8 ways to squash the Sunday scaries

I hate the Sunday scaries, and as I come up on a full month of working from home only half of the week, I have found the last three or so weeks to always begin with the threat of the Sunday scaries. For some people, the Sunday scaries might be because they really don't want to go to work or school – they dread it so much that Sunday is a horrible day for them.

For me, the Sunday scaries is just the culmination of everything I have to do and haven't yet done, staring down at me, saying, "It's time, Paige." I think we all have this on Sunday evenings/Monday mornings, though. We see what we have to get done in the week ahead and see what we didn't get done over the weekend (probably for a good reason!) and ... well ... freak out.

My mom was with me this weekend, and if there's one thing my mom and I have in common, it's our ability to knock out tasks on a to do list. And that's exactly what we did on Saturday evening and Sunday, so the Sunday scaries were just a myth yesterday evening. I got to enjoy a book I've been reading, work on my novel and take Theo on a walk – all without feeling guilty or stressed.

I have a few things I do every Sunday to make sure I set myself up for success for the rest of the week and don't feel stalked all day long by everything I need to do.

Here are my tips for making the most of your Sunday and setting yourself up for scary-free success:

1. Write down (or type out) everything you'd like to get done on your Sunday – or your weekend, if that is easier.

Y'all know how I feel about the power of the brain dump. Get it out of your head and onto paper.

2. Include fun stuff, like watching a movie or reading – it's not ALL chores and laundry!

I literally wrote down, "Take a shower." *shrug emoji*

3. Treat yourself with accomplish goals. 

"If I finish this really annoying task I've been putting off, I'll watch an episode of Seinfeld while I fold laundry.

4. If long lists are the reason why you have the Sunday scaries in the first place, separate your list into things that MUST get done before you go to bed and things that you'd just LIKE to get done.

I like really detailed lists because my list looks like I accomplished more! To each their own.

5. Don't lock yourself in the house all day. Work in errands that let you get some sunshine, talk to other people, etc.

i.e., I always go grocery shopping on Sundays!

6. If you have a roommate or a partner, ask for help.

Maybe this is just me, but I like to take things on and try to do it all myself. 

7. Make sure you are actually accomplishing tasks that will make your life easier for the rest of the week.

Are you really going to be happier come Thursday because you dusted your blinds but didn't make a meal plan for the week? Hmmmm?

8. Listen to great music or an engaging podcast or audiobook while you work.

I clean and accomplish my Sunday task list to the soundtrack of Hipster Cocktail Party, the ultimate Pandora playlist. (Well, this Sunday was to the soundtrack of March Madness.)

What my Sunday list looks like every week

– Load dishwasher.

– Empty dishwasher.

– Do all laundry in the house.

– Fold & put away laundry.

– Bake bread.

– Make meal plan & grocery list.

– Grocery shop.

– Pack lunch for Monday.

– Monday blog.

– Wash sheets.

– Make bed.

– Clean bathrooms.

– Run Roomba (I usually run it 2x on Sundays. Theo is a beast.)

– Schedule social media for the week.

– Read 30 minutes.

– Work on novel for 1 hour.

– Set up planner for the week.

(But more detailed than this, tbh. I'm holding back.)

•••

Y'all, my house is so clean. How long will it last? Just ask Theo.

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32 things I am not very good at

I post all the time about organizing, productivity, planning, time blocking, getting work done... All things I would consider myself very good at. But hey. This is my blog, and I am a real human, and the truth of the matter is, while I am good at some things, I am also very, very, very bad at some things. Some of those things I am working on getting better at. Other things, I've pretty much given up and I'll come back to those later. There aren't enough hours in the day to be good at everything.

Now, that doesn't mean I don't sometimes think I should be great at everything. The temptation to strive for perfection is heavy and delicious and hard to ignore for someone like me – the very definition of a perfectionist.

But here are 32 things that I am, in fact, not very good at.

1. Putting on eye liner.
2. Waking up on time.
3. Saying no.
4. Throwing things away.
5. Holding myself to a budget when it comes to gift-giving.
6. Resisting free shipping.
7. Taking off makeup at the end of the day.
8. Navigating in unfamiliar places.
9. Cleaning up after myself in the kitchen.
10. Decorating my house.
11. Taking selfies.
12. Getting ready before noon.
13. Hanging pictures on the wall.
14. Getting out of bed.
15. Accessorizing.
16. Drawing straight lines, even with a ruler.
17. Unpacking suitcases.
18. Watching movies.
19. Reading magazines.
20. Exercising, in any form.
21. Putting the trash out on time. 
22. Finishing my unread books before buying a new one.
23. Taking down the Christmas tree before the next Christmas.
24. Arriving to meetings on time.
25. Not arriving at the airport 3+ hours early.
26. Going through the security line at airports.
27. SnapChat.
28. Writing short emails.
29. Staying on topic in meetings.
30. Saying no to salespeople.
31. Remembering to call or email or text people back.
32. Sticking to my grocery list.

•••

What are some things you are not very good at?

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at-home teeth whitening: does it really work for people with sensitive teeth?

I have always been super self-conscious about my smile – specifically, my teeth. In college, it felt like everyone was constantly taking pictures – selfies to show off a new outfit or a good hair day, pictures with their best friend or a group of people at a tailgate to show they went to the game... I avoided the camera 95 percent of the time and still do. Oh, there are pictures out there of me, but even Patrick and I barely have any photos together that weren't unavoidable photos taken by parents.

And the reason for that is my smile. I love to smile and laugh and I am probably always smiling or laughing, although I have a RBF like you wouldn't believe. I never hesitate to smile – but I hate pictures, especially too close up, because you can clearly see that my smile is yellower than all the others in the picture. It's hard not to notice, honestly.

Years of drinking coffee and sweet tea – I am a southerner, after all – have done serious damage to my smile and stained many of my teeth. My experience with whitening products was never very impressive – I had no time for Colgate WhiteStrips and no money for professional teeth whitening, so I settled with never being very happy with my smile or photos of me.

When Smile Brilliant reached out to partner, I was thrilled!

Disclaimer: I received this product from Smile Brilliant in exchange for my honest and thoughtful review. I would never review or recommend a product unless I truly loved it. 

