for this, but I just love squeezing a dog’s ears! Maybe it’s a tactile thing but it is something all of my dogs understand that have to deal with. Chip has what I call “scrunchy” ears because they don’t fall flat against his head like Lucy’s. They kind of “fold” together and let me tell you, I love to squeeze those scrunchy little ears!

Three things I’m looking forward to in September

1) FOOTBALL – We are mere days away from the kickoff to the NFL season, and I couldn’t be more excited! The NFL offseason is so very long, and I am looking forward to more Sundays spent at my mom’s house watching the games, listening to copious football analysis, and immersing myself in my favorite sport once again.

2) Going to a dachshund meetup – I was randomly served an account on Instagram called Tampa Bay Weens, and learned that this is a dachshund meetup group and their next meeting was in mid-September! I forwarded the event over to my mom and we’re going to go with Chip and Lucy! I can’t waaaaait. GIVE ME ALL THE DOXIES!

3) Decorating for fall – I’ve decided that I’m going to bring out all of my fall decor on Labor Day. I’ve already started lighting a fall-scented candle and I’m just ready for all the cozy fall vibes (even while it’s still 100 degrees and depressingly humid outside). Even though I’ll likely be moving in about two months, I still want to enjoy the fall vibes before all that craziness happens!

Three things I’ve said to my cats this week

1) “You know I have to report you for being so cute. I’m sorry! I have to follow the law.” I tell Lila constantly that she’s going to jail for being so cute. I don’t know what’s wrong with me.

2) “I was holding it for you so you didn’t fall.” Yes, I talk to my cats like they can understand me. Anyway, Eloise loves lying on the top of this cart I have next to my desk and she was doing some very important grooming and making the cart shake a lot, so I was holding the cart down to minimize the shaking. When she stopped grooming, she looked down at my hand holding the cart like, “What are you doing, you weirdo?!”

3) “Are you guys obsessed with me? I’m obsessed with you guys! We’re all obsessed with each other!” We were all sitting together on the couch on Wednesday morning, and it just filled me with delight, since both cats got up from the places where they were sleeping to join me on the couch.

Three things I’m doing this weekend

1) Dropping off some bags to Goodwill – My decluttering goal is going well and I have even filled up some bags of things to donate to Goodwill. I have plans to drop them off either tomorrow or Saturday.

2) Buying pounds – My mom and I want to buy pounds before our trip to London. We just feel more comfortable having some cash for things like tour tips and such. We both belong to a credit union, and our bank doesn’t dispense foreign money, so we have to go to a place in Tampa to get some pounds.

3) Getting a pedicure – I wasn’t able to get the pedicure I planned last week, and my feet desperately need some TLC, so I’m going to go for one on Saturday after my writing date.

Categories: Recurring Series

TGIF (v. 78)

The high of my week was sitting down with Amber to work through some more London logistics! One of our most-anticipated excursions was cancelled, leaving us with a bit of wiggle room in our schedule. I’m trying to be very careful not to over-schedule us because it’s so tempting to do that on a big vacation like this, but that’s not the way we like to travel. We have limited energy reserves and don’t want to be walking 20,000 steps every day! Plus, we have two day trips planned and those will definitely take a lot out of us. Anyway, it was a great planning session and we’ve nearly got everything figured out. We leave six weeks from Tuesday – ahhh!

The low of my week was nothing? That’s lovely to report! Between all of my medical appointments, depressive episode, and work stress, it feels good to be in a great place right now. The medical appointments are over, I worked through the depression (likely due to the birth control I started, which I stopped taking once I started feeling bad), and work is still a lot most days, but mostly manageable.

I’m currently reading three books! In print, I’m halfway through The Road to Tender Hearts by Annie Hartnett. On my Kindle, I’m a little more than halfway through Every Summer After by Carley Fortune. And my audiobook is Bad City by Paul Pringle (I have five hours left). All of these books have been exceptional reads! Unless something crazy happens, I think I’ll have three five-star books in a row.

A Reel I loved was this hilarious dachshund Reel from one of my favorite doggo accounts. I laughed so hard!

