The high of my week was having dinner with my friend Amber, who happens to have a thriving travel planning business, to talk about a potential trip my mom and I want to take in the fall: Paris and London. I have wanted to do a trip like this for so long, and I think it’s finally time to make it happen! My mom and I chatted with Amber about the things we want to do in each city and she gave us so many recommendations on how to build an itinerary that will work for us. I am so glad to have Amber’s expertise to help us create an ideal itinerary and handle all of those annoying tasks of planning a trip like booking accommodations and excursions. She is going to be an invaluable resource for us!

The low of my week was finding out that I owe on my taxes for the first time ever! I had a feeling this was coming since I’ve been getting less and less back every year (it’s usually enough to cover the cost of TurboTax, but nothing more, lol). It wasn’t too bad ($182) but it was quite the bummer. I miss those years when I got a four-figure tax refund, but I also enjoy making a decent salary now, so ya win some, ya lose some.

I’m currently reading three books! On audio, I’m halfway done with Summer Fridays by Suzanne Rindell and I am loving it so much! It’s the kind of audiobook I don’t want to stop listening to, which very rarely happens. In print, I’ve got about 100 pages left of Crow Mary by Kathleen Grissom, which has also been an excellent read. And my e-book right now is Caught Up by Liz Tomforde, which has also been a good read. So my reading life is BANGIN’ right now!

A recommendation I have for you is the Big Feelings Substack by Sarah Jacobson. I’m not even sure how I started following this Substack, but I love Sarah’s honesty about life as a single, childless woman at 39, setting boundaries at her corporate job, and more. She has a beautiful writing style and I look forward to reading her words every week!

A podcast episode I enjoyed was Behind the Scenes of a Book-to-Screen Adaptation with Georgia Hunter on Sarah’s Book Shelves Live. This was a really fun conversation with Sarah and Georgia. Georgia wrote We Were the Lucky Ones, which is now a Hulu miniseries, and she talks all about what it was like trying to get her book adapted and being an executive producer for the show. It was an excellent discussion!

The best money I spent was $3,048.81 to pay off my LASIK bill! While it felt really scary to make such a large one-time payment (and I had to do it over the phone to an automated system), it feels so good to finally have this debt paid off and not looming over my head anymore. I’m so, so, so happy I got LASIK (it has been LIFE-CHANGING) and even happier that I paid off the surgery within 18 months!

My plans this weekend include a very low-key Friday (I think I’m going to finally curl up on the couch and watch Dirty Dancing!) and then a very busy Saturday (an early-morning gym workout, a writing date with Mikaela, recording two podcast episodes with Bri, and then game night!). And I’ll follow it up with a restorative Sunday – the only things on my agenda are yoga and grocery shopping.

What was the high of your week?

The high of my week was a great annual review with my boss. I wasn’t necessarily worried about this review because I know the value I bring to my department, but I was curious how she saw my contributions considering she joined our team in the last half of the year. Thankfully, everything lined up! I appreciated her thoughtful feedback and how she articulated the career growth she sees in me, specifically within our department. It made me feel really good! And I found out my bonus percentage for the year, which was such a relief because I was counting on that bonus to pay off my LASIK bill. Woop!

The low of my week was anxiety. It’s been over a week of living in a high-anxiety state and I am very much ready to call my psychiatrist to talk through medication options if this doesn’t improve. I spent last weekend spiraling about a specific situation (surprisingly, not about my mom this time!), and I am so grateful to my friend Mikaela who sat with me on the phone for over an hour on Friday morning when I texted her that I was panicking. We didn’t talk about the anxiety, she just chatted with me as she went about her morning after dropping her daughters off at school and getting ready for the workday at home. This is what I need when I’m spiraling: distraction. I was hoping the anxiety would ease after the weekend, but it hasn’t. Ugh.

I’m currently reading two books. On audio, I’m almost done with Remember: The Science of Memory and the Art of Forgetting by Lisa Genova. In print, I’m about 100 pages into Crow Mary by Kathleen Grissom. I’m really enjoying it!

A Reel I enjoyed was this very good usage of the Internet to show us the different types of “cat engines.” Sometimes, the Internet can be just what we need right now.

A podcast episode I enjoyed was my own! The Friendship Paradox is back, baby! We took a very long, six-month hiatus due to hurricane madness and very busy schedules and in that time, we both realized how much this podcast means to us. Our first episode of season 9 was all about what happened to cause our hiatus and how we handle hard times.

