Change is rocky and that includes good change. Even if you’re leaving a terrible situation for a clearly much brighter one, there’s always frustration and fear and a month or two of, “howwwww do I do this?” The three year anniversary of my departure from LA is coming up this weekend. In my head, I’ve been writing a post reflecting on my decision to move and then the two year decompression that followed after I arrived home (that is coming) but in the meantime, I’ve had a schedule change and I am in the process of developing a new routine. I become puh-retty obsessed with my routines and so being at the in-between stage of finding a new one can be anxiety inducing. Delightfully however, this transition hasn’t been that tough and I’ve been very gentle, intentional and slow about adding and subtracting habits. My ability to make smoother changes, I’ve decided, comes as a direct result from making several huge cross country moves in my life and finally accepting after the last one that it just takes time to adjust to anything new.
Anyway, I’ve started meditating again. A three day streak so far and it feels as amazing as everyone who meditates tells you. Listening to my own thoughts for twenty minutes, it’s like taking a really deep, satisfying breath. I canceled my YMCA membership in November because I wasn’t going and it felt like a set up for guilt spending $60 a month and choosing to do a Youtube workout at home instead. After a break, I now realize that having the option of the gym, whether I go or not, is worth the money. We’ve been cooking around here more and that feels great. I do a ton of baking but I forgot how much I also love to cook which is easy to do when you’re sharing your life with a chef. Last week, I made curry lentils and crispy chicken thighs all while listening to cliché cooking music and drinking a glass of wine. It was glorious. We’ve been getting a lot more sleep and taking vitamins and I’ve been very consciously letting go of guilt when I feel like I’m not doing enough. It’s all becoming routine and I love that. The one aspect of my life I’ve neglected in this past week of crafting my new schedule is my Substack. My little precious place to publish my work and grow my writing skills (and my podcast). Very exciting things ARE happening with Yeah, I’d Hang out with Her: The Podcast. A new mic has been acquired for in person interviews, a new theme song arranged by my genius friend, Mitch Kenny and a first guest on the books, my dad. I’m chalking my bumpy consistency here up to the fact that it is February and that no new year actually starts until March. I’m anticipating even more change and a fun and busier schedule as the months progress but I am also dedicated to this space and so excited to watch it grow. Expect a new podcast coming in March (I’m choosing realism here, if it happens before then, YAY!) and a few new posts I’ve been cooking up in my brain.
As always, thank you for being here, even for just this quick little hello. I am wishing you a wonderful weekend full of joy and surprises and I’m excited to connect here again soon.
And as a special thank you, here is the recipe for those sugar cookies. I consider it the best one I’ve found, I swear it’s the almond extract that makes it.