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An Anniversary, and Affiliate Links

Woohoo! Owning the Stars has been live for a year! This anniversary doesn’t feel like a huge deal because I know that I wasn’t posting very frequently at all in the beginning, but I am proud of what I’ve started here, and I love having this creative outlet.

With this milestone, I’ve started thinking about where I want this blog to go. I’ve mentioned my Etsy shop before, and I’d like to build this blog into something that might provide a modest side hustle income. That being said, it is so so important to me to stay true to the blog’s purpose and mission. It’s also important that I stay true to myself as well.

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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!

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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!

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The Value of Happiness: Why I Walked Away from $40k

value of happiness why I walked away from $40,000 blog owning the stars

Could I have picked a more clickbait-y title? You’re welcome. But it’s 100% true too. This is my second weekly update post, and it’s been one hell of a week. This is a pretty long post because there’s some background that needs to be established, but bear with me. I eventually get to the part about lighting money on fire and walking away. But I’ve also discovered that the value of happiness doesn’t have a price tag. And as trite as that sounds, it’s so true.

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Side Hustling FTW.

One of my goals that I’m talking about in this blog is Financial Independence. This one means a lot to me. When I graduated college, I spent money a little too freely. I needed a new wardrobe for my new life as a professional, I needed new furniture, I needed fun things and dinners out and travel. I needed to adopt not one, but TWO new animals (for a total of 3). And now, three years later, I’m stepping back and asking myself how I can be more strategic about getting to my financial goals because I’ve taken the time to figure out exactly what those goals are.

 

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