Posted onMay 18, 2021|Comments Off on More Tech Issues (or This Was Typed On A Phone)
I remember when I got my current computer. I was so excited to finally have an upgraded computer, especially since I was working from home at that point. And that computer has been amazing, but lately it’s starting to have some issues.
None of these issues have been that bad. Some things are slower than I’d like. Some pages I use for work aren’t as efficient as they used to be. I know that many people use computers for a long time, but I’m at 4 1/2 years with this computer which isn’t that long but I do use it a lot. So I have toyed with the idea of maybe upgrading my computer in the next year or two. But I didn’t have any set plans for a new one. I figured I would casually do research and see what would be best. I pretty much know what I would get, but there are options too.
I’ve noticed recently that there have been issues with my keyboard. Some of the keys weren’t reacting the same way they used to. My trackpad was getting sticky. Nothing horrible, but with the amount of typing I do, it was noticeable.
Then, some of the keys fell off my keyboard. It was the top of the keys, but it appears the bracket that holds the keys down is what broke. It almost looks like they snapped in half but are still connected. And of course, the first thing I did was do a search online to see if I could fix this. And while there are fixes, because my computer isn’t under AppleCare anymore, it’s not cheap. And most of the fixes require me to give my computer to a shop for several days. If it was cheap to do it, I could probably figure out how to take time off work to make it work. But it will be pricey to fix the keyboard and the computer was already having other issues. So I’m not going to fix it.
What I did decide to do is order a keyboard I can use with my laptop. I’m hoping the one I ordered will work, but I can always return it and try a different one if I have to. And while this won’t fix everything, I just need to make this work until I get a new computer. I also am using my phone for a lot more than normal until the keyboard arrives.
The newest MacBook Pros are supposed to come out later this year. While I would prefer to have time to save money and not feel rushed for needing to make a purchase, I’ll probably buy one pretty quickly unless I discover that using the external keyboard is a solution I really like. Maybe I’ll enjoy having the setup that way. You never know.
Hopefully this is the end of my computer issues until I am able to go out and buy a new one. I don’t always have the best luck with all my technology, but maybe this is the end of the bad luck with my laptop.
Posted onMay 13, 2021|Comments Off on Doing Even More Organizing and Redecorating (or Continuing To Change Things In My House)
About a year ago, I did a lot of work around my house. I wanted to keep myself busy with all the craziness going on in the world. But I also realized I was going to be spending a lot of time inside my house and I figured it was the perfect time to change things up in my house. While I do change things up from time to time in my house, there were a lot of things that have stayed the same since I moved into my house in 2010. And because I was spending a lot of time inside, I wanted my house to be the best set-up that I could.
I got some new decor things for my house, changed up some artwork, and reorganized a lot. I didn’t spend a ton of money and tried to do things for free or with what I already had if I could. But I did spend money on getting a few new things and gadgets to help me organize. Making it feel like everything had a good place to live in my house gave me a small sense of control in a world that felt like it was in chaos.
And throughout the past year, I have changed a few things but I haven’t done a big project as I did at first. That was partially due to realizing how much I had spent before, but I was also feeling satisfied with how things were looking around my house. And lately, I’ve been getting the itch to do some more projects.
I think this feeling is because of being bored in my house, but a lot of the projects I’m considering are things I’ve thought about doing for a while and just didn’t do it before. For example, I wanted to change my bedding again. It’s not a crazy change to get a new comforter, but I just haven’t picked out something I like. But I really want to change it up soon because I feel like I’ve been putting it off. I also have tried for a while to find storage for my bathroom because it’s very tiny with limited space. And I saw on a random list online about a new slim storage tower and I got it and it fit perfectly! Of course, getting that led to me buying other things to organize other parts of my bathroom, but I haven’t gotten all of that in yet.
There are other little things I’d like to do and haven’t done because I wanted to go into a store to find what I want. That’s finally something I feel like I could do and still feel safe. But I’m trying to do the projects that are being shipped to me first before I go into a store. I might change my mind about what I want, so I want to wait a bit. I also want to try to be careful about how much I spend. I am in a better financial situation now than I was for most of last year, but that doesn’t mean I can spend whatever I want without worrying.
