The high of my week was winning a Goodreads giveaway! I enter these giveaways all the time because it takes, like, two seconds, and why not?! I was pleasantly surprised to get an email from Goodreads on Wednesday that told me I won a copy of Meet the Newmans by Jennifer Niven! I haven’t won one of these giveaways in years.

The low of my week was heartburn. I haven’t isolated which of my meds gives me heartburn (the likely culprit is my iron supplement) and it doesn’t always give me heartburn, but when it does, it really makes me feel like I’m dying. On Wednesday morning, I was convinced I was having a heart attack because the burning in my chest was so bad. (I always think the heartburn is actually chest pain and if I don’t get to the ER immediately, I’m going to die alone at home. My mind is a wonderful place to be!) Anyway, it always eases after an hour or so, but it definitely sucks. I’m going to try taking my iron supplement separately from my other pills and see if that helps.

I’m currently reading two books! I’m reading After I Do by Taylor Jenkins Reid and The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen by K.J. Charles, and I am loving both of them so very much!

A blog post I loved was Nicole telling us all about her process to publishing her novel. I’m so proud of her, and I love the non-traditional route she took! I haven’t read Inhale, Exhale yet, but it’s one of the next books on my list to read! I’ve heard excellent things, and if Nicole’s blog writing is anything to go by, I know I’m going to love it.

A show I watched this week was Survivor 50! It’s hard to believe this show is on it’s fiftieth season. There is one contestant on this season who was on the second season when he was 25. Now, he’s in his fifties and mentoring one of the younger contestants who is 25! Full circle moment. Anyway, the premiere episode was excellent and I am very much looking forward to what awaits us this season!

The best money I spent this week was $25 for a ticket to Bri’s performance. My best friend and podcast co-host Bri was cast in a play at one of our local community theatres! Isn’t that so cool?! I’m so excited to see her play! I bought second-row tickets for my mom and me.

My plans this weekend include some fun things! Tonight, it’s a night to myself, and I plan on watching a movie to fulfill one of my 2026 goals (I’m thinking The Martian). Tomorrow, I have my younger nephew’s birthday party and then a shopping date with my mom. And on Sunday, I have a morning writing date with Mikaela and the rest of the day to myself (I think a nap will be in order).

What was the best money you spent this week? What are your weekend plans?

The high of my week was receiving the sweetest Christmas present from Kim! It was such a thoughtful present. She got me an Anne of Green Gables book vase, which is my all-time favorite book (I’m collecting multiple editions of the book, so it’s going to have the perfect place on my shelf! AND – she not only bought me the cutest cat-themed bookmarks, but also painted a rock to correspond with each cat. !!! My heart just exploded. It was the sweetest, most thoughtful gift, and I am forever grateful to have a friend like Kim in my life.

The low of my week was more hip pain. Well, you guys, the steroid injections did not work. I am feeling pretty defeated about it because I am so tired of dealing with chronic pain. I’ve been spending a lot of time trying to figure out why the steroid injections didn’t work, and there’s not a clear answer. It could be that I don’t have bursitis but rather gluteal tendinopathy, but I don’t really have the risk factors for that condition and physical therapy (which I’ve been doing for two months!) is supposed to help. I also started a different prescription anti-inflammatory (meloxicam), so I’m waiting to see if that makes a difference. Anyway, I’m back to doing PT twice a week, and will probably schedule a follow-up with my ortho in the next week or so if I’m still having a lot of pain.

I’m currently reading three books. I have just an hour and a half left in the audiobook of The Correspondent by Virginia Evans. IT IS SO GOOD. The hype is real! I’m also working my way through 11/22/63 by Stephen King, which I’m buddy-reading with Lisa. If we read a chapter a day every day of December, we’ll finish it by the end of the year! I’m a few days behind in my reading, but planning on getting caught up this weekend. And I also started Every Last One by Anna Quindlen. I’m only 50 pages in, but the writing style is so soothing.

A Reel I loved was this adorable video from one of my favorite cat accounts, Mr. Milo the Chonk. This cat is my everything.

A show I watched this week was RuPaul’s Drag Race! For my birthday, one of my friends gifted me a ticket to A Drag Queen Christmas, which will showcase many different drag queens from RuPaul’s Drag Race. She recommended that I watch the latest season of Drag Race so I could get to know some of the queens. I might have a new obsession?! It’s so good!

