I wish I could say that last week was a great first week of the new year, but unfortunately, with the events that transpired on Wednesday night in D.C., that feels far from the truth. While I try to keep this a light-hearted space, issues like this do not go unnoticed, and it was surreal watching the news that night. A good reminder for everyone is that the amendments were designed to protect individual rights and liberties, but they don’t change just because they don’t align with your opinions, and the first amendment makes it very clear that freedom of speech is to be granted when people peaceably assemble. I’m certainly hoping for more peace in our country this year. As for the rest of my week…
Monday morning, I woke up before 6:00 in an attempt to ease back into working life. I read in bed (this and this) before settling in at my desk at home for the day. I left my least favorite task, my expense report, to do once I got back, which was a mistake because of how much I dread doing them but woke my brain up pretty quickly. I had two video meetings that morning for shoots going on during the week, but those wrapped up around lunchtime. I made myself lunch and sent some emails while eating it before heading to my friend’s apartment to be her “patient” for one of her last PA school assignments. Once that was over, we took her dog for a walk, and I went home to continue to work in the afternoon. I made myself dinner and started reading What Color Is Your Parachute before heading back over to her apartment to watch the season premiere of The Bachelor with a few friends. Many of the girls on this season seem crazy, but I’m guessing that will make it entertaining to watch. When the episode was over, I went home and went to bed.
I had a shoot on Tuesday, which meant that I was up early to get into the office and pull my props. We are already into May/June shoots, and this one was for a berry story. It went pretty quickly until our last shot, which was what they are hoping to put on the cover, so we had to play around with a bunch of different setups so that the magazine’s team could figure out what direction they would want to go when it comes time to actually shoot the cover. I put away those props once the shoot did wrap and began pulling others for my Wednesday shoot. When I got home, I immediately changed into slippers and accomplished some blog work before making dinner. I watched part of an episode of Bridgerton before going to bed early.
Wednesday morning was surprisingly cold in Birmingham, and when I looked out the window, there was frost on the yard and on our neighbors’ roofs. I headed into the office early that morning to finish gathering my props for the shoot, which was for a fish fry story set to run in the same May/June issue as the day before. It took until 11:30 for us to get our first shot done since it included all of the food items we were shooting, but the rest of the day flew by, and I was home around 2:00 after stopping to make a quick exchange on the way. I turned on the news and watched it while I continued to work in the afternoon. I was pretty much glued to it until heading to a friend’s house to cook dinner. We cooked one of Publix’s stuffed chicken meals, and he made lots of vegetables to go along with it. We watched Jumanji (the new one) for a bit after eating, but I didn’t make it through very much of it before going home to go to sleep.
I was able to sleep in a little bit on Thursday since I didn’t need to be in the office for a shoot, and I even made it to a workout class for the first time in a while. With Covid numbers back on the rise, I’m going to try to get back into running and will likely do more at-home workouts too. If you have any favorite videos for strength or core workouts, please let me know because coming up with my own routine always ends up with me doing a little bit and then calling it quits. After showering, I spent the rest of the morning ordering in products for a shoot I have later this month and took a break from my computer at lunchtime to take down my Christmas decorations. It was so bittersweet since (I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this to y’all or not yet) this will be our last Christmas in this house due to our landlord moving in with his wife once our lease is up in May. With that in mind, I tried to do a really good job of packing everything up since I don’t want to have to reorganize my Christmas decoration bins before moving. I worked from the living room in the afternoon and was able to get a ton of tasks I had been putting off accomplished. That night I went over to a friend’s house, and we made bowls for dinner with chicken, okra, rice, and broccoli marinated in Trader Joe’s Soyaki sauce (I’ll try to share a more complete recipe of these soon since they are an easy go-to). We watched Mr. Right on Netflix, which was entertaining but with a bizarre plotline, and then
It was rainy on Friday morning, which made it a nice day to sleep in a little since work for me doesn’t start until 8:00 instead of 7:00 on Fridays. I had two meetings in the morning, which I prepared for and then sent out information for the shoots they were focused on after logging off the video calls. I was in a motivated mood, so I spent a good chunk of the middle of the day working on blog posts, Instagram story images, and post photos to share. I was able to get into a 4:00 workout class at True40, which felt good after sitting at my desk most of the day. I came home and showered after that, made dinner, and eventually got ready to meet a few friends for a drink to celebrate them officially finishing PA school. We were able to spread out at Carrigan’s, and it was a fun outing for the evening since they weren’t able to have an “official” graduation celebration.
I slept in until 9-something on Saturday morning, and it was incredible. The weather was really chilly (at least by Alabama standards) all day, so I knew that for the most part, I’d be spending the day inside. After a cup of coffee in bed, while reading a few blogs, I decided to get up and go to the grocery store. Lately, I’ve been going to Aldi since it’s really close to my house and their prices are hard to beat, but our store is being redone, so I had to go to a second store afterward to get everything I needed. By the time I got back and unpacked my groceries, it was lunchtime, so I made myself some tomato soup and a sandwich and listened to a podcast recommended by my brother called Bear Brook. I also made some homemade chocolate chip cookies in the afternoon before meeting up with my friend from home and her sister (Bowen and Macy) for coffee outside at Church Street. Since it was still freezing, we didn’t last that long, which was ok since we would see each other for dinner that night. In the afternoon, I did an at-home workout, watched an episode of Criminal Minds, and showered before being picked up for dinner around 6:15. We went to Ovenbird in Birmingham, which has a cool atmosphere and is small-plate oriented. Hunter and I split a few things, as did Macy, Bowen, and the other couple there. We didn’t leave until close to 9:30, and afterward, Hunter and I finished watching Catch Me If You Can while playing backgammon before I went to bed.
I had a slow start to my Sunday morning but only slept until around 8:00. Given how cold it had been the day before made me want to lay in bed even longer! I eventually got up and watched a show in the living room while drinking coffee before actually getting started with my day. I made some chicken in my Instant Pot, which I then turned into chicken salad, and decided to deep clean some of the hidden spaces in my room (under my bed, the cabinets under my sink, etc.). My roommate and I will have to move by the end of May, and given how much I hate moving, I am already in the mindset of purging things to make that eventually easier. I was able to vacuum under my bed, organize the plastic drawers hidden there, and make a donate and toss pile that I know I will continue to add to while purging. Mid-way through this clean out, I met Nell for a walk at 2:00 since we hadn’t been able to hang out one-on-one in a while due to the holidays. Our walk lasted until 3:45, and we both agreed that it felt good to move our legs. Once I got back to my house, I called my parents for our weekly catch-up session, which lasted nearly 45 minutes and was good entertainment while I continued to clean. Eventually, I showered and made myself dinner while tidying up a few other spaces. At 6:30, you could’ve told me it was 9:30, and I would have believed you. Because of that, I got in bed before 8:00 to read and go to sleep early.
I hope that y’all have a nice week and were able to enjoy your weekend. Oh, and Roll Tide!
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