High Five for Friday: March 18

Hi friends! Thanks for stopping by—I’m so glad you’re here! 😁

I hope you’re having the loveliest of lovely days! (I love so so much that that caught on in the fb comments last week! 😁) Here’s what brought the sparkle for me this week:

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• Kristin’s birthday was Saturday, so I treated myself to some weepy, bescarved Will Horton circa 2012 in her honor! (I had been going through my Google photos to find old pics of us, and instead I found a million hilarious texts about Days. Like, how does Will’s gunshot wound suddenly only require a tiny Band-Aid?? Boy, WilSon really got me through some tough times in 2018! 😄)

• Over the weekend, I shifted the cleaning/organizing tornado to my dresser, and I found some great things that had def been lost in the shuffle. I felt very cool on Monday in this outfit: super-comfy Amazon jeans (from this post!) + Paul McCartney concert tee from when my bffl saw him in 2019!

One day, I will move those blasted monitors!

• Speaking of fashion, look at these cutie patooties on my island!!!

I’m sorry, is that a STRAWBERRY UMBRELLA?!?

Why, yes, it is! Twiggy, you’ve outdone yourself!

You know who else is a cutie patootie? ME!!

Just look at that adorable bun!

I would struggle to say that about my actual self, but apparently, self-love starts with your ACNH avatar, haha! It does genuinely warm my heart that all of my islanders are always so happy to see her (and think she looks “perf”!)! Who, me?! Animal Crossing: New Self-Love Horizons! 🌈

• I don’t follow hockey nearly as closely as I once did, but I still have such affection for current Flyers who are threads to our beloved teams of the early 2010s—and Claude Giroux is at the top of that list. So I am all in my feels about him playing in his 1000th NHL game last night! My bffl Soph and I were actually at his first-ever home game! He only played one home game in the 2007-08 season, and we were there—what are the odds? I found exactly one terrible Zapruder film pic of ours, documenting this momentous occasion! We just loved him day one. (Soph is also bilingual with French-Canadian parents and ties to a French-speaking pocket of Ontario, so it just made sense, haha.)

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That video. 🥺 He was such a baby, my goodness! And now he is 1.) capable of growing facial hair, 2.) married, and 3.) with two babies of his own! Soph and I were just babies ourselves back in 2008—it truly feels like we’ve all grown up together! 🥺

The ol’ digital camera selfie! February 21, 2008–Giroux’s first home game.

Who knew that out of all the Flyers we’ve liked over the years, this dorky kid would last the longest—and the second longest of anyone in Flyers history?! I have no clue where my 2010 Finals Giroux shirt is, but luckily this shirt turned up over the weekend, and I wore it yesterday in his honor!

• Lastly, Pops and I got ANOTHER surprise treat this week! What a magical time we are living in! 😁 Our next-door neighbor told me that she would be dropping off cake, and I still was like “OH THANK GOD IT’S YOU!” when I answered the door, LOL. (Anyone else? An unexpected knock at the door fills me with dread!) Their daughter turned one, and we got treats—a great arrangement! I said I was too full for cake after dinner and promptly devoured a whole piece because it was so delish!

Nom nom for us, nutcrackers!

What put the sparkle in your week?

Happy Friday! xoxo

Linking up with Andrea and Erika over at Friday Favorites! (And continuing to call this H54F even though that link-up is defunct, haha.)

High Five for Friday: March 11

Hi friends! Thanks for stopping by—I’m so glad you’re here! 😁

Sooo, to be completely honest, I feel weird posting about dumb, happy things in a time of so much tumult.

But… I’m also someone who struggles to finds the sparkle even in normal times, and I didn’t realize how much these High Five for Friday posts make me work that muscle. I need to do this more! And isn’t finding little moments of joy where you can, in spite of the pain and chaos in your life/the world at large, kind of the point?? 

So that’s why I’m posting about finding some sparkle this week. Not to live-laugh-love away the very real pain and anxiety of the world right now, but to try find some hope and happiness anyway. 💜

• The weekend actually got off to a rough start—I was just really sad and anxious, and, as I mentioned here, I have therapy on Fridays, so it was a BIG UGH to have to wait a week to have therapy again. (Yes, I could have seen about an extra session, but I was having strong “I’m a burden” feels. 😣) But then: Sunday! I just woke up in a better headspace, and I got on a roll with cleaning and organizing, and IT WAS SO GREAT! One of my work monitors had died on Friday, so I had to rearrange my desk anyway, and that happened on Sunday, along with a much, much needed deep clean—like, a finally-throwing-out-junk-mail-from-2020-and-wrangling-my-drawer-full-of-pens deep clean. I also finally put away the Valentine’s decorations (…though we do still have a Nutcracker tablecloth in the dining room, soooo…. Easter is the deadline for taking down Christmas decorations, right? 😂) I felt very accomplished afterward! I never realize how mentally taxing clutter and dust are until they’re not there anymore!

