Juliana Moves

Hi from my bed! I’ve been trying to spend more time sitting still and chilling out this week. So far, so good. I keep myself entertained with reading and YouTube, but today I figured I’d pop in for a life update! It’s been a minute since I’ve written one of these anyway. Here’s what I’ve been…

…Reading: Ariadne by Jennifer Saint, Being Mortal by Atul Gawande, and Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt. Three books at a time is a bit much, but Remarkably Bright Creatures is for a book club that I’m excited about! If you have read and loved The Song of Achilles or Circe by Madeline Miller, you’d probably love Ariadne.

Being Mortal is a hard read, in a good way. Dr. Gawande was the special guest when we saw John Green on his Everything is Tuberculosis book tour and I thought he was so special and wise. I saw this book at a thrift store and bought it on a whim without knowing what it’s about. It makes me good and mad. Maybe a little scared, too. I wouldn’t recommend this book to everybody, especially during times like these, but I’m glad to be reading it.

As you can see, I have quite a few books to get through and many more holds about to be available at the library. I need to hustle!

…Eating: Deli meat sandwiches. My current fixation! I can’t help it. They’re so easy to make, so tasty, and convenient to complement with other nutritious foods. I’m a fan of 100% whole wheat bread (toasted if I am eating it at home), sometimes Duke’s mayo and sometimes hummus, mustard, cheese, lettuce, tomato, sliced rotisserie chicken deli meat, and maybe turkey bacon if I’m feeling fancy. Again, if I am making this at home, it must be sliced in half. I don’t make the rules.

The best part of a deli meat sandwich is the sides. Lately I’ve been doing an apple and bell pepper strips and maybe chips or pretzels. A cookie with an iced espresso afterwards? Heaven. God, I love lunch.

…Feeling: Meh, a bit tired, to be honest. This morning I woke up and then fell back asleep on the couch. That hasn’t happened in a long time! I lifted during lunch today but held back significantly to not wear myself out before my race this weekend. Even still, the light weights I was using still felt sort of tiring. This kind of thing comes and goes for me throughout a training cycle, so I’m not worried but I would love for it to pass! 

…Listening to: The Good Hang with Amy Poehler episode with Jonathan Groff. Y’all, that episode is pure hilarity and joy. I listened to it at the gym last week and had to bail on a Z-press because I started laughing out loud. I’ve relistened to clips of it because it’s just so good. I am absolutely obsessed. 

…Trying: Embrace my craft era. Look, I’m not a crafty gal. I don’t jump to use the word ‘creative’ when asked to describe myself. I wouldn’t reach for the word ‘patient’ either, which seems to be a valuable trait when doing crafts… That said, I’ve been inspired (by a YouTuber, if we’re being totally honest) to try some simple crafts that I thought sounded fun or satisfying! I made this necklace! I wanted to throw in towel when it didn’t work right away, but Patrick encouraged me to google some tricks. After another trip to Michaels, I got what I needed (eyepins, if you’re curious) and successfully made it. A coworker even complimented it today!!!

I think I’m just someone who needs a craft I can do in one short sitting. And I had to strike while the iron is hot – inspiration-wise. I have a few more crafts I’d like to try but might turn them into gifts, so you’ll have to wait and see!

…Enjoying: Small moments of whimsy. I wrote about my idea for Wonder Weeks a while back, but I never really got my act together to do something specific for February. That said, the act of writing that post and thinking about how to create small, joyful moments in an otherwise mundane moment did inspire me! We sent Valentine’s Day cards to our families, I painted my nails a pink-ish color, and I made chocolate covered strawberries and even tempered the chocolate! Fancy fancy. Hopefully I can make a slightly more concerted effort for March, though I’m pretty pleased with how this month has gone 🙂 

…Excited For: My “new” jean shorts! I keep a list of random stuff I get the urge to buy in an effort to reduce mindless spending. Days, weeks, or months later, I can revisit the list and decide if I still even want the item anymore or not. Last summer I had quite a list going and I deleted almost everything from it at the start of this year except for two things: an outdoorsy skort (but not of the running or tennis variety) and a pair of looser legged jean shorts. 

The skort I could probably find and buy within 10 minutes, but that is not the point of this exercise! The jean shorts were more mythical and harder to find. I wanted something that wasn’t super loose or too tight. I wanted them to be mid-waisted-ish and to go to mid-thigh without looking like bermuda shorts. I also didn’t want to have to try on a thousand pairs of shorts or spend a bunch of money on them. I had a vision and that was it.

Enter: a shockingly nice Goodwill. Patrick and I went for fun on Monday and I. Was. In. Luck. I found my perfect pair. They’re actually Target brand and fit all my specifications exactly. I was fully prepared to shell out the $6 for them. Come to find out, they were marked with the sale color of the week so they were $2.95! The exact type of shorts I’d been wanting, while reducing my consumption of new items, at that cost?! Kismet.

I hope you have your ‘finding your perfect jean shorts’ moment this week, too.

Love,

JN