THE IMPRESSION PROCESS

Smile Brilliant is an at-home whitening kit that is totally personalized to your smile. I made molds of my teeth using their impression kit and sent them back, and about a week after sending my impressions in, I had a personalized whitening kit to get started on whitening my teeth. The impression kit is easy to use and comes with super simple instructions, and the impressions they made with my kit are a perfect fit for my teeth! (So, I guess that means I did the kit right!)

My tip for you as far as the impression process goes: Read the instructions from beginning to end before you start. I hate doing this, and I am bad at it! But this time I decided I wouldn't screw anything up by not following directions, and I am glad I read through. They also sent an extra set for impressions, almost as if predicting that I wouldn't read the instructions from beginning to end. Smart.

THE WHITENING PROCESS

You can whiten for about 45 minutes to 3 hours each day, which is pretty amazing. A lot of people might think, "I don't have time for that." But once I had my impressions in, you could hardly tell I was doing anything as time intensive as whitening my teeth. One day, I did it in the middle of my workday and was editing stories while I whitened! But most days it was easiest just to do it before bed.

The trays fit so well that I rarely noticed they were there. But – TMI coming your way! – I drooled a lot during the process, so I usually whitened before bed, when I had nowhere to go, no one to see and no chance that I would need to spontaneously hop on a Google Hangout while drooling out of the corner of my mouth.

You also shouldn't eat or drink for a while after whitening, and you should wait up to 24 hours before drinking things like coffee or red wine that might stain your teeth. That's another reason to do it before bed, especially if, like me, you are always putting something in your mouth! This was very difficult for me and, let's be honest, I couldn't and didn't go a full 24 hours after whitening before drinking coffee again.

FOR SENSITIVE TEETH

I never used the whitening gel for a full three hours, because unfortunately during this period, I was experiencing extreme teeth sensitivity from a few dental procedures and grinding my teeth. I usually whitened between 45 minutes and an hour each day. If you are also experiencing extreme sensitivity or have extremely sensitive teeth, I recommend what the amazing rep at Smile Brilliant recommended to me:

• Prep your teeth with the desensitizing gel for 2-3 nights before your first whitening sessions.
• This gel should be left on for about 15-30 minutes.
• On the 3rd night, you will use the whitening gel for 30-45 minutes (start with shorter sessions to ensure you are comfortable).
• After your whitening session, you will use the desensitizing gel afterward.

My teeth haven't felt more sensitive as a result of the whitening gel, and I credit that to the desensitizing gel, for sure. I am grateful for the extra tips from Ashley at Smile Brilliant to make sure I could get the most out of my whitening kit without any extra pain!
MY RESULTS

I could notice results right away but after four sessions, I noticed that a prominent stain on one of my I-teeth had faded and my smiles in selfies were brighter. By the end of the process, I feel much more comfortable smiling and taking photos. I think to get rid of my yellowing on most of my teeth altogether, I would need to do an entire round of whitening again, maybe even a third time – but I was thrilled with this much progress! But the best part about that is – I can just purchase more whitening gel to whiten as I need to, since my trays are already made for me. This is a totally customizable process.

To show you what I was working with before... even photo editing and filters weren't making a dent in my teeth, and the photo below is actually a good day for my smile.



SO thrilled that my selfie-taking increased by about 200 percent

ABOUT SMILE BRILLIANT

A whitening kit from Smile Brilliant costs between $139 and $179, depending on if you do or do not get desensitizing gel (and I would recommend it), which you can compare to $600 to $850 at the dentist.

I got 3-4 uses out of each syringe, and depending on which size kit you purchase, you will get between 9 and 27 applications out of the syringes. If you have a very yellow smile, I recommend the kit with 6 or 9 syringes, because I definitely could've used a few more applications to get more of my stains to fade!

GIVEAWAY

I've partnered with Smile Brilliant to give away a whitening kit to one lucky reader! Giveaway information to come. Want to enter? Follow this link and enter your email! The giveaway will be open for one week and is open to USA, UK, Australian and Canadian residents.

Tooth Whitening Gel

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my december goals AND a little life update

Happy Monday!

I am typing this up pretty late on Sunday night because ... well... I really don't know where my weekend went. Both days, Patrick was occupied with sports, and I had made lots of plans to do laundry, clean the house and finish decorating for Christmas.

Well. The house is still disgusting, I have laundry started but certainly not finished and decorating? Ha. Not even close.

SOMETHING NEW ON MY RADAR

I signed up to be an independent distributor with SeneGence, the company that makes LipSense! You have probably heard of LipSense, but if not, it is an amazing lip color that lasts up to 18 hours – no smudging, no smearing, no transferring. I absolutely love it and my lips have never been so healthy during the winter in... ever. So, I officially am open for business!

I spent a lot of time this weekend and the few days this week after I made the decision to join the company getting things together – ordering business cards and supplies, making graphics, etc. The whole thing.

If you're interested in learning more about SeneGence and LipSense, I'd love to have you in my Facebook group! You can join here – no pressure to buy, just come and have fun with us while you learn more about the products.

HOW I DID IN NOVEMBER

• Read 5 books in November. So close – I read four books in November. 

• Start and finish National Novel Writing Month by writing 50,000 words in 30 days. Score! I did finish my NaNoWriMo novel in 30 days and wrote 50,704 words.

• Drink 64 ounces of water every day, and limit myself to one caffeinated/non-water beverage a day. This was going really well at the beginning of the month but as it got closer to my birthday and I got busier and more exhausted, the caffeine was necessary and the water was an afterthought – although I am still drinking more than I was before. And then I got my new Keurig after Black Friday... and it went out the window.

• Blog every Monday, Wednesday and Friday each week. Unfortunately, I missed a few days here, too. It's hard to keep up with everything!

• Turn my phone off (or put it away) one hour before bedtime. I was really good about this for a week – so much for that.

MY DECEMBER GOALS

• Read 5 books in December. I blogged about my reading list last week and took a trip to Barnes & Noble for a stack of books to add to my already huge stack of books, so I hope now that NaNoWriMo is over, I can make time to read!

