High Five for Friday: March 17

Let's see what put the sparkle into this arctic, snowy week:

• Sunday was my good friend Kristin's bday, so Calico Pinky got a snazzy new wardrobe for the occasion! 

Everybody's getting new glasses in 2017!

• Apparently, this is what I was doing eight (EIGHT?!) years ago: going to a bazillion Flyers games with my bffl our senior year of college! TAKE ME BACK 😭😭 (Thanks a lot, Facebook Memories!) 

• Considering my undying love of George O'Malley, I FLIPPED OUT over this IG post (naturally):

Poor 007 :(

Related: A sign you've rewatched Grey's too many times is when you hear "Owner of a Lonely Heart" on the radio and then go, "OOH, this is the title of a season 2 Grey's episode--maybe episode 11 or 12--and the picture with it on Netflix is Izzie looking sad!" 

SEND HELP. (For both me and Izzie.) 

• I haven't even seen many things (anything?) that Busy Philipps is in, so I think I just follow her on Instagram because I love that she's Michelle Williams' date to every awards show, but that notwithstanding, I love her Instagram stories! I love her talking-to-a-friend delivery ("YOU GUYS..."), and her willingness to admit to the world that she picked her face after being super anxious over getting an MRI. #mypeople ❤️

• Finally, here's the weird-ass '80s song that I've been listening to all week for no apparent reason:

Here's hoping for a great weekend (with some warmer weather maybe?)! xo

High Five for Friday: March 10

Happy Friday! We made it! :) Here's what put the sparkle into this week:

• Let's start with some fun mail!! Including this cute Vera Bradley wallet/wristlet/crossbody that didn't get here in time for my February Budget post, a new Leuchtturm because apparently, I could only commit 60 (days) to my Commit 30 planner (the day grid is just too small, and I need more layout flexibility), and LipSense in "First Love" (I seriously wear my other LipSense color almost every day)!

On every day, we wear pink. 💖

• On Saturday, I resolved to collect my January "prize" for getting to work consistently before 11--"watch two hours of TV guilt-free"--by tuning into the weekly Will & Grace marathon on WE TV! I'd had no interest in Will & Grace during its original run, but I've been leaving it on in the background every Saturday, and it never fails to make me laugh out loud. Sitting and just watching a show was quite challenging, but I did it!

Will & Grace got muted when Pops came home, but at least it's equally hilarious without sound, as someone is always bursting into song and dance and causing someone else to look like this. 

• Speaking of Saturday, I've been loving Fran's Healthyish series that she posts every Saturday! I'm generally intrigued by fitness but terrified to actually go to the gym or attempt fitness classes because I'm just so physically weak. (Remember how I hurt my foot last summer? Yeah, that likely happened because my hips and legs are too weak to support proper posture/walking mechanics. DANG.) I had a great email chat with a fitness-goddess friend over the weekend that helped me to clarify what exactly I would want to get out of a fitness class (strengthening and better posture... and endorphins!) and made me feel better about starting where I'm at!

• Then, a few days later, I was checking out classes at the new yoga studio and read the description for a 7 AM yoga class I'd previously pooh-poohed because HELLO 7 AM, and hey--it was all about posture and strengthening! So I went! And there was only other one student, so it wasn't wildly intimidating! I definitely struggled with things like down-dog and plank (surprise), but the teacher was super encouraging, and I actually enjoyed myself! Yay!

• And lastly, this gem that spoke to my introvert soul:

PREACH. 🙌

Hope you have a great weekend, loves! xoxo

High Five for Friday: March 3

Let's see what super random things put the sparkle into this week:

• Back when I first started driving, I would only listen to the songs on my phone because skipping between radio stations felt too distracting. (Mind you, turning on the heat and AC also felt too distracting.) But I've progressed and am now sick of the same old songs on my phone, so I've been listening to the radio more while driving. Last Friday, one particularly good block of music on the classic rock station (three Billy Joel songs, then "La Grange," "Lights," and "Rock You Like a Hurricane") got me almost all the way to work. 😎  It was a great start to a warm, sunny Friday!

• Emboldened by my trip to the yoga studio last week, I decided to venture out to the Ulta near work for an overdue eyebrow wax. Driving to new places still really stresses me out, but I'm always very proud of myself (and relieved!) once I get there! 

• How about that insanity at the Oscars, huh? I'd sat through the whole show with Pops (😴), and those last five minutes finally made it worth my while! My friend sent me this gem afterwards:

👏👏👏

• Does anyone else get excited about finding a good pen? This isn't even a fancy pen--just a black ink ballpoint by a random brand that happened to be on sale at CVS. But it's inky and bold and writes really smoothly, which is🎉🎉🎉. 

