Stephany Writes

Categories: Holidays

Thanksgiving Day

Happy Thanksgiving, friends! Or happy Thursday, if you’re not in the United States. 🙂

I woke up around a little after 8 a.m. this morning with one cat curled up by my side and another one trilling at me for early morning snuggles. I was more than happy to oblige her.

Our family’s Thanksgiving dinner is scheduled for later this afternoon. On the agenda for this morning is to make deviled eggs, put away all the boxes that held my Christmas decor (my apartment has been transformed into a holiday wonderland and I can’t wait to show you all soon!), and maybe take a cat nap before the festivities. I baked my famous cookies last night and I may have a handful of them throughout the morning. We’ll see!

I know that Covid has made holidays a really weird time for so many of us, and I am really grateful that I have family nearby that I feel safe being around. There will be a big group of us (17 people in total) and my cousin is hosting. She lives just 10 minutes from me, so no crazy traveling required. We’ll miss certain members of our family—it’s always weird to have these big family get-togethers without Grandma and Pops—but I predict that it will be a really good time and I will leave with a full belly and a full heart.

Thanksgiving is truly one of my favorite holidays (it can’t displace Christmas, of course, but I do love a holiday that is just about getting together with those you love and eating really good food) and I’m so excited it’s here and the holiday season can truly kick into high gear after today. This is my favorite time of the year and I just want to enjoy every minute of it. <3

Categories: Holidays

A-Z Thankful List (Round 2)

Last year, I made a list of the things I was thankful for, using every letter of the alphabet. It gets hard when you get down to those more difficult letters (looking at you, Q, X, and Z) but it’s a really fun way to look back on the year and think of all the good things in it. Here’s my A-Z thankful list for 2021!

A – ASMR. These days, I don’t know if I could fall asleep without ASMR. I usually get in bed, read my book until I start feeling sleepy, and then I set my alarm, pop in my earbuds, and open up YouTube to watch ASMR videos for 20-30 minutes. Here are some of my favorite ASMRtists: Bluewhisper, Calliope Whispers ASMR, Madi ASMR, VedaASMR, WhispersRed ASMR, Moonlight Cottage ASMR, and Peony ASMR.

B – Baby Lucy. What a fun addition to our family! Lucy is just the sweetest little lady (but also very feisty; she can hold her own against Chip). I am so obsessed with her and I am so excited for the end of December, as my mom and stepdad are going away on vacation and I’m going to be on dogsitting duty. Yay!

C – Car. My new car is definitely something I’m thankful for this Thanksgiving! It’s been a long time coming and she is the perfect car for me. I love her so much!

D – Dr. Pepper. My obsession. Dr. Pepper is my favorite soda and I drink way too much of it.

E – Eloise. My heart and soul. Eloise is my extroverted cat (she’ll hang out with guests when they come over) and she’s also near my side throughout much of the day. Sometimes, she’ll even lie down right in front of my keyboard, which can be a bit of a hindrance to getting work done but she’s cute and soft and I don’t mind it.

F – Football Sundays. I love our Football Sundays so much. It’s great to spend so much time with my family and, of course, I love watching football!

G – Girls’ dinners with Rachel and Mia. Sometime over the summer, my mom and I started meeting up with my cousin Rachel and her 9-year-old daughter Mia for Monday night dinners every few weeks. It has been so nice to have these dinners with them! I love them both to pieces and it feels good to remain connected with them in this way.

H – Hot baths. I love bubble baths with a passion, as you all know. I take one almost every day and there is nothing better than sinking into that hot water and playing Candy Crush on my phone while I soak.

I – Inauguration. It feels like a lifetime ago, but Biden was inaugurated this year! What an incredible day that was. A day filled with hope and promise. While things haven’t exactly progressed like I’d hoped with Biden’s presidency, we are still in a much better place today than we were this time last year.

J – Job. I celebrated 8 years at my company in August. This year came with a ton of new and exciting changes, including a lot more responsibilities and a pay increase. I’m happy that I love where I work!

K – Kayaking. So I only went kayaking once this year, but I loved it so very much and I would like to try to plan more kayaking trips in 2022!

L – Lila. My sweet introverted girl. She is my little model who really knows how to pose for a picture. She’s more skittish than Ellie, but she’s just as sweet and incredibly snuggly (on her terms). I love her dearly!

M – Mom. My mom is truly my best friend and my favorite person. We have such a special bond and it’s one I don’t take for granted. As I’ve gotten older, our relationship has been less mom/daughter and more friendship, which means we both lean on each other when we’re feeling low. I don’t know what I would do without her!