• Drink 16 oz. of water for every caffeinated beverage I drink every day. I think this will be a more successful way for me to ensure I'm drinking water while also keeping my caffeine in my life... because I am not ready to get rid of it.

• Clear my to do list of things I have been putting off before the new year. There are some tasks on my to do list that I have been neglecting for months. It is way past time to take my car in for a recall update (nothing incredibly dangerous, Mom!) and take our donations from our move to the donation center. Time to get them done before 2018!

• Clean out my closet. I haven't done a good closet cleanout in a few months! Usually I do it at the start of every season, but I haven't done it since 

•••

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the 11 things in my kitchen I cannot live without

I have been cooking a lot lately.

I mean, a lot.

Patrick got me a bread machine for my birthday, and once we got home on Sunday, it was honestly like a food blogger's kitchen – so. much. cooking. I loved it. On Sunday we made homemade King's Hawaiian rolls for our sandwiches, and on Monday, we made homemade pizza. On Tuesday, skillet fried chicken with roasted bell peppers and rice, and three-cheese focaccia bread. (Which was amazing.) And Thursday was a Tuscan chicken sheet pan dinner courtesy of my girl Ree and the new Pioneer Woman cookbook, with homemade ciabatta bread. Yum.

Because I am spending 2-3 hours in my kitchen every evening, making dinner and cleaning up, I wanted to share the 11 (I tried to do 10 then remembered one I could not leave out!) things that I cannot live without in the kitchen. These 11 things have made my life – as a not super put-together cook – so much easier.

1. Bread maker. I have lusted after my stepdad's bread machine since he got his first one (he killed it a few years ago and I replaced it for a gift) when I was a kid. We made bread a lot in those first few weeks, but it got old fast, because I was a kid, and everything got old. Focaccia would have meant nothing to me back then. But it was the pizza dough that sold me and Patrick on the bread machine, and he got it for me for my birthday so we could make homemade pizza together. And we did. It is totally worth it, y'all.

2. Glass bowls of all sizes. Almost every time I cook I dirty 3-4 glass bowls, from mixing bowl size to tiny bowls I use for spices or olive oil. I love having tons of these mixing bowls around though, and they make cooking and prep work so much easier. Buy more than you need! Trust me – you do not want to wash dishes while cooking.

3. Plenty of silicon spatulas. Think of how many you probably need, and double it. Maybe triple it. I use at least one of these, usually two, every time I am in the kitchen. I love them more than real spatulas and, well, any other kitchen utensil out there other than wooden spoons. These are great for sauces, eggs, desserts, everything.

4. Glass and ceramic bakeware. My two glass Pyrex baking pans are my best friends, and I am so thankful for the new Corningware set I got this year, too. I use them for more than just baking – they are great for storing and for prep work, too – this is how I easily, with minimal mess, bread chicken or pork chops to bake in the oven, or season meat before it goes on the skillet or in the oven. And I honestly think they clean up way easier than metal pans!

5. My Keurig. I just scored an amazing deal on a Keurig from Target and I am so glad. I love my Keurig to make coffee of course but it is so handy if you need a cup or two of hot water, fast – for tea, for anything.

6. Glass measuring cups. Again: Buy more than one. I have two in different sizes and use them both. It is so easy to do prep work for recipes when you have more than one, and these are safe to pop in the microwave too to melt butter or chocolate.

7. Cutting and prep boards. This is becoming my mantra: Buy more than you think you need. I have three cutting boards and it is not enough, especially when I am cooking a big meal or prepping a lot of produce or meat.

8. Paring knives. I do not have very nice knives at the moment, but my cheap little paring knives do almost all of the work that a bigger, fancier knife would do. (I do have bigger knives for things that require it, Mom. Don't fret.) I have two on hand and could honestly add a few more just to make my life a little easier, because they are handy for everything.

9. Garlic press. I did not know I needed this until I tried it for the first time. Almost every recipe Pat and I make requires garlic – but we love garlic so much that I would add garlic to every single recipe I make if I could. I was mincing it by hand, but the other day, I got a garlic

10. Sturdy cookie sheets. I just asked for more of these for Christmas, because I cook everything on cookie sheets, honestly. (Baking sheets, whatever they're called.) You want to make sure you have a set that can withstand high heats in the oven (a cheap one of mine got totally warped at 450º last night and scared me to pieces!)

11. Cooling racks. I just invested in a few cooling racks on Black Friday because of our newfound need to break 10 loaves of bread a week. (Thanks, bread machine!) This has made cooking so much easier and is protecting my counters and tabletop, too.

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november favorites

I cannot believe we are already at that point where it's time to wrap up November and start December. Eek! If you missed it, my birthday was last Thursday, and once my birthday and Thanksgiving hit, the rest of the year always feels like a total blur. And I love every second of it.

Because I know December is going to be such a blur and I want to pack the next few weeks with holiday-themed posts and gift guides, I am getting ahead on my end-of-the-month post and sharing my favorite things from November with y'all now.

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links.

• Rereading the A Court of Thorns and Roses series by Sarah J. Maas.

I have not been great at reading in November – although I have bought a ton of new books to add to my collection, because of course I have – but I suddenly got the desire halfway through the month to reread my favorite books in the A Court of Thorns and Roses series, A Court of Mist and Fury and A Court of Wings and Ruin. Both are absolutely amazing new adult fantasy novels and I recommend them to everyone. Just get ready to have your heart ripped out every once in a while. 

I read the first book in the series, A Court of Thorns and Roses, in one night and cried for a full hour afterward – it's that good and hits you that hard in the heart. Worth it! And the next book in the series is coming out in May! 

• My new bread machine, my birthday gift from Patrick!

Patrick knows that the way to my heart is with food. He picked out a bread machine for me for my birthday to add to my growing arsenal of kitchen supplies! My stepdad makes the best pizza dough with his bread machine and we are so excited to try that out tonight. I have a whole week of bread planned! 

(Out of deference to sweet Pat, I am not linking to a bread machine / the one he got me here, because I don't want to look it up and see how much it was!)

• My straightening brush.

I asked my sister for a straightening brush because I have been hearing so much about the new gadget, and my hair is a beast to straighten. I was tired of frying my hair with a flat iron and also just tired of using a flat iron, because it totally annihilates any volume your hair might've had. But I love my straightening brush! 