It took me a long time between moving into my house and when I did all the projects last year. I wasn’t expecting to feel such a push to do more projects so soon and to change up even more. But maybe being home so much for a year has made me think more about everything I have in my house and what I have wanted. I will always be limited by space and money, but I can still make my house feel more like what I want. If I’m going to be spending a lot of time at home (although, hopefully less than this past year), I should make sure that I’m happy with everything I have and change things I don’t like if I can.
And if adding silly little things or new ways to organize stuff makes me happy and even more like my house is perfect, then that’s what I should do when I can.
Posted onMarch 31, 2021|Comments Off on Online Jeans Shopping (or Accepting I’ve Gained Weight)
First, I want to say that I’m doing much better than I was earlier this week. I’m still dealing with some pain and nausea, but it’s at the level that I’m used to and was expecting to have. Whatever affected me on Monday had to be something else. I don’t know if it was food poisoning or a stomach bug, but whatever it was I think it’s out of my system. I’m glad to be back at a normal level of nausea because I know how to be productive while dealing with that and I have things I can use to make life easier.
Ok, now on to the point of this post.
I think a lot of people have gained weight over the past year. So many of us had a huge change when things shut down. Some people had to get used to the idea of working from home. Fortunately, I was already used to that. But I did have to get used to not having my regular workouts as well as dealing with new issues with food. I hate having a ton of food in my house at one time, and that’s what I had to do in order to limit how often I got groceries. At the beginning of the pandemic, things were a bit worse for me, but now I am doing grocery delivery a bit more often so I don’t always have a house full of food. And like so many people, I have used food as a coping mechanism over the past year.
I’m not proud that I used food that way, especially because it was a big step backward in getting toward recovery from my eating disorder. But that’s the reality of the situation. And between comfort eating, lower effort workouts, and a general lack of activity; I have put on weight over the past year. I know it could have been much worse, so I am happy that it wasn’t completely out of control. But it’s still frustrating and annoying.
I’m lucky that even with weight gain, the clothes that I’ve been wearing lately still fit me. But most of the clothes I’ve been wearing have been things like leggings and workout pants, so there is a lot of stretch in those and they work when my weight goes up and down. And while I’m fine living in leggings for the most part even when we aren’t in a pandemic, that’s not all I want to wear. I want to feel cute and fashionable. When I’ve had pandemic-safe dates (mainly going to a park and walking or something else outdoors), I don’t want to have to only wear leggings. And right now, other pants I own just aren’t fitting me.
I do have cute dresses and skirts that fit and I’m trying to be more ok with wearing those out and about, but the weight gain has also caused a hit in my confidence and I’m not feeling the same way I used to in dresses and skirts. So even though I didn’t want to spend money because I want to believe I will be fitting in my regular clothes again soon, I had to do some shopping for new jeans so I would have some options to wear.
Jeans are already difficult to shop for in normal times. And that’s when you can go to a store and try them on. Online shopping for jeans (unless they are a reorder of something I already own) is even harder. So I had to suck it up with spending a bit more so I could order different sizes and styles from different places. I only ordered places that had free shipping and easy returns, because I know I will be returning most of what I ordered. But I need to find some jeans that make me happy and feel confident in how I look right now.
And I’m aware that there is a chance I will be back in my other jeans in a few weeks or a month, but I can’t use that as an excuse to not have some options for now. In the past, I have kept so many of my skinny clothes in the hopes I’d be back in them soon. But they are just reminders of where I’m not at the moment. And by not having any jeans that fit me and seeing the ones that don’t fit hanging in my closet, it almost makes me feel like I don’t deserve to wear jeans until I lose weight. And I don’t want to have that mindset. I deserve to feel cute no matter my size and weight. I don’t only have to wear clothes with a lot of stretch to fit me.
Hopefully, at least one pair of what I ordered online will fit me and be the perfect jeans for how I look right now. I want to get back a little confidence and feel like my clothes fit me and look good. I am still going to wear comfortable leggings when I’m just staying home by myself, but I want to have some options for going out since that’s going to be happening more and more in the not too distant future.
