anticipating our New England road trip. For so long, I didn’t even know if it would happen or if we’d have to make some drastic changes to our itinerary, but it’s happening. This time next week, I’ll be in Boston!
obsessing over the weather in Boston, Bar Harbor, and Stowe. Every morning, I check my weather app to see how things have changed. So far, it seems like it will be perfectly chilly for us!
refusing to look up fall foliage maps. I do not want to be disappointed if the foliage isn’t as vibrant as I want it to be. There’s nothing I can do about it, so I’ll let myself be surprised!
creating a big master to-do list for the week. There are chores to do, packing to start, an itinerary to finalize, tours to book, and odds and ends like preparing for the cat sitter. AHH!
tracking my daily page count total for a reading challenge at work. Last I checked, I was in the lead, so let’s hope I maintain that! (Today is the last day, so fingers crossed.)
watching the new season of The Traitors US. It’s all “normies” (typically, the cast is filled with reality TV veterans, Real Housewives, and random celebs), and the cast is excellent!
listening to an outstanding thriller called Ask for Andrea by Noelle Ihli. This was a Kim recommendation, and she knocked it out of the park!
choosing my next book to read. Typically, I stick to my strict TBR list when choosing what to read next, but I have a short window between now and when I leave on vacation, so I want something quick and easy I can finish by Sunday evening. I might just pick a book off my shelf on a whim! (Update: I picked up Sipsworth by Simon van Booy.)
researching everything I can about anti-inflammatory diets because I think it’s time to make a big change to the way I eat (ugh)
playing around with my Medrol dose, once again. Right now, I’m back up to 6mg (my original dose was 12mg, before I was on meds), but I think I need to up it to 8mg.
buying an insulated medication travel case because I have to travel with two different medications that need to be kept cold. One of them can be kept at room temperature if needed, but the other one absolutely cannot so… erm… fingers crossed?!
dealing with a facial rash near my nose. It’s not super noticeable, thank goodness, but I haven’t been able to do my normal skincare routine in weeks because of it. My dermatologist believes it’s perioral dermatitis, and she cautioned me that it can be really difficult to treat. Hooray! She prescribed two topical anti-inflammatory meds (I use one in the morning, the other in the evening) as well as a round of antibiotics for a week. So far, no real changes, but it’s still early.
loathing the way my beloved Miami Dolphins are playing this season. And our best player is out for the season. Thankfully, I have my backup team (the 49ers, my brother’s fave team) to root for and they are playing exceptionally well this year!
eating Snickers pumpkins. I don’t love regular Snickers, but give me Snickers shaped like a pumpkin or a Christmas tree or a heart, and I’m all about it!
annoyed by all of the political ads. And since I’m in a blue city in a red state, I get to see allll of the Republican ads.
feeling like I am in a good place with my mental health, after a pretty big dip at the end of August/early September.
What are you currently loving and loathing?
One good thing about only watching hockey is that there aren’t political ads! (Maybe when a game is on TNT or NBC, but not generally on the sports channels.) But the texts and the flyers in the mail are making me crazy.
I loved having a few days of Faux Fall, when we could turn off the AC and open all the windows, ahhh.
I loathe that our elevator still isn’t fixed, and we don’t know when it will be. Living on the 6th floor without an elevator is no joke, and I’ve done more than 1000 flights since May 7th. Ugh!
Ugh, see, the reason I’m seeing so many political ads is BECAUSE of sports! But we watch on Fox/CBS, blergh. The Byron Donalds one drives me INSANE.
I can’t believe your elevator STILL isn’t fixed! That’s a nightmare.
Woo hoo New England road trip!!! I don’t know if foliage will be at “peak” or not but my guess is that it’s going to be pretty darn good. We’re starting to get colors here, and NE should be way ahead of us.
I’m debating Ask for Andrea…I’ve really gotten away from thrillers, but it’s hard to ignore a double thumbs up from both you and Kim. Remember that Kim is the OG rec source for Sky Daddy!
Ask for Andrea was SO good. Highly recommend!
I looked up perioral dermatitis because I love to torture myself, I guess. Do you think it has anything to do with your CPAP?
Right now I’m loving AND loathing how busy I am at work. On one hand, it’s great that my expertise is being recognized and people are requesting my help. On the other hand, I need a chance to breathe! Everything has pros and cons, right?
I thought it was my CPAP at first, but I took a two-week break from it and it didn’t improve. Womp.
Look at you go, Engie! I love that you are being sought after by other people at work. <3 I love that feeling!
I LOVE your fall decorations! I had to zoom in on every single item. How adorable! I want you to decorate my house right now!!
I am also loathing all the political advertising on TV and in the mail.
I am loving the cooler weather! I can actually use my oven again!
I’m so excited for you about your NE trip! I hope you have the most wonderful time!
Awww, you’re so sweet! It makes me so happy to have a fully decorated apartment for fall… it’s so fun!
Oh, I am so excited for you about your trip. Sometimes I forget how lucky we are, in these northern climes, because we can just look out the window! I forget that leaf colours are not something everyone can enjoy. I’m so happy the trip is happening!!!
All your fall decor is adorable and I love it.
You know how I feel about winter, BUT before we get to that horrid time of the year there is fall, glorious fall, and I really lean into the beautiful leaves. Things are officially changing where I live and it’s so gorgeous. I’m sure you’ll see lots of beautiful foliage; ignore the maps and just enjoy the views you get.
Also, your fall decor is SO fun and chic and just perfectly arranged. I love every single item.
I hope the rash clears up. That sounds annoying.
I’m loving that my dad has been transferred to a rehab not far from home (vs the hospital that was super far). I’m also loving a hurdle one of our son’s has overcome. I’m so proud of him.
I’m loathing the fact that my dryer decided to act weird today. It goes from having 120 minutes or whatever to a few minutes later claiming that there’s only one minute left in the cycle and then it stops. Um, that’s not the way to get clothes to dry.
From an hour or so south of Boston, our leaves are just starting to turn so I think you’ll hit a perfect moment on your NE tour! I’m loving cool and crisp mornings and puppy cuddles and loathing meetings about meetings and dust.
I’m loving your fall decorations!!! So cozy and festive. And, I’m also loathing the political ads. So offensive and annoying.
Sigh- the Dolphins. Luckily I also have a backup team- the Bears. They are looking great, beat the Eagles last week with their third-string quarterback.
I’m so excited for your trip!!! Yes, don’t obsess over the foliage. Hopefully you will get some beautiful fall colors, but no matter what it will be chilly and un-Florida-like. You’ll be with your mom and it sounds like you have a lot of great things planned.
I’m excited for your trip! I hope you see beautiful foliage and enjoy the cooler weather. I’m going to be in upstate New York (near Buffalo) a week from Saturday, and I’m hoping I will see some leaves too.
Aww, seeing all your cute Halloween decorations is reminding me I was thinking about getting some of ours out! Today would be the day. We’ll see if that happens 😉
I hope you have perfect weather on your trip and get to wear your cute new coat!
So glad you loved Ask for Andrea ❤️
I’m loathing political ads. Honestly ads for either party tend to annoy me. I am just tired of it all. I want to wake up on the day after election day and have this all behind us.
I am loving that it will cool back down starting tomorrow. It was around 85-90 the last 2 days WHICH IS TOO HOT FOR OCTOBER.
I can’t wait to hear about your trip to the NE! I hope the fall colors didn’t disappoint. Even if they weren’t peak, they probably were very pretty, but I bet they were close to peak in Maine! We are not at peak colors yet but there are burst of colors. I love this season so much and just wish it went slower!