The best money I spent was $30 on lunch with my mom yesterday. I was thinking about how much I did not want to eat a sad bowl of tuna fish for lunch when my mom texted me to see if I was available for lunch. Yes, please! We met at our favorite local deli and I had a delicious sandwich that was so much better than my original lunch plans. And I got some mom time! (I paid for my mom’s lunch since she got us dinner the night before—I promise this deli isn’t charging $30 for a sandwich, ha!)

My plans this weekend include some pampering and a girls’ weekend away! It’s going to be a very good weekend, my friends. I gave myself a four-day weekend so I could really enjoy myself. This morning, I am going to the hair salon where I am going to get new color and a haircut (yes, I was doing my hair at home and now I feel like going to a salon, whatever). I’m also going to get my underarms and brows waxed. (I’m hoping waxing my underarms regularly may help with my cyst issue since blocked hair follicles can cause these types of cysts.) And then in the afternoon, Bri and I will be off to Orlando! We’re staying with her friend where we plan on going to a Taylor Swift-themed romance bookstore, loving on her friend’s animals, enjoying afternoon tea, and corralling said friend for a podcast episode! (She’s an enneagram 4 so we’re going to dive into her personality.) It will be a lovely weekend (though I will very much enjoy a relaxed, low-key Monday to recover from it all!).

What are your weekend plans?

The high of my week was a very fun night with friends where we visited a romance bookstore and went out for pizza afterward. You’ll hear all about the fun in tomorrow’s FIG update!

The low of my week was feeling sluggish during my Wednesday night HIIT class. I think I need to start arriving at the gym a little early on Wednesday nights so I can warm up my body before starting the class. I think that’s part of the reason why I have so much lower back pain during the workout—my body is just so tight from sitting all day. I think if I did about 10-15 minutes on the elliptical and then did some static stretching, I’d feel a lot better in class. I mean, I’d still feel like I was dying but, like, a good kind of dying, you know?

I’m currently reading four books, ahhh! I am reading The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery for the CBBC. I’m also reading Beginner’s Luck by Kate Clayborn (print), The Favorites by Layne Fargo (print), and The Family Game by Catherine Steadman (audio). I’m not very far into any of these books (aside from The Blue Castle) so I don’t have much to say about them yet! (Oh wait, I am actually reading five books right now because I’m slowly working my way through Glucose Revolution by Jessie Inchauspe. I only read a few pages a day so I can really take in the information.)

A Reel I enjoyed was this girl showing us the smallest bathroom in NYC. You guys, I was not prepared!

A podcast episode I enjoyed was Trump’s Opening Salvo on 5-4. This was a sobering episode, all about the different executive orders and other chaos that Trump has inflicted during his first month in office and what it could mean for the courts. I always love their perspective and this was an especially good episode.

The best money I spent this week was $108 on all of my bookish goodies at Steamy Lit! I was expecting my bill to be a lot higher so I was pleasantly surprised with the total. Plus, I consider this to be putting my dollars where I want them: a woman-owned, minority-owned bookstore that aims to be a safe, inclusive space in our community. It doesn’t get better than that!

My plans this weekend include so many fun things! Tonight, Bri and I are getting together for our 10th annual Galentine’s Day! We are going out to dinner and then seeing Paula Poundstone live. Woop! On Saturday, I have book club in the morning and then I’ll have my writing date with Mikaela afterwards. On Sunday, Bri and I are getting together to record the podcast. !!!! It has been ages since we last recorded and I am really excited to get the podcast back up and running. Also, this is a four-day weekend for me (I took today off and Monday is a holiday for us), so I am very much looking forward to bookending my busy plans with lots of time to myself!

What was the best money you spent this week?

The high of my week was attending a fun author event last night! My friend Lynn gifted me this event as a belated birthday gift and it was so much fun! The event was held at my favorite local indie bookstore and I really enjoyed hearing the author speak about her writing process and her journey to becoming published. She’s a debut author and at one point, I was standing inside the bookstore when some of her friends came in, and the author was like, “Can you believe this?” I thought that was so sweet! She was just so happy to be promoting her book and I can’t wait to read it soon. (The book is Let’s Call a Truce by Amy Buchanan.)

