Stephany Writes

Categories: Recurring Series

Currently in March

Loving… my new gym! After many years of being without a gym home, I finally decided to join one after getting my bloodwork results back and realizing I need to kick my workout routine to another gear. These lazy 15-minute walks outside aren’t going to cut it anymore if I want to lower my cholesterol and diabetes risk. My mom has wanted me to join Crunch Fitness with her for a few months now, and so that’s what we did on Friday! Yesterday, I took my first in-person spin class in years and it was awful in the best possible way. It was hard and the seat felt uncomfortable and I just wanted it to be done… but I was also happy to be back on the bike and felt like I could do anything when I finished my workout. My plan is to go twice a week (starting small!) and increase my attendance from there.

Loathing… sciatica. I haven’t had to deal with sciatica in so long—it just went dormant for a few years, but now it’s back with a vengeance. I have tried heat therapy, stretches, and even a massage, but nothing was helping it. I went to a friend’s pediatric cancer event on Saturday and was so nervous about how my body would hold up to a one mile walk, which is just ridiculous. By the end of the walk, my back was so tight and I was in so much pain that I couldn’t do much more than stand around and try to take deep breaths. On Monday, I had my first appointment with a chiropractor and I am feeling hopeful that she will be able to help me. She did a ton of assessments and took X-rays, and this morning, I have a follow-up appointment to learn more about what’s going on and her treatment plan.

Reading… two books. I am a little more than halfway through Black Girls Must Die Exhausted by Jayne Allen on audiobook. I am very annoyed at the dating choices these women are making! And in print, I’m reading Come and Get It by Kiley Reid. I have read 250 pages and I still could not succinctly tell you what this book is about.

Watching… Mr. and Mrs. Smith! A TV show, finally! I have only watched two episodes so far (okay, full disclosure: I did set it aside to watch The Trust on Netflix, which is a reality show) but I am really enjoying it. I mean, episode two was wildly uncomfortable in spots, but I am still intrigued enough to keep going.

Listening to… the Corporate Gossip podcast. I finally got through their entire archive and now I am (im)patiently awaiting season 4. This podcast is hosted by a brother and sister team who detail all sorts of stories about corporate malfeasance. They tackle both companies (like Disney, Boeing, Peloton, etc.) that have engaged in some interesting practices to say the least, as well as CEOs and their downfall (think: Ted Turner, The Murdochs, the Koch family, etc). They have such a fun tone to their podcast, even when talking about really ridiculous topics, and I have really loved learning more about the crazy, super nefarious world of corporations and business bros.

Anticipating… book club on Saturday! This was my month to plan something, and I suggested candle making. There’s a cute spot downtown where we can make candles (maybe with some book-related scents, like old paper or coffee? Hmm) and I’m excited to have a fun Saturday out with my girls! We’ll probably get lunch afterward since we have to wait two hours for our candles to set after we make them.

Excited… to announce that I got a promotion! It was entirely unexpected, as I thought I would have to wait for the next promotion cycle in a few months but our organization is going through a reorg, which entailed restructuring the way some of our teams function. Because of that, it was crucial to give me a promotion during the Q1 cycle, which is really exciting! I have a senior management title now, which just boggles my mind. Who is this girl?!

Buying… an Apple watch! I feel like I am so late to the Apple watch game, but when I learned I could use my wellness stipend for an Apple watch, it was a no-brainer. A free Apple watch? Sign me up! I got it last week and have had such a fun time playing around with it, and finding new ways for it to enhance my life.

Grateful for… winning a raffle! I’ve never won anything like this, but I bought some raffle tickets at the pediatric cancer walk I went to on Saturday and won the raffle I entered! I’m getting a $50 gift certificate to Aveda, which is really exciting because the last time I was at my salon, I saw that they have a line of products specifically designed to help oily scalps and I am here for that. I’m interested in trying this exfoliating scalp treatment, but a 5 oz bottle is $53! (I can’t remember if they had the travel size in the salon, which is $14 for .85 oz.) But with a gift certificate, I can give the full-size bottle a try without breaking the bank. Hooray for that!

Any tips, tricks, or app ideas for my Apple watch? What is something you’re loving right now?