(Again, this was a gift, so I am not looking it up on Amazon to get a link!)

• The peppermint mocha iced coffee at Dunkin' Donuts.

Oh. My. GOSH. I found out that Dunkin' Donuts has new holiday flavors come out every Christmas – I don't know why I thought it was just Starbucks – and the peppermint mocha iced coffee is going to change my life. It is so sweet, I know, but it is delicious. 

• Theo.

Let me be clear, here: I always love my dog, but he has been so good, so sweet and so lovable this month that I love him extra and wanted to brag about how fabulous he is. Patrick and I have really worked hard to train Theo and get rid of any concerning or frustrating behaviors he displayed early, and other than his tendency to freak the h*ck out when we're walking outside and he sees someone else, he is the perfect dog. He did escape on Thanksgiving and did not want to be caught – but instead of running away he was just goofing around, being Theo, and he was finally captured. 

I could go on and on about Theo but my little mutt is the perfect dog. I have no strong opinions about adopting versus breeders (as long as you're finding a responsible breeder, not encouraging a backyard breeder!) and figured my first dog would probably be from a breeder, but Theo is honestly the perfect blend of who knows what.

• Brandy Bell Designs!

I stocked up on glitter during Brandy Bell's holiday launch! Most of what I snagged will be gifts, but I am keeping a rose gold pair and a white and gold pair for myself. They are so cute! If you've never heard of Brandy Bell, I thoroughly recommend you check out her website and stock up. First of all, she is the sweetest human, and second of all, she is so talented and has a great eye! I love these lightweight, affordable and chic handcut leather earrings.

• The Artist's Loft notebooks at Michael's.

I am an aspiring bullet journalist who has trouble committing to things like that, so I didn't want to drop $20 or more on a Leuchtterm 1917 or a Scribbles that Matter notebook – the two most popular ones in all of my bullet journal Facebook groups. But then I heard that Michael's has a $5 notebook! I don't care much about ghosting to begin with, but the paper quality is really good, and the notebooks have plenty of pages and two ribbon page markers. Now I can try to be a committed bullet journalist... without the pressure of an expensive notebook staring back at me.

• Crayola's new brush-tip markers.

I got to buy new pens for myself when I reached a specific goal with NaNoWriMo, and the Crayola brush tip calligraphy markers were at the top of my list! They are fun in my bullet journal and come in great colors. I am still carrying them around in this too cute tin case, too, although they'll eventually make it into a pencil cup in my supply cart.

• Literally everything from Old Navy right now.

I cannot help myself from shopping for everything at Old Navy right now. The last time I was there, everything in the store was 40 percent off (I missed the 50 percent off Black Friday sale, I am very disappointed in myself!) and I got some adorable stuff – like this flannel shirt (SO soft!)

•••

What are you loving this month?

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25 before 25

I cannot believe that this week – Thursday, if you were wondering – is my 24th birthday! Everyone tells me that birthdays get more and more boring after you turn 21, and maybe that's true, but I always love celebrating my birthday and all of the things that come with it – some people call January 1 a new start, but I love to start fresh with a new list of goals and resolutions on my birthday!

This year, I wanted to make two lists – this is the first of two! My birthday is on Thursday, and on that day, I will start working towards my 25 before 25 list. And on January 1, I will start my 101 in 1001 list! (And hopefully the two won't overlap too much, but maybe they will.)

1. Read 50 books.
2. Visit 5 new cities.
3. Go to Europe.
4. Try 25 new restaurants.
5. Start attending a fitness class.
6. Try 25 new recipes.
7. Explore a new city in the U.S.
8. Edit my 2017 NaNoWriMo novel.
9. Volunteer my (and Theo's, maybe!) time.
10. Become a morning person.
11. See a play.
12. Learn to sew. (Again.)
13. Declutter my life and my possessions.
14. Master making coffee at home.
15. Host a Super Bowl party.
16. Master handlettering.
17. Start investing.
18. Stop biting my nails.
19. Go to a UNC basketball game.
20. Cook a turkey for Friendsgiving.
21. Make my blog more profitable.
22. Frame and hang more photos.
23. Celebrate Theo's first birthday (February 17, 2018).
24. Celebrate our 4-year anniversary (May 25, 2018).
25. Throw a 25th birthday party for Patrick (August 24, 2018).

•••

What's on your bucket list before your next birthday?

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my November goals + how I did on my October goals

IT. IS. MY. BIRTHDAY. MONTH.

November is my hands-down favorite month of the year for a few reasons. I already did an ode to November in my Monday newsletter but I'm back again with my five reasons for loving November more than any other month.

WHY I LOVE NOVEMBER

1) By November, the weather usually has its act together, and it is really, truly, 100 percent fall. Sometimes, a little winter creeps in, but it is usually fall.
2) I can eat soup for every single meal and not roast to death.
3) Everything starts being cheaper in November. Have y'all noticed that? I know Black Friday is when all the sales start but once November 1 hits the sales everywhere get better. I get better deals before Black Friday than I do on Black Friday most of the time! (And we all know how I am with shopping.)
4) Thanksgiving is the best holiday. No question.
5) MY BIRTHDAY!

And this year is the best year of all because only every few years do my birthday and Thanksgiving coincide. Watch me happy dance all over the place this month. I can't get over it.

HOW I DID IN OCTOBER

• Read 5 books. I checked a few had-to-read books off of my list this October and read six books this month. I finished ALL THE DIRTY PARTS by Daniel Handler, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED by Gregory Scott Katsoulis, TURTLES ALL THE WAY DOWN by John Green, EIGHT HUNDRED GRAPES by Laura Dave, WHEN DIMPLE MET RISHI by Sandhya Menon and HOW TO FIND LOVE IN A BOOKSHOP by Veronica Henry. It's very rare for me to have two five-star reads in one month because 1) I haven't been reading that much lately and 2) I am incredibly picky and 3) I often waste time on books I know I'm not into because I hate putting down books that I'm not liking.

