Monthly Recap | February 2025

Hello, friends! It’s time for my monthly recap for February. Before we get into all of that fun stuff, I want to start with two disclaimers:

1. The “money” category – Yes, I am linking to products bought on Amazon and Target. I know! I am trying to reduce my reliance on them, but I did not work on this at all in February. I am trying to find a good alternative to Target for household supplies/toiletries (maybe Aldi?) as well as all those little items I buy from Amazon that are hard to find in regular stores. I think it’s all about being a more conscious consumer.
2. The “journal” category – Last month, I shared tidbits from my One Line a Day journal from the month. Since I participated in Elisabeth’s F.I.G. Collective in February, you guys saw a lot of the (shareable) items from my journal. So instead, I thought it could be interesting to look back on what I wrote down in previous years in February. So that’s what you’ll get there!

Okay, let’s get on with the monthly recap!

BOOKS

Reading Stats of January

• Books read: 9
• Number of pages read: 3,138
• Average star rating: 4.14
• Average time to finish a book: 13 days
• Format breakdown: 44% print, 44% audiobooks, 12% e-books
• Genre breakdown: 90% fiction, 10% nonfiction
• # of DNFs: 0
• Audiobook reading: 38 hours, 58 minutes (actual time: 22 hours, 48 minutes)

Reading Superlatives of January

• The best book I read in January: The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery
• The worst book I read in January: Good Material by Dolly Alderton
• The book I was surprised to love: The Lost Story by Meg Shaffer
• The book that taught me the most: Glucose Revolution by Jessie Inchauspe
• Most deserving of the hype: The Favorites by Layne Fargo

Reading List (from favorite to least favorite)

1. The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery (audiobook, 1926) ★★★★★
2. Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo (print, 2020) ★★★★★
3. The Lost Story by Meg Shaffer (audiobook, 2024) ★★★★★
4. Glucose Revolution: The Life-Changing Power of Balancing Your Blood Sugar by Jessie Inchauspe (print, 2022) ★★★★★
5. The Favorites by Layne Fargo (print, 2025) ★★★★☆
6. The Family Game by Catherine Steadman (audiobook, 2022) ★★★★☆
7. Beginner’s Luck by Kate Clayborn (print, 2017) ★★★☆☆
8. The Pairing by Casey McQuiston (e-book, 2024) ★★★☆☆
9. Good Material by Dolly Alderton (audiobook, 2023) ★★★☆☆

MEDIA

• Big Brother, season 2 – My mom and I watched this very old season of Big Brother together. It aired in the summer of 2001 and I didn’t realize that the last days of the season took place on and after September 11th. It was really sobering to watch the houseguests learn about the terrorist attack. One of the contestants left in the house had a cousin who worked at the World Trade Center and was missing. (Her family later learned that she had died during the attack.)
• Hollywood Squares – This is a completely silly show and if you’re looking for something mindless and fun, please give this revamped game show a try! Nate Burleson hosts and Drew Barrymore is the center square, and it will really help you take your mind off the madness happening in the United States right now.
• The Floor, season 3 – Another game show! Am I in my game show era? It’s hosted by Rob Lowe and it has a very simple concept: you are given one piece of the “floor,” which is your expert category. This could be anything – as basic or as niche as you want. (Sports MVPs, agriculture, directors, Fortune 500 CEOs, bathroom products, 20th century inventions, Beyonce songs, etc., are just some of the categories this season.) And then if you get picked to play, you have to challenge someone in a category, so you have to be pretty well-versed in many different topics. It’s fun because some of the categories are really easy for me and others are startling hard!

MONEY

Favorite purchase of Febuary:

A new purse ($24). It was time for a purse upgrade and this one is perfect! I wanted something bigger to hold more items, my smaller belt bags weren’t cutting it anymore. I love how roomy it is and that it has lots of compartments on the outside so I can slip my phone and keys into them and not have to dig around in my purse to find them again.

Most delightful little indulgence of February:

Double-grip hair clips ($9). My mom is my influencer for this product, as she has a set of these at home and I really loved them. They have a comb teeth design that provides a much better grip for fine hair. (Traditional hair clips are fine, but if I’m trying to pin my bangs back while my hair is down, the clip usually slips right out of my hair, which is the opposite of what I want it to do.)

Most regretful purchase of February: 

Game tokens. I love my iPhone games and most are free (or there’s a one-time premium fee, which is usually always worth it so I don’t have to sit through ads). Some of my games don’t have ads but do make things tricky by ensuring you have to buy tokens in order to move forward through the game. It’s annoying, for sure, but I derive great joy from these games and I consider it a way to show my appreciation to the app developers. So I’m okay with spending a few dollars a month on game tokens. Not THIRTY-SEVEN DOLLARS in one month. Unacceptable.

Number of books purchased in February: 12 (omg, I have a problem)

• Penitence by Kristin Koval (Book of the Month)
• We All Live Here by Jojo Moyes (Book of the Month)
• Famous Last Words by Gillian McAllister (Book of the Month)
• The Wishing Game by Meg Shaffer (Book of the Month)
• The Lion Woman of Tehran by Marjan Kamali (Book of the Month – but this one was free!)
• Promise Me Sunshine by Cara Bastone (Book of the Month)
• Shark Heart by Emily Habeck (Tombolo Books, my local indie)
• Sipsworth by Simon van Booy (Tombolo Books, my local indie)
• Lost and Lassoed by Lila Sage (Steamy Lit, a romance bookstore)
• Lovelight Farms by B.K. Borison (Steamy Lit, a romance bookstore)
• The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen by KJ Charles (Steamy Lit, a romance bookstore)
• Done and Dusted by Lila Sage (Target)

Best recommendation:

Nail polish remover ($3). I’m pretty sure I’ve recommended this product before, but since I had to replenish mine this month, I thought I’d do so again. This remover comes in a little tub that’s filled with acetone and lined with a sponge. You stick your finger into the tub and rub it all around to remove your nail polish. So easy!

