July Goals

1) Finish my organization spreadsheet. Complete! Yay! The real test will be… will I be able to maintain this spreadsheet on a regular basis?

2) Figure out a workout routine. Complete! I have decided on four workouts every week: two long walks and two cardio sessions at my apartment gym (alternating between the stationary bike and the elliptical). Do I do four workouts every week? Absolutely not. But that’s the goal!

3) No caffeine after 3 p.m. Oh, this goal is so much harder than I imagined it would be. I need to figure out a good caffeine-free soda alternative for the weekends (not Sprite/Starry, blech).

4) Start wearing my Apple Watch again. Complete! I usually only wear it on the days I’m going to do a solid 30-minute workout, so I know I will close my rings. And I think that’s fine – it doesn’t need to be part of my daily routine!

5) Figure out my 401k situation FOR THE LOVE OF EVERYTHING HOLY. COMPLEEEEEEEEETE!!!!!!! I did it, I did it, I did it!!!! I’ve had this goal on my list since February, and it’s finally done. It wasn’t even all that complicated! There were just a lot of little steps, and I procrastinated hard on getting them done. I checked my new 401K account, and the rollover happened seamlessly, so yay!

August Goals

1) Adhere to a 10:30 p.m. bedtime. I don’t get much sleep these days because I’m terrible about going to bed at a decent time, and I’m always up with the sun. I’m going to start with a 10:30 p.m. bedtime and hopefully start to inch it closer and closer to my ideal time of 9:30 p.m. The trick is that I’m going to set an alarm for 10:15 p.m. every evening, which is my cue to STOP EVERYTHING I’M DOING so I can do my skincare routine, brush my teeth, and set up my CPAP for a night of restful sleep.

2) Watch two movies. I’m woefully behind on my movie-watching goal for this year. I should be on movie 8 in August, and I’m only on movie 4. Oops! I don’t know why I resist watching movies, but I really do want to mark this goal complete!

3) No caffeine after 3 p.m. Rollover goal.

4) Work on improving my walking speed. I have short legs and thus, a short stride. And my stride got even shorter when I was having inflammatory pain, as I wasn’t too concerned with how fast I was moving, only that I was able to move at all! I’m at a place where I’m ready to test myself a bit more when it comes to my fitness, and I’m going to start here. My walking speed is pitiful, but I’d love to get my average speed one minute faster by the end of August.

5) Get a light for my bathroom. My bathroom is well-lit around the counter, but less so around my tub area. I don’t love taking showers in the near-dark, so I need to figure out a better lighting situation. I bought a wireless motion sensor light that I thought would work, but it was a dud, so it’s back to the drawing board.

Do you have any August goals? What’s your bedtime?

July: The Quick Snapshot

• Title of the month: Big Celebrations & Healthcare Woes
• Weather notes: We finally got some rain! We had a lot of rainy days in July, which we badly needed. Our drought conditions are still severe, but hopefully all of this rain will help. When it wasn’t raining, it was hot and humid and gross.
• Mood: My mood was pretty good in July. It started a little rough, but things gradually got better. I would say a 7.5 out of 10, which is a whole point better than June.

The Best Parts of July

• Celebrating my mom’s birthday – I always love showering my mom with love on her birthday. We went on a dolphin cruise, had lunch, and got Dairy Queen blizzards on her actual birthday. And then a few days later, we celebrated again with a fancy steakhouse dinner!
• Celebrating Olive’s remission – What an insanely cool day to celebrate. Olive, my best friend’s daughter, is now in remission after a scary battle with cancer when she was a baby. Now, she’s six and healthy and HERE.
• Auntie date at the library – It’s always a blessing to spend some quality time with the littles in my life. And I love that my two friends who are moms are willing to include their single, childless friend in their gatherings!
• A clear echocardiogram – I didn’t expect to see anything troublesome from this test, but you never know! My heart is healthy, though, and there was not a single concerning finding for my cardiologist to worry about. Once I started tapering steroids, I noticed my heart issues getting better, so I really think it’s related to those meds. The next step is a stress test, but I’m going to wait a bit. If I still have symptoms in another few months, I’ll call and schedule it. But for now, I’m just going to focus on exercise, eating healthier, and trying to get off these damn steroids.
• Sunday dates with the dogs – This month, my mom and I started taking Chip and Lucy to a local dog bar on Sunday mornings. From 9 a.m. to 11 a.m., the place is reserved for small dogs (under 30 lbs), so it’s a perfect time for our little dachshunds to run around and play. And by run around and play, I mean stay by our side the whole time and bark at any dog that tries to get near them. We’re working on it.
• Adding another bookshelf to my collection – I am slowly collecting everything I need to have a Beauty and the Beast library. One day I will have a room dedicated to my books! For now, they occupy one wall of my office, and it makes me oh-so-happy to look at them every day. Styling these bookshelves was a lot of fun, too, because I got to play around with different decor ideas. I shelved and re-shelved my books so many times to find the right configuration!
• Learning how to care for my hair – I spent a lot of time in July trying to figure out the best hair care routine for my fine hair. I think I have a good routine figured out, and I’ve come to terms with the fact that I’ll never be the girl who only needs to wash her hair a few times a week. It is what it is.
• Finally starting Humira – It was a long process to get here, but I am finally on a biologic for my psoriatic arthritis. Say a prayer that I can get off the steroids (and hopefully, also my methotrexate weekly injections!) for good with this drug.