N – Nephews. My two nephews are such a joy! Jovy is 13 and Dominic is 6 and they are such fun little dudes. Jovy is obsessed with sports and his whole wardrobe is basically jerseys at this point. Dominic is hysterical and I do believe he has a future in stand-up comedy. Get ready, world!

O – Olive beating cancer. What a whirlwind year my friend Mikaela and her family have had with Olive’s cancer diagnosis at the end of 2020 and learning that it was a rare, aggressive form of cancer that only a handful of people ever in the history of our world have had. Olive being so young (13 months when she was diagnosed) meant a lot of surgeons weren’t willing to do surgery to remove the tumor. I am so thankful that Mikaela found a surgeon who was confident he could do the surgery, that Olive made it through surgery with flying colors, and that she got through all her rounds of intense chemo. It’s been four months since her last round of chemo and she’s had clear scans ever since. Her hair is growing back, her energy levels are normal, and she gets to just be a kid after 8 months of doctors and hospitals and imaging scans. This is what I am most thankful for this year.

P – Peloton. I am so glad I hopped on the Peloton train! I don’t have a Peloton bike because, woof, those are pricey. Instead, I bought a $400 bike off Amazon that is lodged into a corner of my bedroom and I prop my laptop on my bed to stream the workouts. It’s working out for me just fine!

Q – Quaint home. This year, I’ve been able to invest some time and money into my home to make it the cozy place I want it to be. From new wall hangings and more bookcases to a comfy sectional and a new TV, it’s been a year of figuring out what I want different areas of my home to look like and then making that happen.

R – Reading dates with Amber. Amber and I love having reading dates! We typically meet in a park and chat for around 20-30 minutes and then we set a timer (45 minutes, usually) and read silently next to each other. It’s a really lovely way to spend time with a friend and get some reading time in!

S – Sectional. I bought my sectional in January of this year and it is one of my most prized possessions! It is so comfortable and cozy, and I have taken many a power nap on that couch during my workdays.

T – Traveling again. I didn’t do a lot of traveling in 2021, just a four-day trip to Chicago in August, but it was so lovely to be able to travel safely again! Mom and I are even considering a cruise for 2022 (as long as they uphold their “vaccinated guests only” policies), which is super exciting to think about. I haven’t been on a cruise since 2019 and I miss them so much.

U – Ubereats. You all know that my biggest budget kryptonite is restaurants. I order takeout at least 3-5 times a week, even though I know I would save so much money if I just a) went to the restaurant and picked up the food myself or b) stopped ordering takeout so often. Alas, I don’t see either of those things happening anytime soon! I love the convenience of Ubereats and I really don’t enjoy cooking (especially for just one person). Ubereats has been a lifesaver for me.

V – Vaccinated. I got vaccinated this year! It was such a thrill to get my COVID vaccine and know I was protected from the virus.

W – Wedding. Celebrating Sara and Natalie’s wedding was such a beautiful thing. I love both of those women oh-so-very much. I cried throughout the ceremony, danced my heart out with my family, and enjoyed every minute of the wedding.

X – eXcellent shows. From Bridgerton, which put me in a TV slump for weeks, to Brooklyn 99, which helped me through some really tough days, to The Crown, which had me going down so many royalty rabbit holes on the Internet, TV has been good to me this year.

Y – YOU GUYS. I am so thankful to the people who read this blog. I am thankful for the people who comment regularly, those who comment every once in a while, and those who prefer to stay anonymous. I am thankful for the blog readers who email me to let me know that they’re there and those who check in on me when more than a few weeks have passed since my last post. This blog truly feels like a community and knowing that my words are making a difference in people’s lives is nothing short of amazing.

Z – Zzz’s. Naps are my happy place and I usually plan my weekends around my nap schedule. 🙂 This year, I’ve gotten into taking shorter naps (it used to be very normal for me to take a 3-4 hour nap) and I think that’s a very good thing. A one-hour power nap on the couch usually gives me more energy than a four-hour nap in my bed!

What’s something you’re thankful for this year that starts with the letter “S”?

Categories: Life

Tuesday Morning

It’s a chilly Tuesday morning and I have a lot I want to get accomplished today, specifically hanging up this set of floating shelves I bought off Amazon months ago. I’m always intimidated by hanging up shelves, so I’ve put off this task for longer than I should have. But I have some Christmas decorations that I want to put on the shelves, so I need to get them up. Fingers crossed for me!

