Juliana Moves

Hello from a very smokey Arlington! Wildfire smoke from Canada has descended onto our area and it is horrific outside. Last time I checked, the AQI was over 230. I could tell it’d be bad from the moment I opened our shutters this morning and the light wasn’t quite right.

Nonetheless, I’ve had a pretty great week! Summer continues to be go go go and life feels a little chaotic, but it’s all good and worthwhile. I can’t remember the last time I’ve gone on a normal grocery shopping trip or had a weeknight without a to do list. It’s all in the pursuit of fun times! I have to remind myself that eventually fall will roll around, the days will get shorter, and I’ll have plenty of time to be indoors with a routine. In the meantime, sunshine and enjoyable chaos.

Here’s what I’ve been…

…Reading: Last time we chatted, I had just started The Correspondent by Virginia Evans. Wow, that book is 110% worth the hype around it. I laughed, I cried, I reflected on my life and the world. 10/10. It even made me want to start sending letters to people!

Since then I’ve also read To the Moon and Back by Eliana Ramage (a little slow for me at first but ended up being beautifully done), I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman (also fantastic, if not mindboggling. Why is the power still on?!), and I finally finished Soonish by the Weinersmiths.

Up next, I am going to read The Rest of Our Lives by Benjamin Markovits and Invest Like a Girl by Jessica Spangler. I grabbed a large stack of books from the library recently, but I also have an upcoming week at a beach house so I think I’ll manage!

P.S. Our library does a summer reading challenge, so I redeemed my reward! Two baseball tickets AND a book from the library book sale. YES!

…Enjoying: My new bird feeder with a camera! Truthfully, it’s a miracle that this blog post isn’t just photos of birds. But don’t worry, I am about to hit you with plenty of them.

The squirrels are so obnoxious and love to hog the feeder and knock a bunch of the seeds on the ground. We’ve ordered some spicy bird seed to try next! No matter, it still brings me so much joy to watch all the birds come through! We’ve had crows, chickadees, cardinals, blue jays, mourning doves, and an American finch! I’m obsessed.

…Eating: Our garden harvest! We are finally reaching the point in the summer where we can finally pick our produce and I am thrilled. This week we harvested a cucumber and many tomatoes. Last night I cut up more tomatoes, picked some of our basil, and enjoyed it all with some balsamic vinegar!

…Drinking: An insufficient amount for this heat. I have officially reached the point in the summer where every activity feels much harder than I’d like and I know it’s because my hydration game is slacking. I’ve barely been drinking enough water, let alone electrolytes. One indicator for me that I’m not taking good care of myself is when I sweat like a pig when I lift. Of course, I am working out so I always get sweaty, but I really know times are tough when I start dripping sweat during the warm up.

Despite this, I think I am doing a freakishly good job of acclimating to the heat. It also helps that it has been slightly less humid this week! I had a couple runs in feels like temps of 100 degrees and did not feel like I was going to die. Hurrah!

…Looking Forward To: Running a half marathon at the end of August! I did this same race two years ago and loved it’s low key, small town feel. I got an email about it, saw they had tomatoes on the race shirts this year, and decided to do it just for fun! Patrick signed up too.

…Feeling: Pretty tired! I am so grateful for all the fun and travel we’ve had this summer, but boy am I exhausted. Patrick and I were just discussing how we’ve been bad about going to bed early, so I know that’s partially it. The heat sucking the energy from your soul is another component. Hopefully a week at the beach will be chill enough to help me recuperate!

I hope you’ve had a great week and a lovely weekend ahead. Whether you’re planning a chill weekend at home or have adventurous ideas, I hope you feel restored and grateful for life!

Love,

JN