Friday Favorites: Cute reminders!

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

So, how do get through the week when it’s kind of a meh struggle? Because that’s been my week. I’ve been… bleh. Hormonal, sad, and out of it.

But I can say that my bevy of cute reminders and affirmations have helped (…as has having a Friday Favorites theme on a bleh week 😁)!

Of course, you have to find the messages and imagery that resonate with you, but here are a few of my faves:

(FYI: I make a small commission for purchases or clicks made through links in this post.)

• Firstly, and perhaps most importantly, for when laughter is the best medicine:

This should be the millennial logo of life.

• This adorable one needs to be in my face all the time, so it sits on my work desk. “Negative” feelings are only sort of sometimes okay to me now (😂), so this is a big one. Pairs nicely with my therapist’s calm messaging that “It’s okay to feel [fill-in-the-blank emotion].”

• When I am really in the grip of panic and anxiety, I have to actively remind myself of the message on this sticker; that, while I may feel scared, I’m actually not in danger. My body and the present moment haven’t always felt like safe places to be, so I have found reminders of current safety—and agency—to be very comforting.

Pairs well with this fake plant from Target!

• I recently added this Calm Strip to my laptop, and it has been a lovely little grounding tool to rub/pick at/fiddle with. (The fact that it’s not a traditional sticker, i.e. you can easily remove and reposition it, is the only reason I allowed it to grace my pristine laptop, ha!)

• Guys, I am still so tired. I may not be okay until I get that hour back in the fall! 😂😬 But I also, once again, feel a lot of guilt around resting, so, vicious circle. This darling sticker just arrived this week, and I put it on my nightstand, so maybe I won’t spring out of bed in a panic just because I’m awake. (It’s kind of similar to the guilt/panic I had around rest back when I had covid in the fall. 🙃) Lack of sleep and my anxiety just do not mix.

What reminders help you when it’s just not your day (your week, your month, or even your year)? ✨ 

Happy Friday! xoxo

Linking up with Andrea and Erika over at Friday Favorites!

High Five for Friday: March 24

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

I couldn’t get my act together for a H54F last week because daylight savings kicked my butt—I have been SO TIRED. I would try to watch the 6:30 Action News with Pops, and it would turn into Action Snooze. 😴 Is it normal to feel completely jet lagged from losing one hour? Good grief!

ANYWAY, let’s see what’s brought the sparkle!

(FYI: I make a small commission for purchases or clicks made through links in this post.)

• If you missed it, I actually posted TWICE this week (omg who even am I??), because Monday was my 10th Rebirthday! TENTH!! How?! If you don’t know, I went inpatient for suicidal thoughts on March 20, 2013, and I have considered that my “rebirthday” ever since. It was, after all, the day I started to take my mental health seriously. I’ve done more to commemorate it in the past, but nothing really felt right this year—except for a trip to the botanical garden. That made me—2023 me—feel excited and alive, so that’s what I did… just way in advance! 😁

Mica was not wrong when she spotted my sparkly headband—there was significance there! ✨And I wore it to therapy this week too! (Although Zoom doesn’t really do it justice.)

• Has anyone been watching The Way Home on the Hallmark Channel? I’m only a few episodes in, but it’s been such a good juicy binge watch. And I too wish I could time travel back to 1999, ha! (I loved sixth and seventh grade!) The nostalgia is so real. I remember my mind being blown the first time I heard “Baby, One More Time” too and definitely struggled to record it off the radio like Kat!

• Speaking of 1999 nostalgia… for some reason, Schoolhouse Rock has been the vibe during work lately. 😂 Mostly just “The Preamble” (which we did listen to in seventh grade Social Studies class) and "Three Is a Magic Number,”which is just so darling. I now know Blind Melon’s cover of it, and that is so good too!

• Okay, apparently, this is just nostalgia week because I saw these at Target, and they delighted me, and I immediately sent a pic to Timmi, haha. I remember having a sheet of stick-on earrings as a kid and LOVING a pair of purple diamond-shaped ones with polka dots so much. I kept them in reserve for my kindergarten graduation. 😁

• While I did not buy stick-on earrings at Target, I did buy this sparkly purse for $16! NO RAGRETS! Literal sparkle! ✨💃🏼

What put the sparkle, literal or otherwise, in your week? ✨ 

Happy Friday! xoxo

Linking up with Andrea and Erika over at Friday Favorites!

10 years ago...

This time 10 years ago, I wanted to die. Then, I started to talk about it.

I didn’t mean to. I certainly didn’t want to. It all kind of just spilled out to a friend in desperation. But that “mistake” saved my life, as I ended up going inpatient the next day, and that has led to quite the healing journey! 

It also forced me to tell my family and friends how I was really doing, something I’d long avoided.

I’d had suicidal thoughts on and off since high school, but I thought they were something that had to be kept secret, so that I wouldn’t be judged or create a panic. I also never wanted anyone, especially my parents, to worry about me. I wanted to be “a pleasure to have in class” in all areas of my life, so no one could know how much I sometimes struggled emotionally. 

But it was only in being honest with the people in my life that I started to heal. And though there have certainly been ups and downs over the past 10 years, I am really glad I’m still here. 💖

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A post shared by Dr. Leah Katz | Psychologist | Speaker I Media Contributor (@dr.leahkatz)

Now… here’s the part I’ve been struggling to put into words. I really wish I could say, “It’s okay to have suicidal thoughts,” because acceptance and compassion feel better to me (and probably everyone??) than denial, panic, and shame. It really helps when my therapist tells me things like, “It’s okay to be scared,” and I have kind of adapted that to telling myself, “It’s okay to feel [fill-in-the-blank emotion]” when I’m not in the therapy room.

