The high of my week was receiving the clothes I ordered from Old Navy! After the disappointing ThredUp order (made even more disappointing when I found out they have a super strict return policy and I wouldn’t be able to return anything I got, ugh), I decided to place a small order at Old Navy (and hooray, they were having a 30% off sale when I did!) and got some new shirts that will be perfect for work. Even better – they fit perfectly and make me feel great. What can be better than that?! (Oh, I know – if any of the shirts didn’t fit right, I could easily return them at my local Old Navy.)

The low of my week was all the crappy food I ate. I just didn’t plan my meals well this week, and you know what they say: fail to plan and your plan will fail. So, I’m just taking this week as a loss and going to spend some time this weekend scoping out some healthy meals and spending Sunday in the kitchen meal prepping. (Please send me your ideas for healthy breakfasts and lunches! I’m in a huge rut.)

An article I loved was Stephen Miller Is an Immigration Hypocrite. I Know Because I’m His Uncle. by David S. Glosser. Hoo boy, was this a great article. (And can we say, family drama?! That’ll be a fun Thanksgiving table, ha.) But it really drove home the point that being against immigration is honestly hypocritical for just about everyone in the Trump administration because you’re being prejudiced against your own family history.

Trump wants to make us believe that these desperate migrants are an existential threat to the United States; the most powerful nation in world history and a nation made strong by immigrants. Trump and my nephew both know their immigrant and refugee roots. Yet, they repeat the insults and false accusations of earlier generations against these refugees to make them seem less than human. 

A podcast episode I enjoyed was Jon Favreau on Armchair Expert. No, not that Jon Favreau. The political speechwriter Jon Favreau! You know, the one who is basically BFFs with Barack Obama. I’m obsessed with him and basically fan-girled hard when I saw him at Pod Tours America a few months ago. (He’s just so dreamy! And so damn smart and genuine it hurts.) If you love Favs as much as I do, please do yourself a favor and listen to this episode. Also, I found it super informative about how to talk to people who may hold similar political beliefs, but are more cynical and apathetic about them. Jon did a great job of really cutting to the heart of why politics should matter to everyone.

The best money I spent was $21 on dinner with some girlfriends. We went to a new-to-us taco place where I had some of the best tacos of my life, as well as chips, queso, and guac for the table. But as good as the food was, the conversation was even better and I left feeling oh-so-happy for these women in my life. They’re good ones.

My plans this weekend include working on some freelance assignments, a hair appointment where I’m hoping to get a much darker auburn color, game night with the fam, and enjoying a book club meeting at a friend’s pool. It should be a really, really great weekend and I’m looking forward to it so much!

What was the high of your week? The low?

The high of my week was meeting my baby brother! My mom and I took a short road trip on Sunday to meet the most beautiful dachshund puppy and he’ll be hers on May 12. I am so, so excited for her (and for me because, let’s face it, I’m going to love that little baby so much), and I cannot wait until he joins our family. My mom is naming him Chip and I’m already so in love with him. (And yeah, I have puppy fever like mad right now.)

The low of my week was not feeling the healthy living lifestyle. Ugh, it’s been a struggle, friends. At one point this week, I texted my mom the below message because I was so over it. I know I just need to switch up some of the food I’ve been eating (probably getting stuck in a rut) because six weeks straight of having two hard-boiled eggs for breakfast is enough to make anyone go crazy, amirite?

An article I loved was Why I Am (Still) Using YNAB by San from The In Between is Mine. Currently, the way I budget is with a plain old Excel spreadsheet, even though I know there are tons of apps that could be super helpful in helping me better categorize my expenses and build a stronger budget. But I’ve yet to do that because I get a little overwhelmed by the thought of setting it up (I always figure it will take me a while) and scared at the thought of actually taking a long, hard look at my budget (I am a very loose budgeter right now). But this post by San lays out the You Need a Budget system in such a way that I feel like I could maybe give it a try, even if it is overwhelming.

A podcast episode I enjoyed was How Paramedics Work by Stuff You Should Know. This episode was fascinating, like the fact that standards for paramedics didn’t come out until the 1970s (!) and explaining the difference between EMTs and paramedics. Give it a listen!

The best money I spent was $20 on a new pair of sandals. My current pair of sandals are just about near the end of its life and it has been time for a new pair for a while, but I’m an underbuyer, so it was hard for me to commit to a new pair. But finally, I did and I’m happy with my purchase!

