Three confessions
1) Yesterday was my 13-year work anniversary! Can you believe that I started as a scared 25-year-old and look at me now! It’s uncommon for someone to stay at an agency for as long as I have, but what can I say? I love the stability and freedom that comes with being one of the OGs.
2) Ever since I moved into my apartment in October, I’ve had a short phone cord next to my bed. It’s rather annoying because it means I can’t use my phone in bed, especially if it needs to be plugged in. It took me almost an entire year to realize: Get a longer charging cord, Steph! Such a simple solution. It makes me wonder what other things are causing friction in my life that could be solved this easily.
3) This weekend, Bri and I recorded our 100th podcast episode! I can’t believe we made it to this milestone. Most podcasts only do a few episodes, and while ours isn’t even scratching three figures in terms of listenership, it’s small but mighty. And we have fun with it, which is the most important thing.
Three books I recently bought
1) In Every Possible Way by Alicia Thompson – I bought this at Book + Bottle two weekends ago because I’ve been intrigued to read a romance by this author. She’s local!
2) The Paris Daughter by Kristin Harmel – Book + Bottle had a bunch of Kristin Harmel books and I haven’t read anything by her. When I looked at her books on Goodreads, they all had great reviews. I chose this one because the premise enticed me!
3) The Unknown by Riley Sager – This was an add-on with my Book of the Month box because I can’t help myself when it comes to Riley Sager. Plus, the cover is gorgeous!
Three things I’ve said to my cats this week
1) “Oh, is it time for special yum-yums?” I walked out of the bathroom one evening and they were both sitting on the dining room table, staring at me. I knew what that meant! (They love their Sheba Meaty Sticks, so I split one between them a few times a week.)
2) “Are you having hammock time???” Imagine this in a high-pitched voice and accompanied by me collapsing next to my cat to pet her as she sleeps soundly in the hammock by the window.
3) “But why? Why are you so cute?! Who allowed this to happen?!” I say this to my girls a few times a day. At least.
Three more audiobook thoughts
1) Listening speed – I listen to all of my audiobooks on 1.7 speed, but I’ll drop it down to 1.5 if the narrator has an accent (mostly because my ears just need the words slowed down a bit so I can understand the plot). I never listen to my books on 1x speed anymore. I used to, but now that feels so slow.
2) Balancing podcasts and audiobooks – Many people said that they don’t listen to audiobooks because they have a large podcast queue and yes, I can relate! When I had a commute, I would use that time for audiobooks. Listening at a faster speed meant I could usually get through one book a week with my 30-minute (one way) commute. And then 2020 happened and figuring out how to work audiobooks back into my life was difficult! How I do it these days is that in the morning, I finish whatever podcast I had going the day before and then turn on my audiobook. The goal is to finish 2 hours of the audiobook before I can return to my podcasts. (And since I’m listening at 1.7 speed, 2 hours is just over an hour of “real” listening time.) I don’t always do this, as sometimes there are podcast episodes that are calling to me, so I miss a day, but I generally come back to it the following day.
3) Romance novels on audio – One thing I forgot to mention in my post is that one of the genres I refuse to listen to on audio is romance! Y’all, I just can’t do it. I can’t listen to all the sex scenes. No, no, no, no, no. It makes me cringe just thinking about it! (If the romance is by an author that I know writes closed-door romances, I might attempt it, but I still get weirded out by all the love talk.)
Three things I’m doing this weekend
1) Book club – We weren’t able to sync up our schedules to meet up for book club in July, so this is a July/August book club meeting. Our activity for the evening is bedazzling! I may bring my pill container to bedazzle because this is what book club for elder millennials is all about these days.
2) A writing date with Mikaela – I am making lots of progress in my novel! There have been weeks where I struggle to write 500 words and weeks where I am typing away like a madwoman, completely delighted by my characters. I am currently in a state of flow with my novel, so I’m excited to get back to it.
3) Watching a movie – I have a goal to watch two movies this month and I have watched exactly zero movies. It will either be Sleepless in Seattle or The Martian, just need to figure out what I’m in the mood for.
Three things on my to-do list
1) Finalize our New England itinerary – I like to create very detailed travel itineraries (as in, “8:00am – leave hotel and go to SPECIFIC RESTAURANT for breakfast, 9:30am – order Uber to go to THIS SPECIFIC LOCATION). It’s just what I need to feel settled and confident as an anxious traveler! I have a draft of our vacation, but I’m created separate tabs in the spreadsheet for each day, which makes my little organizer heart very happy.
2) Deep clean the girls’ feeders – I wash out the bowl and wipe down the feeder a few times a week, but I only do a deep clean every quarter. It entails taking apart the entire system, washing everything by hand, and then leaving it out to air dry before putting it back together.
3) Write some postcards – I’m a little behind on my snail mail goal for this year, so I need to catch up in August!
Three things we’re doing on our New England road trip
1) Doing a tour of Fenway – Are we baseball fans? No. But are we excited to tour this iconic park? Hell yes! (This was a specific ask from my mom, so her wish is my command.)
2) Visiting Acadia National Park – I am so excited about this. The views are going to be insane, especially in early October!
3) Driving through Smuggler’s Notch in Vermont – It’s one of those quintessential fall road trip experiences, so of course we’re doing it!
Three things on my Etsy wish list
1) Postcards – I love finding fun postcards on Etsy, and I’m starting to run low with my current stack so it’s time to peruse my Etsy favorites to figure out which batch I want to order this time around.
2) iPhone cases – I think I’m ready for a new phone case, and Etsy never lets me down. I have my eye on this black cat/rainbow phone case!
3) Lots of great feminist tees – Childless cat lady? Read books and fight the patriarchy? Stay woke? I have lots of options!
Three things that made me happy this week
1) Snickers pumpkins being back in stock! We are so back, you guys.
2) An excellent mid-year review
3) Watching Lila go nuts over the cat grass I bought. She was so aggressive with it that the pot kept falling off the table!
Three recent searches
1) “claire foy” – she was mentioned on this week’s Patreon episode on The Popcast and I was like, “Why does that name sound so familiar?” Turns out, she played Queen Elizabeth in the first few seasons of The Crown!
2) “what’s a dopamine deficit in relation to ADHD?” – yes, I’m still doing a lot of research and rabbit-holing about ADHD. Do I have ADHD? I have no idea, but at the very least, the strategies that work for people with ADHD resonate so well with me.
3) “why do my airpods keep pinging?” – This happens from time to time when I’m charging my AirPods. Turns out, it’s due to the outlet. I switched to a different outlet and no pinging!
What’s something you’re doing this weekend? What made you happy this week?
Leave a Reply