The Hard Parts of July

• Neverending steroids – I was hoping to be off steroids by the end of July, and the steroid taper was going well. I was down to my final few weeks when I started to feel pain returning. My rheumatologist wanted me to go back up to 8mg (I was down to 4mg), and things have gotten better. I’ll give the taper another try after I take my second Humira dose next week, so keep your fingers crossed!
• EMDR – It sucks. I don’t like it. I spend most of Tuesday before my appointment in a terrible mood because I know what’s awaiting me. I feel like I’ve run a marathon after each session. And yet… it’s been so eye-opening and healing and necessary. Sometimes I forget just how traumatic my childhood was and how living in a state of constant flight-or-fight really fucks with one’s nervous system.
• Some unbloggable things that I can’t really discuss on my public blog but have really been affecting my mental health. Meh.

Favorites of July

• Favorite show: Big Brother
• Favorite podcast: I’m very behind in my podcast queue because it’s Big Brother season, so I spend most of my listening time these days with Rob Has a Podcast and the LOML, Taran Armstrong. His daily live feed updates are outstanding!
• Favorite meal: Our fancy steakhouse dinner for my mom’s birthday! In particular, the whipped potatoes were out of this world.
• Favorite cat moment: My favorite moments with my girls have been these simple evenings where I’m reading on the couch and both girls jump up to join me. They don’t want to snuggle with me, but Eloise likes curling up on a pillow that I place next to me and Lila will splay out nearby.
• Favorite purchase: New shoes! It was time to replace my “running” shoes (quotes because I don’t run in them, but what else do you call them?!). They were an expensive purchase but worth the money.
• Favorite ordinary moment: There was this moment a few weekends ago. My mom and I were at dinner, and she was talking about something, and I felt this intense rush of love for her and our relationship and just the way my life has turned out. It was the sweetest form of contentment.
• Favorite decision I made: To start planning my days much, much differently. Instead of one big to-do list at the beginning of each day, I write down just a few things I want to get done, get those things done, and then plan for the next few things. I feel like I’m so much more productive with this method!
• Favorite thing I learned: Body doubling! When I talked about how much I enjoy “work with me” and “study with me” videos on YouTube, Suzanne introduced me to the term body doubling, and everything clicked. That’s what it is, and that’s why it’s been so helpful for me.

Looking Ahead to August

• One thing I’m looking forward to: Our family fantasy football draft at the end of the month! It’s almost time!
• One yearly goal I want to work toward: I think I’d really like to work on my goal for getting daily movement, even if it’s just a 10-minute stretching routine at the end of the day. I tend to think I need my movement goal to be something impressive like a long walk or going to the gym, but I need to remember ANY movement matters.
• One big hope for the month: (Okay, I laughed out loud at my hope for July because it was “that I can get started on Humira with no issues” – definitely not) That I get some clarity on how to move forward on an unbloggable issue
• Something I want more of: Writing time
• Something I want less of: Phone scrolling

What would your title be for July?

No Matter What by Cara Bastone (★★★★☆ 1/2)

Print • Owned (Book of the Month) • Contemporary Romance • 2026

Short synopsis: After a traumatic accident threatens the foundations of their happy marriage, a couple tries to rebuild and find their way back to each other—and themselves—in this tender, slow-burn romance.

When I started reading this book, I was convinced that, for the first time, Cara Bastone had written a dud. I thought this was going to be one of those books where I’m screaming, “Just talk to each other, goddammit!” And, for the first few chapters, that’s definitely how I felt. I was so frustrated by Roz and Vin and their inability to communicate. I chose to trust this author who has never let me down, and in doing so, she rewarded me with a gorgeous book about trauma, love, and finding your way back to each other. Roz and Vin’s love story is so beautiful, and I think the way the author showcased how a traumatic event can truly upend the foundation of your life was really special. I wanted these two to make it work more than anything because it was so obvious they loved each other, but they were just both drowning in PTSD. My only real qualm with the novel is that Roz never goes to therapy. She doesn’t even seem to recognize that what she’s experiencing is PTSD. Maybe I’m being a little unfair, but…girl. Go to therapy. You’re dealing with something incredibly difficult. As a millennial woman living in New York City, I found it hard to believe that going to therapy when her marriage is in peril never really crossed her mind.

