We interviewed our bestie Mikaela on our podcast last weekend, all about what it’s like to be an Enneagram 1. I can’t wait to release this episode!

The high of my week was the grilled cheese I had at Mikaela’s house on Wednesday night. You guys, this was the best grilled cheese I’ve ever had. Mikaela made it on this delicious gluten-friendly sourdough bread that she got from a local bakery and she added a touch of garlic powder to the sandwich. It was so good that I’m still thinking about it. I’m a picky eater so I always get a little worried when a friend offers to make me food to eat. What if I hate it and can’t eat it? So, I was worried when Mikaela said she would make grilled cheese when I came over on Wednesday. What if the bread was too chewy or I didn’t like the type of cheese she used? Thankfully, I gobbled down this sandwich and wish I had room in my stomach for more. I may need to track down this bakery to get a sourdough loaf myself!

The low of my week was having a really itchy head. I have scalp psoriasis and I have to use my topical steroid a few times a week to keep it in check. But something was up this week as my head was so itchy around my psoriasis patches. Usually, I deal with dry skin buildup in this area, but this was something different. It was really affecting my quality of life as I felt so uncomfortable and every time I used my topical steroid, my head would burn for at least 15 minutes afterward. This isn’t unusual, but the length and severity of it was. Just not fun at all! Mikaela also has scalp psoriasis (we are soul sisters in every way, ha), and was telling me about how her scalp has been so itchy this week. And we finally realized: Duh. The weather. We had a cold snap last week and it probably affected our symptoms. I don’t think it affects them as severely as it would if we lived in a colder climate, but it’s still a factor I need to be aware of.

One nagging task I marked off my to-do list was starting my closet re-organization process. I am so excited to do this project! I love organization so much that I would gladly come to anyone’s house specifically for this purpose. My closet is filled with boxes and bins and random items, and I’m starting small by pulling out one thing every day and removing it from my closet. Thankfully, I have a nice big space in the corner of my bedroom (where my cozy reading chair will eventually go!) so I’ve been corralling like items together in this space. Once everything has been removed, I am going to figure out how many of the SAME containers I need from Target so that they can be stacked up in my closet with labels. (Right now, the issue is that I have so many different types and sizes of containers and nothing is labeled, so it’s been hard to find things in my closet.) This way, I will know exactly where to find my cozy socks when it’s a cold day or my stash of extra pens when I’m running low.

A Reel I loved was this one that my friend Katie shared online: “What text messages mean to an anxious person.” YUP!

I’m currently reading Iris Kelly Doesn’t Date by Ashley Herring Blake in print. It’s so good. AHB can’t write a bad sapphic romance, in my opinion. I also just started Cover Story by Susan Rigetti on audio. I’m only two hours in but it’s really good so far!

A podcast episode I enjoyed was A Crash Course in the Real Housewives of The Traitors. I’m watching the current season of The Traitors (one of the best reality TV shows – it’s on Peacock!) and there are a lot of Real Housewives on this season. I don’t watch RH so I’m unfamiliar with them, and this podcast episode helped me learn more about these women… and, um, they are terrible people. It didn’t make me want to root for any of them, that’s for sure.

The best money I spent was $12 on cream for my psoriasis itchiness. I was desperate so I searched Target’s app for a psoriasis cream and found this one from Gold Bond. The topical steroid just wasn’t doing the trick, so I decided to try something different. I slathered this on my scalp (my dry patches are right behind my ears on both sides of my scalp) all Saturday and by Sunday, I was feeling so much better. There’s still a touch of itchiness, but it’s much more manageable than it was.

My plans this weekend include getting my nose pierced tonight (!), a day of NO PLANS on Saturday (woohoo!), and a big day of football on Sunday. My brother’s team (49ers) is in the NFC Championship and my nephew’s team (Chiefs) is in the AFC Championship, so it will be a tense atmosphere. We need one of these teams to lose because the last time the Chiefs and 49ers met in the Super Bowl (2020), it was not a fun experience.

What was the high of your week?

The high of my week was having a very productive Monday. It’s always nice to have a Monday off and I filled up my day with chores and errands. Not the most fun way to spend a Monday, of course, but it allowed me to start the work week feeling like I had all of my ducks in a row. That’s a great feeling!

The low of my week was the Dolphins pitiful performance in the playoffs. It’s been 24 years since the Dolphins won a playoff game, and I was really hoping that this team would break our playoff curse. Things seemed so promising at the beginning of the season! But, alas, we lost in embarrassing fashion. But at least my nephew was happy since he’s a Chiefs fan!