Posted onDecember 11, 2020|Comments Off on Having Fun Doing Gift Shopping (or Keeping Secret Santa To My Budget)
For the past few years, I’ve participated in different Secret Santa exchanges. Sometimes they are with big groups where I have no clue who I’m getting to buy gifts for and who is getting them for me. And sometimes they are smaller groups where I do know everyone and it’s just fun to get to shop for someone that I normally wouldn’t shop for. I love doing these and if I had the money I would participate in more of them. But I do have to be mindful of how much I spend so I do limit the ones I do.
This year, I’m doing 2 Secret Santa groups. One is through Reddit and one is through a Facebook group. With Reddit, I would be shocked if I matched with someone I knew, but I guess it could happen since I have friends who use the site. But I don’t think I’ve ever given a gift to someone I know on there or have gotten a gift from someone I know. But for the Facebook group, even though I don’t know the people in real life, we are a close-knit group online and I feel like I know the people in there.
I love buying gifts and figuring out the perfect thing to get someone. It is a little easier when I’m buying a gift for someone in my family because I know them well. But fortunately, the Secret Santa groups have us fill out forms that say what we like. So I have an idea of what to get someone and sometimes I find a really perfect thing.
I remember one year I found a book about the science of cooking for someone who said they wanted to cook but also wanted to understand the chemistry behind different cooking methods. Another year, someone said they liked cute things that looked like food and I found a set of erasers that were shaped like cookies. Both of those times, I heard back from the person I gave them to and they thanked me for getting them something they love. That’s an amazing feeling! And it’s not about how much I spend or what exactly I get them, it’s about finding the perfect thing even if it’s not something that is expensive.
I’ve completed the shopping for one of my exchanges so far and I’m hoping to do the shopping for the other this weekend. Both exchanges have a limit of about $30. I have gone over that before if I find something really perfect. The exchange this year that I found the things for already was like that. I didn’t want to just get one thing, I found 3 that I think will be perfect. But the 3 things together went about $5 over budget. But it’s worth it to me. I will hopefully find out soon what they think about the gifts.
I know that I should be saving money and not spending when I don’t have to, but doing Secret Santa exchanges are more than just about gifts to me. They make me happy. They bring a lot of joy to me and that’s something I know I need. And I need that especially this year. There haven’t been a lot of joyful things, so I want to take advantage of it any time I can. And of course, I’m excited to get presents too and I can’t wait to see what I end up getting. But for me, it’s so much more aobut being able to shop for others than it is for getting stuff back.
I’ve also made small donations to friends who are collecting for present shopping for families who need help. I didn’t feel like I could take on a family on my own, but joining together with friends will allow us to do something nice for a family in need to make sure they have a nice holiday season.
Hopefully, everyone I get presents for enjoys them. I know I’ve been enjoying shopping for them. And maybe this will make this month a little bit better for everyone involved. That’s all we can hope for right now. This is the year to spread joy however you can, and Secret Santa exhanges are the perfect way for me to do it.
Posted onOctober 28, 2020|Comments Off on Shopping More To Shop Less (or Finding Ways To Be Less Wasteful)
I’ve always tried to be aware of how much trash I create. I’m nowhere near what those zero-waste people do, but I try to recycle when I can and not just throw away stuff that could be reused or donated. I know that it’s really easy just to put something in the trash and it seems to go away. But that’s not what really happens and it’s possible to create a lot of trash every day.
I think since the pandemic started, my trash seemed to be more and more. I think part of that was due to things being packaged differently or how we couldn’t use reusable bags at the grocery store. I know some of my friends said they had more trash because they were home more, but I don’t really have that excuse. I just was using more stuff that was disposable that I usually didn’t. And it was starting to feel a bit much and I knew that I needed to do something about it.
