The high of my week was having a mother/daughter date to see an early screening of Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret. This movie was so, so good. Both my mom and I read the book when we were younger, so we have a tender attachment to it. I can’t say how true the movie adaptation stayed to the book, as I haven’t read the book since I was a kid, but I’m not someone who is typically precious about that sort of thing. I thought it was a sweet movie that made me laugh and cry and remember what a weird time puberty is, especially for girls.
The low of my week was feeling so worn out. The past two weeks have been so busy for me. Let’s review:
- Tuesday (April 11th): Date night in Tampa
- Wednesday (April 12th): Movie night with friends
- Thursday (April 13th): Taylor Swift concert where I was peopling from 1pm-2am
- Friday (April 14th): Running errands, doctor’s appointment
- Saturday (April 15th): Pet walk, writing date
- Sunday (April 16th): Breakfast date, Silent Book Club
- Monday (April 17th): NOTHING
- Tuesday (April 18th): Dinner with Bri
- Wednesday (April 19th): Movie night with mom
For an introvert who deeply values her alone time, this kind of schedule does not work for me. Not to mention, my work week has been super busy. I’ve had way many more meetings than usual and I came back to work (I gave myself a four-day weekend for the concert) with six new direct reports to manage, so I’m also exhausted from all of that. It’s been a very taxing few weeks, even though I’m doing lots of fun things! But my battery has been stuck at 10% every day this week and I need some alone time to recharge it.
One nagging task I marked off my to-do list was ordering my new bedframe! She’s a beauty and I can’t wait to get it all put together with my new mattress. I just have to wait for my brother to deliver my new mattress (and he’s promised to help me put together the bedframe so yay!)
I’m currently reading In a New York Minute by Kate Spencer, which has been such a sweet, happy read that I’ve needed this week. And I just started Killers of the Flower Moon on audio, but barely have had time to listen to it lately, womp!
A podcast episode I enjoyed was this lovely, 2+ hour discussion of the Love Is Blind finale + reunion. I had been obsessively refreshing their feed to get this episode because I wanted to hear all of their thoughts about that crazy reunion show. It was well worth the wait!
An Internet find I loved was this Reel a friend sent me about a book cafe in South Korea. You pay a small fee (which includes a drink!) to get access to a quiet, peaceful space filled with little nooks where you can sit in a cozy nest and read. You can even order food from the nook! This is genius, you guys. I need this to become a thing here. (A lot of comments on this Reel compared this to a library and… I’m not sure what libraries are like where you are, but here in Florida, ours do not have cozy nooks where I can lie down and read nor can I bring in any outside food. GTFO with that nonsense.)
The best money I spent this week was on more summer clothes from Old Navy. Ahh, they got me again! I fell for the scam that is Old Navy Super Cash, and when I realized I needed to “spend” my Super Cash by the end of the week, I decided to place another Old Navy order. I wanted to get another pair of shorts because I love the pair I bought last month so much. They are so comfortable and flattering! So I got another pair of shorts, a striped dress, and some t-shirts/tank tops. Oops. Someone take away my access from OldNavy.com, please.
My plans this weekend include almost nothing! The only things on my agenda are a writing date with Mikaela on Saturday morning and game night with the fam on Saturday evening. Originally, I planned to have dinner tonight with the woman I’m dating but we have both had really crazy weeks so we decided to cancel and give ourselves the gift of a Friday night in. It’s nice to date someone who takes mental health as seriously as I do! I’m hoping this low-key weekend will be exactly what I need, especially because next week I’m on dog duty!
What was the highlight of your week?
Oh man, your week + sounds packed and fun but YES to alone time for recharging! Sometimes I overbook myself and like you mentioned, it is not about the time being filled, it is about it being filled with people, especially if it is new people! Good for you for getting through it, but girl, get yourself a nice glass of wine, a book and a bath!
I am so glad that you found someone who understands that you sometimes need alone time. I have dated some people where it did not last because they did not understand that. I had a partner who would randomly bring friends home after work without saying anything, and another who would get up with me in the morning and then follow me around the house, talking to me as I was getting ready for work/my day (PS I like to have 20-30 mins to just read blogs and decompress in the morning before going to work).
It was so nice to have a relaxing weekend last week after having SUCH a busy week+! I am not built for that kind of lifestyle.
And, omg, those people you dated! No boundaries at all. I have no tolerance for things like that.
You can’t bring in outside food into your library? There are no cozy nooks and crannies to read? WTF kind of library is this? You can bring food and beverages into our library AND there are lots of places to read (maybe not lay down, although the teens certainly lay all over the teen room, with its bench seating and beanbag chairs). We have multiple fireplaces, a room with community jigsaw puzzles, and a handful of cozy overstuffed chairs. I mean….I think you need to leave your crappy Florida library system and join those of us with more robust offerings!!!