Categories: Recurring Series

Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow

Yesterday, I…

  • Got to tell two of my direct reports about their promotions! It almost felt as good as getting a promotion myself! They both got new titles and a nice little salary adjustment, so they were really happy. I love sharing good news like that!
  • Listened to my mom’s episode of our podcast. This month, Bri and I sat down with our mothers to talk about their personalities, what it was like to raise us, and what our relationship is like today, and it was such a delight. My mom’s episode released yesterday and I couldn’t listen to it fast enough.
  • Had lunch with my mom. We went to a deli that’s a quick drive from my apartment that’s our favorite weekday lunch spot. It was a nice break in my busy day.
  • Booked tickets for New Orleans! My mom and I have been lightly contemplating a trip to New Orleans to see one of our favorite comedians, Nate Bargatze. (We missed him when he was in Florida last year!) I’ve never been to New Orleans and this was our pandemic trip—we planned to go in April 2020 and had to cancel it for obvious reasons. So now we’re going in May! Yay!

Today, I…

  • Need to call my doctor’s office! I was supposed to do an in-lab sleep study tonight but on Monday, they called me to tell me that insurance wouldn’t cover the sleep study. However, insurance will cover an at-home sleep study, so I need to follow up with my doctor’s office to get that scheduled/figure out how to get the equipment and such.
  • Don’t have too many meetings, thankfully. Yesterday, I had meetings from 11am-4pm! Thankfully, there was an hour-long break in between those meetings so I could eat lunch, but whew. It was a lot for me, and I don’t know how those of you with meeting-packed days every day do it.
  • Need to stop by the library to pick up a few books—I’ve been very bad about picking up my library books before they get sent back to their respective branches, so I can’t let that happen again!
  • Have dinner scheduled with my dear cousin Rachel. She’s the cousin who lost her father last year, and she just announced that she’s pregnant, so this will be a celebratory dinner! The timing of her pregnancy is so special because she found out in January, mere weeks after her dad passed away. While it’s devastating that he won’t be around for this little one, there’s something about death and new life and all of that.

Tomorrow, I…

  • Start my weekend! I scheduled tomorrow and Friday off from work because I just felt like having a long weekend (love having flexible time off!) I don’t have any major plans with this time off, although I would like to complete a project or two around my apartment. Maybe.
  • Have an appointment to get my eyebrows tinted. I have blonde eyebrows that are so light, it almost looks as if I don’t have eyebrows unless I fill them in with an eyebrow pencil. It’s an annoying task I do almost daily and I’m hoping that eyebrow tinting (along with a quick wax) will give my eyebrows a bit more definition.
  • Have a massage scheduled. My sciatica has been really bad for the past week or so—even just a quick walk around the block causes it to ache. I’m trying to do sessions with my heating pad and sciatica stretches to help alleviate the pain, and I hope a massage will help even more.
  • Plan on working on some March goals that need to be completed, like working through one section of the “I’m Dead, Now What?” book and reorganizing my blog tags/categories. Fun times!

What is something you did yesterday, did/are doing today, and want to do tomorrow?

Categories: Recurring Series

One Picture Per Hour | Saturday, March 16, 2024

7:37 a.m.: I’m snuggled up in bed with the girls, trying to summon the energy to get up. The girls never pester me about breakfast – they’ll give me some meows from time to time, but they’re very patient with me. I appreciate it!

8:41 a.m.: On my way to my writing date with Mikaela! You can see the album I’m listening to for the month of March in this picture!

9:21 a.m.: I’m at Starbucks with Mikaela and working on my podcast outlines for later today. I like to write out full paragraphs of what I’m going to say while Bri just uses our original short, bullet-point outlines. Another way we’re different!

10:51 a.m.: At the end of our writing date, I requested a photo with Mikaela. She wanted to pose with her drink container like this. Heh. We had a good writing date! I was able to get my podcast outlines done and Mikaela wrote a good amount of words in her memoir. She read a few pages to me at the end of our time together and they were so good, like all her pages are.

11:30 a.m.: It’s podcasting time! Bri and I have a quick catch-up and then we get down to business. Tessie, Bri’s adorable greyhound, snoozes next to us the whole time.

12:24 p.m.: First episode down! We take a quick break before we record the second episode and I use the time to take a selfie. Our second episode was a really fun one to record and I’m excited for you guys to hear it next month!