My plans this weekend include a pedicure date with my mom on Saturday, my friend’s 90s-themed 30th birthday party on Saturday evening, and a writing date on Sunday morning. I am particularly looking forward to my friend’s party because we’ve been encouraged to dress up for it. I am not the most creative person when it comes to dressing up (see also: why I hate Halloween), but I figured out a fun outfit for the party and I’m interested if people will “get it.”

What was the high of your week?

The high of my week was game night with my mom, brother, and older nephew on Saturday night. We played a few games, ordered pizza, and just had a generally enjoyable evening. Like most kids, my nephew struggles with losing games, so after losing a game of Trouble (after winning the first one), he was very unhappy. When my brother pointed out that neither he nor I had won a game yet, he burst out with, “You’re grownups! You’ve lived.” Touche!

The low of my week was the weirdly cold weather! I want to preface this by saying that I know many of you in northern states are experiencing much colder weather and would love what we Floridians consider a “cold snap,” but weather is relative and I am not used to seeing temps in the FORTIES in mid-March. I live in Florida. I’m not supposed to be wearing boots and long sleeves in March. Argh! I’m ready for shorts and tank tops and lounging by the pool. Get it together, Florida.

An Internet find I loved was this Buzzfeed quiz: “Which Ex-Trump Administration Official Are You?” I got Steve Bannon and I’m very concerned now. Let me know what official you get if you take the quiz!

A podcast episode I enjoyed was Consent Part 1 on Dear Sugars. This was such an important podcast episode, and I found Jaclyn Friedman’s advice particularly great. I am really excited to see what sorts of discussions the next two episodes in this series bring up.

The best money I spent was $7 on a bouquet of yellow tulips. Tulips are my favorite flower, but I’ve never actually bought them for myself because they’re always more expensive than other flowers (like daisies, which I can get for $4). But I needed to replenish my fresh flowers during my last grocery run and when I saw the vibrant yellow tulips sitting in the flower section, my heart jumped. They were so pretty! But $7… did I want to spend $7 on flowers I’ll just throw out in a few weeks’ time? The answer is yes. I’m so glad I spent the money because these flowers bring me so much damn joy. I separated the bouquet into two mason jars: one sits on my kitchen island and the other on one of my bookshelves in my room.

My plans this weekend include book club, spectating at my mom’s 5k race, house-sitting for two lovable beagles, and brunch with my girlfriends. Whew. It’s going to be a busy weekend for me, that’s for sure! But a fun one, nonetheless. Keeping busy is a good thing for me right now, so I’m happy to have lots to do. And what could be better for the soul than snuggling two lovable beagles? Not much!

What was the high of your week? 

The high of my week was getting great news from the vet about Dutch’s comprehensive exam. He didn’t have blood work this time, since he got that done back in October and nothing troubling showed up. But he did have an EKG, some other tests, and a spinal x-ray. Everything was A-OK and his spinal x-ray didn’t even show signs of arthritis or his spine deteriorating in any way (I’ve been worried since he’s developed a bit of a hunchback). Homeboy is doing well and I couldn’t be more thrilled, especially after his last vet appointment that was filled with bad news. For now, he’s hanging in there.

The low of my week was finding out my ankle still isn’t fully healed. It’s been about six weeks since my injury and I had a follow-up appointment with my orthopedic on Friday where they took new x-rays to find out if my ankle has healed, and nope. There is still a break. It is slowly fusing back to my ankle, but it’s not fully there yet, which means I’m still on limited activity. I guess I’m stuck with recumbent biking for my workouts for the foreseeable future. I made an appointment for early March to get another x-ray (will mark three months since the injury), so fingers crossed it’s healed then!

I’m currently reading The Couple Next Door by Shari Lapena. I’ve had this one on my TBR for a while and I’m glad I’m finally getting around to reading it. It got rave reviews from my friends on Goodreads, so I’m hopeful it’ll be a good thriller.

An article I loved was this cover story from Glamour about Tracee Ellis Ross. I adore Tracee on Blackish and have just recently started following her on Instagram and I think I want to be best friends with her. She’s just got this undeniable zest for life that I can’t help but be attracted to.

I have had to really make friends with loneliness. And know the difference between choice-ful solitude and lonely. [I find comfort in] being able to name it, to say I’m feeling lonely, then to have a tribe of people I feel safe enough with to share: This is how I feel.