• Drink a glass of water every morning as soon as I wake up. I did not do this every single day (there are 31 days in October, that would be a lot!) but I will say that I made a conscious effort to drink more water every day and started refilling my 24 oz. Tervis Tumbler at least twice a day during the week. On weekends, I'm worse and drink more soda and coffee, but I try to drink one 24 oz. tumbler of water for every iced coffee from Dunkin. 

• Blog every Monday, Wednesday and Friday each week. I am pretty excited because October was the first full month where I decided I would blog three times a week instead of five times a week, and it was a more successful system for me that I was able to achieve in October!

• Map out my chapter outline for NaNoWriMo. I did not outline my chapters for NaNo, but I did spend about 30 minutes (at least) each day planning my novel 

MY GOALS FOR NOVEMBER

• Read 5 books in November. I read five books in October so I am hoping I will be able to do the same in November, especially since I will have some days off at the end of the month for my Thanksgiving vacation! I have so many books on my shelf that I am dying to read.

• Start and finish National Novel Writing Month by writing 50,000 words in 30 days. This goal is so important to me. I am so excited to start NaNoWriMo this year and to hopefully (hopefully!) win. I haven't won since 2012 so it would be huge for me to do it this year!

• Drink 64 ounces of water every day, and limit myself to one caffeinated/non-water beverage a day. Drinking a glass of water every morning when I wake up is the goal, but if I drink 64 ounces a day, I'll be happy! My Corksicle tumbler and my Tervis tumbler are both 24 ounces so if I drink three of those, I will be more than set.

• Blog every Monday, Wednesday and Friday each week. I want to keep this up in November, even though (or in spite of) this month is my busiest every year, with NaNoWriMo, my birthday, Thanksgiving and preparing for Christmas. (Because I do start early.) I am starting by getting ahead and trying to draft two or three posts every weekend so I'm ahead of the curve when I can be!

• Turn my phone off (or put it away) one hour before bedtime. This was something I started about halfway through October but was inconsistent with. My bedtime is not very consistent but I do try to go to bed between 11 p.m. and 12:30 a.m. (which is not consistent enough for the internet advice givers). So, I've set an alarm for an hour before that to turn off or put away my phone. I can read, take a shower or fold laundry, but I am not touching my phone (or laptop, for that matter) before bed. That's the plan anyway.

•••

Do you have any goals for this month?

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my october favorites

I'm writing this a little early this month, but I have a few things I tried and am loving this October so I wanted to share before I totally forgot. October and I have been going back and forth on how it's going to go, but I am so thankful that it's mostly fall and that the weather seems to understand that. Mostly. And October means we're one step closer to November, which is my favorite month of the year and my Birthday Month!

I did a lot more shopping in October than I probably should've. (Well. What else is new?) So I tried out many new things!

Lipsense in Plum with Matte Gloss.

I have held off on buying Lipsense for a while, because I was looking for the right color. I couldn't decide if I wanted a warm or a cold color, a neutral or a bright color, a pink or a red... so on and so on. But I have always loved my smile most when I wear a bright or a rich lip color, so I finally saw Plum and went for it. (I'm a matte gloss girl all the way, by the way.) The color is exactly what I want and while I am seriously struggling with application, I love that it stays on all day with just gloss reapplication! The gloss is also great – I can see myself running out really fast.

If you want to try Lipsense, someone I went to school will sells it here. She's great and super helpful! 

Trader Joe's winter wake up tea.

I saw this new tea pop up on Instagram the other day and since I have been struggling to wake up for the last couple of weeks, I made plans for a day trip to Trader Joe's. But I'm an idiot so I went on a Sunday afternoon. Dumb, dumb, dumb. I survived, though, and walked away with at least 20 pounds of frozen food (I love the TJ's freezer section, friends!), some sea salt brownie bites and this tea. I wouldn't say I feel more awake when I drink the tea, but I do feel more winter-y and it tastes fabulous! And I always love a cup of tea, just to breathe it in.

Turtles All the Way Down by John Green.

This was such a great read. I tackled Turtles as my first book during Dewey's 24-Hour Readathon on Saturday and it was really, really, really good. I loved it. I tried to explain my love and appreciation for John Green the other day – usually, I read and enjoy his novels because I aspire to write and build words and characters like John Green does, but this time, I enjoyed Turtles on its own, independent of John Green. 

The Deuce on HBO.

Huge content warning for The Deuce on HBO for abuse and sexual assault and violence, but it is a really good show that I have enjoyed watching so far. James Franco plays both Vincent and Frankie Martino and the story follows the two brothers as they get involved with a mob boss and the start of the porn industry in New York City. I wasn't sure about it the first couple of episodes, but it is becoming a really interesting and full story. It is not always easy to watch. Again, huge content warning, but if you can get past the drugs, sex, etc., it's worth watching. 

My Barnes & Noble membership.

I finally signed up for a membership with Barnes and Noble this month and I'm so glad I did. You get free express shipping on online orders, 40 percent off of hardcover new releases and 10 percent off of anything else and a free drink every month from the café, which is almost always a real Starbucks. I buy a lot from indie bookstores when I travel, but I spread the wealth pretty far when it comes to books – I buy so many that I need to save a little bit when I can. 

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What were your favorite things you tried in October?

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[review] how Hello Fresh made my kitchen a way happier place

Disclaimer: I paid, with my own money, for this week-long subscription of Hello Fresh. I only review products that I think my readers would really enjoy and want to learn more about. This post may include affiliate links or codes. 

I got a coupon in my last Graze box (which is a snack box service Pat and I are still subscribed to, for some reason) for 50 percent off an order from Hello Fresh, and I decided we should go ahead and check it out, since I have been trying to find new recipes and struggling to find things that were affordable, easy and tasty to both picky eaters in this house. It took me a few weeks to actually have three days in a week where I could cook dinner – I didn't want to let anything go to waste! – but we scheduled our box for delivery on Monday, October 9.

We tried Blue Apron in the past, and my parents have experience with Plated, which they loved. We hated Blue Apron. Sorry to them, but the food was too fancy for us and too difficult for my beginner-level skills.

The meal selections

Pat does not like pork or red meat, except for the occasional burger and maybe pulled pork or sausage, every once in a while. He also doesn't care for seafood. And I don't like a lot of vegetables – I'm working on it, I swear – or burgers. So, for a meal service to work for us, there needs to be at least three chicken recipes to choose from, because that's all we'll choose. 

