the week:
What do you do with transformative thoughts and experiences? Allow them to ruminate for a while until you see what resides — what sticks? Or use them impulsively as a catalyst for changing everything in your life that no longer resonates?

I don’t know if this is the rumblings of a mid-life crisis or the emergence and clarity from one.

weekend:
Our neighborhood’s yard sale is this weekend, and I’m so excited to chuck a bunch of shit that’s been cluttering my life and home. This process is step one for creating an office slash relaxation space for me in the attic. Don’t put it past me to paint everything by Sunday. Side note: we now have air conditioning up on the third floor, which makes it more a loft than an attic now. Even if said new air-conditioning unit sounds like a helicopter landing on the roof.

I’m also excited to have my sister and niece out for the weekend. I’ll be running a quickie 5K Stride for Pride on Sunday morning (hopefully, PR’ing too) and will find a place to lay my yoga mat outside in the park soon after. My sister is a yoga instructor, so maybe she can show me some other fun inversions to practice.

52 books in 52 weeks:
#18: Mistakes Were Made (But Not By Me): Why We Justify Foolish Beliefs, Bad Decisions, and Harmful Acts by Carol Tavris and Elliot Aronson

I really enjoyed this book — even more as I got further into it. If you’re a social psych junkie and interested in things like confirmation bias and self-justification, this is the book for you!

#19: Gluten is My Bitch: Rants, Recipes, and Ridiculousness for the Gluten-Free by April Peveteaux

I wanted to like this book more than I did, but it was thankfully a quick read so it didn’t waste too much of my time (especially skipping through all the recipes). Nothing new or mind-blowing here, if you’re already gluten-free, except for maybe an enhanced fear of cross-contamination.

seven things, seven days:
1. Ugh, student loans, amirite?
2. The main air conditioning unit won’t turn on. Looking forward to these 90-degree temps this weekend, for sure! (I’ll be hanging out in the attic with the new wall unit.)
3. Remember how much fun I had coloring at the Happiness Conspiracy sessions? Well, Skyhorse Publishing sent me a new coloring book: Paisleys: Coloring for Everyone. I’m going to enjoy this immensely.
4. I broke a door knob off in my house this week too because, you know, you fix a few things in the house and more shit breaks in their place. It’s a never-ending cycle of WTF, house?
5. There’s an Evereve store opening in Pittsburgh next week! It’s dubbed “clothing for moms,” but I think it’s 30-something-appropriate and fun even if you’re child-free. And I’m all about easy, functional, comfortable clothing.
6. I’m out of coffee right now, and have no microwave, so I just heated up yesterday’s leftovers in a pot on the stove. This life is glamorous, I tell you.
7. The benefits of boredom {via Greatist}