The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon (★★★★☆)

Print • Owned (Barnes & Noble) • Historical Fiction • 2023

Short synopsis: When a respected man accused of rape is found frozen to death in the river, midwife Martha Ballard is called to examine the body. As she begins investigating what others insist was an accident, she uncovers secrets that threaten her family, her reputation, and her community.

I had such an interesting experience with this book. It took me a long time to read it (nearly two weeks) because it’s long and dense. I considered abandoning it, but there was something about Martha (and her relationship with her husband, Ephraim) that kept me invested. It wasn’t necessarily the plot that kept me going, but it was Martha. She was such a fully formed character, someone who was so easy to root for. I kept reading because I needed to know everything would turn out okay for this brilliant woman. I’m astounded by the depth of research Lawhon must have done to bring this story to life. Small details—like the fines imposed on women who had children out of wedlock—are woven throughout the novel, creating a vivid picture of life in late eighteenth-century America. The birthing scenes were difficult to read, but also beautifully written and highlighted the incredible strength of women who endured childbirth again and again. This is the kind of book I want to recommend to everyone, with the caveat that it’s not a quick read, but definitely worth your time if you love a good historical fiction novel.

The Midnight Show by Lee Kelly and Jennifer Marie Thorne (★★★☆☆ 1/2)

Audiobook • Spotify • Fiction • 2026

Short synopsis: An immersive, page-turning novel about surviving as a funny woman in the male-dominated world of comedy—and what happens when the most promising female star of her generation disappears.

I finished this book just a few days ago, and still, I’m kinda at a loss on how to talk about my feelings. It was… fine? It wasn’t groundbreaking or propulsive, and even the ending didn’t stand out for me. It’s an oral history about the beginnings of The Midnight Show (basically just Saturday Night Live, nothing creatively different about it) and specifically about Lillian Martin, a standout comedian who disappeared without a trace at the end of the show’s second season. I definitely recommend the audio since it’s a full cast, and oral histories are typically best in this format. That said, even at the end of the book, I still couldn’t keep all of the male comedians straight. I don’t know… maybe that was the point? The women all had distinct personalities and voices, while the men sort of blended into one big blob. Male comedians are a dime a dozen, right? Ha. Anyway, I wouldn’t necessarily say this is a bad book because it did keep my attention and I felt interested enough to keep listening. I think it could be a great choice for anyone who loves getting the behind-the-scenes details of SNL-type shows or reading books about comedians. It was just fine for me. (Recommendation source: Sarah’s Bookshelves Live)

What are you reading?

July 25, 2026 – I took a lovely afternoon nap, and when I woke up, both girls were on the bed with me. FAMILY NAP TIME! I took this adorable photo of them staring at me. I like to imagine they are staring with love and not with, “We gonna get some treats now?”

July 26, 2026 – Revealing my new bookshelves! Lots of empty cubes right now that will definitely be filled with books in due time, but it was fun to play around with styling them differently. I also added some new bookish prints to the top.

July 27, 2026 – I’m obsessed with this girl. She loves jumping right next to me when I’m reading on the couch and meowing at me for pets.

July 28, 2026 – I had a very tough therapy session where we did a lot of EMDR, and it was nice to have a snoozing cat next to me to pet when I needed to soothe myself.

(Funny story, though. Since my EMDR is virtual, we do it using a website. On the page is a colored ball that moves back and forth across the screen for 20-30 seconds, which I’m tracking with my eyes. For 10 minutes of the EMDR session, Eloise was entranced by this ball, tracking it right along with me. Ha!)

July 29, 2026 – We had a big crowd for trivia on Wednesday night! And my older nephew was the only person in the whole crowd who knew the answer to a basketball question! I don’t quite remember the question, but the answer was Klay Thompson, which Jovy said without any hesitation. We got a shout-out from the host, even! (We still sucked by the end, but we did MUCH better than we usually do!)

July 30, 2026 – My first dose of Humira! The needle was very sharp (so sharp that when I removed the top, I accidentally stabbed the top of my finger and it drew blood immediately), and I was super concerned about making sure I gave myself the dose correctly, considering how expensive just one syringe is. All went well! I only have to do these every other week, and I’ll continue doing my weekly methotrexate injections in the meantime.

July 31, 2026 – A lovely massage to start the weekend! I still have to do the whole massage face-down because I have a buffalo hump thanks to being on steroids, and it makes lying on my back really uncomfortable. But after an hour of lying on my stomach, I’m always super dizzy when I sit up! It takes me a little while to get my bearings.

When was the last time you got a massage?