• Let's bookend this post with a little more classic rock! I've never been that into Pink Floyd (like, I only learned who Pink and Floyd were last summer whoops), but I've always liked "Comfortably Numb" and rediscovered it last week when the classic rock station was playing The Wall. Those solos! That orchestral arrangement! Those creepy-ass vocals! What's not to love? 😂

Hope you have a great weekend! xo

March 2017 goals

Best purchase ever? High-five, 2014 Jess!

It's that time again! Let's see what's on the white board for March:

1. Unexciting and self-explanatory. 

2. When I went to yoga last week, I decided to sign up for a one-month trial at the studio. Because signing up and paying for last Thursday's class in advance was the only thing that finally got me through the door, haha!

3. I stumbled onto Lavendaire's YouTube channel last week, and she reminded me about Morning Pages, something I've tried before, enjoyed, and abandoned. I want to give it another shot this month, although I'm not exactly sure how often I'll be able to do it, as I discovered in February that the key to getting to work earlier is apparently getting out the door shortly after I wake up. The longer I hang around the house, the less I want to leave it. So, yeah. 🤔

4. The only blog posts I got up in February were for link-ups, which isn't bad or anything, but I do have other posts I'd like to write. Hopefully, this goal will motivate me to do it!

5. I'm really good at blowing things off til later. And, of course, when "later" rolls around, I don't want to do it any more than I did earlier. So I might as well get it over with now. BLEH.

How did February's goals go?

1. Get to work by 10:50: Ehhh no. Not consistently. Although I did manage to get to work in the hour of 9 a few times, which was HUGE. Interestingly, trying to move the time back slowly seemed to stress me out more than making a huge change and leaving for work significantly earlier. Who knew.

2. Continue with YNAB: Check! I still need to fine-tune some things, but I was able to stick with it for another month and even put some money aside while planning ahead for things in March!

3. Move more: Ehh not so much, although I did finally get out to said yoga class before month's end! Hopefully, the trial month at the yoga studio will help to move more in March!

4. Print tax docs: Check!

5. Pick up glasses: Check!

As for my Phrase of the Year ("out of hiding"), I ventured out to a few new places by myself (such as the new yoga studio, the Ulta near work, and the Sheetz), and I drove a semi-familiar, multi-highway route for an hour+ at night! 🎉 It's the little things!

Linking up with Nicole at Writes Like a Girl! 

February 2017 Budget (and an "Aw, Crap" realization)

My shopping this month started out reasonably enough. Replacement booties, nail polish remover, a nail polish color identical to one I'd had to toss... nothing too crazy.

And then I started LIVIN IT UP. Two pairs of Valentine's leggings! A Rebecca Minkoff bag! Do I need these things? Not especially, but they're so fun! 💸💸💸

1. Zoya Remove+ Nail Polish Remover (Ulta): $11
2. Zoya Pixie Dust Nail Polish in "Tilly" (Amazon): $11
3. LuLaRoe black heart leggings (eBay): $24
4. LuLaRoe infinity heart leggings (eBay): $18
5. Rebecca Minkoff Mac Crossbody (eBay): $30
6. Susina Reid Suede Wedge Bootie (Nordstrom Rack and sold out now, boo): $24

Not pictured: 

1. Laneige Water Bank Serum sample (eBay): $6

TOTAL: $124

Y'all already know my love of the Susina booties (aka the Beyonce booties), and I'm loving the Mac too. That purchase was fueled by my rediscovery of my Minkoff MAM. I had wanted a Mac off and on for awhile, but I wasn't sure that I'd like it--would it be too heavy? Would it hold enough stuff? Considering it retails at, oh, $295, I needed an inexpensive secondhand one to test the waters, and the one I got did not disappoint! It's in really good shape and can hold quite a bit! 🙌🙌

I still came in well under my $170 monthly shopping budget, but I had gotten so much better at limiting impulse purchases that this sudden spate of unnecessary spending felt weird. Like, is something else going on here? kind of weird. And most of these unnecessary purchases did come after therapy appointments...

Hmm...

Therapy has been sort of intense this month, and I know that I need to make some changes in my life, but I totally don't want to do that--so finding other "problems" that need "solving" via shopping (like the lack of heart-covered leggings in my life) is way better! This plan works extra well because spending my money frivolously gives me a very legitimate excuse for not doing bigger and better things--I simply can't afford it! I just can't afford more therapy! Or yoga! Or traveling! You can't argue with a bank balance. I can just stay home in my safe little cocoon and do nothing (except shop online). PERFECT. 

Except not. But you knew that, and the responsible adult part of me knows that too. So I need to look out for the sudden impulse to spend spend spend, as it might be driven by the desire to buckle myself securely into my comfort zone. I can address those feelings in therapy, but they don't need to derail my budgeting progress in the meantime, you know?

How do you stop yourself when you're feeling extra grabby (perhaps emotionally so) and want all the things?

Linking up with Fran's Budgeting Bloggers!