😍😍😍

• The weather here on Monday was unexpectedly gorgeous—sunny and 70s! I rarely go out during the workday, but even this indoor cat could not resist some fresh air and sunshine! Driving to Target for coffee on a beautiful day and blasting “Midnight City”? A DREAM. Jim Croce also kept popping up, which always makes me think of Kristin—or, more accurately, of Kristin making fun of me. 😂 Her birthday is tomorrow, so, very fitting! And I was at Nordstrom Rack on Saturday and thinking of our many jaunts there! 💚

Leaving the house on a MONDAY?? Who is she?? (Also, I clearly didn’t get to ALL the clutter in the living room on Sunday. 😬)

• If you don’t know my blog friend Mica, you should, because she’s a ray of sunshine! Gosh, we’ve been blog friends for years (since maybe 2015?), but she also has a great YouTube channel, and that has been such a calming place for me this week. Mica is a purse aficionado, so watching her reviews and reveals is fun in and of itself, but she also just radiates this wonderful calm energy. Literally the only downside to watching her videos is that you too will want fancy bags, haha! But she did help me to identify a $30 Rebecca Minkoff purse I was eyeing on eBay, so it all worked out!
  👏👏supportive friendships👏👏

• This week’s soothing music is the ACNH soundtrack. (I mean, what’s not to love—the majority of it is, like, strummy guitar + Fender Rhodes—basically a ‘70s TV show theme song!) I also caught Tom Nook and Isabelle doing SYNCHRONIZED STRETCHES for the first time this week, and, oh, my heart! 

(I don’t always play popular games, but when I do, it’s at least two years after people have lost interest in them. 😂🙈)

Sidenote that I wish someone in my actual life would tell me, “I hope you have the loveliest of lovely days!” every day. 😭😭😭 (I legit fangirled when Isabelle showed up on my island!)

• Lastly, my mom made an unexpected iced brownie delivery! Nom nom for us, David! Nothing makes WFH better more than surprise treats!!

the aforementioned tablecloth LOL

What put the sparkle in your week?

Happy Friday! xoxo

Linking up with Andrea and Erika over at Friday Favorites! (And continuing to call this H54F even though that link-up is defunct, haha.)

A Day in the Life 2022

Hi friends! Thanks for stopping by—I’m so glad you’re here! 😁

Remember when this was The Thing? Actually, I’ve seen multiple Day in the Life-type IG/YouTube posts recently, so maybe nosiness never goes out of style, haha!

My hope is that this post can provide a tiny bit of sparkle if you too are anxious about the terrifying state of the world or, really, about any of the eight million reasons to be anxious since 2020. ❤️ I know that writing it put some sparkle in my week! (I’m increasingly seeing creative pursuits as necessary for my mood and anxiety.)

Not a ton is going on for me in 2022, but I was looking at my first A Day in the Life post, and my life is so different from what it was in 2015. Well, except for my job, haha. My job is still the same, but I am no longer dating someone, working in an office, taking 4 hours of public transportation a day, or having in-person therapy! What a time we live in! 😂

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Friday, February 18, 2022

6:13 AM

My work hours are extremely flexible, so I would not have gotten up this early by choice. As I mentioned here, I changed my antidepressant last fall, which has been great for my overall mood, but, as anyone who takes meds for mental health knows, it’s all very trial and error. When you find a medication that helps in one area, it usually comes with side effects, and you have to see if the good outweighs the bad. So far, I’d say that it does, though med changes alway seem to affect my (already terrible) sleep—never helpful for anxiety! I am now a very light sleep sleeper, and I’m sometimes wide awake way before my alarm. On this particular day, 25 mph winds woke me up!

I tried watching some ASMR, but when that didn’t knock me out, I decided to watch Sam’s latest video:

I have zero interest in makeup, yet Sam is the only YouTuber whose videos I watch promptly. 🤷🏼‍♀️ Sam and Alyssa both! I used to listen to their podcast while driving to visit Kristin in 2019, so they just feel like friends at this point. 😁

7:15 AM

Might as well get up. I have therapy on Fridays, so starting work earlier than usual is not a bad idea.