There are some things right now that I use that have to stay disposable. For example, I do rely a lot on grocery deliveries so I can avoid the store, and there’s no way to get paper bags instead of plastic. And because cleaning products are limited in stores, the disinfecting cleaner I use happens to be wipes right now instead of spray. And there are a few tasks I do that I use rubber gloves for, and my dishwashing gloves are too thick so I use the blue one time use ones.
But there are also a lot of things that I have been using disposable things for that I’ve realized I can find better options for. And these options are better for multiple reasons. First, they are better because they don’t create trash. But they also are better for me because if I find things that can be reused, that means I don’t have to go to the store to find more. And even though many reusable things cost more when purchasing them, the cost per use is much lower because you don’t have to keep replacing them.
I’ve slowly been adding more and more reusable things to my life. Some of these things are things I did years ago, such as using reusable cotton rounds that I wash each week instead of the throwaway cotton ones when using toner or makeup remover. I do wish I had gotten them in black instead of white because they are looking dingy, but they still work as well even though they aren’t looking super bright white.
But more recently, I’ve been trying to limit the paper products I use each day. Part of this was because it was harder to find things like paper napkins or paper towels. But I have known I needed to change this habit for a long time. So I guess the pandemic was just the catalyst for change for me. I have invested in things like cloth napkins and microfiber cloths.
I’ll admit, I’m not so great about using the cloth napkins for now, but I also have a lot of paper ones left, so I can take my time with the transition. I think part of the hesitation is how to clean them if they get super dirty. I don’t have my own washer and drying and it’s expensive to do a load. So I can’t just do a load of napkins. But I bet I could do something like doing a little handwash for the dirty ones before putting them in the laundry with my clothes.
For the microfiber cloths, I’ve been better at using those as replacements for paper towels when I clean. There are a few things I clean that I use sponges for and still use those sponges. But there are so many things I have used paper towels for and they just get thrown out. I know I’ve wasted a lot when I probably didn’t need to. For washing those, I shook them out after cleaning to get any bigger things off of them like crumbs from my kitchen counter. Then I put them in a mesh laundry bag before putting them in my laundry because I read online that would help if there was a lot of dirt left on them. It seemed to work pretty well with washing.
And the most recent thing I got as a reusable thing was mopping pads. I have a Swiffer mop that works perfectly for cleaning my house. And those mops use disposable pads that are designed to help scrub the floors and absorb extra cleaning solution. I’ve been using those disposable pads since I got the mop, but I’ve never really loved them. I don’t know why I didn’t look into alternatives until this month, but I finally decided to do some searching to see if there was something better to use. I wasn’t necessarily looking for something reusable, I just wanted something better than the branded pads. But when I did my search, everything kept coming back to reusable pads and these were the highest recommended ones.
I’ve used it once so far, and I feel like it cleaned my floors a lot better than the disposable pads ever did. And just like with the microfiber towels, I put it in a mesh laundry bag before putting it into the laundry. And it came out clean and my clothes didn’t seem to be dirty from being washed with them.
I know that starting to use more reusable and eco-friendly products has to be a natural progression. There are a lot of things that I have wanted to use but couldn’t get into. I have beeswax wrap to use instead of plastic wrap, but I haven’t loved it just yet. Maybe something will change, but for now, I just find other alternatives to plastic wrap that I like more. I also still use store-bought cleaning solutions. I know I can make my own, but again, I’m just not into using the ones I have tried that I made. But I do try to buy the largest size product and I can always decant it into a container that’s easier to handle.
I have been spending a bit of extra money in order to get these reusable products and I know that it’s a privileged place to be able to do that. Not everyone can spend more upfront right now. And I also know that for some people, there are other reasons why they have to use disposable products over reusable ones. I’m not perfect and I don’t expect anyone else to do exactly what I do or be perfect. But I’m trying and I think that’s the best I can ask of myself or anyone else. The small changes I have been able to make have benefitted me and I hope that I can continue to make these changes as I find things that work for me.