Hello Fresh, for the most part, delivers on that! Most of their recipes are chicken-based, although not all – there is steak, ground beef or pork available on most menus, if you are less picky than us, but this is one of the main reasons we didn't subscribe to Blue Apron after one trial run. 

For our first box, we got jerk chicken thighs with a mango bell pepper salad and sweet potato wedges,  chicken sausage pizzas with broiled zucchini and fresh oregano and chicken parm salad with baby spinach and a creamy lemon dressing. 

The packaging

Hello Fresh had MUCH less packaging than Blue Apron, and most of the packaging (not all, but most!) was brown paper and could be recycled. Woo! I am not as observant of the waste that we create as I should be but I do hate to see an absurd amount of plastic and shrink wrap for one single meal. Other than the spices, cheeses and other dairy products and meat, everything was free willy in the box. 

The box arrived around 3 p.m. on Monday and everything that needed to be was nice and cold. I do not think I would've felt comfortable leaving it in the box for much longer, because some things at the top were feeling room temperature, but the ice packs still had a lot left in them.

The price

Hello Fresh ain't cheap. We had a coupon and still spent $30 on the three meals, and without a coupon it's $59.94 for a two-person box of three meals on the Classic Plan. I go to the grocery store and spend $50 to $75 on food for breakfast, lunch and dinner for a week for us – which is still a lot, and honestly, we could do a better job budgeting at the grocery store, so it just doesn't make practical sense to subscribe to Hello Fresh as anything more than a treat every so often. 

The ingredient quality

My produce had some bumps and bruises, and the zucchini I received for my chicken sausage pizza looked a little worse for wear. But everything else was in great shape and good quality, too. They even use Daisy sour cream – which is, needless to say, my preferred brand. Everything held up great in the fridge and even the pizza worked out, even though we had to wait until the Monday after receiving the box to cook it. Shhhh.

The process

Hello Fresh was so easy. The hardest thing I experienced the entire time was cutting the mango – I bitched about not having any instructions for cutting a mango, but I actually overlooked the very handy and present instructions that were right on the recipe card. Whoops – and it was very easy to stay on pace and get everything done on time. My main issue with Blue Apron was because it expected me to work at the pace of a person who has intermediate cooking skills, my side dishes were always done before my entree, or vice versa.

Also – I burnt every single meal I made with Blue Apron. Yep. I don't even know how, but I did. It was horrible. Both times we ended up at Chick-fil-a.

The end result

Our meals were delicious! The flavors were excellent and nothing was too salty – another issue I had with my Blue Apron meals. Everything was WAY too salty by the end.

Pat really loved the chicken parm salad and I loved the mango and bell pepper salad with the jerk chicken thighs. We were both full and there was plenty to go around. Nothing kept very good for leftovers – the greens wilted and got kind of icky on the second day, so I ended up tossing everything we had left the next day. 

The conclusion

I really enjoyed Hello Fresh and it was totally worth it at $30 for one box. The ingredients were great and the meals were absolutely delicious, and I really appreciated the versatile meal selection. Unfortunately, the $60 price tag for three meals is not going to work for our budget, except maybe for a treat every now and then. 

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Have you ever tried Hello Fresh or another meal service? What did you think?

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I'm the kind of person who...

This post was inspired by one of my favorite bloggers to follow along with, Stephanie at Not Entirely Perfect. Her post is here. I thought this post would be a blast – and it was.

... would rather spend money on my dog than myself.

... pays every bill the minute I get it.

... watches the same shows over and over again instead of trying a new one.

... buys more books than I'm ever capable of reading.

... hates taking time out of my day to shower, dress up or do my hair. but...

.... loves dressing up.

... doesn't need an excuse to drop $50 at Target or HomeGoods.

... can't say no to a piece of candy... or a second... or a third...

... loves to tell stories and make people laugh.

... loves to laugh.

... writes the same word over and over on a piece of paper instead of doodling.

... listens to Disney movie and musical soundtracks while she works, cooks and drives.

... doesn't like any music she can't sing to.

... always wants to fix things.

... loves weddings.

... thinks dogs are ultimately superior to cats – not to mention humans.

... doesn't answer phone calls from unknown numbers.

... does a load of laundry every single day instead of doing it all at once.

... used to call soda pop but now exclusively says coke (because that's all she will drink).

... thinks there's nothing better in life than drinking a fountain soda with a straw.

... talks to her dog when there is no one else around.

... answers herself... as her dog.

... hates to exercise because she can't handle breathing heavy or getting hot.

... loves to be warm, and would do anything to avoid being cold.

... lacks most practical cooking skills and is learning on her own – which means she does stupid things like wash tomatoes with dish soap.

... wants to be the girl who keeps fresh flowers in her home but knows she'll never keep up with that.

... never, ever, ever washes her car.

... loves to vacuum and see how much dirt the vacuum she picked up.

... gets emotionally attached to characters in TV shows, movies and books.

... loves the smell of bookstores.

... wishes it rained more often so she could wear rain boots more often.

... loves the snow, as long as she doesn't have to be outside in it for more than a minute or two.

... writes things she's already done on a list, just to see them crossed off.

... can't stand the idea of being bored but loves to lounge on the couch and be lazy.

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What do we have in common? What kind of person are you?

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here's my typical weekly grocery list + meal plan

One of my favorite blog posts to read from other bloggers is what they have on their grocery list from week to week. I wanted to share what is almost always on our grocery list. (We don't buy all of these things every single week but this is what we keep on hand from week to week, this is what you will always find in our fridge/freezer/pantry.)

I posted last week about my favorite quick, easy and affordable recipes, so now I give you my not quick, but easy and affordable grocery list. (I like to spend a minimum of one hour in the grocery store to really enjoy myself!)

