Loving… trying new recipes. I’ve added two new recipes to my arsenal, both from the Budget Bytes blog. I need to get better about cooking more at home because it’s healthier for me and cheaper in the long run, but most of my recipes are tried-and-true favorites that I’m getting a little tired of. So, it was time to look for some new recipes and I came across Budget Bytes. I’ve heard of her before, but haven’t tried her recipes until this month and I am a fan. I made Greek Marinated Chicken and Creamy Pesto Pasta with Chicken and Broccoli, and they were both delicious and made four meals, which is the perfect amount for me (three days of leftovers is just about my limit).

Loathing… my anxiety disorder. Last week was just one of those bad weeks for me, where everything felt overwhelming and I just wanted to stay in bed all week and throw the covers over my head. I couldn’t do that, of course. I have a job to go to and a dog to take care of, but boy, did I want to. I hate when I get into those moods because everything feels so pointless and I feel like I’ll never be happy again. Logically, I know it will pass, but man, it is so hard when you’re in the thick of it to understand that. Thankfully, I feel the gray cloud dissipating and I felt more like myself this weekend.

Reading… Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah. This one has been a slow read for me, and I feel like I should have given up on it because I’m not really enjoying it all that much. But I kept hoping it would get better and Kristin Hannah is one of my favorite authors, so I hate abandoning her books, but I will be very glad when I finish it.

Watching… season five of Parks and Rec. I always need a light-hearted comedy in my TV rotation and Parks and Rec fits the bill. (Although, it did cut me deep in my soul during an episode where Leslie and Ben are looking at the White House and she says to him, “What do you think? Our home in 2020?” YES PLEASE.) I also just finished the first season of Mad Men over the weekend and I’m excited to dive into season two very soon.

Listening to… the Girl Next Door podcast. I heard about this podcast from Amber and I’ve been wanting to give it a listen. Truthfully, 2017 was the year I added too many heavy podcasts to my feed. This podcast is light-hearted and fun and silly. I started at the beginning, and since they started their podcast back in 2014, I have quite a bit of catching up to do. Give it a listen if you love that podcast subgenre of “girlfriends chatting.”

Anticipating… my haircut on Saturday. I’ve finally decided that I am going to chop my hair. I have been questioning myself about it because I really love my long hair and lessened humidity means my hair has been on its best behavior lately. But I’m also interested in donating my hair to a good cause and enjoying a sassy new ‘do. Here’s what I’m thinking about for the cut – mostly a long bob that’ll hit around my collarbone with bangs. (Although there’s a small part of me that’s dying for this cut.)

Grateful for… my primary care doctor. It took me forever to find a primary care doc, but she is a godsend. I had an appointment with her a few weeks ago to discuss a particularly embarrassing medical condition that I thought I had, and I was not looking forward to the appointment at all. But I’d been having symptoms for months now, and it was at the point where it was affecting my quality of life and I needed to get the advice of a doctor. And what do you know, it went fine. I did not die of embarrassment and my doctor made me feel completely comfortable discussing my symptoms without any awkwardness. I really love this doctor and I am so glad I found her.

Needing… motivation to work out. I haven’t been to the gym in over a week and I don’t really have a good reason for it. Well, aside from having serious anxiety last week and not having the motivation to do much more than drag myself to work every day. Late last year, I contemplated canceling my gym membership because I wasn’t using it as much as I hoped. My apartment complex has a small gym and there are always workouts I can access online. I talked myself out of canceling because I really enjoy being able to take spin classes. But I haven’t taken a spin class since I fractured my ankle because I’m worried it’s a little too high impact (the standing segments especially). I guess the motivation is harder since I’m limited in what I can do while I wait for my ankle to heal, and what I can do feels so minimal in the grand scheme of things. I’m barely breaking a sweat with my workouts. But movement in any form is good for me, and I have to keep remembering that.

What are you currently anticipating and reading?

Also! I wanted to remind you to take my reader survey, if you haven’t already. I’ve gotten some great responses so far and I’m excited to share them soon.