Posted onSeptember 18, 2020|Comments Off on I Guess This Is The Risk With Getting So Many Deliveries (or Thank Goodness For Good Customer Service)
Almost everything I need these days is being delivered to me. I rarely go to a store to get things. I get clothing delivered, random stuff for my house delivered, essential stuff delivered, and groceries delivered. I don’t love how much I’m relying on delivery services right now, but that’s how life is these days. I try to limit how often I get deliveries or to make sure I do things together (like using Amazon Delivery Day to get all my Amazon stuff on the same day, even if that means I don’t get them as quickly).
I used to do plenty of delivery stuff before. I mean I love Amazon Prime and how easy it is to get stuff (I’m trying to make sure I only get things I need and that I can’t get at other places for similar prices). And shopping online for clothes is so much better than going to stores. A lot of stores only include plus sizes online, so I don’t even have the opportunity to shop in the store.
And for all the deliveries I’ve gotten over the years, I’ve been very lucky with not having things stolen. I think I’ve only had a package stolen once or twice in my life. This is partially due to me always being home so I grab things off of my doorstep as soon as they arrive. But even when I didn’t work at home, things weren’t stolen as often as they were for some of my friends. Perhaps the location of my front door helps because most people wouldn’t walk up my driveway to look at each house.
Most deliveries will tell you what day to expect them to arrive and it’s a mystery what time it will be dropped off. But not grocery deliveries. I typically am given a 2-hour window to expect them. And you get a tracking link so you can watch the truck as it’s driving to you. That way, if you have things that need to be refrigerated or frozen, you can get the bags right away and the food won’t go bad. There has been a time or two that the tracking link didn’t make it to me, but the delivery person has always rung the doorbell so I know that they arrived. Plus, I get an alert on my Ring that someone is at my door.
I was supposed to have groceries delivered on Wednesday. I knew the 2-hour window they were supposed to arrive and I knew I would be at home (not like I can really go anywhere else). It was almost the end of the delivery window and I still hadn’t gotten the tracking information. I checked in front and behind my house and didn’t see groceries anywhere. So I contacted the customer service to see what was going on.
According to them, my groceries had been delivered right at the beginning of the delivery window. There was a photo showing them near my house, but I never got a notification that there was anyone at my door or that the groceries arrived. And I guess someone took them from my door before I checked about 90 minutes after the delivery.
Nothing I ordered was that urgent or essential. It was a few ingredients I needed for something I wanted to make this weekend, some snacks, and some sparkling water. Nothing fancy. Nothing I would think someone would want to steal. But I guess someone was either desperate for groceries or didn’t look in the bags before they stole them because they were gone.
The customer service person I was speaking to was really working with me to figure out what happened. She described the picture of the delivery (I was unable to see it), and it was very obviously my house from the description she gave. But there was no reason why I didn’t get a tracking link so I could watch the delivery progress and it was clear that I didn’t have my groceries.
I said I would be fine with either a refund or redelivery. I felt bad asking for them because I feel like it was partially my fault I didn’t know my groceries had been delivered. But then again, I had no way to know. Fortunately, it was really simple to get them redelivered and I did get my groceries yesterday. I made sure to be sitting by my door during the delivery window so that I didn’t miss them arriving.
I know I’m lucky that this is a very rare occurrence for me and it was resolved quickly and easily. I’m privileged that I haven’t had things stolen from the front door that I really needed. I couldn’t imagine if this was a prescription delivery or if I actually needed the food that night. It sucks that people do this, but I’m glad that it’s not that often.
Posted onSeptember 3, 2020|Comments Off on Still Doing More House Projects (or Just Trying To Find Busy Work)
Since I’ve been staying in my house, I’ve done so many projects around my house. I’ve done some redecorating, I’ve done organizing things, and I’ve probably done more deep cleans of my house than would be necessary. Sometimes I do these projects because they are things that I’ve been putting off. Some of them have been to just change up the look of my house. And some of them are because I’m bored and have nothing else to do.
I have to be careful with the projects that I do just because I’m bored. If they are things that don’t cost me anything, that’s fine. But a lot of these projects cost me something because I’m buying supplies of some sort. And I don’t want to buy a lot of new things just because I’m bored. I know that I will buy some things when I’m redecorating my house, but I’m also really trying to use the things in my house in a new way that makes them feel different.
