Welcome back to Sunday Spotlights! This past week was a busy one. The classes I’m enrolled in are nearing completion, which is bittersweet. It also means I have a final project on my hands. I’m still working on the blog post that goes over what this class is. Stay tuned for the post next month!
Sunday Spotlights 20: Progressing On My Spring Goals, Finding A Secret Garden, & More City Adventures
Building off of my spring goals and the desire to become better acquainted with Chicago, I stopped by The Nature Museum for a private tour. This was a great opportunity to learn about the low-cost and free resources available to the community. I particularly enjoyed the Sustainability Center. When I was in the Sustainability Center, I learned the Nature Museum has a garden area too! Despite the rain and gloomy day, it was still beautiful!
Preparing For This Week:
Usually, this section continues to share information about the previous week, but a lot of what I did is under embargo until the projects launch. Tomorrow I’m starting the 75-Soft Challenge with one of my best friends, Mikayla. She and I have experienced job changes and want to refresh our routines.
About the 75-Soft Challenge
The 75-Soft Challenge is a 75-day lifestyle challenge to help people establish new routines that prioritize movement, healthy eating, and reading. The rules of the challenge are if you skip a day, you need to start over. The challenge can begin at any time. For 75 days in a row, participants are encouraged to read 10 pages of a book, drink 1 gallon of water, eat a healthy diet, only drink alcohol on social occasions (this is set up for if someone drinks daily), and do a 45-minute workout.
I’m going to adjust the challenge slightly to fit my lifestyle. I don’t want to drink 1 gallon of water. Instead, I’m going to follow the guideline my personal trainer gave me, which is to aim to drink half of my body weight in ounces. Also, I don’t drink alcohol regularly, so the goal I’m going to swap that for is to wake up an hour earlier each day.
Last Week’s Favorites:
Now, for your dose of entertainment. Continue on for reading and listening recommendations.
What I’m Reading:
I just started Emily Henry’s new book, Funny Story. This is our book club selection for the month and so far it’s cute!
About Funny Story By Emily Henry
”Daphne always loved the way her fiancé Peter told their story. How they met (on a blustery day), fell in love (over an errant hat), and moved back to his lakeside hometown to begin their life together. He really was good at telling it…right up until the moment he realized he was actually in love with his childhood best friend Petra.
Which is how Daphne begins her new story: Stranded in beautiful Waning Bay, Michigan, without friends or family but with a dream job as a children’s librarian (that barely pays the bills), and proposing to be roommates with the only person who could possibly understand her predicament: Petra’s ex, Miles Nowak.
Scruffy and chaotic–with a penchant for taking solace in the sounds of heart break love ballads –Miles is exactly the opposite of practical, buttoned up Daphne, whose coworkers know so little about her they have a running bet that she’s either FBI or in witness protection. The roommates mainly avoid one another, until one day, while drowning their sorrows, they form a tenuous friendship and a plan. If said plan also involves posting deliberately misleading photos of their summer adventures together, well, who could blame them? But it’s all just for show, of course, because there’s no way Daphne would actually start her new chapter by falling in love with her ex-fiancé’s new fiancée’s ex…right?”
What I’m Listening To:
Surprise surprise, I’m still listening to TTPD. Though, Saturday evening I did press play on evermore (deluxe version) as I was driving home in the middle of a severe lightening storm. What can I say, that’s my go-to comfort album.
You Might Like:
- How To Get & Read Books For Free (Legally)
- I Challenged Myself To Live Sustainably For One Month – Here’s How It Went
Household Favorites:
I’m still enthralled by the Breville Barista Express Machine. I’ve officially found the ideal settings for my daily cuppa. And, it’s much less cleaning than I originally thought. I’m in a good routine already.
Looking To The Week Ahead:
As we enter a new week, I encourage you to stop and reflect. You can write this down on a piece of paper, use these as discussion points with friends/family/loved ones, think about this independently, or with your therapist. I’m trying to get better at carving out intentional space each week. This is my reminder to pause and think about what worked, what didn’t, and to set intentions for the days ahead.
This Week’s Intention/Mantra/Encouragement:
“Do one thing today that your future self will thank you for.” – Unknown
Challenge:
Using the intention/mantra, above, think about what that “one thing” is. It doesn’t need to be solving a major world issue — although, that would be much appreciated. Instead, it can be as simple as getting out of bed, not skipping a meal, asking for support with something, calling a loved one and saying hi/ catching up.
Those “little” things are sometimes the most important. They are building blocks, moments we can never turn back, and opportunities to try something new.
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