I am slowly becoming addicted to “study with me” and “work with me” videos on YouTube. I really struggle with focus, especially in the afternoons, and I’ve tried so many different productivity methods to help me stay on task and get shit done. Most of these videos use the Pomodoro Technique, which is my favorite productivity method, but I don’t use it nearly as much as I should. But for the past few weeks, when I have a long stretch of work ahead of me without meetings, I’ve pulled up one of these videos and gotten to work. And it really does help me focus! These videos usually have someone either studying or working at a desk (and their surroundings are usually #goals) with soft, ambient music playing in the background and a timer on the screen. You might hear sounds like keyboard tapping, papers shuffling, or pen scratches, so it also satisfies the ASMR part of my brain. I don’t know why they work so well for me, but I’ve become addicted and wanted to pass along this tip to anyone else who may struggle with focus! (I think it would come in clutch for people with ADHD!)

2) Hermit time

Bri and I were supposed to meet up on Sunday afternoon to record a few episodes of our podcast. After getting way ahead in our recording schedule, we are suddenly at a place where we have no episodes ready to go in the queue. Eeps! So, I spent Friday and Saturday working diligently on our outlines and preparing for a few hours of recording time on Sunday afternoon. And then Saturday night happened, and I got the worst night of sleep I’ve had in a really long time. My Oura app was very worried about me. (I should note that I went to bed at 11 p.m., but didn’t fall asleep until 2:30 a.m., sigh.)

I also started my period and was not feeling all that great. I sent Bri a message about how things were going for me that morning, and she told me to do what feels best, whether we record later in the day or skip it entirely. I sat with myself and thought about what I really wanted, and to nobody’s surprise, it was to stay home and hermit. I didn’t want to pack up my things and make the 25-minute drive to Bri’s house, and while being with Bri and recording our podcast isn’t a huge emotional lift for me, it’s still something to do. And I really didn’t want to do anything, much less try to be chipper on the mic. So, even though it meant we wouldn’t have an episode to release on time, I stayed home, and we rescheduled our recording date. Womp, womp. We’ll only miss one episode, though, as we’re getting together next weekend to record, so all will be okay. No episode this Tuesday, but we will be back in your feeds on August 18th!

3) The steroid taper that wasn’t

Ughhhhhh. I was doing so well with my steroid taper. Or at least, physically, I felt like I was. Last week, I dropped down to 4mg, which would be the last test to see if I could officially stop taking steroids, but alas, it wasn’t to be. Over the weekend, I started experiencing pain that I haven’t had to deal with in months. It hurt to stand up, it hurt to cross my legs, it hurt to grip things, and it hurt to get out of bed in the morning. I told myself that if I woke up on Sunday with my shoulder hurting, then I knew it was time to talk to my rheumatologist. Sure enough, I woke up on Sunday with the same annoying shoulder pain that took forever to respond to meds. At least I was able to see how much those steroids have been helping my pain! (And also how little methotrexate has been helping – the pain definitely wasn’t as bad as before I started treatment, but it was getting there.) I talked to my rheum, who wants me to go back to 8mg for the next few weeks, and then try tapering down again after I’ve had two doses of my new med.

Speaking of my new med, it finally arrived this week so I can start the next stage of my treatment journey. Hurrah! I definitely feel precious about these syringes, though, because each one is at least a thousand dollars without insurance. Liquid gold, baby!

4) Another three years of blogging

I always forget that I have to pay blog hosting fees. I only pay them every three years, and it’s always quite the hit to the ol’ pocketbook. This year, the hit was substantial because HostGator wanted me to upgrade to one of their more expensive plans based on the size of my website. Ughhhh. Rude! I need to start a sinking fund for these fees, so I’m not surprised when 2029 rolls around and HostGator comes asking for money again. But hey, this means I’m dedicated to another three years of blogging so I get my money’s worth! You’re welcome?

5) Weekend plans

I don’t have too much happening this weekend! Today, I have a massage scheduled at 5 p.m. Tomorrow, I have game night with the fam. And Sunday, my mom and I might take the dogs for their semi-weekly dog park visit. Next weekend is going to be super busy, so I’m happy to have a low-key weekend ahead of me. Hooray for that!

How do you stay focused at work?

I was mentally writing out a very long comment to her as I thought about how to respond and figured, why not make it a blog post? So that’s what you get today!

This probably won’t please many people, but I have to admit that I have relied on ChatGPT a fair bit to help me put together the right habit-tracking system for myself. I have a LOT of goals I’m tracking this year, and I would absolutely fall apart if I didn’t have a system for keeping track of everything.

Here’s how it works:

Daily

Most of the goals I’m tracking are daily habits:

• Drink water
• Close my Apple Watch rings
• Take meds
• Text one friend
• Do my morning/evening routines
• Move my body
• Get outside

For these goals, I bought a habit tracker pad on Amazon. There are a million of these, but this is the one I have, and I like it a lot!

