Another month gone (HOW is February over already?), another happy hour writtten. Here’s what’s up in my real life this February. If you’d like to know, keep reading!
Favorite NYC spots visited:
Antique Garage, Paint Place NYC, 305 Fitness, Pop-Up Magazine at BAM
What I Couldn’t Stop Listening To:
It’s been a hot second since I’ve been as addicted to any one song as I am to Maggie Rogers’ “Light On.” This song is SO GOOD. But the whole album is incredible. Also, I’m now obsessed with The Joke by Brandi Carlile after her Grammys performance. And this obsession has inspired the theme of the March playlist (stay tuned for that)!
Favorite Photo I took:
A little different from my normal style, I just love the magic of this picture.
Favorite piece I wrote:
It was so fun to put together this list of 7 Books You Can Read (and Finish) During the Super Bowl. And, sure enough, I took my own advice and read through the entire game!
Home Life:
HOW is it the end of February? I feel like I missed the entire month. It’s been a whirlwind. What have I been up to this month? I’ve taken a lot of soulcycle classes (and a few boxing classes and a handful of yoga classes and even one dance class at 305 fitness). My addiction to soul only grows – I got to ride on the podium again this month, this time for an ABBA themed ride, which might be the most fun I’ve ever had. It’s my happy place. Apart from that, I’ve celebrated even more birthdays (see last months Happy Hour) – painting and sipping, dancing, karaoke. I went to a few opening nights of off Broadway shows.
One of the loveliest nights was spending Valentine’s Day with my nycbookpals. It started out as us attending the opening of the Stonewall Exhibit at the NYPL and pivoted to us sharing many glasses of wine at a nearby bar. Thank god for these bookish humans.
Also, I WENT TO NASHVILLE! For the first time ever! I zooped down over the long weekend to visit my wonderful friend Abby, who recently moved to this awesome city. We did so many great things. We had delicious food and went to the kookiest/best karaoke spot ever. We took a spin class and visited Parnassus Books and the Bookshop in East Nashville. We went shopping and ate ice cream and went out on Broadway. We split up for a few hours so I could hang out with the wonderful Claire Gibson (author of Beyond the Point) and then we got back together and we went to a concert with some amazing female lead singers. We ate even more amazing food and played with Abby’s adorable kitten, Monster. It was a really, really good weekend.
And I really needed it. Winter in NYC starts to drag for me around the end of January – the limited daylight hours mean less time to take photos and really indulge in my creativity. I needed to get out of this space and out of my head. When I came back, my wonderful cousin Ari came to visit from DC. We’ve been best friends since we were 2 months old, so it’s always a breath of fresh air to get to spend time with her. Also, I love these photos I took of Kyle.
This week, I started a massive room redesign/reorganization. I bought two new bookcases from IKEA and got rid of the pieces of furniture that weren’t working for me. Honestly, this process has been exhausting and caused a meltdown last night, but I’m genuinely excited about how it is going to feel when I get to go home tonight and finish it.
Work life:
I simultaneously feel like I have accomplished everything and nothing this month. In terms of my theater work, we are producing an Off Broadway show that opened this month that has been just the most fun to work on. I love the project and everyone who works on it so much.
Also, I WAS NOMINATED FOR AN AWARD! I was nominated for the Most Innovative InfluenceHer of the Year. You can vote for me through March 1 here.
The beginning of the month was awesome for the blog. I was really pleased with both my rate of productivity and the quality and content of my blog pieces. I love making playlists and I love how much you all enjoy contributing to them and listening to them! After my trip to Nashville, I fell of the band wagon a bit. Between my freelance projects and blog and editing video, AH there is a lot. But actually today I feel quite hopeful about the balance I’m about to strike. I just nailed down a few really exciting collaborations and I have a few more ideas for pitches that I’m really excited about and I’m just going to keep on keeping on. With the room project almost behind me, I feel like a whole new person.
This month, I started saying aloud some life goals that I had previously kept to myself, and it feels really good. Even if none of it comes to fruition, it felt good to hear those dreams come out of my mouth. Like they might be possible.
Favorite Meme of the Month:
I KNOW, it’s not a meme. But if you really know me, you knew it couldn’t be anything but this. OR this:
Love Life:
Still just doing me right now. Earlier this month, I deleted all of the dating apps off of my phone for the time being and to be honest, I don’t miss them.
I actually met someone at a bar a few weeks ago. Which I never do. Seriously, never. Where that goes, we’ll just have to see! But right now I’m looking for adventure and for people who are different. And for now, I’m pretty happy like this! (At least, until I watch a “One Tree Hill” episode where Nathan and Haley are particularly in love and then all I want is that. But most of the time, they’re fighting, so we’re good.)
Mental Health Life:
There have been a handful of times this month where I’ve been asked what I do for self-care and I somewhat drawn a blank. I realized that don’t really leave myself time for self-care – I do things that are partly in the interest of self-care, like soulcycle, but that often have another motive attached. Any minute of free time that I discover is often then thrown towards something else – towards sending an email, taking a photo, doing a load of laundry. So, in the month of March, I’d like to block off an hour each week exclusively for self-care. I will not allow myself to plan or email or clean or do any of the things that activate that part of my brain. I’m going to try to just be. Anything more than an hour sounds impossible, but an hour just might be managed.
nyc book girl 