Retail Therapy

One of my biggest takeaways from spending all my free time at home is how much I value putzing aimlessly around stores. I get out of work at 3:30pm so I have a good chunk of my day left and wandering around a store is a good way for me to switch out of work mode and prepare me for the rest of my evening. Most of the time, I just pop into a grocery store to pick up fresh ingredients for that night's dinner, but other times I'll find myself wandering the aisles of TJ Maxx/Marshall's, a thrift store, or maybe a craft store. Possibly a book store. I don't always buy anything but I enjoy it all the same.

All that was to give my rationalization for going on a mini online shopping spree. It's not quite the same as going out of course, but it is a fun way to get a little retail therapy and switch brain-gears after work.

The recent purchase I am most excited about are THESE AMAZING SHOES:

They're leather and shiny and metallic and kind of match the rug in our bedroom. They're from the Keds site and I got them for a steal- only $27, much better than their original $99 price tag. I shied away from Keds for a long time because I thought of them as more of a preppy shoe- which is definitely not my style- but they have some amazing patterns and styles out now and I would highly recommend checking them out. They're amazingly comfortable (super squishy soles!) and I love the slight platform sole. I'm even considering some Kate Spade Keds for my wedding shoes!

My work requires me to wear shoes that allow for a wide range of physical activity so these'll get a ton of wear.  Because of that physical activity, I wear a lot of casual, easy to move in, I-won't-cry-if-it-gets-dirty-or-ruined clothes so I like getting shoes that dress it up a little while still being functional. Perfect! 

Another part of my work dress code is to go easy on the dangly jewelry which is unfortunate because I LOVE jewelry (jewelry-making is one of my hobbies!). I wear rings (engagement and one other usually), always a watch, sometimes a bracelet, never a necklace, and only stud earrings. It's not strictly forbidden to dangle but you run the risk of getting something yanked out/off and I'd... rather not have that happen. 

I've been particularly bored with my stud collection lately so I decided to go though everything and get rid of what I didn't want which gave me a good (sure...) excuse to get new ones. I haven't received them in the mail yet but check 'em out:

Live long and prosper! I got these bad boys from a shop on Etsy. They seem like they'll be a great size- big enough to see the print on it but not huge. They're a super classic shape but with a very me-approved twist so I'll get a ton of wear out of these. 

I love the idea of these earrings- a bookish step-up from simple silver studs. From the reviews, they also seem like they'll be the perfect size. For my 2 earring purchases I got in touch with my geeky side and my book loving side- can you guess how else I've been spending my free time lately??

I'm gonna lay off the shopping for a little while now but I'm pretty thrilled with my purchases and can't wait to get the rest in. As for right now, the pre-dinner cocktail my fiancé made me will help switch my brain out of work mode (Bombay Sapphire gin + Sanpellegrino Limonata- good for when you're lazy but also fancy). Cheers!

I'm definitely not crying... (source)

I Gotta Say it Was a Good Day

What can I say, it was another great day.

Another random weekday day off, another day full of potential... sort of. Of course, Covid-19 is forcing everyone to change up their routines a bit and though my options were a lot more limited as far as potential activities goes, today that did not hinder me one bit. The weather played a big part in my positive mood and for the first time in ages I was able to do one of my most favorite warmer weather activities: [late] morning coffee on the porch.

"I'm staying. Finishing my coffee."

When the weather is warmer more consistently (didn't we have snow a few days ago??) that bush to the right of the rhododendron is a massive hydrangea that explodes with blossoms all spring/summer long. Aside from being pretty to look at, it gives me a little semblance of privacy as I sip my morning coffee(s) and enjoy the sunshine. Even though it's not at that point yet, it was still a pretty pleasant way to spend some time this morning. 

Also noteworthy is the fact that I made a little more effort to dress up today, for no other reason than to make myself feel better. That green bicycle button-down is one of my favorites. It's super cheeriness made it perfect for a bright sunny spring day. I also wore one of my favorite watches (check it here, though I have the smaller white-faced ladies version)- it's a little too nice to wear to work regularly (my job can often be physically demanding in a way that is... potentially dangerous for watches) so I broke it out today. 

I filled the rest of my morning with a little relaxing putzing around and sewing but in the afternoon, I absolutely had to take a walk. For about an hour and a half I walked along one of the rail trails in the area and by the end I was tired but definitely not disappointed. 