Doing projects has been a good way to have a sense of purpose on a day that I might not have anything else going on. I feel a sense of accomplishment if I do something and complete it. It’s silly how proud I can be of myself for some of the things that I have done, but at the same time, I’m going to take a win however I can get them these days.
I think I had a bigger desire to do projects a few months ago. That one was motivated by feeling bored in my house and wanting to have a different view when looking around my place. I have slowed down a lot with the projects or have found random smaller ones to do from time to time. And like I mentioned above, a lot of these projects are also about cleaning my house. My floors and surfaces have never looked better. Of course, I also am using the floors and surfaces as staging areas for other projects, so they can look a bit cluttered. But even if they are cluttered, they are clean.
And when I find a project that does cost me money, I try to be very aware of how much I’m spending and what I really need to get. For example, I recently spent some time online searching for some nice fake plants. As much as I would love to have real plants in my house, I’m not that great at keeping them alive. So fake plants allow me to get the greenery in my house without the potential plant murder. And there are so many nice fake plants online to pick from. Just like with so many things, if I had endless money I would probably buy a ton. But I wanted to keep it limited to maybe one new plant for now. I ended up buying a set of 3 small fake plants that I’m deciding where I want to keep them (right now, all three are in my kitchen window, but I bet I’ll move them a few times within the next week or so).
There are several more fake plants that I have saved online because I love the look of plants in a house. I want to get something to put on the floor near my tv, but I think it’s harder to find good fake plants when they are big without seeing them first. So far, I’ve only bought small ones online. But maybe in a month or two, I’ll change my mind about that.
I’ve also done a lot of organizing and cleaning of the random stuff I’ve had around my house. I don’t want to collect things that I don’t use, but I also struggle a bit letting things go because I’m scared I might need them eventually. But I have been getting better at that and then also organizing whatever I have left. It’s a process doing this and I’m taking small steps, but I have gotten a lot of stuff out of my house that I really don’t need (and either have it stored for donating or friends have taken things). This week, I worked on organizing my purses/tote bags/travel carryons. I pretty much only use one purse for my day to day life. I have a few fancy purses and a few other random ones. But I have a lot of tote bags and carryon sized bags. I went through them all, found the ones I haven’t used or don’t like anymore, and put up command hooks in my entry closet to hang up the ones I’m keeping.
I’m sure that I’ll find more random projects and organizing things to do this week and going forward. As I said, I need things to keep me busy and not just have my day be a nothing day. It’s probably a good thing I live in such a small house because there are only so many things I can do. I can’t imagine all the projects I could think up if I had more rooms to do them in!
Posted onJune 4, 2020|Comments Off on Sharing Some Resources (or Working On Being Anti-Racist)
As I shared the other day, I am coming to terms with how I have never been anti-racist. It’s a very different mindset from what I have had my entire life, but I know that I need to change and I am so grateful that I have friends who have shared some good resources to work on this. One friend also shared that if you haven’t been anti-racist, you likely have had a bit of racism in you. I hated that idea, but the more I thought about it the more that I know it is true.
I don’t make an effort to only give my money to white-run business or to white authors, but that is what I have done if I look at my past. So many books that I love are about white characters. There are a few that are about black characters but often I don’t know that until I’m already partway through the book. If a character isn’t described by their skin color, I default to thinking they are white. And for brands, I usually don’t know who runs a company or pay attention to that. But I now know that black-run businesses don’t get the same opportunities as white-run businesses do so I might not have the chance to buy from them unless I make a little effort. I never was trying to avoid black-run businesses, I just didn’t know that because of many different factors I wasn’t being presented with the chance to buy from them.
Fortunately, during Blackout Tuesday there were so many lists going around with different resources for anyone to look at. There were books about racism or how to become anti-racist. There were lists of black-run beauty companies that many of us hadn’t heard of. There were movies, tv shows, and podcasts that discuss these issues that maybe hadn’t gotten the same publicity that other media had. There are hundreds of lists out there and the ones I am going to share are only a few. I recommend doing a search or looking on social media for more because there are so many out there.