Loving… my sweet pup. My mom and I took him to this fun little place in downtown St. Pete this weekend, so he could have a picture with Santa. It’s called “The Dog Bar” and you can bring your dog there, even inside the bar area! It has an outside dog park for the dogs to run around and plenty of open seating where you can drink a beer with your dog by your side. Santa held Dutch in his lap and all Dutch wanted to do was bite his beard, ha, but we managed to get a good photo of him (albeit, not the highest quality. Ya win some, ya lose some). He did so well hanging out at the bar! (Although he was totally falling asleep on me as we were getting ready to leave.) Dutch has been having so many good days lately and that gives me hope that I still have lots of time left with my favorite little dude.

Loathing… that I fractured my right ankle again. It happened two weekends ago when I was helping a friend move. I was carrying two boxes stacked on top of one another, and I couldn’t exactly see where I was going, so I stepped off a curb when I wasn’t expecting to and my ankle twisted and I fell hard on my left knee. I went to urgent care after it happened to get the ankle x-ray and the road rash on my left leg taken care of. I ended up with a tetanus shot due to the abrasion, nearly crying in the exam room when the nurse cleaned up and bandaged my wound, and an X-ray showing that my ankle had fractured. Last week, I saw an orthopedic about the fracture and it appears I fractured it in exactly the same place I did previously (a fracture that never fully healed). Since the place I fractured it is a non-weight-bearing bone, I can walk on my ankle without needing a cast or walking boot. I was in an air cast for a few days after the injury, but now I can walk without pain, so I’m just wearing an ankle wrap. The real problem, though, wasn’t the ankle fracture; it was the road rash. Holy hell, it hurt. For the first two days, it stung constantly and there was nothing I could do to get it to stop. I couldn’t even expose it to air for the first few days because the wound was so raw. I had to keep it tightly wrapped in bandages and change them twice a day. Just putting on the prescription ointment brought tears to my eyes. It wasn’t until Friday night (nearly a week after the accident) that I was able to sleep without the wound being bandaged. It was so damn painful and hard to even walk on my left leg because the wound made it so sore. So crazy! Lesson learned: don’t help friends move. 😉

Reading… Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston. I have to admit: I’m not loving it. But I’m just going to power through because I’m reading it for my challenge to read four “classic” novels this year, and this will allow me to mark that goal complete. So, in order to power through, I’m reading a romance novel alongside it. Their Eyes Were Watching God is short – less than 200 pages – but I swear it’s going to take me all of December to finish it.

Watching… Mad Men! I’m halfway through season one and I adore it. I never understood why women were all gaga over Jon Hamm until I started watching him as Don Draper and guys, I get it now. Even though he’s kind of a shit. But he’s a handsome shit.

Anticipating… our annual book club Christmas party at The Melting Pot this weekend! This is our third year doing this and it’s probably one of the things I most look forward to during the holiday season. We enjoy some ridiculously good food (The Melting Pot is a fondue restaurant) and have our Secret Santa gift exchange. I caaaaan’t wait. I’m just hoping this week passes quickly so I can enjoy some good food and good laughs and good gift-giving with my girls!

Thinking about… my goals for 2018. I’ve already started plotting some of the bigger goals I want to achieve next year and they are the typical goals you’d expect: losing weight, paying down my debt, finishing my novel. I’m nothing if not consistent, right? I just hope to have better action steps to actually make my goals a reality in 2018. I want it to be an amazing, life-changing year.

Needing… another bookshelf. I currently have a three-shelf bookshelf that I also use as a pseudo-nightstand that sits on the right side of my bed, and I think I’m going to get the same bookshelf for the other side of my bed. I need more space for my books, as it appears that I’m now a collector of books. Between my Book of the Month selections and things I decide to buy on a whim and ARCs from publishers… I need the space. I’ll have to wait until after Christmas, though, because my Christmas tree currently has the spot next to my bed.

What are you currently reading and anticipating?

Loving… how fast my new iPhone got to me! I ordered it on the 15th and it was delivered this Wednesday. It doesn’t feel different from my 6s at all, except that the camera is much better. And it’s nice to not be in danger of running out of space! Wheeeee. I’m still waiting for my Otterbox case to be delivered, so I’m treating the phone like it’s worth a million dollars, but I’m happy that it’s here and it’s fun to play with. 🙂

Loathing… Dutch’s nighttime cry-barks. It’s this weird thing he’s started doing where he walks around my apartment and whines and then, from time to time, lets out this high-pitched part-cry, part-bark. He rarely barks anymore as it is, so it’s really weird to hear it come out of him. I keep wondering if my neighbors think I beat him at night! I think it might be a way for him to say, “I’m ready for bed!” because usually when I pick him up and put him on my bed, he settles down quickly. Ugh, it’s so hard seeing him get old. I feel like I’m forgetting what he used to be like – when he was super active and able to jump up and down off furniture and went to sleep easily and wasn’t bumping into walls or getting stuck in corners. We’re in this weird, new normal now and I’m not sure I like it, but there’s nothing I can do about it. The sad reality is that our dogs get old and all we can do is have compassion for them and help them be as comfortable during this stage.