A show I watched this week was a few episodes of season two of Next Level Chef. I will watch any cooking show from Gordon Ramsey, even if I have no desire to be a chef and hate cooking myself. I’m just always so impressed by these aspiring chefs!

The best money I spent this week was paying off my London balance! It feels so very good to have that monkey off my back (as a refresher: my mom and I always go 50/50 on vacations. She put all of our London expenses, like our flights, hotel, and some excursions, on her credit card and told me I could pay her back slowly.) There will be some expenses coming up, as we still need to book a few more things, but those should be minimal.

My plans this weekend include a lot of fun things! Today, I have a hair appointment and then I might try to finally watch Working Girl. Tomorrow, I’m going to the dog beach with Chip, Lucy, my mom, and my stepdad. And on Sunday, I have my writing date with Mikaela and then a dog birthday party to go to. (How many times can I tease my brother for throwing a birthday party for his dog? SO MANY TIMES.)

What was the highlight of your week?

Categories: Recurring Series

One Photo Per Hour: Tuesday, August 12, 2025

5:39AM: It’s an early morning for me. Eloise is being very chatty, so I pick her up to try to give her some extra snuggles. She acts like I’m trying to strangle her, sigh.

6:49AM: The sunrise this morning was a good one! I snapped this photo as I was leaving the gym after spin class.

7:03AM: Look at my ladies! I was sitting on the couch after coming home, working through my NYT games, and they posed so perfectly for me.

8:43AM: My makeup routine. When I worked in an office, my makeup routine had many more steps. But now, all I do is draw on some eyebrows and put on some mascara. And I only do this on the days I have meetings. No meeting day? No makeup!

9:26AM: It’s work time! Lila loves to curl up on my laptop because what’s more cozy than the hard shell of the side of a laptop? I spend this hour working through my daily morning tasks – clearing out my emails, checking in on my contractors, and checking on our content queue to make sure there’s nothing that needs my attention.

10:49AM: Cute photo of me! I took this while in an hour-long leadership call. I didn’t meant to look so angry. I wasn’t angry! I was just listening intently while trying to take a picture.

11:51AM: It’s lunchtime. I’m listening to my Big Brother live feed update on YouTube while working on a coloring page.

12:15PM: I’m back to working and Eloise is being very chatty with me. I took this photo when she was mid-meow! I’m working on some contractor editing and preparing for a meeting.

1:00PM: A quick photo before a 1:1 meeting with my boss. This was a great conversation and we got a lot accomplished!

2:56PM: I cheated here and gave you two pictures in the 2:00 hour. Here’s what my view looks like on a regular basis. Lila takes over the left side of my desk and Eloise curls up on the top of the cart that’s positioned right in front of the window next to my desk chair. I love this view! I’m just doing boring work stuff, nothing to see here!

3:51PM: I take a break from work to fold some laundry. Eloise helps me by perching on a towel and not getting up for hours.

4:01PM: It’s back to work with a snack. I am still so very bad at eating snacks regularly throughout the afternoon. But at least today I had some apples and peanut butter!

5:45PM: I’m done with work and need to complete my chores for the day (laundry, which is done, and vacuuming my living room rug). I have to pick up all of the cat toys and scratchers and loungers from the floor and push my coffee table out of the way. Afterward, I dump out so much cat hair from my vacuum. It was honestly impressive.

No photos in the 6:00 hour, oops! My mom and I were at my friend Amber’s house to go through our London itinerary, so I totally forgot about taking a picture!

7:58PM: Those Florida summer skies – love them! My mom and I finished up with Amber after about an hour-ish of discussing our itinerary and moving some things around and it was time for dinner! My mom drove, so it was very nice to be the passenger princess.

8:47PM: I almost forgot to take a photo in the 8:00 hour, oops! I snapped the photo of the restaurant we ate at just as we were leaving. I had a delicious burger with tater tots. It really hit the spot!

9:48PM: Eloise has continued to confiscate my towel so I can’t put it away. I’m puttering around my apartment at this time, going through my nighttime routine and working on this post.