It’s part of my evening routine to go down the list of daily habits I’m tracking and mark off which ones I did that day. I keep this pad on the breakfast bar that’s visible right when you walk into my apartment, so it’s something I see often. I really enjoy making those checkmarks every evening! And it’s quick – just takes a few seconds at the end of the day.

(I draw a line to separate the weeks, so it’s easier for me to visualize!)

Weekly

I have a list of weekly admin tasks that I typically do every Sunday. On that list are things like “set up my budget for the week” and “refill med organizer.” There’s also the task of “review goals.”

And that’s when I sit down at my laptop with my habit tracker pad and fill out a spreadsheet that ChatGPT made for me. It’s the kind of spreadsheet that is easy to use but way too complicated for me to put together myself. (I am not an Excel whiz!)

The first tab of my spreadsheet is called my “Daily Tracker.” It’s broken down by day (starting April 1st, since I didn’t start this process until Q2), and then I have each goal listed as the column heading and a simple “no/yes” dropdown. The goals on this spreadsheet mirror what’s on my habit tracker pad (although I add a few extra habits to track every month, just for funsies), so I just go down the list and fill in the answers for the week.

The second tab is called “Monthly Goals.” This is where I track goals that don’t need daily attention, like:

• Send three pieces of snail mail
• Watch one season of a TV show, listen to one album, and watch one movie
• Visit a new-to-me spot in my town every month

I click over to this tab every week in case there’s something I can fill in, like visiting a new spot or sending postcards. I also have a list at the bottom where I’m tracking my weekly goal of making plans with friends.

Again, this process does not take very long, and there’s a reason why it’s something I love to do every Sunday, which I’ll take about in a moment.

(I’m happy to give people a copy of my spreadsheet so they can make one of their own!)

Quarterly

I only really look at my numbers and figure out percentages every quarter, when I’m putting together my annual goals recap post. Should I maybe look at this tab more often to see where I can make adjustments? Probably, but I tend to do that during my weekly review session, where I can see which goals have been a struggle more than others.

And that’s when I visit the third tab of the spreadsheet, called “Monthly Dashboard.” It pulls in all of the data from the Daily Tracker tab and shows me how many times I’ve done each habit for the corresponding month. (I’m sure there’s a way I could get the spreadsheet to spit out percentages, but it’s not that much work to figure them out myself.)

So, when you break it down:

• Daily = checking off boxes on my habit tracker pad
• Weekly = updating my habit tracker spreadsheet
• Quarterly = actually analyzing how I’m doing on my goals

My Reward System

I find it very easy to sit down every week and input my goals into my spreadsheet because I set up a reward system for myself! Of course I did. Depending on how many times I marked “yes” on a daily goal that week, I get a reward:

• 7 days = 2 gold stars
• 6 days = 1 gold star
• 5 days = 1/2 gold star
• 4 days = 1/4 gold star and $5 into savings fund
• 3 days = $5 into savings fund
• 2 days = $10 into savings fund
• 1 day = $15 into savings fund
• 0 days = $25 into savings fund

I have a legit piece of paper that I use to keep track of my gold stars. Whenever I reach 10 gold stars, I can buy something from my Etsy or Amazon wish list. (My next reward is going to be Bluetooth sleep headphones to make falling asleep to my ASMR videos even more magical and a new luxurious bath pillow.) Sure, these are things I can buy without this reward system, but the reward system makes it so much more delightful!

The savings fund is also fun because I put that money into a “special” savings account where I save up for bigger purchases. I used this fund for my bedroom bench, the two new bookshelves I’ve added to my apartment, new running shoes, and soon… a reading chair!

You might think I wouldn’t be determined to mark off goals if I can put more money into savings the less I do something, but that’s not how my brain works. It makes me sad to part with my money, and I find adding gold stars to my chart to be a lot more rewarding. But if I find myself trying to “beat the system” at some point, I’ll rework things.

Final Thoughts

Is this system unnecessarily complicated? For some people, sure. But it scratches a very specific part of my brain. It is so satisfying to me to physically check things off, collect gold stars, and earn fun rewards. It makes goal-tracking and creating habits a lot more fun, too.

Do you have an unnecessarily complicated goal-tracking system like me?!

Go Gentle by Maria Semple (★★☆☆☆)

Print • Library • Contemporary Fiction • 2026

Short synopsis: A Stoic philosopher’s carefully curated life on New York City’s Upper West Side is thrown into chaos when a handsome stranger draws her into a world of black-market art, international intrigue, and a buried past that forces her to risk everything for what she truly desires.

