Wednesday Wins: so, like, welcome and stuff!
Well friends, let's start again. My name is Maddy, I am a lawyer by day and knitter by night, and I have a love of all things french bulldog and stupid-expensive coffees (the latter for no real reason, as I am not a coffee aficionado by any means.) I also occasionally take the unexplained blog-cation and then come back with a renewed sense of purpose and creativity, yadda yadda yadda. I read somewhere once that you should never apologize for going missing on a blog, but hell, here we are. Apologies and such.
If we're friends on the Facebook, then you may have seen my Try Something Tuesday posts, meant to encourage myself and others to...well, try something! New, specifically. Or daring, or inventive, or just plain fun. Recent installations have been: try to drink more water, try a new lipstick color, etc.
As it's Tuesday night while I'm writing this, I figured I'd restart my blogging with a new section: Wednesday Wins, sharing a few particularly wonderful bits and pieces of the previous week and weekend. And, if you're feeling up to it, hopefully you'll share some of your own wins in the comments!
1. Bullet Journaling
Y'all, I have given in. I have surrendered. I have admitted defeat in the pointless war against my own love of organization, and finally decided to begin a bullet journal. Carly, my dear friend, has been singing the praises of bujo for literally months and this week I have taken the leap.
If you haven't heard of this, it's a combination of a planner, To Do list, and personal journal noting important events or musings throughout your day/week/year. It's perfect for someone who loves the aforementioned things, as well as someone who would regularly spend her middle school afternoons at the local stationary store selecting the perfect pen/notebook combination. No, seriously. Afternoons. So many afternoons.
I can only hope to aspire to the beauty and simplicity of these variations after I get a hang of the initial concept. I'll keep you all updated, don't you worry.
2. Wherein Maddy learns how to hard boil an egg.
I'm not joking when I say that it has apparently taken us years to get here. I love cooking, I love showing off recipes, I love eggs. And yet until this week I was not confident that I knew how to actually obtain a decently hardboiled egg which peeled easily and tasted delicious. There was once a deviled egg abomination which required me to double boil the eggs so they weren't all runny inside. For shame, Maddy.
The key: bring enough water to substantially cover your eggs (I only cook up to 6 at a time) to a good boil. Very gently with a slotted spoon lower your eggs into the pot. If they are bouncing, turn down the water a bit but not much - just enough so the eggs don't crack while still raw. Set a timer for 11 minutes. After the timer is done, the full 11 minutes, remove the eggs into an ice bath and leave there for at least 10 minutes. Ideally, refrigerate overnight before peeling. Then the shells slide right off!
...You guys probably all knew that, didn't you?
I've also never tried eggs on top of avocado toast - didn't want to mix metaphors - until tonight and it is delish. Here are a few other ideas for how to uplevel your avo suppers.
3. Reading Has Happened
Ok, full disclosure: I have only read one of these books (Worth It by Amanda Steinberg, it's amazing, I am resisting the incredibly obvious pun here.) However! These are all on my soon-to-read list, and the real win here is that reading is happening, slowly but surely. I have a terrible habit of buying books that sound interesting and then not taking the time to actually sit and, you know, read them. This year I want to get through at least fifteen or so books total, which used to be no problem for me at all and is now a challenge. Who knew adulthood took so much time?
I am also listening to Into the Water by Paula Hawkins on Audible and so far I would definitely recommend it - both the book and Audible. I have listened to various non-fiction books on Audible (Broke Millennial and You Are A Badass are some fun ones) and loved the experience, but am having a harder time getting into fiction books in the same format. But I will not give up yet! It would be the perfect solution to my knitting-or-reading problem come fall.
4. I've found a yoga studio!
I have lived in my apartment almost two years and hadn't yet found a yoga studio to try, much less one that I loved and wanted to go to regularly. I hit the jackpot with Satori and after my first class was hooked. I'm not a yoga expert but there's something so soothing about taking that hour or so for yourself and trying your best. This is not meant to sound like exercise preaching - I have had to force myself through guilt, texting friends for support, and motivating myself with promises of coffee afterwards to go to my last three classes. But inevitably, I power walk my tush to the studio, I greet the (very nice) teacher, and I immediately feel satisfied that I came. It's an hour to myself, an hour to focus on not falling over during a balance pose instead of anything else going on outside of the class, and to let myself relax during shavasana to recharge for the rest of the day. How often do you really get time for all of that?
Also, there are cute clothes in yoga. This top and these joggers may have found their way home with me recently.
This weekend I'm looking forward to laying out by my friend's pool (yes, I have plenty of SPF) and celebrating my stepdad's birthday with oysters and a family excursion to Pt. Reyes. What are your Wednesday Wins? What are you up to this weekend?