Such blue skies! This trail runs along the Assabet River and some other random ponds and things making for solid scenery. It's not a boring walk.

This is where I turned around and headed back to where I came from. The bike trail technically ends here but across the way is a dirt road you can continue your walk on, though it's not a good idea if you're trying to zone out and listen to podcasts because it's an actual road that cars occasionally drive on. I've never taken the left and gone into the Wildlife Refuge, but it's on our list for someday!

I shared the trail with a ton of bikers, walkers, skateboarders, and even rollerbladers.

Some other things that made today a great day:

-During my early evening porch session, the neighbor's cat came to either ignore me or stare at me, depending on, I assume, whether or not he (she?) thought I was paying attention.

-I somehow cobbled together a pretty good quarantine dinner with stuff I had hanging around: a shallot, jalapeño, half a jar of salsa, tomato paste, a chipotle in adobo, frozen roasted corn, garlic, and crumbled up extra firm tofu over rice, topped with cheddar, and served with tortilla chips. Highly recommended. You can call it a burrito bowl and pretend you did it on purpose. Also, if you're one of those people that get nervous about tofu, my fiancé didn't immediately know it was, in fact, tofu. There are no... texture issues here if that's what freaks you out.

-This porter from Founders Brewing Co., one of my all time favorites that I am enjoying as I type:

source

-THIS African black soap face mask, because I am fancy. And also because I have what they call "problem skin" sometimes but I prefer to focus on the fanciness.

Now, I'm about get some couch time with my fiancé and Doctor Who, a pretty good end to a pretty good day.

*Yeah, yeah I did take the blog title from Ice Cube.

Ever heard of Chaos Theory?

Work has been rough since my return from vacation. All the covid-19 restrictions on visits and passes  and cancellations of school and outings for the kids at the hospital have left them bored and angry and since they have a lot on their minds already (it IS a psych hospital after all), having a lot less to motivate and take their minds off of things has... well lets just say things are a little more chaotic than normal.

Luckily, this is my weekend off. The quarantine could work in my favor here and give me every excuse to recuperate at home, take it easy, and get back in a good headspace for the upcoming week. So far it's been pretty good and, oddly enough, dinosaur themed as if it were planned by a 9 year old boy (are they still into dinosaurs??).

It started last night. I finally watched Jurassic Park and was able to check one more movie off of my "OmG YoU HaVeN't SeEn ThAt MoViE?!" movie list (it's long). I was not disappointed and am now a little bit in love with Jeff Goldblum.

With that still on my mind, I decided to do a little sewing today and made this sweet pin (see my last one here):

It took an age to get that T-Rex skull to look like a T-Rex skull but I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out and I'll be sporting it soon. I felt like it was a pretty good message given our current circumstance so it seems especially fitting to wear now. 

After I was finished and in that in-between-activities limbo, I was suddenly struck with the strong urge to go out since I'm not supposed to go out. I settled for a walk and ran into these little dudes along a row of bushes on the side of a house:

More dinosaurs!

As I rounded the corner I was confronted by the sight of a woman hanging out of her open front door looking at me. I suddenly became super interested in checking how many minutes I had left on my podcast (the Hidden Brain episode "Don't Panic!") so I didn't make further contact but I suspect she saw me lurking on the side of her house and did not approve. Why put interesting things if your yard if you didn't want people looking at them?!

Anyway, I found another excellent thing on my walk:

Working at a hospital has become especially stressful. Aside from the added chaos mentioned above, it's a little scary just waiting to see if someone is going to get sick here. If my coworkers get sick and our already too-short staff pool becomes even fewer, I'll be force to work 16 hour days often if they can't find enough staff for the next shift (we're required to maintain a certain staff to youth ratio at all times). I'll be drawn pretty thin until I get sick myself, and I will then inevitably pass the virus on to my fiancé. I don't even want to think about what will happen if the virus gets to the kids. 

It all could certainly be fine of course but the myriad of possibilities constantly hanging over my head has my nerves a bit jangled, making it more difficult to deal with the "regular" stress at work. Seeing things like this make me feel a little better though. It also serves as a little reminder that I have it pretty good. Work may be stressful but at least my job is secure and I'm making money and able to pay by bills. Not all people are so lucky right now. 

I'll adjust to the new circumstances eventually. In the meantime, days like this will help with that. Hopefully tomorrow is just as relaxing. Stay safe (and inside!!!) everyone!