The one thing I saw the most over the past few days was this link to a google doc of anti-racism resources. This has lists of books, videos, podcasts, articles, movies, and tv shows to look at to work on becoming anti-racist. There is also a section for resources of media to help raise anti-racist children. There is also a list of organizations to look at and their social media links so you can follow them on there. Plus they link to more lists of anti-racism resources.
This list from Medium has sections of what to read, listen to, watch, and follow on social media. There is also a section for kids and teens.
If you are going to be buying any books (either from these lists or books in general), this google doc has a list of black-run bookstores. They are listed by state and it includes if they are open for shopping, only doing curbside pickup right now, or only shipping. But there are so many stores you can buy from and I believe the ones that can ship books can ship them anywhere in the country.
Some people may think of black-run beauty businesses as companies that make products specifically for black people. That is not true. Just like how white-run beauty companies don’t just make things for white people (although you might be able to argue that they do, but that’s a very different story). Here are two different lists of companies to look at and you might find a new favorite product! I understand that maybe right now you don’t have money to buy any new products, but you can still look and take notes on what you’d like to buy when you have the money.
I’ve also seen lists of black-run restaurants and coffee shops, but I haven’t found a good list that I could share on here that covers more than just Los Angeles. Please do a search online for the lists for your area. Many of them are doing delivery and takeout or curbside delivery, so you can order from them even if restaurants are not open yet for your city.
Some people who believe the response to Black Lives Matter is to say all lives matter might argue that white businesses should get promoted too. But that’s all I’ve done in thousands of posts. I didn’t have to go out of my way to say they were white-run businesses. Unfortunately, that is the default. I am trying to use my voice and my blog to give some opportunity to a large group of businesses that I have not given that same chance to. Yes, people will still shop at white-run businesses and read white authors. I bet that most money will still go to those. But I want to make a conscious effort to not do that with all my money. I want to increase my awareness of businesses that I have not been shopping from in the past and make sure that I don’t fall back into that trap. I know right now everyone is hyper-aware of this issue and will be making efforts. I want to make sure that this change is permanent and not just because it’s such a big issue right now. And I hope that you all will increase your awareness, work on becoming anti-racist, and support more diverse businesses, authors, artists, and creators.
Posted onMay 26, 2020|Comments Off on Doing A Lot Of Shopping (or Just Trying To Have Some Variety In My Life)
I’ve been doing a lot of shopping and organizing lately. I’m glad that I am finally doing this since there have been so many things that I have been putting off that I needed to do. I want my house to be the most efficient and amazing place for me. And there are things that I set up when I moved into my house that I just never changed. But it’s been a good thing to change them up and get my house to a place that I had been wanting to get it to for a while.
This is so important because my house is so small and I don’t have unlimited space to do what I want. Most things in my house need to be able to be moved if necessary or to be functional for more than one thing. I don’t want to have a ton of furniture that I have to work around all the time. Obviously, there are some things that don’t move, but for the most part I am able to shift things around if I need to.
But besides buying things to organize my house, I’ve been buying things to change up the look of my house too. I haven’t gotten as many of these, but I have been finding new decorative things I want to add. Some of this is because in my organization (especially around my desk), I’ve been taking a lot of things down and either getting rid of them if I don’t need them or moving them into different places. I could keep all my decorative stuff the way they are, nothing is horrible. But I just felt like I needed a change and went for it.
I haven’t gotten the new decorative things since I ordered them online and there are lots of shipping delays, but it has gotten me really excited. I just can’t wait until I am able to put things up and maybe I’ll move even more things around.
I wasn’t thinking too much about why I felt so compelled to redecorate my house. At first, I thought it might be because I have had so many things in my house for 10 years and I was ready for a change. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that this might be due to quarantine. I don’t really leave my house for anything right now. I don’t go to the grocery store that often (I usually get it delivered but maybe go to the store once a month). I don’t go out anywhere. I am working on finding some good socially distant social events, but I haven’t planned any yet. I am just inside my house and looking at the same walls all day.
