Recurring Series

A Weekend in Pictures

This weekend was pretty fantastic in my world. It’s getting super hot in Florida now (the heat index was 102 on Sunday afternoon. Yikes!), but that’s what pools and beaches and air conditioning are for, right? I don’t mind the heat, but it can get a little too much sometimes.

On Friday night, I headed over to a friend’s house for book club. We ordered pizza, had a good discussion about the book pick for the month, and then chit-chatted about a whole bunch of random stuff. Lots of laughs were had and inside jokes were formed. I love book club!

Saturday kicked off with a walk around a lake with Dutch, to virtually support Becky as she did the Washington, D.C. Walk of Hope to bring awareness and a voice to infertility. Becky is such an awesome lady and it’s been a rough year for her and her husband. I was happy to support them in my very little way!

After that, I headed over to Tampa to meet up with a friend. She lives in the SoHo area of Tampa, which is such a fun area. (It actually feels like a city! I’ve never been a huge fan of Tampa, but she might have convinced me to check this area out when I start looking for a new place to live.) She has the most adorable condo and we spent a few hours soaking up the rays by her pool, then she cooked me a delicious spaghetti lunch! How nice, right? I can’t remember the last time someone cooked for me. (Uh. Aside from family… nobody?! My life is sad.) Then, we walked over to Starbucks (it took less than 5 minutes! DUDE. I can’t walk anywhere in my area that quickly!) and enjoyed a drink before I had to leave.

On Sunday, my mom and I went to church (so happy to be back!), then we took naps and went out to lunch at Tijuana Flats. Then, we visited a local farmer’s market where my. mind. was. blown. Like, I know farmer’s markets are muuuuch cheaper than the grocery store, but I was able to buy one whole watermelon, one whole pineapple, 4 lbs of potatoes, one bunch of green onions, one tomato, and one head of garlic for under $8! I compared the prices at Publix, and it would have cost me almost $18 for all of that. Is that crazy or what?! I will be buying all my produce from them from now on.

The rest of my weekend was quiet. I watched some TV, meal prepped for the week, did laundry and other chores, and caught up on some blogs. A low-key ending to a very great weekend!

***

For the past few months, Kerri’s been doing a post every Monday detailing her “to-do list” for the week. I really love reading her goals for the week, and I thought it couldn’t hurt to make some myself. I think I’ll keep it easy at five goals per week and see how it goes:

1. Make a dentist appointment and call my health insurance company to have them send me a replacement card (I somehow lost mine… so it’s pretty difficult to schedule doctor’s appointments without one, yes?)

2. Work out five times

3. Add two pages to my blog: “Hire Me” and “Contact Me”

4. Write at least 2,000 words in my current WIP and spend at least 1 hour working on my outline for my Camp NaNoWriMo book

5. Drink at least 32 ounces of water each day

How was your weekend? Do you shop at a farmer’s market? Any goals for the upcoming week?

Categories: Recurring Series

Looking Forward

I haven’t done one of these types of posts since October. Most of the time I feel like I don’t have anything coming up that’s interesting enough to talk about. But, nonetheless, since these posts have been popular in the last week or so in the blogosphere, I thought I’d add my own. Enjoy!

Today, I am looking forward to… taking my usual Friday afternoon nap and later on, a book club pizza party!

I always feel like I should be more productive with my Friday afternoons. Maybe do chores, or work on my novel, or take Dutch to a dog park or something. But I look forward to those naps every week! (And so does Dutch. Heh.) I’m also majorly excited to hang out with my friends for pizza, book club chatter, and all other types of girl talk. I look forward to book club every month, and I’m excited to hear everyone’s thoughts on our book pick!

This weekend, I am looking forward to… hanging out with a new friend and going back to church.

My friend and I plan on kicking back and watching Frozen. I’ve never seen it (but I really want to!) and she’s a mega fan, so we made plans to watch it together. (She’s new in town, and we’ve bonded over our love for Vera Bradley, funky eyeglasses, and cute lunch bags, so, it’s a good match, I think!) If I don’t know how to be a cool twenty-something… whaaaat. Ha. Also, church. Yes! I am so pumped to go back to church. I really miss it!

This month, I am looking forward to… my soon-to-be stepdad coming home.

He’s been on the road since early May (he’s a truck driver) and it’s funny, I used to dread the weeks he would be home because things were super awkward between us. But now they are pretty great and he’s awesome company to have around! Plus, I think we’re all heading over to the dog beach while he’s here, which I think he will get a kick out of! (Dutch was rather unimpressed by it – especially the water – but maybe the second time’s the charm?)

This year, I am looking forward to… a Miami road trip and meeting Nora.