The best money I spent this week was $80 on a premium subscription to Diabolical Lies. This is one of my new favorite podcasts, and I’ve been working my way through their backlist of episodes to get caught up. Each episode is about two hours long and is incredibly well-researched and interesting. Some of the most recent episodes include topics like biblical womanhood, the rise and fall of capitalism, reactionary feminism, and the male loneliness epidemic. Sometime last year, they launched a premium subscription, and I haven’t been able to listen to any of those episodes, even though every single one sounds so interesting to me. I told myself I would buy a premium subscription once I was all caught up with their free episodes, and that happened this week! It was time to pay up, so I bought an annual membership, and I couldn’t be happier. I feel good about supporting these creators, even more so knowing they give 33% of their subscription earnings to support causes that mean a lot to me.

My plans this weekend include dog-sitting duty! Bri needed someone to watch her sweet puppers this weekend, and I was the lucky winner. I’ll be hanging out at her place, snuggling her doggos and cozying up on her luxurious couch, for the weekend. But I also have some other fun plans, like a massage on Friday afternoon, Olive and Eleni’s dance recital, and football with the fam. It’ll be a nice weekend!

What was the high of your week?

The high of my week was going to Elizabeth Gilbert’s book event! Her book is getting a lot of buzz (and a lot of criticism). It has been very interesting to take in all of this criticism after going to her book event and hearing her talk about the book and what led her to write it. There was a whole discussion on a Patreon episode of Sarah’s Book Shelves Live that I vehemently disagreed with, but I also haven’t read the book so maybe my opinion will change after I do. But anyway, the book event itself was a wonderful time (it’s the best being surrounded by other bookish people!) and even better, my friend Lynn picked me up and handled the downtown parking situation, which always gives me anxiety. Ha!

The low of my week was back pain. I already talked about this back pain last Friday and on my Wednesday post, so I won’t continue carrying on about it. It hasn’t been fun to deal with, and I’m really glad I went to urgent care on Tuesday and got some muscle relaxers. They have helped so much. I’m still having some weird pain right in my spine (it almost feels like I need someone to crack one of the vertebrae back in place, if that’s even a thing), but it’s not super painful. After my trip, I’ll go see my chiropractor about it because what’s my life without doctor’s appointments?!

I’m currently reading two books. I’m still slowly working my way through Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker, which has been fascinating! I’m also nearly finished with Any Trope But You by Victoria Lavine, which will likely be a 3-star romance (unless things go really off the rails at the end).

A Reel I loved was this “will my cats sit on anything?” Reel from one of my favorite cat account. I love that his cats are named Porky Belly and Jim!

A show I watched this week was the premiere of season 49 of Survivor! I really enjoyed the premiere and all of the different personalities. I already have a few favorites picked out, so we’ll see if they continue to be my favorites as the season progresses.

The best money I spent this week was on dinner for my nephew’s birthday yesterday. It was quite an inexpensive dinner, too, because my mom and I opted to split a meal, which was such a great decision.

My plans this weekend include a lot of fun things! Tonight, Bri and I are recording a few podcast episodes. Tomorrow, I have my writing date with Mikaela, and afterward, I’m getting my hair cut and colored! And then Sunday is football with the fam, and we’re going to celebrate my nephew’s birthday again. Yay! Also, after today, I have two full weeks off work, and I don’t even know what I’m going to do with myself. (I mean, aside from a little international travel!)

What was the high of your week?

Programming note: I’ll be taking the next two weeks off my blog, and then I’ll have a pretty light blogging schedule throughout October (maybe one post per week, at most). I’ll be back in full force in November, though, for NaBloPoMo!

The high of my week was applying for an apartment! My mom and I toured this apartment over the weekend and they were running an incredible special: two months free rent + I could get the admin fee and application fee waived if I put in an application by Monday. Unfortunately, it also means I had to pick a move-in date far earlier than I expected and will be getting the keys to my new place the Saturday before I leave for London. !!! My current apartment’s lease isn’t up until November 9th, but I’m hoping I can finagle a way out of the lease early (keep your fingers crossed for me). In any event, this will give me plenty of time to slowly move into the new place and I’m not planning on doing the big part of the move (furniture + heavy boxes) until the week of October 20th, most likely. (Well, I’ll do it earlier if I can get out of my lease before November, but if not, that’s the plan.) It’s a two-bedroom within my price range. The second bedroom will be the perfect space for an office, and I can’t wait to show you guys when I’m all moved in!

