Monthly Recap | September 2019

READING

I read 12 books in September – woop! I’m at 101 books for 2019 so far so I upped my reading goal on Goodreads to 125 books. It’s been a good year for reading, that’s for sure. My top three books this month were:

• Bad Blood by John Carreyrou, a nonfiction account of Elizabeth Holmes and her scam medical testing company Theranos. This book read more like a crazy thriller than a real-life story but it IS real life and that is what is most scary.
• Shanghai Girls by Lisa See, a brilliantly written historical fiction book about two young sisters whose father arranges marriages for them to take care of a debt. The two men are, thankfully, brothers but they live in California so the girls must leave their home in Shanghai for America.
• The Mother-in-Law by Sally Hepworth, a totally engaging thriller that reads more like a family drama. It had me on my toes until the very end!

WATCHING

• Schitt’s Creek, season 4 – What can I say about this show that I haven’t already said? It’s wonderful, and funny, and the perfect show to binge after a long day at work.
• Cheers, season 2 – Now that I have a gym to go to (!), I’ve been watching episodes of Cheers on my phone whenever I’m on a piece of cardio equipment. Each episode takes me nearly to the end of a 30-minute workout and I’m flying through the second season now.
• The Good Place, season 3 – Another Ted Danson show! 🙂 When I saw that season 3 was available on Netflix, I was stoked. This is one of my favorite shows and season three was so delightful.
• Downton Abbey, the movie – My mom is a huge Downton Abbey fan and when we saw the commercial for the movie one night, she mentioned wanting to go see it. We both were free last Saturday, so we went and saw it! I have never seen one single episode of Downton Abbey so maybe it was silly for me to go, but I didn’t have too much trouble following the plot and now I really want to watch the whole series! Such a great movie and all those wonderful accents, ahh. (Although, I can’t lie: I got visibly disturbed to see Dolores Umbridge on my screen as the sweet Lady Maud. HEM! HEM!)

LISTENING TO

• Decoder Ring – Decoder Ring is a monthly podcast that is centered on cracking cultural mysteries. From the Baby Shark phenomenon to laugh tracks in sitcoms, the podcast explores the history behind all of these different pieces of pop culture and tries to figure out what they mean and why they matter. It’s an easy podcast to binge since there are only 15 episodes in the archive and I’ve listened to just about all of the episodes so far. It’s super interesting, especially because I’d never guess the true story behind some of our cultural phenomena. (Be warned: if you listen to the Baby Shark episode, you will have that earworm stuck in your head for days.)
• Last Seen – Last Seen is a docu-series about the greatest unsolved art heist in history. In 1990, 13 pieces of artwork valued at $500 million were stolen from a museum in Boston and the paintings nor the thieves have ever been found. It’s INCREDIBLE to think that these 13 paintings are still at large, nearly two decades later, and this podcast delves into the theft, the investigation, and all the crazy leads that the investigators followed for years.
• Imagined Life – Imagined Life is back after a long hiatus and I am so happy for that! It’s one of my favorite podcasts and I highly recommend it to anyone. Every episode takes you on an immersive journey through the life of one famous person, but the catch is: you don’t know who this person is until the end. Instead, you spend the whole episode trying to figure out who this famous person could be. The podcast is hosted by two great voice actors and it’s so well-produced. Definitely give it a listen if you haven’t yet!

BUYING

• INFINITIPRO by CONAIR flat iron ($35) – I’m on a mission to learn how to curl my hair with a flat iron but I was having major difficulties with this goal because I was using such an old flat iron. It was at least five years old and while it worked fine, now that I’m using a new flat iron, I’m realizing how outdated it really was. It took multiple swipes through to straighten my hair and trying to pull my hair through the plates to curl it was nearly impossible. With my new flat iron, straightening is so damn easy and I’ve also been somewhat successful with curling it. Yay!
• Three-shelf bookcase ($15) – Yes, I bought a big beautiful bookcase from IKEA a few months ago and I love it so very much, but I needed a second bookcase. I didn’t want to shell out another $150 nor did I want to spend hours putting another crazy IKEA bookcase together, so I bought a small, cheap bookcase for the time being. It will hold any of the books that won’t fit on my shelf (I only have half a shelf left on the big bookcase!) and other trinkets.
• Pela phone case ($30) – I’ve been craving a new phone case, as the one I’m using is over a year old now. It’s an Otterbox and I’ve been loyal to Otterbox cases ever since I shattered my (brand new!) phone when it was in one of those cheap, pretty cases. (I’ve been too terrified to use anything else!) But I got drawn into an Instagram ad (ugh) and purchased this case from Pela. It’s made from sustainable materials (no plastic!) so it lives up to the eco-friendly goals I’m working towards.

THE HIGHS

• My gym is open! – Only nine months after we expected it to open, my gym is now up and running. Woohoo! I love having a gym to go to, and it’s only a five-minute drive for me so it’s just so convenient to get in a workout. The class schedule is not super ideal but I hope it will change soon. (It appears they are launching a few more classes soon, so yay for that!) I have taken two BodyPump classes and am eyeing a Zumba and BodyCombat class to attend soon.
• Meeting Lisa Unger – I went to a really fun author event in mid-September where a much-loved author, Lisa Unger, was discussing her latest release. As a wannabe novelist, it’s so gratifying to hear successful authors talk about their work and the process of writing. It makes me feel so much less alone in my struggles!
• A friend’s birthday party – One of my dearest friends opened her home to celebrate her birthday. She did it in the most “2” way possible (she’s a classic Enneagram 2!) by feeding and hosting all of us. I got to catch up with a lot of former coworkers, which was so lovely!

THE LOWS

Gosh, I can’t think of anything to include in this section! September was a really wonderful month and my anxiety is at an all-time low. I really don’t know what has caused the shift – maybe the nicer weather, maybe the start of my favorite time of year, maybe the trips I have to look forward to. Or maybe, you know, all the hard work I’ve put in with therapy! But I’m feeling good and I’m so grateful for that.

ANTICIPATING…

• BOSTON – Our annual girls’ trip is coming up soon! We leave two weeks from yesterday and I CAN’T WAIT. I am ready for cooler weather, fall colors, and spending four days with my favorite people. We’re going to have such a good time!
• Chip duty – The day after I come back from Boston, my mom leaves for a work trip so that means I’ll be on Chip duty for a few days. I love that wild child to pieces and we’ll have a fun few days together.

Tell me something good that happened to you in September!