JOURNAL

• February 2, 2023 – Book club! We all got permanent jewelry. It was very expensive but super fun.
• February 3, 2024 – Such a fun day! Amber, Lynn, Mikaela, Olive, and I went to Parkesdale Market for strawberry shortcake and then strawberry picking.
• February 7, 2022 – I’m feeling really comfortable in my new role, but the cadence of my days is so different. It feels really weird.
• February 9, 2023 – Mark called me tonight and we talked for 30 minutes. We never talk on the phone!
• February 10, 2022 – Podcast brainstorming session with Bri. We got so much done, including planning out 30+ episodes.
• February 15, 2024 – Crazy day! Had a dental filling at 10 and then my lip ballooned triple in size! I think I had an allergic reaction to the topical lidocaine.
• February 16, 2024 – Lila’s annual vet appt. She gained another pound, ugh. Also – it took 14 mins to get her in her carrier.
• February 17, 2022 – Book club. We surprised Mikaela with a mini baby shower, which was delightful.
• February 24, 2022 – Woke up to the news that Russia invaded Ukraine. This is really scary.
• February 24, 2023 – We started recording episodes of season 4. Yay!
• February 26, 2023 – Dominic’s bday party. It’s crazy to watch these kids (and their friends) grow up.
• February 28, 2024 – I was able to get an emergency appt with my derm and have a new treatment plan for my scalp psoriasis. Thank goodness!

OVERVIEW

What went well

• The Finding Joy in Gratitude Collective – This gratitude challenge was exactly what I needed. Not only was it a good practice for me to sit down at the end of every day and reflect on the good moments, but it was also a breath of fresh air to open Feedly on the weekends and see an explosion of posts about everyone’s FIGs. It was like a blanket of goodness in a bleak time. I am so glad Elisabeth hosted this challenge!
• Meeting Birchie and showing her around St. Pete – I feel so grateful that Birchie made the long drive to the other coast of Florida to meet me and enjoy some good, ole IRL bloggy time. We had a wonderful time together! It was really fun to put together some ideas that are quintessentially St. Pete. In the end, we decided to do brunch at my favorite spot (The Library), peruse my favorite indie bookstore (Tombolo Books), go to the Dali Museum (which Birchie got us in for free thanks to her museum pass!), and do coffee flights at The Blend. We also chatted books, bloggers, real life things, pets, and sooo much more!
• Being social – It was a big social month for me, and all of it made me feel good and connected to my people. I needed that! Bri and I celebrated our 10th annual Galentine’s day with dinner and seeing Paula Poundstone. I met up with friends to check out a new romance bookstore that opened up in Tampa and then we went to dinner. Bri and I had a podcast recording date (our first one in six months!). I met up with some friends and their kiddos for a library date. And of course, there was book club where we went to breakfast, made bracelets, and then sat outside to discuss the book.

What was challenging

• Political turmoil – Do I need to say more here? Things are dark in the United States and we are swiftly moving toward authoritarianism. It’s scary and it’s hard to find peace in the present moment when all I can think about is what our country is going to look like after a few years of this nightmare. I know it’s naive of me, but I really hoped there would be some Republicans in Congress who would stand up to this administration, who would understand the threat to our democracy, but they are all spineless weasels.
• Parking woes – Ugh, dinging up Ruby due to my own poor spatial awareness in a parking lot was not my finest hour. Thankfully, the scratches are minimal but I would like to get them fixed because she keeps telling me how “embarrassed” she is to be in public looking like a “trainwreck.” Girl cars, man!
• Carpal tunnel pain – My carpal tunnel continued to be a pain this month. Mostly, I’ve been dealing with a tingling sensation in my thumb and forefinger and a burning sensation in the pad of my thumb. I’ve been trying everything to help it: wearing a splint every night, icing it, using heat, topical lidocaine, using a hand massager, etc. I even bought an ice pack glove that I could use to make sure my wrist, palm, and fingers were getting iced at the same time. It was miserable! But then… I started taking supplements. I swear, the day after I started taking turmeric and fish oil, the pain dissipated. It’s not 100% gone and I’m still wearing a splint to bed, but the numbness and tingling are nearly nonexistent and the burning is happening with less frequency and severity. I am fairly convinced that I’ve had chronic inflammation for a long time now, which is why I’m dealing with so many health ailments, so I’m hoping to continue to figure out ways to lower my inflammation naturally.

Goals for March

A recap of my goals for February: get a new Target card (❌), drop off a Goodwill donation (✅), and hang up my floating bookshelves (❌). (I went through the process of trying to get a new Target card, but they make it so difficult to do this that I just gave up. Ugh.)

• Create my book nook – I need to hang up my floating bookshelves and add some prints to the walls. FINALLY.
• Download a posture app – I want to find an app that combines stretching exercises with posture check reminders. Does such an app exist?
• Watch Dirty Dancing – One of my goals this year is to watch four movies from the first four years I’ve been alive. I was born in 1987 and so many of you recommended that I watch Dirty Dancing, so that’s what I chose!

What’s something you watched in March? What’s something that went well for you this month?