No photo for the 1:00 hour – completely forgot! We finished recording our second episode of the day and then broke down our recording “studio.” And then we scheduled some lady dates/recording dates for April and May!

2:31 p.m.: A quick snack break before heading over to my mom’s house for the rest of the day. Typically, the snack I would pick up would be chocolate + a soda—delicious? yes. filling? not so much. So I tried to find something that would have a bit more protein, like these pepperoni-wrapped cheese sticks. And I got seltzer water instead of a soda. Would it have been okay if I had gotten a Dr. Pepper and M&Ms? Absolutely. I’m allowed to eat whatever I want! But I chose something different this time to boost my blood sugar, and it definitely hit the spot.

3:05 p.m.: Chippy! Today is Chip’s 6th birthday so I wanted to spend some time with him today to celebrate. I shared some videos of puppy Chip on Instagram Stories on Saturday. He was such a cute puppy, but omg, he had so much energy! He never settled down unless he was in his crate. He’s mellowed out a LOT since then! I got to have some snuggle time with him on Saturday, which was very fun.

4:26 p.m.: My mom and I went on a little shopping spree at PetSmart and Target to find some fun birthday presents for Chip. He is remarkably hard to buy gifts for because he derives joy not in having toys but in destroying them. Even toys designed for “monster chewers” can be destroyed by him. So we searched far and wide for toys that will maybe last more than 5 minutes with him! He was very happy to get some fun toys to destroy.

5:41 p.m.: You can see in this picture that Chip has already almost torn one of the fins off the fish, so I call BS on how tough this toy supposedly is. But I always buy toys for Chip knowing he’s going to destroy them, and that’s what he loves. So I’m not too bothered by it. I spend the next hour or so just sitting on the couch, playing games on my phone. It’s been a busy day and I need some disassociating activities.

6:33 p.m.: It’s game night, baby! My brother and younger nephew come over for a good night of games and pizza. I win the first game we played, which is called Blank Slate. It’s the first time we’ve played with Dominic who just turned 9, and he managed to score some points but it was definitely harder for him than us. (Premise of the game is that there are a deck of cards and mini dry erase boards for each participant. One person draws a card that has a blank and then a common word, like “____ wash” or “prime ____ .” Everyone writes down what should go in that blank and you’re trying to match other people. If you match with one other person, you get three points. If you match with more than one person, you get one point. If you don’t match with anyone, you don’t get any points.)

7:18 p.m.: We took a pizza break after playing Blank Slate and now we’re onto our second game of the night: Five Second Rule. The premise of this game is that you have 5 seconds to name three things in any random category. If you can’t name them, then the person next to you gets a chance to name them but you cannot include anything already named. For example, if the category is “name 3 reindeer” and one person says Rudolph and Blitzen… the person who is trying to steal can say any reindeer except for Rudolph and Blitzen. It’s a game where you have to think on your toes! Funny story in this one is that I confidently named 3 types of insurances as: homeowner’s, car, and auto… until my mom said car and auto were the same thing. Dangit!

8:28 p.m.: We’re still playing Five Second Rule! In case you think this evening is going perfectly, there was a bit of attitude over using a phone and not paying attention to the game. I’ll let you deduce who was involved in that.

9:51 p.m.: Finally snuggled in bed! I got home a little after 9 pm, gave the girls some attention (and treats, as Lila demanded), and then took a relaxing bubble bath. At that point, I should have done my skincare routine, tidied up the apartment, unpacked all my stuff from earlier today… but instead, I put on my pajamas and got right into bed. I was tuckered out! (And I wasn’t feeling great, either. My sciatica has been really bad the past few days and my back was hurting a lot, and I was dealing with some odd pelvic pain, so all I wanted to do was lay down.)

 

10:46 p.m.: I’m cheating a little with two photos at the 10:00 hour. I was reading my book and the cats were snuggled up on either side of me: Lila on my left and Eloise on my right. Whenever all of us are on the bed together, I exclaim, “We’re having family time!” I love this little family of mine. <3 I went to sleep a little after I took these photos, and I was apparently very tired because I slept until 11:30 a.m. the next day! I can’t remember a time when I’ve slept so late!