What even was this book? It definitely has shades of Where’d You Go, Bernadette with a wacky main character, but it didn’t have anywhere near the same charm or heart. Instead, it felt like Maria Semple had three different books she wanted to write and decided to shove them all into one. I may get slightly spoiler-y in my review, so here’s your chance to dip out if you plan on reading this book. The book is broken into three sections. There’s the beginning, where we’re introduced to Adora’s world and the coven she has created of other older, single women who all live on the same floor of her apartment building. We also learn about Adora’s job as a “moral tutor” for twins of a very rich family. This was the most interesting part of the book, and we didn’t spend nearly enough time here. Then things take a very decided left turn, and we’re taken back in time to Adora’s foray into the world of comedy writing. She joins an SNL-type show as the only female writer and is effectively fired after one season. Other things happen during that time that I won’t get into here to not spoil everything, but she learns a lot of hard lessons. And then, in the final section, we’re back in the present day where Adora is somehow involved in some black-market art deal that was supremely boring and didn’t really make a whole lot of sense to me. There was also a really eye-rolling love story intertwined that was more cringe than sweet. It all made for a disjointed reading experience that I wouldn’t recommend. Meh. (Recommendation source: Book Riot)

Out on a Limb by Hannah Bonam-Young (★★★★☆)

E-Book • Libby • Contemporary Romance • 2023

Short synopsis: Fiercely independent Win McNulty finds her carefully self-sufficient life upended when a one-night stand with charming stranger Bo leads to an unexpected pregnancy, forcing them to navigate friendship, impending parenthood, and the possibility that they might become something more.

My goodness, this book was adorable! I truly couldn’t get enough of Win and Bo. Their banter, their vulnerability, and the way they cared for one another was so sweet. They are both healing as they enter into this friendship-and-impending-parenthood thing: Win is still a little tender after getting out of a toxic relationship with a man who made her feel like her limb difference was a liability, while Bo is adjusting to life as an amputee after a cancer diagnosis. In their own ways, they both need each other—and this tiny baby growing in Win’s belly—in their own ways. I especially loved the disability representation and how naturally it was woven into the story. Their disabilities weren’t the entire focus of the book, but they weren’t pushed to the periphery either; they were simply part of who Win and Bo are and how they move through the world, especially for Bo, whose disability is still so new. The writing was smart and engaging, the romance was incredibly sweet, and I am so excited to read more from this author! (Recommendation source: Kim)

Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty by Patrick Radden Keefe (★★★★★)

Audiobook • Libby • Nonfiction • 2021

Short synopsis: A gripping investigation into three generations of the wealthy Sackler family, tracing how their pharmaceutical empire and aggressive marketing of OxyContin helped fuel the devastating opioid crisis.

This book has sat on my TBR list for years and years. It’s my first PRK book, and it most assuredly won’t be my last. A 500+ page narrative nonfiction book shouldn’t be as gripping as this was, but PRK has such an engaging writing style that it felt like I was listening to one of my favorite true crime podcast series. I don’t think I need to say much about what this book is about, but suffice it to say, I am truly disgusted by the Sackler family and proud of all the people—from the journalists breaking the original stories to the activists showing up to protest—who put their names and bodies on the line to make the truth about this family known. What made me angriest was seeing, over and over again, just how much money and power can shield people from consequences. The Sacklers made billions from a drug they aggressively marketed while communities were being devastated by addiction, and yet they were able to use their wealth, influence, and armies of lawyers to avoid anything resembling real accountability. It’s infuriating to read about the sheer amount of suffering tied to their actions and then realize how little they personally had to answer for it. This is a long audiobook—17 hours!—but it is well worth your time, both to understand how the Sacklers helped fuel the opioid crisis and to see just how corrupting wealth and power can be. (Although I’m guessing we don’t really need proof of that anymore, considering the way our government is being run these days…)

What are you reading?

July 18, 2026 – A party for our warrior girl! It was so beautiful to see so many people gathered to celebrate Olive’s remission. She is so loved! (Funny story: Mikaela asked Olive where she wanted to celebrate her remission party and was trying to calculate the cost of a dinner with a bunch of people. And Olive said, “Dunkin Donuts!” Much easier, much cheaper, ha.)

July 19, 2026 – I parked in front of this rainbow house while downtown on Sunday and had to take a picture! If it’s not the epitome of DTSP, I don’t know what is.

July 20, 2026 – Every day after lunch, Eloise can’t get enough of me. I don’t know if it’s because I smell of food or if it’s just become an ingrained part of her routine, but she immediately jumps up on the desk and walks back and forth in front of me, meowing loudly at me for pets. Often, I’ll move my keyboard so it sits on top of this whiteboard so that she can sit right in front of me and get lots and lots of pets from me. Answering emails while petting a soft, purring kitty? Bliss!

July 21, 2026 – There’s not much to say about this picture, other than that I realized late on Tuesday that I hadn’t taken a picture today, so Lila was a (somewhat) willing participant.

July 22, 2026 – Eloise’s loaf positions continue to score a 10/10. Look at this perfection! No tail, no paws, curved back. She’s ready for the Loaf Olympics!

