It’s been an intense couple months since I recently went back to grad school. Always looking to grow and learn, I jumped at the chance to take a UCLA Collection Preservation course but being in grad school in your 30s while working, it’s been a little hard keeping up with everything. Looking back when I was in grad school in my twenties and working seemed so much easier than my current situation. I know I’m being a little whiny and I may be in countdown mode but I know I’ll be so happy (and more knowledgeable) I took the course when it’s over. I’ve been really enjoying my bubble baths lately, instead of scrolling social media, I’ve been listening to my audiobooks.
Take a Break
My library’s summer program has officially ended and I’m exhausted to say the least. Last week, I had one of the worst headaches I can remember ever having, I couldn’t do anything except to just be with myself. No lights, no books or television, and minimal talking. I’m not kidding I seemed to be sensitive to just about everything around me. I spent about five hours alone (and almost in complete darkness) - in the bath with no lights, practicing meditative and breathing exercises, and just moving around my bedroom at a glacial pace, organizing and putting stuff away.
At first, I was like I cannot do this (mind you, my emotional state and stress levels have been all over the place for the past six months, but more on that later.) My mind won’t shut up and I have to be alone with myself, clearly I have a problem with boredom. It took about an hour for me to calm down and be ok with not doing anything. Over the course of the night, I realized I was actually present with myself, my mind was at ease, and my awareness of everything was extremely heightened, I hadn’t felt that in such a long time.
I’ll admit, my work/life balance is horrible and my auto-pilot for so long has been “hurry, hurry, hurry.” I live by my planner, it’s packed full of meetings, phone calls, interviews, appointments, etc. This past year has been particularly stressful, with wedding planning and being in a job that is wearing me thin (my work schedule is actually the worst), I’m very seldom alone with myself and I’m like really tired.
Being alone in the dark and enjoying the silence of my bedroom felt so therapeutic and clearly something I need to do more often. Here’s to less health issues, actually listening to my body, being more present and being ok with boredom.
Weekend Wrap Up
Even though my weekend is only one day, I had the most relaxing and needed break this Sunday. Life lately has been going to work, coming home and sending emails to wedding vendors/our wedding planner and falling asleep on the couch by seven, lather, rinse, repeat. David and I spent a quiet Saturday night watching The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel finale and perusing through our cookbook collection. Our collection is extensive and pretty impressive, but we never make recipes from said cookbooks so we decided our monthly goal is to make new recipes every Sunday. Do you have cooking goals?
When we woke up Sunday morning, we decided to hit the road and go hiking in Joshua Tree. We started our morning with Trader Joes blueberry and lemon biscuits, put them in the air-fryer and ate almost the entire bag of biscuits. We packed our backpacks full of sunscreen, water and snacks and took the hour road trip to the high desert. We took a slight detour to visit the Invisible House (featured in the new Netflix series, The World's Most Amazing Vacation Rentals) and headed towards Indian Cove and did some mild rock climbing. It was sunny, cool and the perfect day to hang out outside.
Once we got back home, David spent way too much money at Popeye’s and KFC to prove to me that Popeye’s chicken sandwich is better! For over a year, David and I have had this hilarious feud over which fast food chain is better. We went wild and got side dishes and did a side by side comparison of chicken, cole slaw, mac and cheese, biscuits and mashed potatoes and gravy. The end result, Popeye’s chicken might be better but KFC has the best biscuits!
After showering and picking up the bedroom, I did my usual bedtime yoga routine and fell asleep to the latest 80s teen series I’ve acquired, The Nightmare Inn by T.S. Rue. If you don’t follow my bookish adventures you can follow me at @notesfromalibrarian where I share books from my past and post all the things I loved being an 80s baby/90s tween, like Babysitter’s club stuff, Sassy magazine clippings and Delia’s clothes I wanted as a 90s tween/00s teen.
Make Up Detox and Rabbit Holes
Quarantine life really isn’t that much different than my time off work other than I’ve been watching a lot of nonsense, diving down a rabbit hole of quirky movies and a lot of reality shows - which really isn’t my thing, but it’s weird times and this is where I’m at.
I’m going on walks twice a day now, I haven’t worn makeup in two weeks, I’m trying to be more conscious of portion control, trying to regain brain cells after watching Selling Sunset and Tiger King by watching documentaries like Mercury 13, Minimalism, The Devil Next Door and Tales by Light while cleaning and getting rid of stuff in my apartment.
What are you up to this week?
What I’m reading, watching and doing (by which I mean online shopping) this week
Self Care Friday
If you haven’t noticed through social media (even though I’ve been pretty hush hush about it), I’ve gone through a lot of change in the last two months. I left a job (on pretty devastating terms), briefly had another and then got right back into a library position while also getting engaged. I’m still trying to cope with the way in which I left my library job of almost five years but we’ll get there and hopefully by that time, I will feel a bit better, I’m still very much processing and grieving. In that time, I’ve been able to take a lot of time off, like over two weeks of trying to figure out my life and where it’s going. Although it was nerve-wracking to say the least, I’m grateful I was able to put myself first for a minute and give myself the chance to breath and figure my next move. I’m finally getting to the point where I’m happy and not crying on a consistent basis, found an evening routine that’s more than just falling asleep to Netflix and finally on a good sleep schedule. So what are you up to this weekend? I’m headed to Lorelai’s House at the Warner Brother’s Lot and meeting up with girlfriends I haven’t seen on forever. Have an excellent weekend and make sure to have a little fun!
What I'm Buying: Royal Wedding Mug.
What I'm Reading: The Chill Times
What I'm Listening Too: Jen Gotch Is Ok.. Sometimes
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