DELI
• 1/2 pound of sliced deli turkey
• 1/2 pound of sliced Colby jack cheese

PRODUCE
• 2 red bell peppers
• 1/2 lb. of fresh green beans
• 2 small zucchini

BAKERY
• 1 pack of Kings Hawaiian rolls
• 1 package of soft flour tortillas

CANNED GOODS + PANTRY ITEMS
• Enchilada sauce OR taco seasoning
• Muffin mix
• Pasta sauce
• 1 lb pasta
• Boxed Mexican rice

MEAT
• 1 bag of frozen chicken breasts
• 1-3 lb. lean ground beef (if it's on sale, I will buy extra and freeze it.)
• Frozen Butterball turkey burgers (I don't like burgers unless they're chicken or turkey, and Pat is very picky about red meat, so we go with turkey burgers most of the time.)
• 1 lb. Smithfield's breakfast sausage

DAIRY
• 1 gallon skim milk
• 5 individual containers of Chobani yogurt (for Pat)
• 3 individual containers of Yoplait Oui yogurt (for Paige)
• 1 gallon of cold brew coffee
• 1 package of shredded cheese for tacos
• 1 package of mozzarella cheese
• 1 dozen eggs
• 1 package of sour cream

FROZEN
• Frozen onion rings
• Frozen French fries

SNACKS
• Kind breakfast bars
• Lays Poppables
• Brownie Brittle
• Trail mix
• Pretzels

Because we don't buy all of this every single week, our groceries range between $50 and $75 each week, depending on how long it's been since we last shopped (lately, we've been going every two weeks instead of weekly, so the bill has been higher). Consider these our staples. Then, I will buy additional ingredients necessary for the recipes that we're making that week – but I rarely, if ever, buy anything that can't be used in more than one recipe.

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MONDAY
Breakfast - Muffins + yogurt
Lunch - Pasta salad
Dinner - Pesto chicken bake over pasta

TUESDAY
Breakfast - Cereal
Lunch - Pasta salad
Dinner - Enchiladas with rice and chips with queso

WEDNESDAY
Breakfast - Scrambled eggs + Yogurt
Lunch - Cheese quesadilla with salsa and sour cream
Dinner - Turkey burgers and baked zucchini fries

THURSDAY
Breakfast - Scrambled eggs + Yogurt
Lunch - Pasta salad
Dinner - Sausage ranch quiche

FRIDAY
Breakfast - Cereal
Lunch - Leftover quiche
Dinner - Baked chicken with roasted green beans

•••

What is always on your grocery list?

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my october goals + september goal check-in

Honestly, I cannot even remember sitting down to set these goals for September, and here I am looking at how I did and talking about what I want to get done in October. I mean, goodness gracious. I know September is technically a short month, but it felt so short. It didn't help that we were only home for one single weekend in all of September (this past weekend) and that I started my new role at work in the first week of the month. Things have been a whirlwind since then.

LAST MONTH'S GOALS...

• Read 3 books. I cannot believe it, but yes, I actually read three books in September! And not a single book more. I started at least five books, but that is my M.O. – I get distracted so easily! But anyway, this month, I read The Assistants by Camille Perri, Juniper Lemon's Happiness Index by Julie Israel and Once and For All by Sarah Dessen. All three were solid reads, but no new favorites here. I also started

• Blog 20 times in September. Shortly after I set this goal for myself, I decided I would only post MWF instead of 5 days a week, so I posted 12 times in September instead of 20. I think this is way more reasonable for me right now so I am happy with it!

• Start my outline for National Novel Writing Month. I did this and had a blast! I almost wish it was November already – I am SO ready to start writing my novel! If you've never done NaNoWriMo, it is such a blast and so worth doing.

• Cook dinner 3 nights a week at home (when schedule permits). As far as I can tell, we did accomplish this! Minus weeks when I was traveling/Pat was at games/we were traveling together, we ate at home, and we only ate out a few times all month – so, this was a big month for us! Weekends are the toughest for us but since it's just us right now and we don't eat out at really extravagant places, I'm going to be OK with eating out on weekends.

•••

THIS MONTH'S GOALS...

• Read 5 books. I am back up to really aspirational thinking! As soon as it starts to get chilly, I am more likely to plant my butt on the couch and read (even though it's not like I wasn't planting my butt on the couch before, because I totally was.)

• Drink a glass of water every morning as soon as I wake up. I need to start drinking more water, for my health, for my skin, for my wallet (because I buy so much soda). I bought a Brita pitcher because I love the taste of filtered water over bottled, which is Pat's preference, and I am going to start by pushing myself to start my day by drinking 8 oz. of water as soon as my feet touch the floor.

• Blog every Monday, Wednesday and Friday each week. This means I need to post 13 times in October. This is a far more doable schedule for me although I really did want to blog five times a week – maybe in the future I will be able to make it to five posts a week.

• Map out my chapter outline for NaNoWriMo. I want to start planning out the first few chapters and then a few key chapters in the plot for my NaNoWriMo novel. If you're totally unfamiliar with NaNoWriMo, it's a fun November challenge to write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days, all within the month of November. I totally recommend signing up and trying it out, just to actually sit down and write 50,000 words. I have participated almost every November since I was in high school.

•••

What are your goals for October? Can you believe it's October already?

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[national coffee day] my coffee confessions

I had another post ready to go live today at 8 a.m. (and had even written in days in advance, and I was so proud of myself for not scrambling on Thursday evening to get my post ready) when I realized that today, Sept. 29, is National Coffee Day and I obviously have to do more than just mention the word coffee in my blog post. (Which I did, because it was going to be about my regular grocery list.)

So, I give you all of my dirty, guilty, secret coffee confessions.

I only drink iced coffee. Hot coffee is the devil. 

Unless it's December, and Starbucks has peppermint mochas. That's the only thing I'll drink hot.

Or if I'm at brunch, because brunch is the only acceptable time for hot coffee.

I do not need to start my day with coffee. In fact, coffee doesn't wake me up when I feel sleepy.

I can also drink coffee right before I go to bed and fall asleep just fine.

But if I'm already awake, coffee does make me antsy and anxious.

I tried making my own cold brew coffee and it was great... except I'd forget to fill it up the night before.

A doctor told me to cut out coffee and caffeine in general when I was in high school and I did. For a little while.

In order of preference, my go-to Starbucks order is: 1) an iced caramel macchiato, 2) a very berry hibiscus refresher, 3) a violet drink, 4) a chai latte (with pumpkin spice if it's that time of year). 

