Recurring Series

Five For Friday (v. 36)

1) The maintenance light is on in my car. Like a proper adult, I’ve been ignoring it, hoping it will magically go away, but it hasn’t and I’m going to have to take it in to be looked at. I thought it started blinking because I needed an oil change, but I got the oil changed and it was still blinking. So, it must be something else and I am scaaaared to find out what it is. I really hope it’s something fixable and covered under my warranty. Oh, please, oh, please.

2) I think I need to invest in an old-fashioned alarm clock. Right now, I use my phone but then I find myself scrolling through Instagram or Twitter or Facebook or Pinterest and before I know it, 15 minutes have gone by and the whole reason I was on my phone in the first place was to set my alarm! Sigh. I need an intervention. The truth is, I’m not even all that addicted to my phone. I don’t check it that much, and I usually leave it in my room or in my purse when I’m home. But in those last minutes before I need to be asleep, it’s suddenly oh! I haven’t checked Instagram today! or oh man! What is everyone saying on Twitter right now? or ooh! I remember seeing a notification on Facebook I haven’t checked. I don’t want to remove all social media apps from my phone, so I think the next best thing is to simply use an alarm clock and leave my phone in the living room or bathroom overnight.

3) This upcoming Sunday is the last one without football! My brother and I have been counting down for months, and I am so ready and excited for the 2014 season to start. Sundays without football are very sad Sundays indeed.

4) I was sore for three straight days after the workout I did on Monday. It’s been a long, long time since I have felt so sore – one of those hurt so good feelings! In the workout, you’re supposed to perform 10 sets of the 10 moves, and I only had time for two sets. And I’m not sure if I could have made it through another set, even if I did have the time! It was so hard. I’m going to work my way up to those 10 rounds, though – count on it!

5) I keep forgetting that this weekend is a three-day weekend! I honestly have no plans for Labor Day, other than sleeping, relaxing, and reading a good book. It’s going to be a super low-key, plan-less weekend and I couldn’t be happier!

Do you use an alarm clock or the one on your phone? What are your plans for the long weekend?

Categories: Recurring Series

A Day in the Life: Monday, August 25, 2014

Let’s do another day in the life post! I think I might start doing these once a month because they are so fun to put together. Even if my life is pretty boring. Ha!

4:36am: First alarm goes off.

5:30am: After five or six subsequent alarms (I use Sleep Cycle and then two backup alarms on my Clock app because I’m crazy), I finally get up and take Dutch on a short morning walk.

6:00am: Workout time! I do the “1,000 Reps” workout and make it through two rounds before wanting to pass out. The last time I attempted this workout, I only made it through one round so I deem today a huge success.

6:35am: Start getting ready for work. Waste too much time dilly-dallying and don’t have time to do my hair. Oh well! Days like these, I just throw my wet hair into a bun and call it a day. Pack my lunch. Pack my bag. Head out the door.

7:25am: Commute to work. It’s a little slow on the Interstate today, but not too awful. I am thankful for a fairly easy commute with very few traffic delays!

8:00am: Arrive at work, power up my computer, and put my food away in the fridge. Eat breakfast (cereal!) while writing this post.

8:15am: Get coffee and work on my to-do list for the day. A lot of writing to do today! Once I finish up these pages, I’ll be done with my writing for the month. Right in the nick of time!

8:30am: Tackle the first task on my to-do list, which involves proofing a coworker’s pages that he sent me last week.

10:30am: Email my edits to my coworker, take a bathroom break, and then eat my morning snack while reading a few blogs. Forget to take a photo of my morning snack, but it’s a hard-boiled egg and a cup of green grapes. Yum, yum! It’s while I’m eating said grapes that a coworker comes by to chat. After offering him some grapes, he proceeds to question if cinnamon on grapes would taste good. I had cinnamon at my desk so I offer it to him and he takes the challenge. Verdict? Not bad.

10:45am: Read over 10 pages that I wrote last week to see if I spot any errors (I do!), then send them over to my writing partner for his edits.

12:00pm: Lunchtime! I can take lunch whenever I want to, but I usually go by how I’m feeling. Today, I am hungry by noon and didn’t really feel like getting started on my writing tasks for the day before lunchtime, so I eat early. My lunch is boring (honey/dijon/lime chicken, yellow corn, applesauce with a side of three miniature candy bars), but I get to settle in with Cath and Levi while I eat. (Side note: LOVE. THIS. BOOK. Cath is just… she’s me. Rainbow Rowell has written me in character form.)

1:00pm: Back to writing – I have seven pages to knock out before the end of the day. It’ll take some serious dedication!

3:30pm: Take a break to have an afternoon snack of Teddy Grahams, and also a therapy session with Linda on Gchat. I think I also proposed marriage to her, so there is that.

3:45pm: Back to work, and I have three pages to go! I. Can. Do. This!

5:40pm: Pages done! Whew! Will need a quick read-through tomorrow, but I’ve written them. Yay! Leave work and commute home.