Speaking of therapy—most days, I wash my face when I get up in the morning, but I intentionally don’t on Fridays because therapy-crying and freshly applied moisturizer don’t mix! 😵

7:34 AM

“Opening the office,” as Pops would say! My work computer is set up in our living room because that was the most available spot on a day’s notice in 2020! At least I have a sweet sweet window!

I have never wanted to write about my job, and that is still true today. I like to keep the different parts of my life separate. Just know that there’s a lot of computer-ing involved, haha.

8:56 AM

Shout-out to Nabooru from my amazing Zelda tarot deck!

Back to my bedroom for Zoom therapy! In today’s session, we started with what is obviously the most important topic: how my therapist’s SWEET ANGEL CAT crashed our last session and snoozed through the whole thing. DELIGHTFUL. 😻

Then, on to less fun things. As I mentioned here, I’ve been feeling a lot in therapy and connecting with childhood parts, and that depth of healing was noticeable in this session as well. I’ve begun to experience what I think are neurogenic tremors in therapy sessions lately. (One of my other therapists introduced me to them, but I think I’ve only felt them in my work with her.) When the tremors start, I just take it as a sign that we’ve hit on an important point. They’re not my favorite thing to sit through, but maybe I’m releasing some old, deep-down stuff?!

OOTD

I don’t know what I did to make the picture quality here so terrible, but apologies for that and the equally terrible editing/filtering efforts!

This is basically my uniform these days: leggings + boxy tee + the coziest sweatshirt! A definite must a.) after therapy and b.) while working directly in front of a drafty window! I got this sweatshirt on a Black Friday sale, and while it is pricey, it is also an excellent option for a cozy and wearable-in-public Snuggy/Comfy-type thing!

5:58 PM

One very big upside to starting work early was finishing before 6, a rarity for a Therapy Friday!

I try to move my body in some way after eight hours of sitting at a desk. I usually use this (awesome) collapsible pedal exerciser from Amazon (affiliate link), but on this day, my lower back was really tight, so I opted for stretches instead. Even if you’re not very flexible (like me lol), a seated forward fold still feels great and gets right into those tight muscles!

6:30 PM

Time for Pops’ favorite show, “The Old Man News”! Or, simply, “David.” Interrupt the first 15-17 minutes at your own peril! 😂

Btw highly recommend having a weighted blanket in every room!

8:13 PM

After dinner, I’ll usually play on my Switch for a bit, especially if Pops is watching something boring, haha. He lives for HGTV, but Friday night means My Lottery Dream Home, which is fine but not something I’m super interested in. I did, however, ask Pops to pick his favorite David (out of David Muir from World News Tonight and David Bromstad from My Lottery Dream Home), and he could not choose! 😂😂

LOL just realized that my Animal Crossing self is also wearing a big pastel sweatshirt.

I’ve finally given Breath of the Wild a rest and started playing Animal Crossing a few weeks ago. I’d actually never played an Animal Crossing game before, and I still haven’t gotten very far. I’m mostly excited that I finally have a cute outfit and a few cute home goods!!

10:28 PM

Around 10ish, I usually start getting ready for bed, which includes making notes about the day in my mood tracker app.

You can create your own searchable tags! lol “tossy turny” is that in the DSM?

I’ve tried maybe five different mood tracker apps since 2020, and Grapefruit is the one that’s currently working for me. (I started using it last summer and have a streak of 187 days!) Its iOS upgrade ($8.99) and Mac app ($9.99) are pricey for apps, buuut I guess spending $19 on something I’ve used over 238 days is not so bad. 😂 And I do really like having the computer option when I have a lot to say—and when I have to review six weeks’ worth of notes ahead of an appointment with the psych NP!

10:47 PM

Then it’s just chill time in bed! I looove “luxuriating”—aka laying in bed all cozy with a weighted blanket (duh), some brown noise, and fun TV/videos. Lately, I’ve been digging Rachel and Chris of RachhLovesLife, so that’s tonight’s entertainment. Do I cook? Heck no. Do I love a cute, chill couple with playful banter and a dash of nerdiness? Heck yes! (Chris’s shirt in this vid? 100/10 It’s like I could sense my people, hahaha.)

I do not remember what happened here, but it had something to do with Oreos, haha.

Take care of yourselves, friends. Hope you have a great weekend! xo

Linking up with Andrea and Erika!

Friday Favorites: February 11

Hi friends! Thanks for stopping by—I’m so glad you’re here! 😁

I wanted to do a post this week, but to be honest, I’ve been feeling anxious and sad (probably because PMDD). So it felt right to do a good ol’ “High Five for Friday”-esque post, to help me focus on all the stuff that is not making me anxious and sad! 🙌😍

IT’S RAINING MEN?