But “being scared” is one thing. Suicidal thoughts are life and death. Not to mention that no one should have to go through life wanting to die. And even with the normalization of mental health, this particular topic still feels taboo, in a way that talking about anxiety and depression don’t.

But suicide is the 12th-leading cause of death in the US. NOT talking about it, or reacting to it from a place of judgment, clearly isn’t helping. Will we ever get to a place where people can share their suicidal thoughts and feel genuinely heard, supported, and helped in the process? I was so incredibly lucky to have that experience with the friend I “mistakenly” opened up to. I have not always been able to give that gift to others (when I was in denial about my own issues), and I really regret it.

If talking about my experience does anything to lessen the stigma, well, maybe that’s why I’m still here. 🫶

If you are experiencing suicidal thoughts:

You are loved. 

You deserve to be heard. 

You deserve to heal.

In the US, there is the new 988 hotline for mental health crises. This page also lists a number of other resources. (I am also so intrigued by the last option on that page, Warmlines, for when you are “not in crisis, but still need support.” How did I not know things like that existed?!)

And if you’ve been there for me over the past 10 years:

Natalie Merchant was hitting me in all the feels as I was driving around on Saturday 💖🥹

High Five for Friday: March 10

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

Let’s see what brought the sparkle this week!

• I finished my taxes on Saturday! 🎶Celebrate good times, come on!🎶 It did not make for an exciting afternoon, but I am always so glad to finally get that over and done with. One less thing hanging over me, you know?

post-taxes nap with my bestie 🫶

• At least I had some comforting background noise while I did my taxes… the Marlins had their first Spring Training broadcast of the season, and I love the Bally Sports song! I started watching the Fish last year after my favorite Phillie ended up there, and even though he’s moved on, I’m still kind of attached to them! Like, aww, the poor Fish, with their abysmal Spring Training record of 1-9. 😬🫶 It’s just nice to have another team that feels familiar (along with the Phillies and Dodgers). I’ve found that baseball makes for soothing white noise, especially when I know the players involved. It def helped get me through covid!

yeah, so, because it’s often “soothing white noise,” I don’t typically know what the score is 😬🤷🏼‍♀️

• This one is really just for Nicole (and my own personal nerdy delight!), but I did my last shrine in Breath of the Wild this week! It took me a minute to realize there was a shrine quest I had never initiated—the sand seal races. (I tend to blow off all the racing mini-games, so that tracks. 😂) Back when I started BotW, I was like, “UGH, there’s 120 of these stupid shrines…? Yeah, I’ll never do all of them…” and here we are. (Similar to “Who cares about these stupid korok seeds?” annnd now I have 829 out of 900. 😳🙈)

• On a totally different topic… I don’t usually have headaches, but I have been dealing with some lately (thank you, sinus pressure and sleep deprivation!), so I picked up Saje’s Peppermint Halo—and I’ve been pleasantly surprised to find that Peppermint Halo also works wonderfully to wake me up when I’m ready to pass out at my desk! Come for the headache benefits, stay for the mid-workday pick-me-up! 👍

• Lastly, who knew Timmi and I were such revolutionaries when we did our “donut crawl” for my 30th birthday?! 😂😂 (Also, I don’t drink, so I will always be pro-baked goods crawl!) 🍩🧁🍰

What put the sparkle in your week? ✨ 

Happy Friday! xoxo

Linking up with Andrea and Erika over at Friday Favorites!

High Five for Friday: March 3

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

Let’s see what brought the sparkle this week!

• As of Monday, Pudge has been with us for six months! 😭💖 Even though I’m pretty iffy on the term “fur baby,” she is 1000% my baby. She is the best emotional support buddy and co-worker (even while snoring through the workday) a gal could ask for. I loved her when I would watch her for Maggie, and now that love is on a whole new level. 😭💖

• Baseball is back! What a lovely distraction to have. Also, Spring Training! SPRING! It’s actually almost here! 🥲🌺🌼

just all the games, please!

• Oh, therapy. Lately, I’ve been feeling the emotional reverberations for days afterward, but instead of being freaked out by it (“What is wrong with me?!” “Why am I feeling like this?!”), I’m trying to embrace the idea that feelings are just part of life. Panicking over them, or shaming myself for them, or judging them just makes everything worse.

So last weekend, I let myself cry when I felt sad or scared (even in yoga class!), and I’ve literally written Notes in my phone reminding myself that “it’s okay” to feel whatever I’m feeling at that time.

Ultimately, I’ve been trying to give my inner child the support and validation she needed when she panicked over big, scary feelings as a kid. Some particularly helpful messages have been:

It’s okay to feel scared.

(A reminder I often get from my therapist. I will end with “full stop” sometimes when it needs a little extra oomph. 💃🏼🔥)

and

It’s okay to miss anyone at any time for any reason.

(Separation anxiety is big for me—both to feel and to judge—so avoiding qualifications on this one really helped.)

I wasn’t able to get in for a second therapy session this week, but clearly I had my own session with myself LOL! Highly HIGHLY recommend inner child work. Establishing a relationship with my inner child and working with her instead of against her has been a serious game changer. To be able to step in with a kind, compassionate voice in lieu of my therapist?! Huge. HUGE! 🥳🥳

okay, but actually tho….

• Lastly, another tweet that made me laugh out loud (also, see my right sidebar 😂):

What put the sparkle in your week? ✨ 

Happy Friday! xoxo

Linking up with Andrea and Erika over at Friday Favorites!