I like frozen drinks but iced is way better.

And if I want iced coffee, I go to Dunkin Donuts – not Starbucks.

Local coffee shops are way cooler than I can handle.

I prefer coffee with a lot of cream and a lot of sugar. It needs to be very, very, very sweet.

I have a Keurig but rarely ever remember to use it.

I have vivid memories of drinking coffee (which was really milk with a splash of coffee, enough to make my milk a little brown) out of a Chuck E. Cheese sippy cup when I was little. 

•••

What are your coffee confessions? Are you celebrating National Coffee Day?

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why I want to always fail forward

Last week, I got the opportunity to go to Sacramento and participate in a design thinking session over the span of two days with other people from McClatchy departments. If you've never participated in design thinking, that's more than fine because I still don't think I could define it for you properly. Essentially, we took a crash course in solving problems in a solution-focused way, in a way that requires you to think about the users and their problems and the needs they have, instead of thinking about a problem you have and the potential solutions.

Sure. We'll go with it. I'm still learning about the process but I picked up quite a few little lessons, from feedback to experimentation, that I will carry with me as I learn more about it.

But I wanted to focus on the one that will stick in my head like a glue stick for as long as I can tell.

My favorite thing from last week was simple enough, but hard to practice – failing forward.

I am notorious for only doing things when I know what the end result will be. Notorious. And I compliment myself for it. I clap myself on the back for it. Because not failing is good, failing is bad, and I am great and good and perfect and great and good. Right? OK. Well, now that I'm done fooling myself...

It was so crucial for me to be surrounded by other people who work at the same company as me and probably look at things very similarly to me and probably will struggle with failing and making mistakes just like I will, (because, really, does anyone like to fail? Is anyone naturally OK with failure? I find that hard to believe) all the while our session leaders were reminding us that it is OK to fail, and in fact it is good to fail, because when you fail, you learn.

Take risks.
This is a crucial part of failing forward; if you only do something when you 100 percent know what the results will be, you will probably never fail, and if you do fail, it will be a fluke. But if you take risks, you will often fail, and that is OK. In fact, it's part of the process and it is crucial. Get back up and keep going.

Iterate, iterate, iterate.
The session leaders last week kept saying the word "iterate" and it stopped being a word for me after a while but when you realize that failing is inevitable, at least a few times, when you try something new, you must also realize that to keep moving forward, you must iterate, iterate, iterate. Make adjustments. If your proposal inspired questions from your supervisor, iterate again and answer those questions. If everyone hated your idea and pointed out all of its flaws, iterate and fix those flaws and make your idea shine for the next presentation.

Look back and learn.
This is the most important part – if you do not learn from what you did the first time, or the second time, or the third time, you will keep making the same mistakes. Take time to reflect at the end of every day or every project and think about what you did that went well and didn't go so well; absorb the feedback you receive from your supervisor or colleagues and look for actual results to show the success or the lack thereof after the fact. And reflect. Look back. And learn from it.

I feel like that might've just been 100 different motivational speaker talking points strung into one single blog post, but I wanted to share the lesson from last week that really stuck out to me.

How do you handle failure? Are you one of those magical unicorns that can handle it really well, or are you like me and every single setback hits you like a ton of bricks in the gut?

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3 on Friday: What I'm loving and recommending this week

I am writing this on a flight to Sacramento for a very quick, whirlwind work trip – in on Wednesday evening, back on Friday night – and am honestly so, so, so tired. I don't know about y'all but when the seasons start to change and the temperature drops, I swear that I immediately get sick. It is like clockwork. And then, depending on my work schedule and my state of mind, it will take me forever to kick whatever I pick up.

And that is where I am this week. But I'm still in the weird not-full-on-sick-as-a-dog-but-not-feeling-100-percent stage, too. So, it's been fun, and my symptoms have definitely been exacerbated by the close quarters and the recycled air of this plane.

Anyway, I have more chipper things to talk about. Here is what I am absolutely loving this week.

• Patrick and I started this great podcast by the Cincinnati Enquirer called Accused. We just finished Up and Vanished by Payne Lindsay, and I was so angry about Payne's complete lack of journalistic ethics (and his complete obsession with himself and his ideals about journalistic ethics), his long monologues about himself and how he is the reason this crime got solved and his poorly timed sponsor messages.

But Accused, which is hosted by reporter Amber Hunt, is totally good and absolutely riveting. I am totally into it. If you like true crime podcasts, this one is worth a listen. It's about the case of Elizabeth Andes, who was killed in Ohio in 1978. The police decided her boyfriend killed her, and even after he was acquitted twice, once in a criminal court and once in a civil court, the police never continued investigating her case because they were convinced that her boyfriend did it. Now, 40 years later, they're trying to figure things out so the family can have closure.

• I finished a book this week that actually brought tears to my eyes – Juniper Lemon's Happiness Index. It's not rare for me to cry – in fact, almost every single episode of Hart of Dixie makes me cry, almost every single time I watch them – but books have to be especially emotional, since I usually read in public or with Patrick, who lovingly laughs his head off when I start to cry about some work of fiction. But I really loved Juniper Lemon's Happiness Index. There were a lot of loose ends at the end that kept it from getting a 5-star rating for me – I like books to be somewhere between no loose ends are tied and every loose end is tied up – but Juniper is a great character trying to find balance while still feeling overwhelmingly guilty about her sister dying in a car wreck. She doesn't know if it's OK to go on living her life, because if she forgets about Camilla, who will remember her? It was really, really, really good. All of the characters are well-developed and the dialogue is witty and fun.

• Speaking of things that bring tears to my eyes... can we talk about what a great guilty pleasure show Hart of Dixie is? If you haven't binged this on Netflix yet, OMG. Go. Stop what you're doing. It is so worth it. I am going to see if I can download it for offline viewing on my iPad for the flight home from Sacramento. It is absolutely foolish but so delightful. Zoe Hart is the most cringe-worthy character but I swear, I cry all the time when I re-watch this show. I finished it for the third or fourth time last week and started it up again over the weekend. It's the perfect light show to watch when you just need to laugh and smile and, yes, of course, cry.

•••

What are you loving this week?

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