One nagging task I marked off my to-do list was cleaning the floors. Why is it such a process to clean my floors? I’m not even talking about mopping (although I tried to do that and realized the cleaning solution I bought from Target was not the correct one for my Swiffer mop, so that was a disappointing discovery). But just running my robot vacuum feels like such a process. I have to dump out the dust bin and remove the rollers so I can clear out all the hair that got wrapped around them during the last cleaning cycle.I have to pick up everything from my floor: all the cat toys and cat beds and rugs and such, ensuring they’re ready for a thorough cleaning with the help of professionals like newport carpet cleaners, who specialize in restoring carpets to their pristine condition, leaving your home fresh and allergen-free. Also, the cleaning service by https://www.carpetcleaningboltonpro.co.uk/rug-cleaning/ is such a lifesaver. And then I have to try to direct the robot while it’s cleaning to make sure it doesn’t clean in the same spot over and over again. (This is what happens when you buy the more affordable vacuum, I guess. I can’t map it to specific rooms.) Is this saving me any time? IDK but I got it done on Sunday finally and I am really glad it’s done.

A Reel I loved was this precious cat video of a cat getting “makeup” put on by her mom.

I’m currently reading three books! I’m slowly working through The Honest Enneagram by Sarajane Case (reading one chapter per day). On audio, I’m listening to Cassandra in Reverse by Holly Smale. And I just started Iris Kelly Doesn’t Date by Ashley Herring Blake last night!

A podcast episode I enjoyed was Nicole and Sasheer recounting their two-week trip to Africa on Best Friends. I don’t know how they continue to get themselves into the funniest shenanigans while traveling, but I live for these kinds of episodes from them!

The best money I spent was $30ish dollars on new rugs for my bathroom. Such a boring adult purchase but it has brought me immense joy to replace my dingy bathroom rugs that were driving me crazy. They were not very absorbent and didn’t take kindly to being washed, so they looked beat up no matter what condition they were in. My new rugs (bought on a whim at TJ Maxx) are so much better. Hooray for small purchases that make a world of difference!

My plans this weekend include book club tonight! We are doing a PowerPoint night where we’re all presenting on a topic of our choosing (I’ve been debating between 5-6 topics so it’s been hard to narrow it down!). Saturday, Bri and I are recording with Mikaela for a podcast episode and then I’m going to my mom’s to watch the playoff games. And Sunday, I plan on sleeping in and lumping around the apartment until it’s time to head to my mom’s for more playoff games. A good weekend ahead!

What was the high of your week?

The high of my week was no more roofing work! Last week, my apartment building’s roof was being repaired by experts like Tampa roofing company, and let me tell you, being on the top floor of a building that’s getting roofing work done is no bueno. So much banging! And they started at 7am every morning (EVEN ON SATURDAY!!!). All of the loud noises scared Lila so much that she hid under the bed all day and only came out at night when they were gone—I missed having that little fluff around! I’m glad the roof is repaired, but even more glad that I don’t have to hear constant banging while I’m trying to get work done.

The low of my week was canceling my April vacation. Ugh. My mom and I decided to cancel our cruise/trip to California in April because I was feeling very stressed out about the expense. I’m not feeling great about where my finances are at right now (holidays + student loan payments unpausing + paying off LASIK = a lot on my plate), and I need a breather for the first half of the year to catch up on credit card payments and savings. We’ll still take a nice vacation next year, but it won’t be in April.

One nagging task I marked off my to-do list was finally working through my “deal with it later” bin. I haven’t gone through this bin in months and it was overflowing with documents to file, random items to put in their correct spots, and more. It felt good to finally get it all cleared out!

A Reel I loved was this sweet video of a doggo making a build-a-bear. Heartwarming!

I’m currently reading three books. On audio, I’m listening to State of Wonder by Ann Patchett. (So far, I’m liking it! The premise is not enticing at all, but everyone I know who has read it has loved it.) In print, I’m reading The Henna Artist by Alka Joshi. (Sooo good.) And my e-book is A Lot Like Love by Julie James, which is a reread for me.

A podcast episode I enjoyed was The Wreck of the Costa Concordia on Stuff You Should Know. I love it when they do deep dives on these random events in history, especially shipwrecks. And this one was fairly recent—2012!

The best money I spent was on gifts for my book club! We are having our book club Christmas party on Sunday and we are doing a “favorite things” gift exchange. I had a lot of fun figuring out what my “favorite thing” was going to be (we wanted to keep each gift around $10 since we had to have five of them), and I think I came up with a great one. We’ll see! (I’ll reveal what the gift was on Monday—don’t want any of my friends finding out ahead of time!)

My plans this weekend include so many things! Let’s review:

• Today, Bri is taking me on my birthday adventure: A day at Disney for Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party! I haven’t been to Disney in so long and I’m excited to soak it all up. Plus, it’s going to be a gorgeous day: A high of 74!
• Tomorrow, I’ll kick off my day by shipping off my Secret SANta Swap gift and then meet up with my friend Amber for her birthday present to me: brunch! We’re going to a place downtown that has a very delicious-sounding menu.
• In the afternoon, I have a writing date with Mikaela and then I’m coming home and vegging on the couch for the rest of the night.
• Sunday morning, it’s our book club Christmas party! Bri is making breakfast and we’ll play some fun games and swap gifts.
• After the party, I’m headed straight to my mom’s for football with the fam.

