1) I’ve been struggling with Instagram lately… feeling sad when I see friends doing things without me and playing that comparison game. So, I decided to move Instagram to the last page of my phone screen so I’m not tempted to always open it up. I also disabled all notifications and muted a whole slew of profiles for Instagram Stories. Instagram has always felt like a safe space for me, and I need to protect that as much as possible.
2) Last week, I got an email from the gym I joined in November that was supposed to open in early January. Y’all… they are still not finished construction and will probably not be open until late summer. Late summer! Argh. I guess I’ll just continue going on long walks until then.
3) One of my friends introduced me to Google Trips this week, and my mind was absolutely blown. I understand that some people may not be down with it because it basically is like Google is watching your every move as you travel, but I figure they were already doing that anyway. 😉 It’s an app that pulls out all your reservations from your email and plops them into an easy-to-access guide. You can also save places you want to visit, restaurants you want to eat, etc., and you can see everything you’ve saved on a map that shows you exactly where everything is located. You can download the guide to be available offline (even the map!) so that if you’re in a place where there’s no service, you can still access all your saved info! AMAZING. I can’t wait to use it when I’m in Ireland!
4) You know what’s not good for my self-esteem? The fact that I have asked three men on Bumble if they’d like to meet up for a first date (this is after many messages being sent back and forth) and none of them responding. I’m at the point where I’m just curious as to how many more times this can happen to me before someone actually responds!
5) My check engine light came on for the second time in as many months, and I was scared that it was going to be a costly fix. When I took my car in last month, they were able to fix what was wrong but told me my car was going to need a pretty expensive repair soon (to the tune of $800). My car is currently only worth about $1,000 so fixing it for $800 isn’t something I’m willing to do. I was worried that it had come time to trade in my car, which I realllllly don’t want to do right now. (For one, I do not have the money set aside for a down payment, and for another, not having a car payment has been DIVINE.) Thankfully, though, it was just a bad gas cap! It was $90 to fix it, which is a much better price to pay. 🙂 But this fear of having to get a new car put the fire in my belly to get serious about saving for a down payment.
6) I leave for Ireland five weeks from Monday! I’ve been hard at work building a very detailed itinerary for my mom and myself, and it’s time to start booking trains and tours and museum tickets and the like. There’s a lot I could probably do while I’m in Ireland, but I’d just feel better to have it all done and ready to go beforehand. I’m so excited, though!
7) This will be my last low-key weekend for a while… probably until I get back from my trip! Every weekend in April is jam-packed with activity. Lots of wedding stuff: a bachelorette party, an actual wedding, and a wedding reception. A friend’s birthday party and game nights… whew. I don’t know if I’m ready for it! I’ll try to enjoy this plan-less weekend as much as I can.
I’ve heard from quite a few people that Instagram has given them anxiety lately (one of my friends quit and called it “freedom”)… I have to admit, IG stories are often a little “too much” for me… who has time to film + watch all these videos??? I’d rather look at the photos. Long captions give me hives too….
I guess blogs are still my favorite 😉
Glad to hear your car only needed a minor fix. That is so annoying when the check engine light comes on (twice in a month!).
Instagram does stress me out sometimes, but I try not to let it overpower my life too much. It probably helps that I follow more bloggers than people in my real life. LOL I just need to actually post on it more…
Ooh I hope you have a great time in Ireland. Not too long now! Definitely sounds like April will be jam-packed, but hopefully all of it will be fun.
I’m so sorry about the guys on Bumble not responding to going out, especially since they were talking to you BEFORE that. Like, what the hell?? Keep being you though!!
-Lauren
I’ve been enjoying my break from social media. Before I took the break, I put facebook in a social media folder but in the 2nd page of the social media folder so it was harder to get to those aps. That really cut down on how much I was using them. I do miss seeing what people are up to and seeing pictures of friend’s kids but overall the break has been good for me! I also mostly follow people who do not live in my town so I don’t see anything I’m missing out on, which helps.
I hadn’t heard of Google trips. It sounds reallly good, especially the offline part. I always put my phone in airplane mode when I’m out of the country. I’m too cheap to pay for an international plan and I usually have access to wifi if I need something. But the fact that you can access maps and things like that offline is amazing! I can’t wait to hear all about your trip to Ireland. I think you are going to have an amazing time. As a person who is also prone to anxiety, I totally understand why you are booking things/organizing things well in advance of the trip!
I am glad the car thing wasn’t hella expensive!
I am sorry about Insta and Bumble. Neither of those are good for your self esteem! 🙁 I hope it’s helped to move Insta to the back of your phone! And mute stories. I mute and unmute people from time to time!
Stephany, you cannot post that picture of your gorgeous cats without telling us at least ONE cat story!!! 🙂 🙂 🙂