A podcast episode I enjoyed was Chip in My Brain from This American Life. Oh. My. God. This episode! It is crazy. I really don’t want to say anything about it because it takes a turn about 15-20 minutes into the episode that I was not expecting, and had me dying to discuss it with someone. (Thankfully, a coworker listens to TAL and I hurried over to her cubicle after listening to it on Wednesday to discuss it.) Have you listened? CAN WE DISCUSS? If you haven’t listened, I encourage you to do so.

The best money I spent was $9 on a bulk order of thank-you notes. I feel like a proper adult now that I have blank thank-you notes on hand for the next time I need to send some.

My plans this weekend include nothing too crazy; it should be a low-key weekend. I have a freelance assignment to complete. I have a writing date on Saturday morning. And Sunday is the NFL championship games and I am soooo excited! I am rooting for Minnesota to pull out a win since they’ll make history as the first time the home team was in the Super Bowl. And I’d love to see Jacksonville beat up on the Patriots. (Please, Jags, don’t mess this up. The country is counting on you!)

What was the high point and the low point of your week? And if you haven’t taken my reader survey yet, it’s still available if you want to give me some feedback! It would mean the world to me.

Happy Christmas Eve Eve Eve! 🙂 This will be my last post before Christmas, so I hope everyone has a lovely holiday. I’ll be celebrating with my family. Since most of us have to work the day after Christmas (wah), we’re going to keep it low-key with a small celebration at my mom’s place. I finished my Christmas shopping a while ago and even have all my presents wrapped, so I feel ahead of the game. It should be a lovely Christmassy weekend and I am very much looking forward to it.

Here’s a little TGIF post to guide everyone into the Christmas holiday:

The high of my week was the annual Christmas dinner with my best girls, where we got all fancy and exchanged our Secret Santa gifts. This is our fourth gift-giving exchange and the third time we’ve made a reservation at The Melting Pot, a fondue restaurant where we all stuffed ourselves silly with cheese and chocolate fondue (although we all agreed that all we really wanted was pot after pot of cheese fondue). It was the best night!

The low of my week was nothing in particular, really! It’s been a fairly good week, aside from some anxiety struggles and slight bouts of loneliness I’ve been experiencing. Those are common for this time of year, so I’m trying to just ride the wave and focus on the good things in my life.

I’m currently reading Hunger by Roxane Gay. I didn’t love – or even like, if I’m being brutally honest – Bad Feminist by her, but I am loving this novel. It’s a vulnerable and gut-wrenching look at what it’s like to grow up in this society as fat. Everything Gay writes is stuff I experience on a daily basis (either from other people or what I tell myself about my fatness.) It’s comforting and eye-opening and it’s making me come to terms with my own fat body.

An article I loved was 28 of the Most Powerful Pieces of Writing By Women in 2017. I am slowly making my way through this list (the article on Dylann Roof was outstanding) that a friend shared with me, and everything I’ve read makes me so grateful for these women and their writing. I encourage everyone to check it out!

A podcast episode I enjoyed was The Defeat of Wright Patman from Slow Burn. I learned about this super interesting podcast from Anna Sale of Death, Sex & Money fame (she called it out in her newsletter). It’s an eight-episode podcast series all about Watergate where the host is trying to answer the question: if we were living through Watergate right now, would we even know it? Obviously, it has links to what we’re currently experiencing with today’s political climate and as someone who knows NOTHING about Watergate (seriously, I had to read through the Wikipedia page on it to learn about it, eeks), I’m finding the podcast series fascinating. Give it a listen!

The best money I spent this week was $25 for my work Secret Santa! Usually, my work throws a White Elephant gift exchange at our annual Christmas party, but our company is getting way too large for us to do it anymore. It would take two or three hours probably! So, instead, there was no gift exchange at the Christmas party and instead, we did a Secret Santa gift exchange at work this week. It was so much fun. The coworker I received is a fellow dachshund mom who loves coffee, so her gift was easy: a cute dachshund mug and a gift card to Starbucks. Boom, done. 🙂

My plans this weekend include all of the Christmassy things! Tonight, I am helping my mom with grocery shopping for Christmas Day (we’re not doing anything extravagant, but it’ll be good to have this done tonight). Tomorrow, I am having breakfast with a friend and then lunch with my grandpa (and that evening, I think it’s time for my annual watching of National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation!) On Sunday, the whole family is coming together to make Christmas cookies and watch football – yay! I’ll also probably go out to dinner with my mom and stepdad. Christmas morning will be spent at home, although I’ll probably head to my mom’s mid-morning to open presents before my brother and his family comes over in the afternoon. It’s going to be a crazy, but incredibly fun, weekend! Woo!

What was the high and the low of your week?