Recapping last week before the 5 cities in 5 days week ahead

The week ahead of me is kind of a lot, so rather than getting all the work done I need to to make it go as smoothly as possible, I am of course taking a blog break. Because that's what you do when you know you're going to need some pick-me-up comments scattered throughout your days.

We went to Houston for Easter to see my parents and brother and his family. It was super fun to see everyone, especially the kids with their twin 2-year-old cousins, and I'm so glad we were able to make the trip. We got back about 2 pm and I promptly unpacked, fell asleep, woke up, and then packed for my trip tomorrow. My week ahead looks like this:

Sunday: Houston → Dallas 
Monday: Dallas → DC
Tuesday: DC → NYC (via a 10 pm last flight out)
Wednesday: NYC → Dallas (also a last flight out)
Thursday: Dallas (Landon's swim banquet is that night)
Friday: Dallas → Savannah (for the weekend for a coworker's wedding)

So, my suitcase will get a greater than usual workout, while my body probably gets less. I'm actually having a pretty major surgery on the Wednesday after we get back from Savannah, and while I wouldn't say I'm excited about it, I am not sad that I will be grounded for 4 weeks afterward. But more on that later, for now we'll move to fun random things and pictures before I get back to drafting actual legal work.

Last week Cora took a star turn in her class play about The Oregon Trail. Each 4th grade class was given the general subject matter and wrote their own play, to be performed for the parents. They were so cute and so earnest and good and I thought it was such a great project. Cora was a mother of three and practiced her lines and cues SO MANY TIMES she was able to whisper directions to anyone else throughout the play's run.

She now has to be some sort of pioneer woman for Halloween since I bought that costume, but at least she already knows her backstory.

We made Claire's school decision and after some bumps, are really truly excited for her next chapter in high school (!!) this fall. It's been a rough fucking year, but we're looking forward to brighter days ahead on many fronts.

Speaking of the girls, they are currently on the same swim team (Claire is officially going to swim in high school next year! I'm so glad for her, I think it will be a wonderful experience) and even faced off on the breaststroke legs of the medley relays at a meet last weekend! Claire won, but not by much!

Claire has been practicing her volleyball with Landon and Cora each night now that the sun sets later and I love hearing them in the backyard.

Even if at some point someone either hits a ball in someone's face or is deemed to be insufficiently kind/supportive/good to continue playing.

On Saturday I decided to partially redecorate our house by moving around furniture we already had to new places. I created a sitting area in our entryway and love it so much I actually ended up buying a new bench for that spot and moving the bench from upstairs back to the landing because everyone missed it there. Turns out everyone really likes having a bench nearby. And now you can better see the beautiful elephant end table of my grandparents' that I love so much.

I also took out a dear client and friend for dinner to celebrate a promotion and wore this faux leather and knit dress that I got from Ann Taylor for $20 at the end of last year and shoes I got from Dirty Dillards with my mom years before. Love a red lip dressy moment, great conversation, and fabulous food.

I spent a couple days last week in Houston to make two big presentations. I felt the hot pink blazer really rose to the occasion.

Also last week, I filled out my March Madness bracket.

As you can see, I worked really hard on it. And it paid off- I was in the Top 20 for a while in my 500+ person firm competition! Now I'm 80-something, but still! It's made all the basketball watching extra fun. Even if I have to keep asking Landon who he I picked to win any particular game.

I also wore some good outfits, largely pulled from Bonnie's album.

Good clothes make me happy. Other things that make me happy- the Bridgerton Official Playlist on Spotify. The instrumental take on pop songs is the perfect background for doing work I have to focus on, especially writing or reading SEC documents. Unlike urban fantasy novels, I can't say I find 10-Ks inherently fascinating, so I need music without words. This is perfect.

Also, I am SO excited about Bridgerton Season 3. I loved Seasons 1 and 2, and while Colin-on-TV does not at all match how I pictured Colin-in-the-books such that he was kind of my least favorite adult Bridgerton, I am still here for another season of beautiful scenery, music, and romance. I also LOVED Queen Charlotte to a degree I did not anticipate. And the previews for Season 3 look very promising.

In other audio visual observations, The Taylor Swift Eras Tour movie is so great. I love that it is just a well-done production that I enjoyed watching from my couch AND that I didn't see one thing in the movie that I wasn't able to see and feel in person, even from our seats far away, and that is really amazing. Amazing job, all around, and that concert remains one of my very top moments of 2023 and possibly forever.

We watched The Boys in the Boat as a family movie last weekend and everyone loved it. Landon has read the book at least a dozen times and was still on the edge of his seat for the end. The girls were super into it and it didn't give Cora ANY nightmares (unlike Zootopia and other thrillers), so it was the rare full family win. Highly recommend it if you haven't seen it.

Speaking of TV, a small thing that has made my life happier recently: watching TV while I do workouts in my room. As I've written before, I work out almost every day in my room using the Down Dog HIIT app. I love all the ways I can change up my workouts each day and I alternate between using increasingly heavier handweights and resistance bands. Last winter, after nearly 19 years of marriage, we finally got a TV in our bedroom just so I can cast my workout onto a bigger screen. (This TV has actually not yet been used for anything except my workouts, but I still feel like it was worth it.) When the new Love is Blind season dropped it a couple weeks ago, it occurred to me that I could go back to putting the workout on my phone while I play a silly show on the TV and I could get self-indulgent-feeling TV time in WHILE I do something good for me. And I now workout every day no problem and I look forward to it. When I travel I bring my resistance bands in my suitcase and switch to that option on the app, sign into Netflix on my hotel room TV, and keep going.

After months of feeling better but not really looking any different, which is fine, but also not quite as inspiring, I finally noticed some leaner lines and definitely stronger muscles. Then when we were at the beach two weeks ago I saw that I had abs again! Right there! While increased health and strength are the honest goals of my exercise, I will not lie about the thrill of just feeling damn good in a bikini again.

On that note, what other shows should I watch while I work out? They need to be pretty light, able for me to look away for certain intervals, not something James cares about seeing, and most of all FUN. Recently I've re-done the last season of Top Chef, Loot (LOVED that show; Season 2 is out soon!), a couple seasons of Parks & Rec, Girls5eva (hilarious and HIGHLY recommend), Schitt's Creek, and am currently binging Brooklyn 99. I missed almost all TV from about 2001-2010 and love old shows as much as new ones. I also watch shows on my phone while I do my hair in the mornings. Help me entertain me!

I hope you all have a great week ahead! May you are brave and bold and ready, like Milo on a carride out into the unknown. (Or just cozy and content, like Milo at almost all other times.) Happy Easter and end of March, which always feels like the longest month of the year. On to April we go.