10:45PM: It’s finally time to settle down in bed. I have my trusty CPAP mask and the current book I’m reading (which I am loving, by the way!) I don’t read too much tonight because I am very tired!

What time did you get up yesterday? What was your last snack?

Categories: Recurring Series

Five for Friday (v. 119)

1) A lazy girls’ weekend

Last weekend was pretty good! Bri and I hit the road for Orlando on Saturday morning and got to Jackie’s just in time to love on her pets and then drive to a really cool Asian market for dim sum. It was my first time having dim sum and it was… fine. Asian food isn’t my favorite because I’m the pickiest eater ever, but I’m glad I tried it! Afterward, I made everyone go to The New Romantics bookstore where I proceeded to buy three books without taking a beat. The rest of the day was lazy! I did a lot of reading, Bri and I took Jackie’s dog Pascal on a walk, and I tried to figure out ways to steal her cat Tootles. In the evening, we went to a cute Italian restaurant for dinner.

On Sunday, we were up early to get breakfast before driving to an alpaca farm! We did a painting event that was a lot of fun, but truly the best part was that baby alpacas got to roam around the fenced-in area with us. They got into so much trouble! Trying to steal paintbrushes and water bottles and knocking down the instructor’s easel. Naughty, naughty! We got to feed them treats and touch their surprisingly soft noses and it was everything we could have wanted!

After our alpaca painting adventure, we came back to Jackie’s, packed up, and hit the road for home. I was back home by 2:30 and napping by 3, ha.

2) Medical news of the week

We’re winding down the doctor’s appointments, but I still have some medical news to share! Last week, I did my nerve conduction study and learned my carpal tunnel pain is considered “moderate” on a scale of mild to severe. Yesterday, I had a follow-up appointment with the orthopedic, where we discussed surgery. From what the doctor told me, recovering from carpal tunnel surgery is fairly quick (some people are back at work the next day!) and getting the surgery done before my condition is severe will also help with recovery time. I haven’t scheduled the surgery yet (waiting to get a call from the surgical coordinator), but I think I will move forward with it. It’s not like the carpal tunnel pain is going to get better without surgery. And I met my deductible for the year so why not?!

3) Breaking records

It’s been a wild time in Florida, as we’ve been breaking some long-standing heat records. First, on Sunday, we broke a record that has stood since 1890 – a temperature of 100 degrees recorded! Normally, our actual temps stay around the low 90s, but with the humidity (often 70-90%), it always feels much, much hotter. Then, on Tuesday, we broke another record with a heat index of 119 degrees. I did not experience those temps myself since I don’t live in Tampa proper (I’m in the coastal city of St. Petersburg, where our heat is a little lower thanks to the ocean breeze). It is still disgustingly hot, which means I’m staying inside as much as possible, blasting my AC, and trying not to think too much about how high my electric bill is going to be.

This intense heat is also making me very nervous about hurricane season. So far, so good, but the real test is late August – mid October, so keep your fingers crossed for us!

4) Mental health

My mental health has been on the struggle bus this week. I’m not having spiraling thoughts like I normally do, but I have this constant feeling of dread that refuses to go away. It’s manifesting with a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. I feel really irritable and I’ve had the hardest time focusing on work this week (which is really unfortunate since it’s end of month and I have so much to do!). And I’ve been crying a lot, which is SO unlike me.

I’ve been trying to figure out the root cause of this anxiety.

Is it my recent hyperfixation with Superman? Seriously, you guys, my whole personality is Superman, David Corenswet, and the cast’s press tour. My IG feed is now broken because that’s all I’m being served now. All of it brings me a lot of joy, but I’m also a bit overstimulated.

Is it a really sad situation happening with a family member? I feel very emotional and helpless about what’s happening to them.

Orrr… could it be birth control? I started hormonal birth control on Sunday, so the timing works out. I did some light Googling and this birth control paired with Prozac can mess with mood disorders and even lead to serotonin syndrome.

