The Debrief - August 2

I took the week from work and completely unplugged — save for one thing I was tracking until Tuesday. Other than that, I have enjoyed being away from work and letting that part of my brain rest a bit. I wouldn’t say my time off was restful, as any parent with a 3 and 6 year old (HBD Z!) can tell you. We camped, celebrated a birthday, had a visit from the tooth fairy, hosted an uncle, and managed to make it through a week with zero childcare (save for a few hours with our beloved high school sitter). I’ve been remiss in posting for a couple of weeks but here’s a few things that have caught my eye.

The Devil Wears Prada was a formative movie for me. Along with my Myers Briggs type (ENTJ), I realized at the end of my MA in counseling-psychology that I wanted to go back into a business/corporate role. There’s a whole part of psychology that talks about listening to what makes you come alive inside. A fast paced, high pressure job sounded fun to me — not to mention the fashion. I missed it when I was working through my degree and internship. Feelings are information, as they say. So I listened and went back into a business type role when I graduated. All of this to say, the sequel is now on Hulu/Disney and I can’t wait to watch it.

My book club at work is reading this. I’m enjoying it but am such a slow reader right now. I feel like my desire for reading comes in spurts with kids. I will devour a book but wait weeks, if not months, before opening another book. Fingers crossed I can finish before the book club meets.

Every summer I buy peaches from this online company and love eating them fresh or making cobblers. Even my son asks for the “peaches in the box, not from the store.” Not sponsored, just love a good Georgia peach.

If you’re looking for an impressive recipe that’s absolutely so easy to make but looks like you’re an accomplished chef, clam Iinguini is a fun flex.

My favorite top from the summer is on sale and I can’t stress enough how cute it is. It’s still on the pricier side but my price per wear is low — it’s an elevated white tee and it’s spoiled me for all white tees moving forward.

I posted my second quarterly review - an honest look at my life in the categories of career, family, health, finances, and ambition. It’s paywalled but there’s a link to see what that content looks like from the previous quarter (and that post is not paywalled). Let me know what you think.

Two tired parents who thought a camping trip would be relaxing.

I’ve been telling anyone and everyone about our camping trip where a bobcat stood outside our tent in the middle of the night making noises and screeching to another nearby bobcat. I have never felt the literal fight or flight adrenaline in the wild before. But it was unlike anything I’ve felt before to feel like prey in the wild. Turns out bobcats are just as scared of us (thanks Gemini and working WiFi). You just stay in your tent (done) and make really loud noises while turning on the flashlight. They will run off. I was able to go back to sleep knowing it wasn’t interested in us but it remains one of the wildest moments of my life. It gave me a quick glimpse of what it was like to be a human pre-civilization with zero protection in the wild. What’s crazy to me is this was not a remote campsite. We were less than a mile from a gas station on a main road and we were staying at a well inhabited campsite with RVs and tents that is consistently sold out every day. Truly insane.

My brother came to town to visit. He hasn’t been here in a few years and the kids absolutely loved seeing him. He truly embraced the idea of being a fun-uncle and I don’t know how we are going to make it back to work and daycare tomorrow when he leaves. Here’s to family we love and miss.

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