A little peek at life in real time:
Currently I’m…
Reading: Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. It’s amazing. AMAZING! Adichie is such a skilled writer who can balance pain, laughs, insight, and quick wit. (No wonder Beyonce sampled her TEDx Talk in “Flawless.”) Given how much people have hyped this book, my expectations were high, but all the praise is warranted. My copy is due back to the library this weekend, so now it’s a race to the finish the last 100 or so pages. Pretty sure I’ll be sad to be done with this one.
Traveling to: L.A. this weekend for work/play, New Orleans next week for a blog trip (!), Malibu at the end of September for a wedding, and likely Catalina in early October. After a relatively quiet August, the travel ramps up yet again. Woot!
Eating: At home more. I went through a few weeks of constantly eating out, partly because I was too tired to cook and partly because I was wholly uninspired. This Martha Stewart blistered eggplant dish was a particularly memorable meal and perfect for summer.
Watching: The Wire. One episode in, I’m not totally won over yet but am curious to see why people call it the best show in the history of television. I’m also watching my Real Housewives (of Orange County and New York) because there’s no better mindless entertainment after a long, hard day.
Exercising: Differently. As much as I loved going to a yoga studio, with the amount I eat out for work-related events and meetings, I wasn’t getting the burn I needed to balance out all the calories. It wasn’t about weight; I simply felt unhealthy and sluggish. So I joined Fit, an admittedly fancy gym that offers spinning, weight classes, yoga, barre classes, and more (I get a discount rate through work). I swore off gyms after OD-ing in New York City and also because San Diego is such an outdoor activity kind of town, but I needed efficient workouts. I like doing my weekday morning classes and then adding in long walks and hikes with Teddy on weekday evenings and weekends. #balance
Working on: Purging. It’s funny that for two years of working from home, our one-bedroom apartment (which is a decent 600 square feet) seemed like the right amount of space for me, Eaman, and Teddy. Now being home only on weekday evenings and weekends thanks to a full-time office job, I find the space totally claustrophobic. Maybe it’s because the novelty has worn off. Maybe it’s because I can finally separate work from home, and really need home to be an uncluttered sanctuary. Either way, I’m getting a lot of satisfaction out of walking around the apartment and tossing (into a bag for Goodwill) items we don’t need or hardly ever use. Decluttering my space has done wonders for decluttering my mind. I also plan to check out Marie Kondo’s The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing. Have you heard of it? It seems like a bible for minimalists and manual for hoarders.
Wow! Your life looks interesting! Specially all those upcoming trips! Have fun in Californian and New Orleans and I truly hope you are happy and enjoying it all! Sincerely,
Vera
http://theflashwindow.weebly.com (The Flash Window)
https://www.bloglovin.com/blogs/-flash-window–12782683 (Bloglovin)
would absolutely love to know how to purge clothes/shoes/accessories and most importantly desi clothes.
All my Desi clothes are at my parents’ house taking up too much space! For all clothes/shoes/accessories in my apartment, if I haven’t worn it in 6-12 months, it doesn’t need to be in my closet.