The low of my week was more trigger finger pain. This time, it was my left finger. Last week, I got a steroid shot for trigger finger in my right index finger and it took away the pain completely! My left index finger has had some minor pain, but I figured since it was in my non-dominant hand, it wouldn’t bother me as much. But surprise! We use our non-dominant hand for a lot of tasks. The pain got progressively worse over the weekend, and I finally called my ortho on Wednesday. He was able to fit me in for a same-day appointment. It’s been almost two days since the shot and I have no pain. Modern medicine, how I love thee.

I’m currently reading Birding with Benefits by Sarah T. Dubb, which is a cute romance with older characters. (I mean, they’re in their early forties, but that’s unusual with romance novels!) I also just started Hestia Strikes a Match by Christine Grillo on audio.

A Reel I loved was this one that turns the TV show Schitt’s Creek into a horror movie. It’s so good!

A show I watched this week was The Amazing Race. I’m watching an older season, season 6. I knew this was going to be a tough season to watch because it features a character who is infamous for being essentially abusive to his partner the whole time they’re racing. These days, I don’t think his behavior would fly, but this was 2004 and reality TV was very different.

The best money I spent this week was $100 to apply for the apartment (which will be credited back to me). That was definitely an exciting purchase!

My plans this weekend include so many things! Today, Bri and I are meeting up to record two episodes of our podcast and then we may watch The Thursday Murder Club. Tomorrow, my mom and I are going to do some shopping and errands, and later, I have a writing date with Mikaela. And Sunday, my mom and I are going to a dachshund meet-up in Tampa (AHHH!) and then it’s football with the fam. If the Dolphins could actually look like a professional football team this week, that’d be lovely.

What was the high of your week?

The high of my week was sitting down with Amber to work through some more London logistics! One of our most-anticipated excursions was cancelled, leaving us with a bit of wiggle room in our schedule. I’m trying to be very careful not to over-schedule us because it’s so tempting to do that on a big vacation like this, but that’s not the way we like to travel. We have limited energy reserves and don’t want to be walking 20,000 steps every day! Plus, we have two day trips planned and those will definitely take a lot out of us. Anyway, it was a great planning session and we’ve nearly got everything figured out. We leave six weeks from Tuesday – ahhh!

The low of my week was nothing? That’s lovely to report! Between all of my medical appointments, depressive episode, and work stress, it feels good to be in a great place right now. The medical appointments are over, I worked through the depression (likely due to the birth control I started, which I stopped taking once I started feeling bad), and work is still a lot most days, but mostly manageable.

I’m currently reading three books! In print, I’m halfway through The Road to Tender Hearts by Annie Hartnett. On my Kindle, I’m a little more than halfway through Every Summer After by Carley Fortune. And my audiobook is Bad City by Paul Pringle (I have five hours left). All of these books have been exceptional reads! Unless something crazy happens, I think I’ll have three five-star books in a row.

A Reel I loved was this hilarious dachshund Reel from one of my favorite doggo accounts. I laughed so hard!

A show I watched this week was a few episodes of season two of Next Level Chef. I will watch any cooking show from Gordon Ramsey, even if I have no desire to be a chef and hate cooking myself. I’m just always so impressed by these aspiring chefs!

The best money I spent this week was paying off my London balance! It feels so very good to have that monkey off my back (as a refresher: my mom and I always go 50/50 on vacations. She put all of our London expenses, like our flights, hotel, and some excursions, on her credit card and told me I could pay her back slowly.) There will be some expenses coming up, as we still need to book a few more things, but those should be minimal.

My plans this weekend include a lot of fun things! Today, I have a hair appointment and then I might try to finally watch Working Girl. Tomorrow, I’m going to the dog beach with Chip, Lucy, my mom, and my stepdad. And on Sunday, I have my writing date with Mikaela and then a dog birthday party to go to. (How many times can I tease my brother for throwing a birthday party for his dog? SO MANY TIMES.)

What was the highlight of your week?