Did
Thanks to my continued efforts of two non-commercial days a week (which tbh has an approximate 70% success rate lol) I not only spent more time reading (like last month), but I also have been clearing out my fridge and freezer since I’m stretching out the time between grocery shopping. I grew up with a jam-packed fridge and freezer so I feel a little less secure when I see open spaces. My impulse is to go to the grocery store and immediately buy more food whenever I see free space in the fridge. But this way of clearing out the fridge and freezer before my next grocery trip is a good practice in preventing food waste. It also feels good to use something up that’s been sitting in the freezer for awhile. And it made me realize I need to let go of a fear (that I didn’t know I had until this month) of food scarcity. There is no need for me to keep a jam-packed fridge and freezer, and even with these appliances half full I have more than enough food.
I went to my first social function at a bar with a group of mostly strangers and had a good time even without a drop of alcohol. I’m pretty proud of myself for this one because as a socially anxious person (and as a true introvert, thinking about a social function amongst strangers breaks me out in a cold sweat) I have normally used alcohol as a crutch in the past. I think I might have felt I wasn’t interesting enough or social enough without a drink or two in me. But it turns out I don’t need it. I went in with a mindset of being open and trying to really listen to engage. Luckily I was sitting amongst some very chatty, nice women and felt fairly comfortable even without a drink in hand.
What I read: How to Avoid a Climate Disaster by Bill Gates, A Constellation of Vital Phenomena by Anthony Marra, The Little Book of Hygge by Meik Wiking, Pachinko by Min Jin Lee, Nicely Said: Writing for the Web with Style and Purpose by Nicole Fenton and Kate Kiefer Lee, and Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner. Summaries of what I thought about these books to come Thursday!
Finally sorted through all my photos, oriented them the same way, and arranged them by size so I could ship off my box to ScanMyPhotos.com (which I talked about back in January’s recap). They give you six months from the time the box arrives to send it back and even though that seems like a lot of time, it flies by when you don’t think about doing it. So I finally sat myself down to go through it all. I feel great that all my old photos, my mom’s photos, and my dad’s photos are going to get digitized. Now I don’t have to worry about rescuing old photo albums in case of a fire or have them take up space in my closet. When the box gets shipped back, I’m just going to pick out my favorite photos and dump the rest guilt-free. {P.S. They scanned all my photos within a week of receiving the shipment and I have to say that so far I’m impressed with their great service!}
I put ads back on this blog. I hope you guys don’t mind too much, but since I’ve been slowing down on the new product reviews my blog income has taken a hit. I definitely want to keep talking about buying less and spending less time shopping, so instead I’ve decided to switch ads back on the site (I earn revenue just from people viewing the ads, so please do not click on them unless you want to be haunted with same ads for the next two weeks). I hope it’s not too much of a nuisance! I personally read all my favorite blogs on Feedly to avoid ads.
Due to a poorly-skilled dentist and a bad filling, I’ve had issues with a bottom right molar for almost a year now and it all came to a head with having to pull the molar out with an oral surgeon this month. My goodness, nothing like nagging tooth pain and multiple rounds of antibiotics to take the wind out of your sails. This was another reminder to be grateful when I’m healthy and pain-free (and to take care of myself as best as possible to stay that way).
We went on a family trip to Yosemite for spring break. This was our fourth time to Yosemite but our first time with Emi. We stayed at the Rush Creek Lodge (our first time) and loved it. It’s super kid friendly with lots to do (outdoor games, indoor play room, and a large pool). The rooms were large and very comfortable, and I loved that it’s located right outside the park entrance. In the past we’ve gone to Yosemite with an Airstream, and you can find my post about RVing at Yosemite here. We didn’t do much since we had a cranky toddler in tow, but we were able to do the lower Yosemite falls trail for the first time. We did it around 9am and we found a gorgeous rainbow at the bottom of the falls (pictured above). I recommend going to this hike early not only to catch the rainbow, but also because it’s very popular and gets packed during peak times. We also liked the Bridalveil falls trail in the past (located on the opposite side of the canyon and best viewed in the afternoon), but sadly that one’s closed until fall 2022. For those thinking about visiting Yosemite, just fyi you need to make reservations to enter the park after May 20th (and good thing too because I’ve gone during peak season before this system and it’s been an absolute zoo with tourists). Spring is my favorite time to go since that’s when the waterfalls are the most gorgeous (by summer the waterfalls dry up to a trickle). And this time on the way home we stopped by Columbia State Historic Park, an old gold mine town that’s been preserved, where they offer stage coach rides and the employees dress as if they’re from the 1800’s. It’s a fun stop for history lovers!
I’ve updated the following blog posts: Small Lot Co Mary Janes Review, Lovevery Play Kits Review, Pepper bra review (updated it again after a reader’s comment made me reexamine the Classic All You bra), Hanna Andersson review, and Valextra Bucket Bag Review.
Bought
Repurchased Deborah Lippmann Cuticle remover and Essie nail polish in Master Plan: I never talked about it much on the blog but back in 2016ish I had a huge nail polish craze. I was on a clothes and accessories shopping ban for a whole year, but my consumer habits ended up being funneled into a major beauty obsession that was mostly about nail polish (though I also bought a lot of makeup and watched a lot of makeup tutorials at the time). Well I had hundreds of nail polishes, and it was sooooo wasteful (and also a huge waste of money). I ended up giving bottles upon bottles to friends, as well as sold some of the higher-end ones on Storenvy. But since then, I haven’t purchased a new bottle of nail polish (just one bottle of top coat so far) and instead I’ve been trying to use up what I already have (it’s amazing how long a bottle of nail polish can last if you take care of it and dilute it with nail polish thinner periodically). But I finally decided to repurchase one of my favorite colors, Essie in Master Plan (coincidentally one of my first nail polish purchases that kicked off the obsession), when it was beyond salvaging. I also used up my favorite cuticle remover from Deborah Lippmann so I re-purchased it from Sephora.
Pepper Bra Lift Up Bra: After talking about maybe getting Pepper’s version of the push-up bra in an update in my Pepper bra review, I decided to just go for it and see how it is. And I don’t know how they do it but yes this push-up bra also doesn’t produce a boob gap. And whoa it does make my chest look bigger—talk about a boost lol. Of course full review to come soon-ish.
Repurchased Nuori Mineral Defense Sunscreen: I received my first tube of this wonderful sunscreen as a gift back in November of last year (Nuori review here), and I’ve finally run out after almost daily use. So I repurchased the sunscreen, and you can call me officially hooked.
Repurchased the SkinSalvation Charcoal Cleanser: I’ve been using this gentle cleanser for years (probably close to 6 years), and my love for it is still going strong. I recently reordered it and I was pleasantly surprised to see that Kim, the owner, has changed the packaging from plastic to aluminum. Yay for less disposable plastic (but that does mean I’m keeping my old small plastic bottles for travel).
I am still continuing my subscription of the Play Kits from Lovevery (though I skip about every other box which means I get one every 6 months or so). We just crossed over into the 3 year old and up boxes and I have to say the boxes are better and more thoughtfully curated at this age group (maybe because there’s more that a 3 year old can do?). My original review of Lovevery’s play kits here.
It’s still a tad early but I couldn’t resist getting some matching Mommy and Me dresses from Hanna Andersson for Mother’s Day. And I’m glad I did because they’re sold out of the Mommy version I got , though they still have Emi’s dress available (now on sale—along with another dress I bought for her.). I never thought I’d be the type of mom to match with their daughter but well, here we are lol. As usual, I’m impressed with Hanna Andersson’s quality of their clothing. My original Hanna Andersson review here.