In September, two fun things will be happening: my brother and I are driving down to attend a Miami Dolphins football game and Nora will be in Orlando for work. We’re planning to have a fun girl’s day for one of the days she is here. I am stupid, stupid excited!

What are you looking forward to in the coming days, weeks, or months?

Categories: Recurring Series

Currently…

Feeling: A little melancholy. I really, really miss my dad. Father’s Day is probably the hardest day of the year for me to get through, so I tried to take it easy yesterday. I started my day off with a long walk with Dutch, had a yummy lunch with my mom, took a delightful afternoon nap, and finished off the day grocery shopping, doing laundry, and watching episodes of Shark Tank.

Reading: Hot Pursuit by my all-time favorite author, Suzanne Brockmann. It’s the 15th book in the series so, needless to say, I am totally invested in these characters – they feel like family to me!

Thinking: About trying my hand at Camp NaNoWriMo in July. It’s basically like NaNoWriMo (which takes place in November), but you can choose the word count you want to shoot for (from 10,000 to 999,000!). It seems like it would be a fun challenge to take on!

Anticipating: A day trip to Miami with my brother in the fall! We’re going to drive down to see a Dolphins game, and I’m just really excited to spend some solid one-on-one time with him. My brother is one of my most favorite people, and we rarely get time alone with one another anymore. It should be fun! (As long as the ‘Phins win, of course!)

Watching: Last Comic Standing. Oh, my goodness, I love this show so much! It’s one of the few shows I actually watch live because I can’t handle waiting for the new shows.

Wishing: It was easier for me to open up to people in real life. It sounds funny because I have no problem opening up and being vulnerable on my blog, but it’s so hard to do the same to the people in my life. I think this is why I had such a problem with therapy. It just doesn’t feel normal for me to talk about my feelings out loud. In writing? Sure! But in real life? So hard. I’m working on it.

Learning: More about my highly sensitive nature. Being sensitive is a trait I’ve always understood about myself, but recent events have made me more interested in learning about what being a highly sensitive person means and how it has affected my life. Perhaps a blog post to come on this?

Hoping: To schedule more pool days this summer. People always ask me if I spend every weekend at the pool since I have two beautiful pools in my apartment community. And the truth is? Last summer, I probably spent less than five days at the pool! Isn’t that sad? I need to change that this year!

Loving: Cereal. The fact that I’ve kept up with Project 365 (even if it is a pain in the neck some days!). Dutch sleeping on my chest. Writing dates. Accountability check-ins with Nora. Ben & Jerry’s ice cream. Shark Tank. My new cube at work. Sleeping in on the weekend.

What are you currently reading, anticipating, and watching?

Categories: Recurring Series

Five For Friday (v. 33)

1) I bought new eyeglasses! I have been coveting this purchase for well over a year now, and I’m glad I finally got it done. I haven’t had an eye appointment in three years (and let’s just forget about how long it’s been since my eyes were dilated – high school, maybe?), and all my prescriptions were out of date so it’s just an appointment I’ve kept putting off because I knew it would be quite the expense. And it was… but not as bad as I suspected! (Around $400 total for my eye appointment, a six-months supply of contacts, and the glasses themselves. Not bad at all!)

It took me a long time to finally settle on glasses I loved (also, we kept getting tripped up on the ordering process due to insurance problems that finally got settled – SIGH), and I think I was having doubts because the glasses I have currently I really, really hate. They are too wide and boxy for my face, but I bought them without insurance and had to get a cheapo pair. I had an awesome sales lady who helped me out, helping me to find glasses that fit my face. (Did you know the length of your eyeglasses shouldn’t be longer than the length of your eyebrows? And if they follow the shape of your eyebrows, even better!) I finally settled on a pair that I really love and that are a bit funkier than I would normally buy. I can’t wait until they come in!

2) I had lunch with some friends I hadn’t seen in a while last week, and one of them asked me if I was apartment hunting currently, to move out on my own. I fumbled around with my answer a little, at first giving a bald-faced lie and saying yes (I KNOW!), and then saying no, I wasn’t, and that I was stuck in my current apartment lease until September but that I should be looking around soon. I don’t know WHY I said that when I am planning on waiting until next September to move out on my own.

I guess there’s this little (big?) part of me that feels a little embarrassed and shame when talking to people my age who are living on their own, and I’m still living with my mom. There are many reasons for this: renting is expensive, I need to save up more money, I want to pay off a few debts first, I really, really, really like having my mom as my roommate, etc. But I know a lot of people don’t understand this, people who think I should be out on my own now. And I don’t know what to say to that. Because yes, I should but also no, I shouldn’t. I have a really hard time with judgment and criticism and tuning out the voices. People don’t even need to say anything to me – I just worry. I worry people think I’m undateable because I’ve never had a serious boyfriend, that I’m a loser because I’m still overweight, that I’m too dependent on my mom because I still live with her. I know none of those things are true (I think I know this), but it’s hard when you realize you have veered so far off the timeline of when you’re supposed to check things off the map (moving out at 18! Lost the freshmen 15 by 22! Married by 25!), and you have no idea if/when things will ever be checked off. Feelings are so complicated.