I was feeling so anxious on Wednesday night that I took my first dose of the fast-acting anxiety medication my psychiatrist prescribed for me (propranolol). It’s a medication that only works on the physical symptoms of anxiety, and I can’t say I felt much of a difference, but I think it helped a little. My next step is to reach out to my psychiatrist to explain what’s going on and get her advice about the birth control. I’d much, much rather have a few days of really shitty period cramps/heavy bleeding than deal with this level of anxiety. Ugh.

5) Weekend plans

I have some good weekend plans ahead of me, which should hopefully help with my mood. Today, I am getting a massage in the late afternoon, and then maybe I’ll do some retail therapy. I’m not sure! Saturday is my writing date with Mikaela and afterward, my mom and I have appointments to finally get TSA Pre-Check (woop!). And Sunday, I have zero plans. There’s a part of me that wants to go see Superman again, so maybe I’ll do that.

How’s the weather where you are? What are your weekend plans?

Categories: Recurring Series

TGIF (v. 77)

The high of my week was seeing Superman! My mom and I had a lovely movie date on Tuesday evening to see the movie, which was so, so good. I’ve had a movie hangover after seeing it and just want to go straight to the movie theater to watch it again! David Corenswet can get it. *fans self*

Some of the movie hits too close to home, though, because Lex Luthor’s actions are way too familiar (jailing his enemies, trying to get rid of all the “aliens,” starting a separate task force to round them all up, working with the government on these specific initiatives, etc.). It was all a bit too prescient.

The low of my week was an official diagnosis of moderate carpal tunnel syndrome. Yes, the doctor’s appointments continue! It’s finally time to deal with this carpal tunnel pain, which I first saw an orthopedic about back in May. The earliest appointment for a nerve conduction study to diagnose the severity of my carpal tunnel syndrome was July 22nd! I had the study done on Tuesday and it was quite the weird experience. The doctor put a bunch of electrodes on various parts of my hand and wrist and then would use a different electrode to deliver a mild electrical shock through my nerve, causing the muscles in my hand to jump. This was testing how quickly my nerves responded to electric signals—the slower the response, the more severe the carpal tunnel compression.

I don’t have the exact results of the test, but the doctor was confident enough to diagnose me with moderate carpal tunnel syndrome. The good news is that this can easily be reversed with surgery and I likely wouldn’t need to have the procedure redone. The bad news is that things are getting progressively worse and I will likely need surgery at some point. It’s a lot to think about! I have a follow-up appointment with my orthopedic next week to go through my results and talk about my next steps.

I’m currently reading only one book! This is unheard of for me, but I finished an audiobook earlier this week and have gotten a bit behind in my podcast feed so I’ve been prioritizing podcasts over audiobook listening right now. The book I’m reading is Someone in the Attic by Andrea Mara, which is a super creepy thriller. You can tell how creepy it is just from the title! I’m enjoying it so far and very curious how everything will unfold.

A Reel I loved was this incredibly sweet “first look” video. The pure happiness in this man’s voice! This is the goodness we need right now.

A show I watched this week was Big Brother! We are in full swing with the Big Brother season and I couldn’t be happier. This show is a commitment (it’s on three times a week and I also listen to live feed recaps every day), but I love it so much.

The best money I spent this week was $50 on some new clothes from Old Navy. I desperately need new shorts, and I love the way Old Navy shorts fit and feel on me. So I finally did a little online shopping over the weekend. I got three pairs of shorts and a fun sleeveless top for $50! (Funny story: I was ONE PENNY short of getting free shipping on my order, so I found this $2 swimsuit sarong in their clearance section. Gotta get that free shipping!)

My plans this weekend include a fun girls’ weekend in Orlando! Bri and I are hitting the road to Orlando on Saturday morning where we plan to have a very low-key weekend with Jackie. On the agenda: cuddling with Jackie’s pets, reading, and being lazy. On Sunday morning, we’re going to a “Painting With Alpacas” event that seems like it will be a blast! And maybe I’ll convince them to go to a bookstore? Maybe.

What was the high of your week? What are your weekend plans?