July 23, 2026 – I continue to experiment with planning methods that will work for my brain. This morning, I started watching some planning videos from a creator who has ADHD, and the way she sets up her days in her planner really spoke to me! I don’t think I have ADHD, but I do struggle with executive functioning. What this creator does is set up a schedule in the morning, afternoons, and evenings, rather than doing it all at once. So, this is what I’m playing around with! I want to create a morning schedule when I wake up (my idea is to get up, feed the girls, make coffee, and set my morning schedule), and then once that’s done and I’m ready to start my workday, I’ll create my work schedule for the day (the tasks below the work schedule are things I can do when I need a break), and once I’ve colored in all my work boxes, then I can sit down and think of a handful of things to complete in the evening. The boxes are kinda arbitrary – for work, they equal 15 minutes of work. For the evening tasks, I set them up as “sprints.” For example, the “30 minutes of blogging” task is broken into 10-minute increments. Anyway, this is a long comment for this photo0―more to come as I continue to play around with this planning system!

July 24, 2026 – Oh, you know, just Lila looking like a goddamn supermodel, as always!

1) A new reading chair

This is the next big purchase on my list, as I am really sad to be without a reading chair in my office. Reading on the couch is fine, but as we’ll discuss later, not ideal. The chair can’t be too big because I need it to tuck into a corner of the office, but it does have to have an ottoman. What I really want is one of those “chair and a half” deals because they look like the coziest place to read (or nap, let’s be honest, a lot of napping would be happening). But those are way too large for my office so I have to settle for something smaller but just as cozy! Below is what I have in mind – it’s a little over $300 but I’m not sure about the shipping fees. It’s from Wayfair and last time they shipped me furniture, they just dropped it off at the bottom of the stairs and expected me to bring a 100+ lb box up four flights of stairs myself. (I’ll stop venting about this one day.) However, I think I can select some sort of special “doorstep” shipping for a fee, which is what I’ll definitely be doing.

2) A walking pad

I’ve gone back and forth on getting a walking pad for my office. In my old place, it was a space issue. I know myself well enough to know that my walking pad needs to be within easy reach–if I stored it in my bedroom closet, I would never use it. So it would need to be stored near my desk, but my desk was in my living room and I didn’t want a walking pad hanging out there.

In the new place, it’s more of a, “Will I even use this?” quandary. I’m still not sure. I have a standing desk, although I rarely stand and work because I’m a lazy bitch. And I find it hard to just… stand and work. I think walking while I respond to emails or call into a meeting would be easier, in a sense? That’s what I’m telling myself, at least. And it would ensure I’m actually getting more than… checks Oura app… 3,000 steps a day. (This is not a joke.)

It’s something that’s on my mind, but I need to do a lot more research. I don’t want to spend too much money on this purchase because I’m still not sure I’m going to use it as much as I should, Maybe the key is to buy something that’s on the cheaper side (under $100) and if I can prove to myself that I’m capable of using it the way I envision, then I can treat myself to a more expensive version.

3) Litter Robot

I want one so badly. Everyone who owns one talks about how life-changing it is, and while I don’t necessarily find scooping the litter to be a terrible task, it is a task that I would like to move off my daily to-do list, please and thank you. Alas, these babies are expensive (the one I want is $800) so I’m waiting for it to go on super sale. However, did you know Litter Robot is also FSA/HSA eligible? You just have to obtain a Letter of Medical Necessity for one of their qualifying conditions (and I definitely qualify for a few of them, lolz). It’s something I’m thinking about… not this year, as my FSA is quickly being depleted (wah), but when it’s time to sign up for 2027 health insurance, I might consider increasing my FSA limit so I can buy one.

4) A new bedframe

This isn’t a super pressing need, as I just bought this bedframe a few years ago, but those adorable daughters of mine have ruined it with their precious little claws. They like to stretch and use the headboard on their front paws, and Eloise especially loves using the headboard as leverage to climb on top and then use the top of the headboard as another prime scratching location. They also use the side rail – they get on their backs, hook their claws into the side rail, and then pull themselves down the length of the rail while scratching as much of the material as possible.

What did I expect, though, when I bought a bedframe that doubles as a perfect scratching post for cats? It’s my own fault, really.

Anyway, at some point, I will need a new bedframe and I will probably opt for something that they can’t destroy so easily.

5) New living room furniture

It is time to replace my sectional. It’s a beautiful sectional that I love oh-so-very much, but the cushions are starting to sag and lose their shape. They’re sewn into the couch completely, so it’s not like I can try to reshape them. I can only sit on certain parts of the couch because other sections have no support. And now that I’m in a bigger space, I can also look at buying a bigger sectional. I’d love a U-shaped sectional and definitely something with removable cushions. (I can’t even put one of those couch covers on because of the way the cushions are sewn in!) This purchase will be going on my 2027 goals list, for sure!

Any big purchases on your wishlist?