Reading… Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan, still. I’m almost finished! I’m enjoying the book a lot, but it’s not a page-turner (more character-based than plot-based), so it’s easy to set it aside or only read a chapter or two a day. And it’s 416 pages, so it’s not a quick read at all. But I’m positive I’ll finish it either today or tomorrow. Woohoo!

Watching… season four of Parks and Rec. This show is so wonderful and well-written, and I just watched the episode where Leslie’s campaign managers quit and the rest of the Parks department steps up to help her with her campaign, and ugh, my heart. I’m thoroughly enjoying my rewatch of this series.

Anticipating… Asheville in six weeks! We started planning this trip in the spring, so it always felt so far away. But it’s starting to get real and I cannot wait to spend a long weekend with my best girls, exploring this gorgeous city. I’m also looking forward to experiencing cooler weather! Florida doesn’t get any semblance of fall (we’re still in the nineties here), so I’m ready to feel a chill in the air and warm myself by a fire. Yes, please!

Thinking about… my next cruise, which will be #10 for me. Last weekend, my mom and I ended up booking a seven-day cruise for the end of April. We even sprung for a balcony room because, hell, it’s my 10th cruise and I am going all of 2016 without a cruise and I want to live it up. This cruise leaves out of Port Canaveral and sails to the Bahamas, Belize, Honduras, and Mexico. It’s going to be the best week ever and I’m already counting down the days!

Needing… to make a decision about my 30th birthday party. I’m going back and forth on whether I want to have a full-blown traditional 30th birthday party where I invite a ton of friends and reserve a clubhouse and have food brought in… or if I want to just invite a small group of my closest gal pals and either have dinner at a fancy restaurant or meet up at a friend’s for a low-key game night. Honestly, the second option is so much more my speed and will be much cheaper than the traditional route. I guess I have to dig into why I felt the need to have a traditional 30th birthday party in the first place.

What are you currently reading and anticipating?

Loving… that I was able to renew my lease at my apartment and my rent is only increasing by $25 a month! Hooray! I definitely have no plans to move apartments for a good while—I’d like to stay here for another few years and perhaps look for a place to buy after that. (Though I’m not sure how I’d ever come up with the money for a down payment, so who knows if that will ever be a reality for me!) But I am happy with where I live and happy the rent didn’t increase astronomically. And I know my brother will be super excited when I tell him he doesn’t have to help me move this year!

Loathing… how old Dutch has been acting lately. Everything just seems harder for him now and it breaks my heart. Thankfully, he’s on medication to help with his arthritis pain and nighttime restlessness and that really seems to be helping him settle down and sleep through the night. (I’ve only had one late night with him since he started the meds and that was because we were at my mom’s for the night and I think he was just disoriented.) One of his newest mannerisms that he’s been doing for the last few months is just sitting in my room and staring at the wall (usually shaking). He bumps into walls and such. He’s just old and there’s not much I can do about that because he’s healthy in every other respect. He has the energy to go on walks (not long walks, mind you) and he eats and drinks normally and he’ll play with me from time to time. This is just the time in a dog’s life that’s the hardest, to see them slowing down and aging. All I can do is keep loving him and making sure these last few years of his life are comfortable and happy. And, not to toot my own horn or anything, but I think I’m doing that very well.

Reading… Evicted by Matthew Desmond. It’s a book about poverty and the housing crisis, and just how hard it is for people who live at or below the poverty line to find affordable housing. This is a subject that has particular personal resonance with me because I grew up poor (not poverty poor, but poor nonetheless) and I grew up well familiar with what an eviction notice means. I’ve heard rave reviews of this book and even just 100 pages in, I can see why. Desmond writes in such an engaging way and I got sucked into this book immediately.

Watching… Big Brother! It’s my favorite summertime show. Big Brother is a huge time commitment because it’s on three times a week, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. (I’d watch it seven days a week!) This season is really good and I’m really enjoying all of the houseguests and all of the accompanying drama.