What’s something you did on Saturday?

Categories: Recurring Series

Five for Friday (v. 100)

1) Nose piercing

Engie has asked for more information about my nose piercing, so I’m here to answer that! It’s been almost two months since I got the piercing and the healing process has been fairly easy. The first night, my nose was incredibly sore but that healed after a day. Moving the piercing around in my nose was very, very painful (which I had to do twice a day to keep the wound clean, ack!) for quite a while (maybe a few weeks?) but now I can move it around easily. Two or three weeks after getting the piercing, I accidentally pulled the piercing out of my nose when I was washing my face (the stud caught on the washcloth and pulled clear out!). It was so painful to get it back in—and complicated since the stud has an L-shaped backing. I had to look up on YouTube how to put it back in!

Most of the time, I don’t realize the piercing is there—I often worry it has accidentally slipped out of my nose and slap my nose in a panic, making sure it’s still there. Engie asked specifically about sneezing. Let me tell you: Sneezing was terrifying for the first week or so after my piercing. I felt like I was sneezing a lot more than usual, and every time I sneezed, I was convinced the piercing fell out. But it never did! I don’t think it hurt to sneeze, but it just felt weird.

Lastly, let’s talk about the L-shaped backing. It’s something like this:

I was concerned about having something stuck in my nose at all times. Would it feel weird? Would I want to sneeze all the time? The short answer is that most times, I don’t feel it at all. But sometimes, it annoys the hell out of me. Every now and then (typically after a good sneeze), the backing will rotate around in my nose to where the bottom part is sticking out of my nostril. Not a cute look! So I have to rotate it back inside my nose and fiddle around with it for a while until it’s in a good spot where it’s not bothering me.

I think those are all my nose ring thoughts for now! If you have more questions, please ask! I’ll be able to replace the stud with a hoop very soon, and I am super excited about that!

2) TV Talk

Suzanne asked me to talk more about TV, specifically she said: “I want to know all the shows on your consideration list! And why TV shows vs. reality shows? I need more details!!!!” Well, Suzanne, I am so happy to oblige!

I feel that I approach TV shows the way most people approach reading. I usually just watch whatever people are talking about and I get my recommendations solely from other people. I have my comfort shows that I watch over and over again (Brooklyn 99, Parks and Rec, Gilmore Girls, etc.) and I also love watching reality TV, specifically competition reality TV. I love Big Brother, The Traitors, Survivor, The Amazing Race, Master Chef, The Challenge, Squid Game (the U.S. version at least), and most recently The Circle. I was all in on American Idol and America’s Got Talent and The Voice when those were more popular shows. In many of these competition shows, you have to think strategically and have a good social game to make it far. It’s exciting to see people get eliminated and exciting to watch the drama unfold. The drama feels low stakes and something so removed from, uh, reality that it’s not stressful. It’s just fun. Plus, I can kinda turn my brain off when I’m watching these types of shows since there isn’t a storyline to follow for the most part.

However, I want to be a more well-rounded TV watcher, which is why I made the goal of watching one season of a TV show every month. Since most TV shows these days aren’t the typical 26-episode run, it feels like a doable goal. But I’ve also fallen back on some of my reality TV habits, sigh. I keep a list in my phone of possible TV shows (and documentaries) to watch, although I usually just start the show that was most recently recommended to me when I’m in the mood for something new. Here’s my current list:

For the purpose of my goal, the TV shows I want to check off my list the most are Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Apples Never Fall, Lessons in Chemistry, and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. I’d also love to start working my way through either Everything’s Sunny or Jane the Virgin, but that feels like a big commitment. I also still need to watch the last season of Ted Lasso, ack! So much TV, so little time, as they say.

3) Closet organization

I wanted to share some photos of my newly organized closet! This was a labor of love and now that it’s complete and everything is in its rightful place, I feel such a sense of calm when I step into my closet. Here’s the left side of the closet:

The brown basket holds all sorts of paper goods—planners, journals, etc. And then I have an empty space where I can keep all of my “worn but not dirty” clothes. Right now, my “worn but not dirty” clothes include some workout clothes that I’m wearing on my walks (officially time for shorts/tanks for my walks), a pair of jeans, and some cotton shorts and a T-shirt that are my current “lounge clothes.” Near the end of the shelf, I have some things I need to frame/hang up, my current stack of books that will be donated to LFLs in the future, and my file box with my “deal with it later” bin sitting on top.