Whew! It will be a busy weekend, but such a fun one. I’ve been looking forward to this weekend for a long time!

What was the high of your week?

Here’s my new tattoo! You can find the meaning behind it here.

The high of my week was meeting up with Mikaela and her girls for dinner on Wednesday. This was a spur-of-the-moment dinner date and I’m glad I said yes when I would normally say no. It was nice to get out on a weeknight and hang out with those adorable girls.

The low of my week was the news. The situation in Israel and Gaza is sickening and I feel so helpless. I am trying to stay informed and I hope this nightmare ends soon.

An Internet find I loved was this hilarious Reel. Please do not miss the comments. I was crying! So good.

I’m currently reading three books. On audio, I’m listening to The Agathas by Kathleen Glasgow, which is a fun YA mystery. I’m enjoying it so far! My current romance is Business or Pleasure by Rachel Lynn Solomon, and I’m also really enjoying it. And, finally, I’m reading Drowning by T.J. Newman. I inhaled her debut, Falling, and this one has the potential to be just as good.

A podcast episode I enjoyed was the Fall Extravaganza episode from The Girl Next Door Podcast. This is my favorite episode they put out every year (they’ve been doing them for a decade!) and this year was no different. It brought me so much joy!

The best money I spent this week was um… nothing? I bought some groceries, cat litter, and cat food and that was about it.

My plans this weekend include not a lot! I am recording two podcast episodes with Bri on Saturday morning and meeting up with Mikaela afterward for a writing date. And Sunday is, of course, football with the fam. I am planning on making these pumpkin chocolate chip cookies—yum!

What was the high of your week?

The high of my week was seeing the Barbie movie! I was so, so excited about this movie and it did not disappoint. It was funny and silly, but also heartfelt and emotional. America Ferrera is not getting nearly enough accolades as she should because she was sensational. The movie is super feminist and not for male fragility, that’s for sure, and we need more movies like it.

The low of my week was my blog being down for 36 hours! I am very grateful for two blog friends who reached out to me to let me know my blog was showing a weird “suspended” error. I contacted my hosting company and learned that my site had been infected by malware and they had taken the site down for security reasons. They informed me that I needed to remove the malware to get my site back. At first, I thought this was something I could do myself but I had to go through a third-party company. They were able to remove the malware fairly quickly, but then my hosting company needed time to scan the site and make sure it was fine before putting it back up. But she’s back and I missed her so much, and I will never take her beautiful little face for granted ever again. I have to figure out what I need to do to make sure that doesn’t happen again (other than changing my password, which I did the minute my blog was back online). I thought my blog was getting scanned frequently for stuff like this (I use SiteLock, which came with my hosting package), but maybe I need something more robust. Hackers are getting smarter and smarter!

One nagging task I marked off my to-do list was scheduling an initial consultation with a dietician. I am meeting with her in two weeks and I’m hoping it goes well. She seemed to say all the right things in her bio so I hope we can work well together. I will definitely keep everyone posted on my journey!

An article I enjoyed was ‘Sounds Like a Cult’ Podcast Host Sues Former Co-Host. The way I gasped when I saw this news! I am still listening to SLAC, even though I don’t really love it. I wish it were more research-based and factual. But they are still releasing episodes like everything is normal so I had no idea things had gotten so messy! I really hope the podcast can continue with Amanda and a new co-host because I think the weaknesses definitely lay with the other co-host, but we’ll see. Some juicy gossip for sure!

I’m currently reading three books. I am nearly finished with two of them—An Unwanted Guest by Shari Lapena and Something Wild & Wonderful by Anita Kelly—both of which will probably get 4 stars from me. And I just started (ironically) Cultish: The Language of Fanatacism by Amanda Montell (the same Amanda as referenced above!) on audio.

A podcast episode I enjoyed was A Look Back on Season 5 on the Currently Reading podcast. This was a fun romp through memory lane as the ladies wrapped up their most recent season. I always enjoy getting some behind-the-scenes tidbits about podcasting and how people produce their shows, and this one was really interesting to me.

The best money I spent this week was on some ergonomic accessories for my desk. My carpal tunnel pain has been terrible lately so I went and ordered a new mousepad with wrist rest, a funky-looking ergonomic mouse, and a wrist brace to wear at night. Here’s hoping it makes things feel better!

My plans this weekend include not much! It should be fairly low-key, which I am looking forward to. My mom and I may go see the Barbie movie together because a) she needs to see it and b) I need to rewatch it. Ha!

What was the highlight of your week?