A few weeks ago, NGS wrote a “five senses” post and I loved the idea of it, so I decided to steal it for myself.

See: Aside from the laptop screen in front of me, I can see a bunch of Christmas decorations sitting on the table. Some of the decorations, I am going to donate to Goodwill. They’ve served their purpose. Others will be placed on the floating shelves. Beyond the table, I can also see most of the ingredients for the cookies I will be making tomorrow for my family’s Thanksgiving meal.

Taste: I’m sipping on iced coffee, which has been sweetened with caramel sweetener. Mmm, it’s so good!

Touch: I just touched the cold glass of iced coffee and then the side of my back to scratch an itch. I’m also touching my laptop keyboard.

Hear: I can hear the girls’ little water fountain, which makes a little tinkling noise that is comforting. I can also hear the traffic outside (the downside of living right next to a busy highway).

Smell: Hmm, there’s nothing near me that smells, whether good or bad. Maybe I need to bring out a Christmas candle!

What can you hear as you comment on my post? 🙂

Categories: Recurring Series

A Weekend in Pictures: A Christmas Tree, a New Car & Dog Snuggles

I kicked off my weekend by dragging all of my Christmas decorations out of storage so I could transform my apartment into a holiday wonderland! It was fun to put up the tree (the above photo was taken right after I got all the pieces connected and plugged it in; it still needed to be fluffed and the crooked top half needed to be fixed, haha). I love how automatically cozy a home looks once the Christmas tree is up. <3

I ordered in Dominos on Friday evening and watched the latest episode of The Bachelorette. A rockin’ Friday evening, can’t you tell?!

Saturday kicked off with a long walk around my apartment complex. I listened to my audiobook for some of this walk and my fantasy football podcast for the second half.

After my walk and a shower, I met up with Mikaela at Starbucks for our writing date. I planned on working on some articles for work, but I just wasn’t feeling it so I switched to reading blogs and working on a post for next week. I was much happier with that decision!

And then, well, you all know what happened after my writing date! I picked my mom up and we drove to the Kia dealership to test-drive a Soul. Four hours later, I drove away in a brand-new car! Eeks!

I definitely wanted to drive around in my snazzy new car, so Mom and I drove over to Robert’s Christmas Wonderland for our annual visit. We usually go sometime in December and I think we were a bit too early as there wasn’t a ton to look at. It was slim pickins! But we had fun strolling around and I ended up leaving with a new decoration and tree topper. Yay!

I went out to dinner with my mom and stepdad on Saturday night (of course, I drove. I want to drive everywhere now, which is a major departure for me, haha). We went to Bonefish Grill and had a lovely meal together! (I forgot to take any pictures of our meals, so you get a surreptitious shot of their wine selection, lol.)

I did a little Christmas shopping (for my home) on Sunday morning. I picked my mom up and we headed to TJ Maxx and Target to check out their decorations. I bought some new Christmassy dish towels, a new Christmas decoration, cat-themed wrapping paper, and a toy for Chip and Lucy at TJ Maxx. At Target, I picked up some lights for my patio, more garland (I’m obsessed with garland), and gel clings! It was a successful outing for sure.

After our Christmas shopping, we made a pit stop at the Kia dealership. I realized late on Saturday night that I had forgotten to clean out this secret compartment in my car where I kept my key card (which opens the gate at my apartment complex) and library card. Thankfully, the sales guy who helped me out yesterday was working and he got it for me easily! Whew. A key card replacement is $50 and I did not want to eat that cost.

After our busy morning, it was time to relax for the rest of Sunday. I lounged on my mom’s couch, snuggled with the dogs, and played on my phone for most of the day. It was just what I needed! What a weekend, eh? Thankfully, I have the whole week off work (+ the Monday of next week) and I can’t wait to sleep in every day, catch up on reading, and get some stuff done around my apartment (like finishing decorating, hanging up my outside lights, and installing a set of floating shelves in my dining room). I also signed up to bring cookies and deviled eggs to my family’s Thanksgiving meal, so I will need to do that on Wednesday night/Thursday morning. It shall be a busy week!

How was your weekend?

Categories: Life

That Time I Bought a Car

The title gives it all away, but… I BOUGHT A CAR YESTERDAY!!!!!!