Right underneath this shelf, I’ve moved a four-cube bookcase. It gives me a bit more shelf space to play around which, which is nice. Going clockwise, the first bin holds extra coloring books/supplies, the second bin holds additional sheets, the third bin holds an extra quilt, and the fourth bin holds gift bags/gift supplies. On top of the shelf, I have some free weights (probably need to donate those…), backup paper towels, and a tiny basket with some backup scents I got from Bath & Body Works (mostly hand sanitizer, Wallflower refills, and car air fresheners). I also have a cat scratching pad that I need to give the girls!

And lastly, we come to the right side where all of my containers are stacked up! These are labeled on the picture but do not have actual labels on them, which is something I’d like to do in the future. Thankfully, they’re clear containers so I can see everything in them but labels would be a nice touch, I think.

4) Bloodwork results

I got my bloodwork results back and things didn’t look great. My cholesterol remains high (just a few points above normal, but still) and my triglycerides are very, very high right now. I also scored just a few tenths of a point below the threshold for diabetes when it comes to my A1C and my glucose was also pretty high. None of this is all too surprising for me, as I continue to struggle with hypoglycemia issues and I know I haven’t been following a super healthy diet. It’s also a wake-up call for me that I really need to focus on lowering my sugar intake, getting more exercise, and adding more fruits and veggies to my diet. Thankfully, I have a dietician who can help me with all of the above! We had an appointment yesterday and before the appointment, I forwarded my bloodwork report to her so she could take a look and help me make a plan of action. We’re going to increase our appointments to every other week and work on ways to clean up my diet so I can get back to a normal range. In six months, I’ll get my bloodwork done again and hope to see the numbers trending in a better direction. Right now, we’re focusing on cleaning up my breakfasts (goodbye sausage egg McMuffins and sugary cereals from my childhood) and making sure I try to add a fruit or veggie to every meal. So, I can have that frozen pizza but let’s add a side salad to it so I still get some of the green stuff. I’ve also decided to join a gym! My mom has been asking me to join Crunch Fitness with her for a long time, so we’re going to do that next week. I’ll have a built-in accountability buddy and my goal is to get to the gym twice a week for a workout that raises my heart rate, as these walks I’ve been doing—while good for my mental health—aren’t doing much for my physical health.

5) Weekend plans

It’s going to be a busy weekend around here. Today, I have a hair appointment in the afternoon and then I’ll probably come home, take a nap, and then order takeout and watch the Love is Blind reunion. Tomorrow, I have all the things! It starts with a writing date with Mikaela, recording two podcast episodes with Bri, and then heading over to my mom’s to celebrate Chip’s birthday and do game night with the fam. And Sunday? It’s a day with zero plans. I will likely sleep in, do some grocery shopping, and try to get some chores done. Exciting stuff!

What’s a TV show on your to-be-watched list?

Categories: Recurring Series

Currently in February

Loving… our Instagram Reels for the podcast. Bri’s husband, Sean, had the amazing idea that we should be doing Reels to go along with our podcast episodes, and he even offered to make the Reels for us. (It’s something he does for his job, so he’s familiar with the technology.) So on our latest episode (about attachment styles!) we filmed ourselves on our phones while we recorded the podcast and then sent the recordings to Sean and he was able to create two very fun Reels from them. We posted our first Reel last week and it’s so good! Sean did such a great job. Our next Reel will be posted this week. 🙂

Loathing… scalp psoriasis. I finally scheduled an appointment with my dermatologist to talk about a new treatment regime because what I’m currently on is no longer working. What’s been happening is that my scalp gets these dry skin patches in two separate areas (the back of my head, right above my ears) so I use my steroid treatment, which is seeming to over-correct the problem. It takes away the dry skin but leaves me with inflamed spots that are so, so itchy. I’ve been slathering my hair with a specific psoriasis cream and it helps a little, but not as much as I’d like. Hopefully, my derm can help! My appointment isn’t until early next month but I was put on their cancellation list so I’m crossing fingers and toes I can get in with her this week.

