The high of my week was spending Valentine’s Day with Bri! Thankfully, her husband doesn’t mind that I steal her for the evening so she came over to my place for cheesy bread, pizza, and a fun 90s rom-com (Never Been Kissed). It was a lovely, low-key evening with my favorite lady! I couldn’t ask for anything better.
The low of my week was having an allergic reaction to the topical anesthetic I got for my dental filling. Yesterday was quite the day! First, I had to get a filling in the morning, which was not a fun experience but I got through it and everything felt fine. The right side of my mouth was super numb, but that’s to be expected. What I did not expect was for the right side of my upper lip to balloon three times its normal size over the next few hours. It started to feel alarming to me—even after icing it and taking Advil, it was still puffy and stung when I touched it. So I called a dentist and they asked me to to get it checked out. The dentist affirmed that I was not dying, but was likely having an allergic reaction. I could take Benedryl but my body doesn’t react well to that medication (it makes me very loopy), so I’m just taking ibuprofen and praying I wake up with a normal-size lip.
One nagging task I marked off my to-do list was scheduling a doctor’s appointment! That had been on my to-do list all of 2023, so I’m very proud of myself for finally getting it done. My dietician really wants me to have updated blood work done (and so do I!) so that put a fire in my belly to schedule that appointment. Plus, I have some pressing concerns that I want to talk to my doctor about. My appointment is Tuesday morning, so hooray!
I’m currently reading three books. On audio, I’m a few hours into A Town Called Solace by Mary Lawson and I’m very much enjoying it. I’m also reading The Art of Scandal by Regina Black in print, and I can’t get enough of it. So good! And, of course, I’m slowly making my way through My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante for the Cool Bloggers Book Club. I don’t love it so far, but I’m trudging through for the book club discussions.
A blog post I loved was this one from Nicole, since she started a discussion about hobbies based on our podcast episode about the subject! It was so fun reading through the responses of people ruminating about what makes something a hobby (is reading a hobby if it’s something that feels more like a necessity for you than something you do “just for fun”?) and what kinds of hobbies people have. I love that our podcast—and Nicole’s always eloquent words—sparked such an interesting discussion!
A podcast episode I enjoyed was How We Rate Books on Sarah’s Book Shelves Live Patreon feed. I found this episode so fascinating as Sarah and her two guest co-hosts Susie and Catherine had a long discussion on their rating systems, what makes a book 5 stars, DNF-ing books, and so much more. This was a gold mine of nerdy bookish talk and I couldn’t get enough of it!
The best money I spent was on new underwear. How exciting, eh? I always like to refresh my underwear drawer once a year—and by refresh, I just mean throwing out any underwear that has holes or is losing its elastic and buying a few new pieces to replace what I got rid of—and it was time to do that, considering I was having to do emergency laundry at least once a week. (Emergency laundry = I’m down to my last pair of underwear!) I’ve also realized I’ve reached the “underwear is for comfort, not style” phase of my life. I want full coverage!
My plans this weekend include dog-sitting for the pups! My mom and her husband are taking a quick weekend trip so I will be on Chip and Lucy duty, and I am very much looking forward to it. I love hanging with my besties! I am also recording a podcast episode with Bri (and a special guest!) on Saturday morning and doing a writing date with Mikaela afterward. It should be a good weekend!
Do you replace your underwear regularly? What are your plans this weekend?
Guilty as charged on needing an undie refresh. In my defense, at least I replaced my bras last year – which means that their anniversary is coming up and I need to replace them again.
MBF fell apart for me this week. I just wasn’t able to concentrate on it anymore and for whatever reason I can’t follow the story. But I am looking forward to the discussion. The Art of Scandal was also a DNF for me. It started so good but then my interest petered out after a few chapters.
Ugh, replacing bras. I replaced mine a year or two ago, I think. But then I started wearing bralettes and now that’s all I can stand. I don’t think they particularly provide great support (and I, um, need support), but I just can’t with underwire bras anymore. They’re so uncomfortable!
I’m not enjoying MBF much. Eh. I’m going to try to power through and keep going, but at least I feel vindicated in my choice to DNF it when I tried to read it a few years ago.
My underwear drawer is…not great. I did buy some new undies in the late fall, but it really wasn’t enough to deal with the number I needed to throw out. I am always dangerously low between laundry loads!
I read the rest of MBF – definitely not a hit for me (SO depressing! SO much violence and other negative stuff). Anyhoo, I’m glad I read it to say I read it, but this will very definitely never be a re-read for me. I did, however, skim the synopses for the other three books in the series to see how the story arc plays out.
It will be nice to finally not get to emergency levels when it comes to my underwear drawer. That’s the hope, at least! I used to go YEARS between underwear refreshes, so I feel you.
I am struggling with MBF but I’m going to TRY to finish. This last section was a struggle to get through.