6:00pm: Arrive home to a giddy Dutch. We go on a long walk outside, and it actually feels… nice? There’s a breeze and everything! The heat index has been hovering around 117 degrees the last few days, so I love a tiny cool-down! Anything in the double digits feels divine.

6:15pm: Take a relaxing bubble bath. I’ve mentioned this in other “day in the life” posts, but I take bubble baths almost every day. I love ’em!

6:45pm: Start dinner. I’m making Italian baked chicken, mashed potatoes, and peas for dinner. Super easy and delicious meal! (The chicken consisted of me cleaning one chicken breast, dropping it in a plastic baggie, dumping an entire bottle of Italian salad dressing, and letting it marinate overnight. Not the most exciting meal, but incredibly simple and yummy!)

7:15pm: Dinner is cooking, so I work on this post and read a few blogs while it does its thing.

8:00pm: Finish cooking dinner. The chicken finishes first, then I mash my potatoes, and lastly quickly make a veggie dish.

8:20pm: Sit down with my mom to eat. (We usually eat different meals at different times, but she saw what I was making tonight and wanted some!) Completely forget to take a picture of my dinner, but it was yummy! We watch Masterchef while eating.

9:0opm: Turn on the Emmy’s and it’s a snoozefest. (I’m really not one for award shows!) But nothing else is on, so I watch it while playing on my phone and snuggling with Dutch. We also eat a yummy dessert!

11:00pm: Finally turn off the Emmy’s and start getting ready for bed. (Why did I stay up this late to watch that?!)

11:20pm: Lights out! This is super late for me to be going to bed. I’m usually turning off the lights by 10:00 at the absolute latest. Tomorrow’s alarm is going to hurt!

Are you a snoozer like me? When’s the last time you took a bubble bath?

Categories: Recurring Series

TGIF (v.3)

Happy Friday, friends! What a week! It’s been a busy one for me at work, as I’m trying to finish up my last few writing assignments before the end of the month. I celebrated my one-year “work”-aversary, and had my review with my bosses on Tuesday. My review went really well! I’m happy, they’re happy, we are one big happy family! 🙂 I am so grateful for this job.

My weekend was fairly low-key, though I did attend the Dolphins game on Saturday night with my mom. It was the BEST experience and I’m feeling so thankful and lucky that I was able to go and see my boys play in person. On Sunday, I accompanied my mom to a 5K she ran and then we went out for breakfast, which was super delish! (But Cracker Barrel… it is WAY TOO SOON for Christmas decorations. August?! NOT OKAY!)

The high of my week was attending the Dolphins game on Saturday. It was so special to be there, and we had incredible seats – near the 30-yard line, just a few rows up! It’s the first time I’ve ever seen my team play in person, and it was so darn fun! Luckily, there were a ton of Dolphins fans there and we won the game, so it was just a sweet night.

The low of my week was dealing with nagging knee pain. It started around Tuesday night but thankfully got better within a few days. It was just a dull pain on the back of my knee that I think happened because I kept hyperextending my knee with the way I was sitting in my chair at work. I’m trying to be better about my posture!

A blog post I loved was Stop Rolling Your Eyes and Start Taking Action by Nicole. Gosh, this was such a fantastic post that I don’t even know where to start. Just go. Read it. Now.

“So, clearly, there’s a lot to be said for doing the thing you judge other people for doing, which is something I’ve been thinking about a lot over the past week. I’ve been thinking about how the things we judge and criticize are actually a built-in yellow brick road we can follow to find (and relieve) our own sources of suffering.”

A podcast episode I loved was Kathryn Jackson on The Lively Show. This show was so insightful! I didn’t think I would find it as awesome as I did since it was a little business-focused, but there was some really great advice about handling online overwhelm. I recommend it!

For my goal of working out 31 times in August, I worked out 6 times. Oy, not my best week at all! My bum knee affected a few workouts this week, as I tried to rest it as much as I could. There are just nine days left in August, and I have 12 workouts to complete. Completely doable, but I really have to put in the work this week!

The best money I spent was $68.28 on t-shirts for my mom and me for the game on Saturday. I figured I could buy them since we got the tickets for free! I bought myself a really nice (dri-fit, even!) Dolphins tee, and my mom got a Bucs tee.

My plans this weekend include attending book club (we’re planning on dinner downtown, gelato, and taking the Ghost Tour of St. Petersburg!), doing my fantasy football draft (!!!), seeing my brother and nephew, and trying to have some downtime from a crazy week. It should be a fun weekend!

(As always, thanks to Cait for the awesome TGIF format!)

What was the highlight of your week? Any fun weekend plans?

Categories: Recurring Series

TGIF (v. 2)

Happy Friday, friends! Fridays are really the best, aren’t they? And when you only work 3.5 hours, they are even better!

Let’s dive right into another TGIF post!

The high of my week was ladies’ happy hour with a bunch of work friends. It was a ton of fun! I drank a delicious mojito, shared a plate of nachos with a friend, and really enjoyed the conversation and our view (we saw a pair of dolphins swimming around the bay!). Also, word to the wise: if you ride together with friends to a social gathering, be sure to ride with other introverts because then you get to leeeeave early because you’re all socialed-out together. The best.

