1) I am having such a book hangover after finishing The Martian. I think that book will go down as one of the best books I’ve ever read – and I don’t ever typically read the science fiction genre. But I will read any book Andy Weir writes now and forever, amen. I already want to reread the novel! I just found the characters so engaging and the plot so interesting. I want to see the movie (hello, my favorite actor as Mark Watney? Be still my heart!), but I don’t think I’m emotionally ready. I may have to wait until it’s out on DVD.
2) I offered to bring dessert to my family’s Thanksgiving celebration this year, and I’ve decided to make these double chocolate peppermint cookies and then this chocolate chip cookie pie. It shall be a delicious feast indeed!
3) I went to a hockey game last night! A coworker organized this night for a bunch of us to get together for the game. It was a ton of fun, even if I did hem and haw over buying a ticket. Now that I have so much more on my plate budget-wise, I’m finding myself less and less inclined to spend money on frivolous things. Good in some cases, not so good in others. Like this game. I didn’t need to go to a hockey game, but it’s a night out with some of my favorite people. I guess this is a blog post for another time – weighing the pros and cons of spending money. Cost versus opportunity, or something like that?
In any event, the hockey game was fun, I had a giant pretzel, the Lightning won, and I’m happy I went.
4) So, I’m always way behind in my podcast feed. (It doesn’t bother me; I subscribe to so many shows that I’m usually a few weeks behind.) But I wanted to highlight a super interesting episode from Stuff You Should Know, all about fairy tales and their dark beginnings. I always knew fairy tales had a sinister side to them – at least before they were transformed into the Disney tales we know today – but this episode really brought to light how sinister they were. Highly recommend a listen!
5) I have such a fun weekend planned! (I should have used this week for my Week in the Life series because this week has been/will be much more exciting than last week!) Today, I am having lunch with my mom, then I’ll go straight to my hair salon to get my color freshened up, and after that, I have book club! Whew. On Saturday, Roomie and I are headed to Orlando for a fun day at Universal Studios where I’ll get to experience the Wizarding World of Harry Potter for the first time. (!) Lastly, on Sunday, I have a writing date at Starbucks planned and then I am spending the rest of the day at my mom’s, watching football with her and my brother. Woohoo!
Do you have a problem spending money on social events? What are your weekend plans?
Sounds like you have a fun weekend on deck! I am envious of your flexible work schedule! I would love to be able to take Friday afternoons off! I think perks like that are so great and to me I would take a flex schedule over a raise actually!
I do have trouble spending money on social events unless it is something that I really am interested in. But I do value doings things like going to concerts or plays/musicals/etc. I’m just very choosy about what I say yes to. I am also very careful about what restaurants I go to because while I love food, I can’t justify the high cost of some places. Luckily Phil and I are on the same page on that! Lastly even though I am financially secure, I ALWAYS factor price in when I am ordering at a restaurant. I rarely choose what I think actually looks best because I try to maximize my dining experience while minimizing the cost (to a reasonable extent, it’s not like i pick the cheapest thing on the menu).
We have a fun weekend on deck, too. Tonight we are meeting up with some friends to do a brewery tour. Tomorrow I am running with my club in the morning and then in the evening we are having another couple over and will make dinner and play cards. I have NO PLANS on Sunday at this point which I am oh so happy about. I will have to start doing some prep work for Thanksgiving and the day after Thanksgiving meal I am hosting but I am hoping it’s a relaxing day as I need one of those BADLY!
I love those double chocolate peppermint cookies! I make them every holiday season and eat them with a big glass of milk!
I try and pick and choose where I spend money on social events. I think it’s important to stay in touch with friends, so when I do go out with them, we usually do happy hour or brunch to keep it cheap. When money’s really tight, I’ll have girlfriends over for a wine night where everyone chips in and brings a cheap snack or bottle of wine.
I don’t usually have a problem spending money on social events because they are usually few and far between for us so we always end up doing something we actually really want to do! I definitely understand the hesitance to spend money on some things though and having to weigh the pro’s and con’s!
I hear you about spending money! Lately I’ve been trying lately to focus on spending my money on a) necessities, b) items that I have thought over thoroughly and decided to buy (like my new winter boots), or c) time spent with friends.
I look at time spent with my favourite people as an important act of self care, so if I limit the amount of money I spend on things I don’t need like too many lattés or takeout I can instead spend that money on making memories or buying things I actually need/really want. It’s a work in progress, anyway.
Sounds like you had a fun and lovely weekend planned – hope it was that and more! Your cookies sound absolutely delicious, and have helped sparked my plans to get into holiday baking soon!
I am choosy about the money I spend on social events. My boyfriend and I live on a fairly tight budget, so we try to allocate money for the events we are really interested in. I love hanging out with my friends and most of the time we keep it simple with in-home gatherings and meals out at our favourite not-too-expensive restaurants. I occasionally will go to more involved social events, but they tend to need to be ones I know I will truly enjoy.
As for this weekend, it was more on the low-key side. The fun parts involved going out with a few girlfriends for dinner last night, with chocolate chocolate cake to follow in a very belated celebration of two of the girls’ birthdays, and tonight my boyfriend and I are getting take out from one of our favourite restaurants and relaxing at home. The rest was just work :P.
I don’t really budget my social activities, I just kind of go with the flow & adjust accordingly. If something is a lot of money & I’m *kind of* interested but not super excited about it, I say no. If we’ve been out to dinner a lot in a given month, the next few date nights or dinners with friends will be pizza or cheaper places (usually, places without alcohol so we’re not spending money on drinks). But I don’t have a set budget for it because it’s so sporadic.
I’m so jealous that you can just hop on over to Harry Potter World! Hope you had a great time.