Anticipating… my upcoming social media and blogging break. Honestly, up until last weekend, I wasn’t even planning on taking a break, but something flipped in me and I realized how much I’m desiring to get away. Even so, I keep going back and forth on whether or not I want to really take a break because I do really enjoy social media and writing for this blog. But it’s also good for me to just get away and stop checking Twitter every time I’m in line at the grocery store or scrolling through Instagram when I’m laying in bed at night. And it’s good for my blog overall to step back and reevaluate what I’m writing about and how I’m conveying my message. It’s good for me, even if I do start craving the blog and my social media feeds about halfway through the month.

Thinking about… using my upcoming blogging break to do some sort of NaNoWriMo exercise. I’m way behind on my novel and I just can’t find the time to write aside from the two hours I spend with my writing partner each week. Scratch that. I’m not making the time. I’m only writing around 1,000-2,000 words a week and I’m over 10,000 words behind where I should be at this point in the year. So maybe August will be a good time to charge myself with writing around 1,500 words a day. I’m still rolling the idea around in my head, so we’ll see what happens!

Needing… to start making plans for my 30th birthday party. I have a friend who is helping me and we just keep pinning ideas to our secret board on Pinterest, but we need to sit down to discuss who I’ll be inviting, what kinds of decorations and games to play, what to serve for food and drinks, etc. I’ve never actually planned a party like this, so I have no idea what to do, but luckily, my friend is more than adept at this kind of stuff hence why I recruited her. (And also, she won’t let me call the whole thing off just because I’m feeling insecure that nobody will actually come to my party, ha!)

What are you currently loving, loathing, and reading?

Loving… my new tattoo (pictured above). I love it so much! It honestly feels like it was always meant to be there. It already feels like a part of me. I’ve had this particular tattoo idea pinned to my Pinterest board for at least three years, and I’m so grateful for my friend M. who basically just said, “We’re making this happen finally!” as we’ve been talking about getting book tattoos for a really long time. And maybe, just maybe, I’ve been thinking about what tattoo I’m getting next (uh-oh).

Loathing… oppressive humidity. I know that I live in Florida and it’s what I have to deal with, but it is rough. We’re usually sitting pretty in the low-to-mid 90s around here, but the humidity is usually above 60% (often higher), so it always feels much, much hotter than that. All I can say is that I am grateful for AC in my apartment and in my car. I couldn’t survive this time of year without it!

Reading… When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon. The writing feels a little juvenile if I’m being honest, but it’s a good palate cleanser after finishing The Nightingale, which just broke my heart in two. I love a good YA love story, and this one has such a unique premise (involving arranged marriage!) and a delightfully fun cover that I couldn’t help but give it a try!

Watching… the last half of season seven of Gilmore Girls. Woohoo – I’m almost done! I’m super excited to finish the series, so I can finally watch the revival episodes. (And, um, actually move on to other shows I’ve never seen, like Mad Men, Friday Night Lights, and The West Wing.)

Anticipating… an upcoming four-day weekend. My company was generous enough to give us July 3rd and July 4th off for the holiday and it’s basically all I can think about. I don’t have any plans for the holiday, so I’m going to treat it like a little staycation. Four days of no alarms, naps, time by the pool, some Netflix binges, and plenty of reading? Sounds A-OK to me!

Thinking about… Dutch’s upcoming comprehensive exam and dental cleaning. I’ve basically got an entire page full of notes about his recent health issues (ah, the joys of a senior dog!) I want to talk to the vet about Dutch’s dementia symptoms. I also want to find out if the vet can give me any insight into Dutch’s vision because he seems to be bumping into things more than usual. I also believe he’s developed hip dysplasia, due to the way he walks in the morning and his “bunny hops” in the grass during his walks. Ah, buddy. He’s hanging in there for such an old man, and is still a happy little doggo, but getting old is a painful process.

Needing… a break from the news. I’ve stopped checking Twitter as much as usual because I follow too many people who tweet about politics. Which is good when I want to be informed, not so good when I just want to go to Twitter for some funny tweets. I’ve felt a little overwhelmed by the news, so every now and then, I need a break and I’ve been taking time away. I’m still listening to political podcasts, so I’m keeping informed, just not on a daily basis right now.

What are you currently anticipating and loving?