I think my urge to redecorate had a lot to do with that. I was craving a change and changing the decorations inside is something I can do and not have to leave my house. Maybe this will trick my brain into thinking I have gone somewhere different. Maybe it will just take some of the monotonous feelings of being home away. I still think that I will be antsy to get out and back to normal life, but hopefully this takes a little bit of the edge off. And even if it doesn’t, I’m excited for a change in my house. Everything that I have changed up has made things feel a bit more serene and less cluttered. And I have changed other things around my house to fit with those new things which changes it up even more. Even if it doesn’t, everything I bought does make me excited about them so I don’t need them to do more for me than that.
Whenever people can finally be out and social again, my house is going to look like an entirely new place. I’ve joked to people that they won’t recognize it when they come over. But even if nobody noticed or cared, I am still so happy about the changes I’ve been making. And I hope the new things coming soon will just continue to make me feel that way. But I do hope that I have a break of changing things up that require purchasing after this. As great as it’s been for my mental state, I know that I am spending money that I should probably be saving. But I’m not worried about that right now.
Posted onDecember 26, 2019|Comments Off on Another Small Upgrade (or Making Things Easier To Watch)
I try not to always splurge on the latest and greatest technology. I’m usually the person who keeps something as long as possible, even when it gets a bit outdated. I’m always having friends making fun of me for my phone because it’s so small (the reason I haven’t upgraded my phone is that I like a small phone). The only time I got something brand new as soon as it came out was my laptop, but that was something I had been waiting on for a while.
Besides my phone being a bit outdated, the other thing I have that wasn’t close to being the most recent version was my AppleTV. I got my AppleTV years ago so I could watch Netflix and Hulu on my TV. I know there are cheaper devices I could have gotten that could have accomplished the same thing, but I liked how the AppleTV worked with things I had in my iTunes account and it was worth the splurge. And I’ve been enjoying it for years (almost 9 years to be exact) even though there were features that people were able to enjoy that I couldn’t because my device was so old.
There were lots of things that I was ok with missing out on, but this year it got a bit much and I realized that I should just upgrade it. I think the final straw was when I realized I couldn’t watch Disney+ because I couldn’t access the app. I debated about getting a different device, but there were a few things that were only able to be accessed with an Apple device (like lots of movies and apps that I had things on). So getting a new AppleTV was the best option for me. I didn’t feel like braving the Apple Store so close to Christmas, but fortunately, Target had some in stock and there wasn’t a huge crowd when I happened to be passing by. I was in and out of the store in under 10 minutes with my new toy in my hands!
I’ve actually been enjoying this more than I was expecting! Obviously I’ve been able to take advantage of downloading different apps so I can watch things from different systems. I also can access my digital screeners for the SAG Awards on it so I don’t have to watch on my laptop. I spent more time than I probably should have this week with my time off watching screeners, Disney+, and all other streaming services. But I was also recovering from food poisoning and my plans were already to spend a lot of time watching shows.
This wasn’t the cheapest upgrade, but it wasn’t too horrible either. I didn’t get the most expensive version since I didn’t need all that it had to offer. And I figure that since I enjoyed the last one for almost 9 years that hopefully I could do the same for this one as well. And if the cost is spread over 9 years (or even 5 years), it’s not bad at all. And it does bring me a lot of happiness and makes it feel like I did a big upgrade in my house. And having that upgrade did inspire me a bit to spend even more time working on cleaning up my space and making it even better for sitting on the couch and watching movies. So having something I bought motivate me to do something I have been putting off a bit is another added bonus.
Of course, I don’t want to get into a place where I spent more time sitting and watching shows because I can finally access them on my tv. I think this week was a weird one since I had so much time off and could actually be lazy like this. When I’m in my normal schedule, I don’t think I will prioritize watching stuff on my tv over what I need to do. Of course, if I notice that I’m starting to do that I’ll have to take action and get back on track. But for now, I’m really just enjoying being able to watch things I’ve been wanting to watch and have something that feels a little fancy in my house.
Hoping To Fix My Computer (or Can The New MacBook Pros Please Come Out Soon?)