I am always trying to find The One True Underwear that will be perfect, but what happens is that when I try a new style, either it isn’t quite right (in which case it gets pushed to the back of the drawer) or by the time I realize it’s good, I can’t find it again! So while I have plenty in the drawer, only a few are the ones I want to wear…first world problem!
Tomorrow I’m having a coffee date with friends. Some of them I know better than others, so it will be interesting to see how it goes. I’m proud of myself for suggesting it to the group.
The One True Underwear! I’ve yet to find a style I *really* love so I guess I’m still on the hunt for that myself. If you find it, let me know!
Hooray for the coffee date! I hope it went well. <3
YES for new under ware!!! Weekend… Not much, I heard it’s gonna snow again in NJ. So, gymnastics, groceries, play dates. 🙂
That sounds like a lovely weekend and I hope it didn’t snow TOO much!
Oh, I am so familiar with emergency laundry! I started replacing my underwear and making yearly appointments on a day off I take right before or after my birthday; I have a whole checklist of “maintenance” tasks/activities and getting them off my list is like a present to myself! This weekend, I’m going to pick up my library holds and hopefully try a new tea.
A checklist of maintenance tasks! That’s such a great idea. I’d love to know more about all these tasks you do!
Ha – I am terrible about refreshing my unders. I am moderately okay about buying new ones, but terrible about throwing out pairs that I hate/won’t wear.
The allergic reaction sounds uncomfortable and scary! I hope it’s much better by now.
Isn’t so crazy that we’ll just continue to wear underwear that DOESN’T FEEL GOOD?! It’s like clothes. Why am I wearing this shirt that I don’t even like to wear and makes me feel weird?! But I understand that tendency so well. I’ve gotten better about throwing out underwear if I notice holes or it just feels uncomfortable.
As much as I liked the book club with ATGIB I had to skip this round. I did start my brilliant friend a couple of years back but had to DNF. I hated it. I need to catch up on some of the comments.
I do it the same way as you do with the underwear updating. I did buy a load last year and hoping to skip through this year. I have a whole box of ones that don’t fit and I am telling myself I need to make it happen that they fit again. The pressure is on if I run out of wearable stuff.
Happy weekend to you. It sounds like you are having fun things lined up.
I think I’m going to be joining you on the DNF train for My Brilliant Friend. I also tried it years ago and DNF-ed it, but decided I’d give it another try for the CBBC, but I’m not enjoying it at all and have no desire to pick up the novel!
Awww thanks for the shout-out! It is interesting to see everyone’s hobbies. I really liked that episode of yours.
I love getting new panties – but I am terrible about getting new bras. I have one that really doesn’t fit anymore and yet, I continue to wear it. WHY. It isn’t actually that hard to get a new bra but wow, it feels like a Huge Step. Anyway, maybe I will go to the mall next week, I really should be wearing a properly fitting bra!
Ugh, getting new bras is the bane of my existence! I wish I could be like the Gen Z girlies and just go bra-less, lol. But I’d feel so weird! These days, I’ve taken to wearing seamless bras because I just can’t with underwire and really structured bras. They’re so uncomfortable!
Oh wow, the lip situation sounded awful! I hope it was back to normal the next day!! You poor thing!
I am not great at refreshing my underwear. I really should do that soon!!
I DNF’d the art of the scandal but maybe I should give it another chance since you are loving it!
It was back to normal the next day, thankfully. I’ve never had an experience like that! It was so strange.
Go get yourself some new underwear, friend!
Look, this may be TMI, but you know what I need to replace more regularly? My bras. Apparently you’re supposed to get new ones every 6-8 months, but bras are so expensive! I honestly don’t know the last time I bought new ones, you know? I’m happy to buy a twelve pack of underwear from Costco once a year, but bras? That’s where my undergarment game fails. (As I’m reading the comments, I realize that I am not alone in my Bad Bra Game and it’s making me feel better about life choices.)
Don’t even get me started on bras. It’s insane that they need to be replaced so regularly! They’re too expensive to replace that frequently! Ugh.
I also like that blog post where Nicole talked about hobbies! Definitely gave me some food for thought.
I’m currently wearing a bra that’s maybe… ten years old? Um. Maybe it’s time for a refresh.
Yikes on that allergic reaction! I hope your lip returned to its normal size quickly.
I have some sports bras that are probably just as old! I am not great about replacing my sports bras, whoops. My bras aren’t quite as old but I don’t replace them as frequently as I “should” for sure.
Um. I can’t remember the last time I completely refreshed my undies. Also? We’re supposed to replace bras annually? Seriously? I wear mine until they fall apart.
I really hope that your allergic reaction abated and that you were able to talk and eat normally the next day. Things like that are so scary! Do they think it was an additive or preservative?
And, awww. Dog sitting. <3
Haha, I do try to replace underwear frequently but never seem to have “enough” in the keep drawer, if you know what I mean. What happens to underwear that it just seems to wear out so fast?
I am also often not happy with the choices… so I delay the purchase.
So sweet that you got to spend Galentine’s Day with Brie 🙂