The low of my week was disappointing blood work results. I was really hoping to see some improvements thanks to exercising more and being on CPAP for a few months, but nope. Things actually got worse in a few key areas (cholesterol and A1C). I know I need to clean up my eating, but this is the kick in the pants that I need a full overhaul of my diet. I’m not healthy and I really hate seeing all of those red squares when I look at my blood work.

I’m currently reading three books! I am working my way through The Shell Seekers by Rosamunde Pilcher, which I’m reading to fulfill my goal of reading four 500+ page books this year. I’m a little less than halfway through and enjoying it! I’m also rereading a favorite romance (Making Up by Lucy Parker) and on audio, I’m listening to Distress Signals by Catherine Ryan Howard.

A Reel I enjoyed was this series about training shelter animals to become therapy pets from the Michigan Animal Rescue League. It basically entails one of their volunteers telling the animals all of his intrusive thoughts and it is genius. Plus, the animals are adorable and have great names – my favorite is definitely Oven Mitt, ha. (Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 for your viewing pleasure!)

A podcast episode I enjoyed was The Popcast deep-diving what’s going on between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni. When all of the news came out about Blake Lively’s lawsuit against Justin Baldoni and I realized Knox and Jamie were on their holiday break, I was devastated. I needed a deep dive STAT. So I had to wait a bit for this discussion, but it was well worth the wait!

The best money I spent this week was $12 on breakfast after bloodwork. This is probably the last time I can have this breakfast (or at least for a very long time) but I couldn’t help myself to a Sausage Egg McMuffin from McDonald’s since it was right on the way home. After fasting for 12 hours, that breakfast sandwich tasted delicious!

My plans this weekend include not much! I’m going to do an early morning workout at the gym on Saturday and I have my weekly writing date with Mikaela. And it’s a full weekend of playoff football! There are two games on Saturday and two games on Sunday so I’m looking forward to them. (And lots of family time!)

What was the high of your week?

The high of my week was getting more tattoos! You can see what I got on the photo above. These tattoos are for my mom—tulips are her favorite flower so I got two tulips on one stem to symbolize our relationship, and the anchor is because she is my anchor in this wild, messy world. I love these tattoos so much. They came out so beautifully! And now… let the tattoo healing process begin!

The low of my week was the unexpected departure of a colleague. I’m always pretty shaken up when people leave our organization—I don’t know why it affects me so much! I guess I just really dislike change. Bah.

I’m currently reading The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett in print. I just started this book yesterday and didn’t realize it was so short! (120 pages) I’m zooming through it.

A Reel I enjoyed was this very enjoyable Christmas prank. I always joke that I’m the favorite kid so I should absolutely play this same prank on my brother. (Also, my mom sent me this Reel on Instagram so…)

A podcast episode I enjoyed was the most recent Patreon episode for Sarah’s Book Shelves Live. The whole group (Sarah, Catherine, and Susie) came together to discuss their DNFs for the year, which was a fascinating discussion. I’ve become a lot better about DNF-ing books and that’s mostly due to Sarah who is ruthless in her DNF-ing. I loved this discussion on what books they DNF-ed, what books they wished they had DNF-ed, what books they are glad they didn’t DNF, and why it’s good to DNF. (If you took a shot every time I said DNF, congrats, you’re drunk.)

The best money I spent this week was $10 on a smart plug. I have to thank Elisabeth for this. My mind was blown when she wrote about smart plugs in her gift guide earlier this week. I have been looking for something like this! Here’s the story: I use a four-drawer dresser as a makeshift nightstand and had to rearrange a few things so that my CPAP machine was at arm’s length. This way, when my alarm goes off, I can take off the mask, throw it on the floor, and turn off my machine without getting out of bed. Great! The problem is that I had to move my lamp out of arm’s reach. This means if I want to snuggle up in bed, reading, I have to physically get out of bed to turn off my lamp when it’s time to go to sleep. What a first-world problem, I know, but it means I usually just wait until I’m ready to go to sleep to get into bed. But with a smart plug, I can use an app on my phone to turn the lamp on and off! What the what! I thought I needed something fancier to have smart technology in my bedroom. The plug should arrive today and you can bet I am getting that bad boy set up and ready to go ASAP.

My plans this weekend include all the things! Today is my last day of work for the rest of the year, tonight is book club’s Christmas party, tomorrow will be spent making sugar cookie batter and doing a quick run at PetSmart for last-minute gifts for the pups in my life, and Sunday, we’re making Christmas cookies with the whole fam. YAY!

What was the high of your week? What are your weekend plans?