Weekly Wrap-Up (v. 4)

Happy Friday! It’s time for another weekly wrap-up. This last week of March was such a good one for me. I have a slow, quiet Easter weekend planned, and I hope you can find some slowness and quietness in your weekend, too!

Highs and Lows

The high of my week was receiving incredible feedback about a work project. It was quite a stressful project—I had to write a 2,000-word resource page on an unfamiliar topic for a big-time client who had just signed a substantial content package. I wanted to impress them (and not, like, cause them to cancel their contract with my company because they hated the page I wrote—no pressure, right?) It took me two full workdays to write the page and I spent all weekend editing it, reading it over and over and over again. I wanted it to be perfect! Even still, I was nervous that the client wasn’t going to like it. I worried that I didn’t strike the right tone or present the information in the way they wanted it. However, all my fears were for naught! They loved it and were really impressed with the page. Whew. It was such a relief to receive such fantastic feedback from them and to know that all my hard work paid off.

(Side note: over the weekend, I thought to myself, “I really hope that my ‘high’ this week will be receiving great news from the client about my page.” And then my next thought was, “No, Stephany! You can’t think like that! You have to imagine the worst-case scenario to prepare yourself for that happening.” This is the first time I’ve ever actually recognized this thought pattern and was able to stop it in its track. That’s growth! And I did start to visualize the good scenario happening, so I’m really proud of myself for being able to challenge a negative thought and turn it around.)

The low of my week was receiving really sad news from a friend. I hurt when they hurt. <3

What I Read

The Duke and I by Julia Quinn (★★★☆☆)

This is the book that goes along with Bridgerton and is proof that the book is not always better. Ha. It was published in 2006, so I give it a bit of a pass, but in the 15 years since this book was written, a lot of new authors have cropped up in the historical romance genre that write much more compelling fiction. It was a fine read, although it was probably because I got to imagine Rege-Jean Page as Simon for the entire novel. Swoon. (Open-door romance.)

As Bright as Heaven by Susan Meissner (★★★★☆)

This book begins right before the 1918 flu pandemic hits the world and follows one family—a husband, a wife, and their three young daughters—through the pandemic and the years afterward. Timely story, eh? When the novel begins, the family has moved to Philadelphia to help out at the husband’s uncle’s funeral home. It seems like a great job… until a deadly flu sweeps the globe and they have more dead bodies to deal with than they can manage. The novel covers how the family coped during the pandemic (so many similarities to today!) and then shifts forward in time to discuss their lives afterward. I didn’t find the second half of the book to be as compelling as the first half; it seemed to meander in places and the ending left a lot to be desired. But overall, a solid book that left me feeling a lot of emotions.

Behind Closed Doors by B.A. Paris (★★★★★)

This thriller was sooo creepy. Almost uncomfortable to read. It’s about Jack and Grace, two people that, on paper, seem to be the perfect couple. He’s a successful lawyer and she’s his loving wife who beautifully hosts dinner parties for his colleagues. But everything on the surface is not what it seems. The novel dips back and forth between a present timeline and a past timeline, which fills the reader in on the back story of Jack and Grace—how they met and when everything went south. It was almost too creepy for me at times, but I just had to know how everything was going to turn out! A very satisfying thriller, for sure.

Thick: And Other Essays by Tressie McMillan Cottom (★★★☆☆)

I enjoyed this essay collection that covers a wide range of subjects, everything from being the “good” kind of Black person to failures in Black medical care to beauty standards in the Black community. It’s a solid collection with a whole lot of insight and reminders that life for Black women is systematically oppressive. Add this one to your reading list!

What I Spent

Friday, March 26th

• Facial upgrade and tip: $40
• Ubereats: $16
• Publix: $15

Saturday, March 27th

• No-spend day!

Sunday, March 28th

• Car wash: $10

Monday, March 29th

• Groceries: $54

Tuesday, March 30th

• No-spend day!

Wednesday, March 31st

• Ubereats: $17

Thursday, April 1st

• Target (body wash, shampoo, conditioner, dish soap, Post-It flags): $26
• Publix (lunch + some groceries): $23
• Patreon subscriptions: $22
• Ipsy subscription: $13
• Peloton membership: $15
• Rent: $1,045

Final Tallies

• Bills (rent): $1,045
• Food: $102
• Spa: $40
• Subscriptions: $35
• Toiletries: $23
• Health (Peloton): $15
• Auto (car wash): $10
• Savings: $10
• Shopping (Post-Its): $3

Monthly Goals Progress

Since it’s only the 2nd of the month, I haven’t exactly made much progress on my April goals. So, instead, I wanted to recap some of the March goals I still needed to accomplish when I published my monthly goals post:

• Cancel my gym membership. I *finally* did this! I did it yesterday and it took, like, 3 minutes. I can’t believe I waited so long!
• Log 3,000 steps every day. I logged a 3,000-step day on the 31st, so officially, I met my goal 28 out of 31 days. That’s great progress! (And yesterday, I logged a 4,000-step day so I’m well on my way to meeting this month’s step goal!)

What I’m Recommending

The Popcast with Knox and Jamie – I know, I know. I’m late to the game with this podcast! I was a listener many years ago but fell off because I didn’t find it very compelling. But other friends kept talking about this podcast and I started listening to Knox and Jamie’s other podcast, The Bible Binge. I love that podcast so I decided to give The Popcast another try. I’m so glad I did! It’s perfection and I find their voices to be so soothing to listen to. As you might expect, The Popcast is about pop culture but it’s not just an average weekly recap about pop culture news. It’s so much more fun than that! Here are some of the latest episodes:

• A deep dive into the movie She’s the Man (yes, the one with Amanda Bynes)
• What Should I Watch Next? – Listeners told Knox and Jamie three shows they love and one they hate to get recommendations on what to watch next. (Obviously, a spinoff of Anne Bogel’s wonderful What Should I Read Next, which she fully supported—she’s even one of the people asking for recommendations!)
• An episode where listeners wrote in about their newfound hobbies (<– this episode had me dying with laughter).

What was the highlight of your week?