Engie – your library sounds amazing! We do not have libraries like that in Florida. (Surprising, I’m sure, hahaha.) I should check out some of the branches a little farther away to see what their libraries look like. I go to a very small branch library that doesn’t have much to offer it, sadly. But we have other, better libraries farther away from me – one even has a drive-thru! (A drive-thru to pick up books, not… like… a McDonald’s drive-thru. I should clarify that!)
I’m with you on the library thing. I don’t know that food is expressly prohibited but I would say it’s frowned upon, although I do let the boys have a snack cup with cheerios in them and I’ll sometimes eat and RX bar when I am there. There aren’t many cozy places to sit and certainly NOT to lay down. All of my time is spent in the kids section, though, which has its own unique vibe. And I think libraries are very different from place to place so maybe other libraries are cozier than ours? But it doesn’t sound like this book nook place you describe – or like Engie’s library!!
Holy moley – your calendar has been FULL!! That is A LOT! Even for an extrovert I feel like that would be a lot! I am glad you were able to cancel your date tonight and that the woman you are dating understands. It’s better to say you aren’t feeling up to something versus pushing yourself to go and then being kind of like a lump who just wishes she was home on the couch! 🙂 I very very very rarely do anything on Friday nights because I am just too worn out by that point of the week. But generally I try to limit myself to 2 social occasions/week at most. I used to do way more pre-kids and I was often overwhelmed so I have found it useful to try to set boundaries!
The highlight of my week was going out to dinner to very belatedly celebrate my birthday with 2 college friends. We went to one of my favorite restaurants which is 2 blocks away and share some small plates and caught up on life. And I was home by 8:15!
Engie’s library sounds amazing! There are big signs at my library prohibiting any outside food/drinks at all. But the branch I go to is a very small one and not very well-resourced, unfortunately. There are better branches with more updated buildings farther away and one of these days, I should scope them out to see if they have some better offerings for reading nooks.
My schedule earlier this month was way too crazy for me! It has definitely calmed down and I’m very grateful for that. I felt like I was constantly behind when I was on the go so much!
The highlight of the week was my birthday! It was yesterday and was a really lovely day. It has been a really busy week – although not as busy as yours! – and so it was a good day to unwind and treat myself to lots of fun little things.
Happy belated birthday, my dear friend! It sounds like you had a lovely day and I’m so glad to hear that!
I never read that book! Can you believe it? I would LOVE to see the film and think it’s so awesome you went with your mom!
I hope you recharged this weekend! All that socializing is way too much and add the new reports? GAH!!!! I am glad your weekend is going to be low key and your GF gets it too!
I can’t wait to see the new bedframe!
That book cafe is so cute! Did you notice the slippers?!
I am glad you are finding so many clothes from Old Navy that you love and make you feel good! That is SO important!
Highlight of my week was… talking to a friend on FaceTime on Friday!
I think you would enjoy the film! So many great puberty references that made me remember what a weird time it is! Haha.
My brother ordered the mattress/box spring this week, so we should get everything together by next weekend! YAY! This was a long time coming.
Old Navy has always been a winner for me, and I’m glad they’re still working for me. Some of their styles are a little boxy, but I’ve been able to find some good options in the midst of those!
Oh, good- I’m glad you’re getting some time to recharge! I was getting exhausted just reading about your social life.
I read Are You There God, It’s Me Margaret so many times! It was my favorite Judy Blume book, and I read all of them. I’m definitely intrigued about the movie.
I just read Engie’s comment, and wow- her library sounds amazing. You definitely can’t bring food into our library. Our Barnes and Noble used to have comfy chairs set up around the store, and I would go there and read (and you can obviously have food and beverages, since they have a cafe.) They took the chairs away, but sometimes I’ll still go and find a cozy corner to sit on the floor and read- I’d rather have a nice chair though!
Watching Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. definitely made me want to reread all of my fave Judy Blume books! They meant so much to me as a kid.
Damn Florida library systems. We need to get it together! Engie’s library sounds amazing!
I can’t believe I no longer have my copy of AYTGIMM. I loved that book. Loved. It. And, this is one movie I might just have to watch. When it moves to streaming. 🙂
You HAVE been busy so I hope the last couple of weeks have been slower and more amenable to your introvert self. I’m gearing up for a really busy week next week, and need to think through how I am going to prepare and then survive. I will be very glad to get to May 13th…
I think Engie’s town is a bit of an outlier – I have never seen a library like that!