3) I went on a little mini-shopping spree last weekend. I have been feeling really blah and uninspired when it comes to my work clothes, so I went to the mall and scored three nice blouse-y shirts, a new pair of dress pants, a casual tee, and a workout shirt for $70. I’m pretty happy about that! It was my one last “hurrah!” before I go on a strict spending freeze for the summer. My spending – between my vacation in early May and buying new glasses and other miscellany purchases – has been a bit out of control lately, and while I’m staying out of credit card debt (able to use them, then pay them off!), I haven’t been good at increasing my emergency savings. So I need to put a stop to all unnecessary spending for the next three months and get back to seriously attacking my debt goals for the year. (I’ll be doing biweekly updates, so be on the lookout for those!)

4) I’m so happy it’s summer TV season. I love the fall/spring line-up, but most of my favorite shows take place in the summer. MasterChef, American Ninja Warrior, So You Think You Can Dance, America’s Got Talent, Last Comic Standing, and I’m also watching The Bachelorette. (Ugh, guilty pleasure!) But I’m eagerly anticipating the premiere of my favorite show of the year: BIG BROTHER! (Please, please, please, please, please let this season not be anything like last season. Last season was so pathetic!)

5) I don’t have much planned for this weekend. I have a hair appointment this afternoon (YAY!) and tonight, I’m meeting up with a friend to work on my fiction novel. Saturday and Sunday? It’s all up in the air! I am craving a few hours by the pool with a trashy romance novel, so I think I should do that, yes?

Categories: Recurring Series

On April

April was a fabulous month! I really, really enjoyed April. I felt really strong and in control. I started working out six times a week (the habit I wanted to change this month!), and it was a successful month of weight loss. Plus, it was just a good month. Nothing terribly exciting happened, just a bunch of little moments that, looking back on, make me smile.

The highlights from April were playing with sting rays at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium (and seeing Winter the Dolphin in person!), participating in Amber’s DietBet and completely changing my healthy living mindset, and making my new favorite dish: Loaded Turkey Santa Fe Baked Potato Skins.

The low point of my month was when Dutch wasn’t feeling well. Having a sick pup is so hard, and even though I knew he wasn’t sick sick, just trying to rid his body of something, it was still a little nerve-wracking. Thankfully, he is all better and back to his old self.

The best thing I spent money on this month was a new pair of dress pants from Loft! They fit me like a glove, are the perfect size length-wise, and I feel really good in them. That’s always nice!

In April, I wrote about the different ways I feel like an adult and the different ways I still feel like a kid, and things I always do, sometimes do, and never do. This month, I also started writing weekly updates on my attempts with losing weight and eating healthily.

The progress I made toward my obsessive goal (losing 50 lbs!) was losing 6 lbs! I am hoping I can bring this momentum into May because April was a terrific month for weight loss and healthy living.

A habit I would like to change in May is getting to bed earlier. I’ve fallen into a pattern of staying up until 10:00 (I know, I’m such a wild party animal), and I really want to get back to my 9pm bedtimes. That means I need to close my laptop, turn off the TV, and be preparing for bed by 8pm so I can have time to read and slowly unwind before turning out the lights. I was doing really awesome with this before, but have fallen out of the habit.

I am looking forward to May because IT’S CRUISE MONTH! Five days, five days, five days! I can’t wait!

1. Get to a healthy BMI and lose at least 40 lbs.

So far in 2014, I’ve lost a little over 8 lbs. I need to lose around 4 lbs a month to meet this goal. Still doable!

2. Pay off my credit cards, start an emergency fund (have at least $1,500 saved), and pay off one school loan.

Credit cards are paid off; the emergency fund is at $360. My upcoming cruise has stalled some money-saving attempts, but I am hoping to add at least $400 to my savings account in May.

3. Read 75 books, including 10 off this list.

I read 8 books in March, putting me at 27 books read this year, and around 3 books ahead of schedule. Wahoo!

4. Get a tattoo.

No progress made yet.

5. Travel to Miami to attend a Miami Dolphins game.

No progress made yet. Waiting for tickets to go on sale! (But the schedule was released so I have a few games on my radar that would be fun to be in attendance for.)

What was the highlight of your April? What was the best thing you bought last month?