The low of my week was the heartache that was found in the news this week. Well, the news is always pretty awful, but this week really broke my heart. First, with the news that one of my favorite actors, Robin Williams, had died. My heart shattered when I learned about his death. He was such a big part of my childhood! (There was a time, when I was younger, that the only movie I ever wanted to watch was Mrs. Doubtfire.) Mental illness is such a scary, scary beast.

And then, there was all the scary stuff happening in Ferguson, MO. Oh, man! It’s been crazy. And frightening. And ridiculous. And I just want this to be resolved. What a mess!

A blog post I loved was Stuff Scarlette Says by Kayla Aimee. This week in the news has been heartbreaking and shameful, to put it mildly. So, instead of linking to one of the many articles talking about the sad stuff, I thought it might be better to link up to something cheerful, light, and would make people smile. Sometimes, that’s exactly what we need. This blog post is a gem!

A podcast episode I loved was Should Tipping Be Banned? by Freakonomics Radio. This episode was so interesting to me! One of the guests on the podcast threw out a crazy stat that in one year (this isn’t an updated stat, so it’s probably higher now!), Americans spent $40 BILLION on tipping. Cue the eyes-bugged-out emoji! That’s so astounding to me. This podcast takes you through some stats on tipping habits, how tipping in America is completely different than the rest of the world, and if tipping is actually discriminatory.

For my goal of working out 31 times in August, I completed 7 workouts! I did four cardio workouts and three strength-training workouts, so I’m keeping balanced with my exercising, which I’m super happy about. I’m at 12 workouts for the month, so I’m behind but I’m okay with that. I know I’ll catch up!

The best money I spent was $16.88 on a drink and a shared plate of nachos during ladies’ happy hour last night!

My plans this weekend include some boring adult stuff, like getting an oil change and doing a ton of workouts. And some fun stuff like going to a Bucs game! My mom’s friend gave us tickets and – this is the best part! – they are playing the Dolphins! Ahhhhh…. I am beside myself with glee!

What was the highlight of your week? Any fun weekend plans?

*Blog post inspired by Cait

Categories: Recurring Series

TGIF (v.1)

I dyed my hair this weekend! It’s pretty red, but I think I like it.

I’ve been following Cait’s blog for a while now and I’ve always enjoyed her TGIF posts. It’s a simple, yet fun way to talk about the week. I’ll be using her prompts, plus a few of my own that I added. So let’s chat, shall we?

The high of my week was supporting my friend as she taught her first-ever spin class. She did an amazing, amazing job! She was full of energy, and really put us through a killer workout. I was so proud of her! Another bright spot in my week involved hanging out with some girlfriends last night and starting my first-ever sewing project (a pillow!). There was pizza consumed, tons of laughs had, and a good time all around.

The low of my week was having to acknowledge that things would not be able to progress any farther with my crush, and it’s time to move on. A crush is fun, and it’s frustrating, and it’s exhilarating, and it’s confusing. But this week, I took a tiny baby step towards seeing if things can develop into something more and was completely shut down which was demoralizing and heartbreaking, but at least now I know I can stop pining and move on to someone else.

An article I loved was “How Melissa McCarthy Sold Out Overweight Women.” The author of this article really brings up an interesting topic on how Melissa McCarthy has spoken candidly about being a positive body image role model, yet how her movies seem to poke fun at her size, especially as it relates to her newest film, Tammy. It was a good read and I could identify with what the author was saying (even if I didn’t totally 100% agree with her).

Tammy, just like Officer Mullins in McCarthy’s buddy cop comedy The Heat, or Megan from Bridesmaids, is rough-hewn and unfeminine, stuffed into the same tent-drab T-shirts McCarthy loathes for herself. However, this, in and of itself, isn’t inherently problematic: We need more female characters who aren’t cosseted by the silken binds of prettiness and likeability. However, McCarthy’s movie characters aren’t just awkward and gonzo, they’re shown as less than, unworthy of the tenderness, love, and yes, good ol’ fashioned fucking, that many people, of all shapes and sizes, really want.

A podcast episode I loved was The Art Of Simple’s episode where she interviews her literary agent. As an aspiring author, it was very interesting and filled with so much good advice! If you want to write a novel – whether fiction or non-fiction – I highly recommend checking this episode out!

For my goal of working out 31 times in August, I completed 5 workouts. This included a hardcore spin workout (so fun! I miss spinning so much.), two workouts on the stationary bike, and two strength workouts (one using the Nike Training app and one using a Pinterest workout). I am three workouts behind but am planning on doubling up today, tomorrow, and maybe Sunday to stay on track.

The best money I spent was $34.30 on materials to hand-sew a pillow! This included a beginner’s sewing kit, a pillow form, thread, and two yards of fabric.

My plans this weekend include a lunch date with a friend this afternoon, getting in a ton of workouts, a possible sewing date with friends, and maybe spending an afternoon or two lounging by the pool. It should be a low-key, relaxing weekend!

What was the highlight of your week? Any fun weekend plans?