Weekly Update: Family Time

This weekly update is going to be super short because I’m currently  with family celebrating my mom’s birthday. It’s great to be with loved ones, and I’m even more glad that I was able to surprise her for the weekend!

And StarDog is thrilled to be staying with the pet sitter. He views it as his own extended sleepover, and he always has a ball. She doesn’t have cats, so he gets to sleep in the bed there…

dog on carpet stretching laying down
StarDog getting comfy

Weekly Gratitude

Like I mentioned last week, this will be a weekly section on what I’m grateful for every day. I’m hoping that by documenting these, it will remind me to be more mindful about the good things in my life.

  • Monday: Sold something on Poshmark! It’s been awhile…and I’m grateful to get something else out of my apartment. And…money.
  • StarCat vet appointment family handsome cuddle fur
    The handsomest kitty.

    Tuesday: StarCat had a relatively painless annual checkup at the vet, and everyone there could not get over how handsome he was!

  • Wednesday: I heard back from a super awesome company that I really want to work for, and we’re going to do a preliminary phone interview next week. Fingers crossed!
  • Thursday: I finished the second case interview in the first round of one of my job applications. Glad that’s over…
  • Friday: I managed to get a business lunch scheduled at my favorite ramen restaurant. And I’m always grateful for delicious free food! We event got bubble tea afterwards.
  • Saturday: Spending time with family! My flights were pretty painless (despite a 6am departure), and my mom didn’t suspect a thing, so she was shocked. That’s something worth celebrating because she’s pretty sharp, and I was sure she’d guess.
  • Sunday: Well, this is technically taking place in the future since this post goes live before dinner, but I’m taking my mom to her (and my) favorite steakhouse. I’m grateful for good food and people that I love. And dessert. I’m always grateful for dessert.

Whatever you’re doing this weekend, I hope it brings you joy. I’d love to hear about your plans, and what you’re grateful for this week—write me a comment below!

Financial Flexibility for What’s Important

Financial Flexibility for What's Important

I have a confession: I’m dropping $2,500 on a completely elective purchase in October. And on two weekend trips that were planned pretty last-minute. And I have no regrets. Having my finances together gives me the flexibility to address what’s important in my life. Financial flexibility isn’t necessarily frugal, but it does mean my money is going to things I value.

Continue reading “Financial Flexibility for What’s Important”

Weekly Update: Meal Prepping and Gratitude

The last two weeks, since getting back from Peru, have been difficult. I was sick for a good portion of them and exhausted constantly. It’s also been stressful applying for jobs and not feeling like I’m getting anywhere. All of these factors meant that I wasn’t being very diligent about cooking at home and eating healthy. In an effort to prevent that this week, I did some massive meal prepping today!

Continue reading “Weekly Update: Meal Prepping and Gratitude”

Delaying Gratification and the Art of Sourdough Bread

In case you haven’t been closely reading all of my past blog posts, you should know: I really like to bake. I spend money on good flour, and I’ve collected far too much of my mom’s hand-me-down baking equipment over the years. I like baking sweet things, and I love cake decorating, but what I’ve enjoyed most in the past year is experimenting with sourdough.

Snow White baking pie

Continue reading “Delaying Gratification and the Art of Sourdough Bread”

Tracking Habits for Success

tracking habits productivity bullet journal self improvement

Guess who’s back!

It’s been awhile! To recap, August was insane. Bad insane followed by good insane. The bad: super stressful job search (that has yet to be fruitful), and SunCat getting really sick in the middle of it. Thankfully, she seems to be responding really well to her treatment so far. Fingers crossed!

SunCat cute cat book reading cuddling
Hooman, why is this book in my spot??

The Good: I went to Peru! I just got back from a 10-day trip with my best friend. It was amazing. This country has been at the very top of my travel wish list for some time now, and it didn’t disappoint. I climbed Montaña Machu Picchu, and so now I know that I can do anything. Seriously, that thing was really fucking hard. Side note: I’m taking the stairs at work from now on…

Before I left, I started tracking habits that I wanted to build, with mixed results. Continue reading “Tracking Habits for Success”