Oh, and back on a lighter note:

Vacation, all I ever wanted

I've been on vacation! I went home to North Carolina to visit my brand new baby nephew (and, I guess, the rest of my family ;) ). It was a fantastic time, per usual, but now it's back to the grind.

We got home yesterday,  roughly 6 hours later than originally intended due to some flight delays, so I decided to take today off from work. I'm glad because now, in the cold light of day as I sit on my couch at noon in my pajamas watching baking shows on Netflix, I'm feeling that tidal wave of everyday life racing toward me as a lengthy "to do" list forms in my head.

^This basically sums up my feels right now.

I'll process how awesome my vacation was and how much it made me happy later but now it's hard to do that as I stress about all the things I have to do (or think I have to do). It's not just the simple everyday tasks that I have to get back on track now, but upon reentry into normality I'm reminded of all the grand plan things I've been meaning to do but keep putting off, like job hunting for instance.

Instead of spiraling into an angry unproductive black hole and ending up even more unprepared to go back to work than I was yesterday, I figured I'd share my routine I sometimes use to get back on track post-vacation in the hopes that I actually, you know, do it.

"Sagittarius A* is the black hole at the center of the Milky Way galaxy." (source) Perhaps this is the black hole where all my energy and productivity goes.

1. GET READY. I'm not one to scoff at a good couch day, but if you're stressing, it's not going to make you feel any better, trust me. Getting up and going really resets your brain into a more productive mode. I personally like to use this time to get ready as if I have a hot date or big event later because lets be honest- you're doing all that extra work to make yourself feel more confident and ready, not just to impress anyone, so it'll make you feel better.  For me, this means:

• Absolutely boiling hot shower. Straight up poach yourself. Especially after a day of airports and planes, just fry those germs off of you.
• Take your time. Shave if that's a thing you do. I recommend a hair mask- they're cheap and do wonders for my dry, fine hair. 
• Post shower body oil! I get dry as hell in the winter and nothing feels more luxurious than putting on body oil. Seriously, you'll feel like a new person. I use Dr. Teal's Relax & Relief body oil- it's pretty cheap, the bottle lasts forever, and it's my favorite smell. I use Trader Joe's Rose Facial Oil for my face because using anything rose scented makes me feel like a Lady.
• While you absorb all your glorious scented oils, do all the little extras you don't always do. For me, this can include finally taking off that super chipped nail polish and sprucing up my cuticles, rogue eyebrow hair plucking, other hair removal we don't talk about, whatever. Put makeup on even if you're not planning on going anywhere.
• Take care in getting dressed. That doesn't have to mean get fancy, but take a minute to choose things that specifically make you happy. Take your time, look through all your things. 

2. MAKE A LIST. Sit down at your desk or a table, get your fancy notebook (everyone has a thousand fancy notebooks, right?) and make a list of all the things you're panicking about doing. Just dump your anxious brain onto the paper. After making this list, most of the time I'm surprised to find that its not so daunting written down, and much easier to face. 

3. DO A THING. Start small. I usually start with a cleaning task because having a clean and organized apartment makes me feel like a Good Adult, thus bolstering me for further tasks.

4. DO NOT DO ALL THE THINGS. You probably won't finish your list. That is ok. Don't forget to prioritize doing something for pure enjoyment's sake- you just got back from vacation but it's not going to make you feel any better to immediately cut all joy out of your life. 

5. REMEMBER THAT YOU'RE JUST AN ANGSTY HOUSE PLANT. Take in nutrients. Drink lots of water. Get some sun if possible. 

6. TAKE A WALK. If weather permits, some movement and fresh air will do wonders for your mental state. Also, if you over indulged like I did on vacation, you will be feelings sluggish and require exercise. Feel free to move this step up a few notches on the list if you need more help getting your brain in gear after getting ready.

7. HAVE A SOUNDTRACK. Do all these things to music that gets you going and makes you happy. I recommend searching for "Star-Lord's Zune" on Spotify which is a pretty epic and lengthy playlist based on the Guardians of the Galaxy soundtracks. 

After all this, hopefully I'll be in a better mindset and then the bigger things I have to tackle won't seem so daunting. Well, time to get on it I guess!

Had to do it because: 

1. Who doesn't think of this song when someone says vacation?!

2. Who doesn't love a good 80's music video?!

You're welcome.