Reading… three books. How to Be Yourself: Quiet Your Inner Critic and Rise Above Social Anxiety by Ellen Hendrickson, which has been chock-full of helpful tips. Alongside that, I’m reading Morbidly Yours by Ivy Fairbanks, which has been a fun contemporary romance so far. And on audio, I’m listening to The Seven Year Slip by Ashley Poston. What am I not reading? My Brilliant Friend. I tried, you guys, but it was just a slog for me and I finally gave up.

Watching… The Circle. When we did our PowerPoint night for book club, my topic was “Book Club’s Reality TV Futures,” and I paired each book club member with a specific reality TV show to go on. For my own reality TV future, I gave myself The Circle. The premise of this show is that all of the contestants live in a beautiful apartment (ALONE!) and communicate with other members using a voice-activated app. You can choose to play as yourself or as a catfish. And every few days, everyone rates each other from their favorite to least favorite. The top two players are the “influencers” of the group and can choose who of the remaining players to “block.” It’s a game of social skills and strategy, but you get to do it all while living by yourself and not having to be around people 24/7, which sounds like the perfect fit for me. (And you are allowed to read during your downtime, so just think of how many books I could get through!) Anyway, I blew through the first two seasons this month and I’m hooked.

Listening to… “Stick Season” by Noah Kahan. He has really blown up recently and I started hearing about him all over my Instagram feed so I decided his newest album (released in 2022) would be my February album to listen to. I really, really enjoyed it! He has such a great voice and I love the soulful nature of his songs.

Anticipating… The Popcast Live! The Popcast is my favorite podcast and I have been dying to go to one of their live shows. This year, when they announced they would be in Chicago in June, I immediately texted Kim to find out if she had the weekend open. She did and we made plans to go to the show together. I AM SO EXCITED, YOU GUYS! Not only will I get to see my favorite podcasters in person, but I’ll also get to spend time with one of my all-time favorite humans, so it’s a win-win for me.

Thinking about… eliminating Ubereats (and other food delivery) from my life. I love the convenience of food delivery, but it’s rare for me to actually enjoy the food (it’s always better straight from the kitchen to your table at the restaurant!) and it’s gotten so expensive lately. It’s easy to spend $35+ on one order for one person, and that’s just ridiculous. I would like to use it very sparingly and just for special occasions—like ordering lunch on a day filled with meetings. I’ve finally come around to the reason so many of you don’t use these food delivery services. It took me a while to get here, but I made it!

Buying… new skincare products. I’ve been using Paula’s Choice products for a long time now (a few years, at least) but I really haven’t noticed a big difference in my skin. My main problems are oiliness, redness, and uneven skin tone. I also deal with hormonal acne, but there’s not really a skincare product that can help with that unfortunately. After doing some light Internet research, I settled on giving La Roche Posay a try. Their products are seemingly very helpful for people with skin tones similar to mine, so we’ll see! It can’t hurt to try, right? I’m going to replace my cleanser, toner, serums, retinol, and moisturizer with LRP products. I’ll keep using The Ordinary’s niacinamide product (since it doesn’t appear LRP offers this treatment on its own, womp). I’m hoping to do a follow-up post in a few months about my skincare routine—a lot has changed since that original post.

Grateful for… a doctor who listens to my concerns. I went to see my primary care doctor last week, and one of the reasons for that visit was to see about getting a referral for a colonoscopy. I’m not having any symptoms that make me nervous, but my grandma had colon cancer and I read an article about how people in their 30s are getting diagnosed with colon cancer more often, so it scared me. Unfortunately, my doctor can’t just give me a referral due to “anxiety,” lol, but she did walk me through the protocol she would need to go through to get me that referral. And I learned that I am not at increased risk of colon cancer! I always thought I was, but guidelines have changed recently. Now, you have to have a first-degree family member who was diagnosed (my grandma is second degree, so she doesn’t count) or a second-degree family member who was diagnosed under the age of 45 (grandma was in her mid-60s) or multiple family members diagnosed with colon cancer (so far, it’s only been grandma). So not only did my doctor walk me through the guidelines and protocol for colonoscopies, but she also really assuaged my fears! Now I can confidently wait until I’m 45 to get my first one, and I’m not too upset about that.

What are you currently loving and loathing?