Weekly Wrap-Up (v. 3)

Highs & Lows

The high of my week was book club! While it wasn’t a “traditional” book club in the sense that we all read a book together, it was a way for us to reconnect and get back in the flow of monthly meetings. Not everyone could attend but it was so very nice to see the ones who could and chat about our lives. We met outside in a park and kept our distance (aside from the quick photo we took together!) And we picked a book and meeting time for April, just like old times! It feels really good to get back in the swing of book club.

The low of my week was a lonely Saturday. I don’t get lonely too often—I’m usually very happy with my own company—but this weekend was one where I didn’t have any plans to see anyone, and Saturday felt especially hard for some reason. Thankfully, I made plans to go over to my mom’s on Sunday so at least I could interact with a human being at some point last weekend, but Saturday was a day of moping and wallowing and feeling sad. It happens!

What I Read

Written in the Stars by Alexandria Bellefleur (★★★☆☆)

This was a cute romance, the first female/female romance I’ve read. After Darcy and Elle have a disastrous first date, Elle is shocked when she finds out from Darcy’s brother (the one who set up their blind date) that Darcy said it went well. Thus begins their “fake relationship” (a common romance trope). Darcy begs Elle to pretend they hit it off and are now dating to get her brother off her back. Elle goes along with it, as she needs to bring a partner to her family’s Thanksgiving dinner to prove she’s not a failure at relationships. At times, I could very much tell that this was a debut novel (it could have used a tighter edit) but it was still very enjoyable and sweet. I don’t know if I fully bought into the love story, but in the end, I was rooting for them to make it.

Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows by Balli Kaur Jaswal (★★★★☆)

Oh, what a fun story this was! I really enjoyed it. It follows Nikki, a Punjabi young woman living in London, who begins teaching a writing class for Punjabi widows. She thinks she’s going to teach them English so they can write letters and such, but after Nikki leaves a book of erotic stories (a gag gift she was going to give to her sister) in the room and the widows find it, they decide to start penning their own erotica. The novel weaves in these widows’ erotic stories, and some of them are very steamy! But it was also a really wonderful look at Punjabi culture, love, and family. I truly enjoyed every minute I spent with this book.

What I Spent

Friday, March 19

• Savings: $1,000 (thanks, stimulus check!)
• Student loan: $105
• Candy Crush: $7
• Amazon (e-book): $8

Saturday, March 20

• Pizza: $26

Sunday, March 21:

• Peacock TV subscription: $5
• Gas: $28
• Groceries: $75

Monday, March 22:

• Target (cleaning solution, body wash, toilet paper, and mouthwash): $35
• Medicine: $11
• Publix (Pub sub): $9
• Internet: $80

Tuesday, March 23:

• No-spend day!

Wednesday, March 24:

• Ubereats: $18

Thursday, March 25:

• Ubereats: $25

Final Tallies:

• Savings: $1,005
• Bills: $185
• Food: $153
• Toiletries: $35
• Auto (gas): $28
• Health (medication): $11
• Shopping (e-book): $8
• Entertainment: $7
• Subscriptions: $5

Monthly Goals Progress

• Log 10 Peloton workouts. I’ve logged 6 workouts, so I’m going to cut it close with this one! I need to get 4 workouts over the next 5 days, eeks.
• Dust off my Fitbit and log 3,000 steps every day. I missed two days this week, womp womp. One day, I was just feeling lazy and didn’t want to wear my Fitbit and the other day, I was so busy with work that I didn’t get out for a walk (and then didn’t feel like walking around my apartment to get in my steps). It happens!
• Spend less than $100 on personal purchases. Still doing well! I spent $8 this week so I still have a $17 buffer.
• Wash and vacuum my car. I’m doing this today! Hopefully.
• Cancel my gym membership. Another thing I’m hopefully doing today! Fingers crossed.

What I’m Recommending

• This toy ($6), which I bought for Chip for his birthday and he has yet to destroy it! (My mom jokes that he finds it a very frustrating toy to play with since he can’t figure out how to destroy it, haha.) It’s a toy for “power chewers” but I’ve gotten him toys categorized like that before and he’s destroyed them within minutes. This one has staying power! If you have a destructive chewer, check this one out!
• This adorable video of this little 4-year-old singing and dancing to Selena in the car. I have watched this video dozens of times because this little girl is so cute and her expressions are hysterical. I love her!

Tell me something good that happened in your life this week!