Currently - September '23

It seems a little unreal that it's September; July and August have really flown by! Since the August post was pretty late, the themes in this post are pretty similar, but here it goes anyway. Please stop by Jennifer's blog to see what others are up to 'currently.'

 

loving - September is birthday month! We kicked things off with my brother's on the 1st, and we'll celebrate mine on the 24th. Seems like a good opportunity to "treat yo' self" - maybe with an air fryer? Nice new pair of jeans? Fun sneakers? All of the above?

seeing - We finally saw the Barbie movie last weekend, the first movie I've seen in a theater in a loooooong time. I definitely had to get popcorn (yum), and gosh there were a lot of previews! At least going to a weekend matinee is one thing that is actually cheaper in Phoenix than in the DC metro area (I've been a little surprised that a lot of other things aren't).

dreaming - As mentioned in the last post, I'm definitely dreaming of cooler weather and spending more time outside. I'd love to do another multi-day bike adventure (or even an all-day bike adventure), and have started looking at trail maps and researching options here in AZ. Cooler weather also means we can use the oven again without making the A/C work harder than it already is, so more baking is definitely on the fall bucket list as well. 

eating - I picked up a copy of the Plant Forward Solution at the library, and after skimming most of it, I have been feeling inspired to take a more 'plant-forward' approach to meals. Basically, this means adding more fruits and veggies to every meal and swapping out some recent go-tos, like eggs for breakfast and sandwiches for lunch, for smoothies and salads. 

using to decorate - I've been trying to nurture some houseplants back from the brink (their distress mostly caused by me in the first place: overwatering, getting gnats, putting them outside to dry out where they've gotten scorched, etc.) and a couple of them are looking better. Other than that, not many decorations at the moment, but I am looking forward to figuring out a theme and putting up some Halloween things next month.

Best of August

• Finally getting dining chairs - Technically, I think they arrived in late July, but we no longer have mismatched folding chairs around our kitchen table. Eventually, we'll invite someone over to use them with us!
• More reading - We've become regulars at the library, and I've been tearing through some summer reads, including some graphic novels that Keizo introduced me to. He reads a lot of manga in Japanese, but has found some w/ English translations that I've been enjoying.