If we were having coffee today… I’d start by sharing the BEST news of the month: Olive is officially in remission! Many readers may not remember Baby Olive, but she’s my best friend’s daughter, her rainbow baby after numerous miscarriages. Then, at 13 months old, Olive was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer. Less than ten people worldwide have ever had this type of cancer, and none of them were as young as Olive. She was given a 9% chance of surviving. It was a scary, scary time. But Olive made it through an incredibly dangerous surgery (her only chance of survival, and only one surgeon in the country was willing to do it; they had to travel to Boston, in the middle of Covid, with an immunocompromised baby for the procedure) and so many rounds of chemo, and nothing stopped her. And now, she’s six years old! Mikaela says all the time that watching Olive grow up doesn’t make her sad because there was a very real possibility she would never grow up. And here she is: in remission and one of the lucky ones.

If we were having coffee today… we might need to wipe away some tears before we move on to our next topic of conversation! You might wonder how my psoriatic arthritis journey is going. The good news is that I continue to taper off my steroids with no side effects. Every now and then, I’ll wake up, and my finger will be stiff, or the inside of my elbow will hurt, but it generally goes away within a few hours. I tapered down to 4mg this week, and I’m starting to notice a little hip pain. Nothing terrible yet, but I’m keeping an eye on it. Getting approved for Humira has been a process, though. Of course, insurance denied the prescription, which my rheum told me would likely happen since they want me to try the generic version first. Here’s how long this process has been: my rheum sent the script on June 25, it was denied on July 3, so my rheum sent the generic script on July 6, and it was finally approved on July 16. But does that mean I have the medication? Nope! The specialty pharmacy has to process the prescription, and yesterday, I spent almost half an hour on the phone to set up copay assistance for this med through my insurance. And that’s because this med is expensive (my copay for a one-month supply would have been almost $1,000 without this extra assistance), but now it will be zero dollars. Yay! I’m just hoping I can start my new med before July is over. I don’t feel like that’s too much to ask our healthcare system, is it?!

If we were having coffee today… you might ask about my upcoming New England road trip! I am slowly crafting our itinerary, and it’s mostly complete. I just need to put some finishing touches on the final part of our journey. We have booked our accommodations, which were pricey because a) we are bougie travelers and b) peak foliage season means higher rates. We’re staying at a hotel in Boston (Back Bay area), the cutest B&B in Maine (in Bar Harbor), and a glorious two-bedroom Airbnb in Vermont (near Stowe). We fly into Boston, spend three nights there, and then pick up the rental car and road trip up to Maine. After two nights in Maine, we’ll mosey our way over to Vermont by way of New Hampshire, and then spend four nights in Vermont. Keep your fingers crossed that all those gorgeous fall colors show off for these Florida girls!

If we were having coffee today… I’d be happy to tell you all about the research I’ve been doing to figure out the right hair routine. I have very fine hair with very oily roots. As in, I can take a shower in the morning and by the evening, my roots already look greasy. It’s very frustrating! I spent a full year trying to train my hair to need less washing, but that’s just not how fine hair works, unfortunately. So, if I ever want to wear my hair down, I have to wash it first. (Dry shampoo helps, but it also makes it really flat and lifeless.) The biggest things I’ve learned so far:

• Only shampoo my scalp (it’ll clean the rest of my hair when I rinse it out)
• Add clarifying shampoo to my routine (especially useful for those of us with oily roots and/or hard water)
• Use probably 75% less conditioner than I think I need (I know this, but I kinda go crazy on the conditioner when my hair really only needs a tiny bit at the very ends)

Even with all these changes, though, I’m trying to accept the fact that I’m never going to be someone who can go days without washing my hair and still have it look bouncy and beautiful. My hair just needs a little extra TLC, and that’s okay!

If we were having coffee today… I’d confide that I’m planning on moving forward with an endometrial ablation. I guess I needed a year to come to terms with the fact that it means I’ll likely never experience pregnancy, but since I’m positive I do not want to have children, I know it’s the right decision. I have to get another transvaginal ultrasound to measure my fibroids (it’s been a year since I had the original ultrasound, so I have to go through the process again), and then I’ll meet with a specialist for an endometrial biopsy. After that, the procedure will be scheduled! They only do this procedure once a month, but I’m hoping to get in by the end of the year.

If we were having coffee today… I couldn’t leave our time together without talking about the loves of my life! Eloise and Lila continue to be the most perfect babies there ever were. The cutest thing Lila does now is that she knows when it’s time for her food to be dispensed in her automatic feeder. She will either sit in front of it a few minutes beforehand or come running into the living room when she hears those little pieces of kibble hitting her bowl! A girl after my own heart. Eloise just had bloodwork done and her teefers cleaned, and she’s in perfect health. She also gained a little weight over the last six months, which is great news. She is still under 8 lbs, my little peanut!

What would you tell me during our coffee date?