The most important thing I realized this week—OBVIOUSLY—is that you’ve just got to belt out “It’s Raining Men” when the opportunity presents itself. 😂🙌 I barely leave the house these days, and I def forgot how much fun it is to drive on an empty highway blasting music. What a delight! This definitely put some pep in my step on Sunday (along with a trip to Target, of course). 10/10 would recommend.

ALL THE WAYS TO SAY

Dude, I’m obsessed. If you like cards/art featuring lots of beautiful plants, then this is the Etsy shop for you. My second order from them arrived last week, and this is now my phone background! 😍 (Please, give me all the plants I can’t kill!)

IT’S RAINING MEDS?

I’m feeling very thankful for my psych nurse practitioner this week because a.) well, I just saw her last week lol and b.) we’ve made some very helpful changes over the past six months. We’re both pretty conservative, but after a summer of depression + bad anxiety attacks + her literally being like “I’d just like for your antidepressant to be doing more” (SAME, GIRL.), it was time to change things up. And doing so has made such a positive improvement overall. I just told her last week, “I feel like this new medication raised my consistent low to a more tolerable middle.” That’s really all you can ask for, right? 😍

Hats off to Timmi for sending this to me and making me cackle. BIG MOOD.

Therapy

Truly a godsend always, but I also feel like therapy has become vital in a different way as I approach my ninth (!!) year of it. Namely, therapy is feeling less like an extension of school, where I must do all the assigned reading and journaling and breathing (BOO) and be perfect. It has instead become a place to… feel. 😵 To cry and be scared and reconnect with childhood parts. I have indeed been feeling a looot of old, childhood stuff over the past year.

Luckily, my current therapist is very calm and encouraging of any feelings that come up for me—so much so that I’ve started to channel his calm acceptance between sessions. And, honestly, drawing on this internalized voice of, “It’s okay to feel whatever you’re feeling, and you’re not alone” has been a freaking game-changer. Telling myself that it is OKAY to feel whatever I’m feeling is calming and makes me much less apt to bolt from my inner children when they start “screaming.” ❤️

Therapy is wild, man. In the beginning, I wasn’t even aware that I mostly functioned behind this “good girl” perfectionist persona, and now, these days, it’s like the real, messy, whole person behind that is emerging?!? WILD.

POSITIVELY PRESENT

The downside of having Friday morning therapy is that then you have to go and work for eight hours. Enter Positively Present! Her bright affirmations are great in general, but they are definitely what I needed after therapy last Friday, particularly this one:

Perfect for those times when you just need a tangible, comforting, pretty reminder in your face that things do/can change for the better. 💜

What cheers you up when you’re down? Share your wisdom with me! 😁

Hope you have a great weekend! xo

Linking up with Andrea and Erika!

Friday Favorites: Flower fest 2021!

Now that it’s cold and grey here on the East Coast, and snow is in the forecast (wah), let’s look back at bright spring goodness!

Last April, I took a random Friday off and went to the botanical gardens for a lovely day of flower peeping! (I guess it’s not flower creeping if you paid to be there!) I’d never been there in the spring before, and I was in heaven. I took, oh, about 700 photos annnd then never posted about it! 🤦🏼‍♀️ At that point, I had recently gotten my new camera, and I was living my best life!

It was pretty much tulip-palooza. I’d never seen tulips in such a deep deep plummy color before! I was thrilled to see that my camera could actually capture the true nuance of such a dark, saturated color. These were my favorite of the whole day. 🤩

This mix of bright pink and purple tulips from the Idea Garden were my second fave. The rich, bright tones just complement each other so well. And, of course, love me some pink and purple! Two great things that go great together! 💖💜

I also love how my camera captured the light on these white tulips and didn’t make them just look a blob!

The Flower Walk had rows upon rows of color-coordinated flowers! It was so incredibly gorgeous (and satisfying) to behold. 😍

The stripes and shading on these tulips were just like whoa.

Same with these gorgeousssss peachy guys.

It was insanely windy, unfortunately, so it was often a struggle to get a good pic. (This also explains why I took 700 pictures, haha.) Anything on a branch would especially whip around, and these lilacs drove me crazy, but I miraculously got a few good pics in the end.

The only downside is that I set this trip up for the day after I had an allergist appointment, and she diagnosed me with allergy-induced asthma. 🙃 I was really feeling it after hours outside among, you know, FLOWERS, but no ragrets!

Can’t wait till this starts up again in a few months! 🙃🙃

What is getting you through the winter doldrums?

Hope you have a great weekend! xo

Linking up with Andrea and Erika!

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