Isn’t she so beautiful? I am so in love with her. She’s a 2022 Kia Soul and she drives like a dream. It’s amazing to drive a car that’s 17 years older than the one I was driving (a 2005 Scion xB). She’s got so many bells and whistles, and I am so, so happy she’s mine. But let me back up and tell you the story of how she became mine!

Yesterday, my mom and I went to our nearby Kia dealership so that I could test drive a Soul. I’ve always been enamored with these cars, ever since an old boss bought a new one (this was in, like, 2012 or 2013). They always give me heart-eyes when I see them on the road, and their build is very similar to my xB—an SUV crossover-type vehicle.

As the car salesman was getting the key for the Soul so I could test drive it, my mom turns to me and says, “What if you fall in love with it and want to buy it today?” And I admitted that I was entirely sure that was going to happen. I kind of knew it was, honestly. It’s a car that I’ve always had my eye on, and I just needed to test drive it to make sure I liked the way it drove.

Driving the car was so much fun. One of the positives of the pandemic is that now you can test drive a car by yourself—the salesperson doesn’t have to be in the car with you. I really enjoy that because it can be very awkward to drive with a salesperson! It was nice to just take the Soul off the lot with my mom and drive around by ourselves. I was really sad to pull back into the car lot when the test drive was over. I wanted to keep driving it!

I didn’t exactly know then that I would be leaving with the car that day, but I knew that I had found the perfect car for me. Whether that day or another day, I would be driving a Kia Soul.

After the test drive, we went into the dealership to talk pricing. I wanted a darker-colored car (black preferably, but they had a really beautiful blue/gray car on their lot that I had my eye on) with dark interior. Thankfully, both the black and the blue/gray car fit the bill! The blue/gray car came with a few more safety amenities, like lane assist, rear cross-traffic assist, and forward-collision assist. I really wanted that rear cross-traffic assist safety feature because I have a hard time pulling out of parking spaces sometimes. It’s especially difficult in my apartment complex because I usually can’t see above the cars around me to notice if anybody is driving by as I’m pulling out of a parking space. So I wanted those upgrades.

Once the salesperson had pulled all the numbers, the blue/gray car would only be about $11 more per month than the other car. It was a no-brainer. But the monthly price was making me a little anxious. It was going to be $390 and I was really trying to keep my car payment around $350. But I also knew that all of the other cars I was looking at cost more than Kia Souls, so that price was probably the best I was going to get.

My mom asked me if I would feel better leaving and thinking about it, and then coming back. And I agreed that I would, so I told the sales guy that I just wanted to think about it for an hour or two.

I want to stop here and say: I am not a negotiator. I am an enneagram 9, which means I am someone who hates confrontation and just wants to make everyone around me as happy as possible at all times. I wasn’t even using this as a tactic to negotiate a lower rate. I seriously just wanted to think about it for a little bit. After saying that I wanted to think about it, the sales guy nodded and said, “Okay, let me just get my manager to sign off on this.” Or something like that. I didn’t even know what he was talking about, but it didn’t ring in my head as any sort of sales-y tactic. The manager came over and he essentially wanted to know what they had to do to get me to leave with the car today. And it wasn’t until he said, “A lower price?” that it clicked in my head that this was a negotiation! I had power here. (I’m still shocked that they even cared to negotiate; I found out while I was waiting for all the paperwork to be processed that they only had three Souls total on their whole lot!) But I said if they could lower the monthly payment, I would be more inclined to buy today.

And they did! Somehow, I negotiated them down to a $350 monthly payment! WHAT. After that was all over, I turned to my mom and said, “Did I just negotiate with a car salesman???” In the end, I put down a $4,000 down payment and my trade-in car value was $2,000. And my excellent credit score also helped me secure the lowest interest rate for my loan! (This is especially gratifying to me, as the last time I bought a car, I had terrible credit and my mom had to cosign the loan.)

All in all, I have to say that buying a car was a supremely satisfying experience. Throughout all of this negotiation stuff, I never felt super pressured to buy. It really felt like they cared about me and knew I really wanted this car, and wanted to do whatever they could to help me get it. Maybe that’s my own naivete, but even my mom agreed with my assessment.

So now I have a new car! I am so very happy with my decision. This morning when I woke up, I immediately looked out the window to stare at my new car! I’m glad I don’t feel any sort of regret or panic about buying the car, and I think that’s because a) it’s something I’ve been planning for a really long time and b) I know I have the financial means to handle the car payment without it affecting my budget all that much. I truly wasn’t expecting to leave the dealership with a new car yesterday, but I think it was possibly the best early birthday present I could have given to myself.