Welcome to Saturday. In August. How did this happen? The summer just slipped right by, didn’t it? I’m finishing up this post after a short morning walk, latte in hand. Let’s get to it!
Starting Strong
I have a confession to make: I have been in a state of reading rebellion. And let me tell you, it’s super hard to have an entire weekly newsletter dedicated to reading and books when I haven’t picked one up in a week.
When I did some serious self reflection on Thursday night, I realized I’m actually just super busy. And distracted. But for all the best reasons! We are so lucky to have birthday parties to plan, and family to host, and work to do, and an aging dog to love, and a wonderful school to go back to. But all of that makes it hard to get past page one in a book. I find myself asking, “Can I really commit to reading this right now?”
The trick, for me, is starting strong. So, I temporarily deleted the social media apps off my phone (my primary source of distraction) and found a book I already own that’s been on my TBR for many months. Lucky for me, the audiobook was also available on Libby. Now I can seamlessly switch between my physical copy and audiobook. Oh, and the author and narrator are some of my favorites!
I’m currently on page 77 and I know I will be finishing this book. More to come when I finish!
1000 Miles
Every day I go on a walk for anywhere between one and four miles. Since I work from home, this gets me out of the house first thing in the morning and sets the tone for my day. I do it largely for the step count and mental health benefits, but I have to be honest, it’s also to get my morning caffeine fix.
I’m starting to see that my goal of 1000 miles in a year is possible! At the end of July, I had walked 572.8 miles. This means I need to average 85.6 miles over the next 5 months. My average for the first 7 months of the year was 81.8, so it’s just 4 more miles a month. As long as I am tracking closely, I’ll be able to do it!
Walking FAQs
When I tell friends and family about my walking routine and goals, these are some questions I receive:
- Do you plan on running? This is a fair question because I was a cross-country and track runner all through high school and I was running 5k races at a fairly decent pace in my twenties. So, it’s not off the table, but I’ve found that walking is just more sustainable for me right now. I don’t have to take any days off.
- What’s your pace? Anywhere from 16 minutes to 22 minutes per mile. On average, I would say that it’s about 18 min/mile. It depends on what music I’m listening to and how much energy I have! Some days I wake up and decide it’s a “bare minimum walk” day and I try not to look at my pace at all.
- Do you count daily steps towards miles? No. I only count what I call “official walks” where I am purposely going on a walk. The only exception is if I’m walking around the city where the miles can really add up!
- What’s your coffee order? I love a hot latte. I’m usually walking to get it or rewarding myself with it after I walk. After a few months of this, I started a project called Lattes for Literacy where I adjust my coffee order and donate the savings to local libraries and literacy programs.
- What do you listen to? 90% of the time I’m listening to Taylor Swift’s entire discography on shuffle. Is it embarrassing? Maybe. But I know every word and I learn something new about her music almost every single day. It is fun to be an expert in something. Just yesterday I learned what “Burton to this Taylor” is actually referencing and I’ve been listening to the reputation album since 2017. (We can thank Kristin Hannah for the “Burton-Taylor brawl” line in her latest book that prompted me to do a deep dive.)
- How do you have time for this? It took me seven years to believe I did have time for it. I’ve been walking or running in some capacity since I was 14, but after my son was born in 2017 and I went back to work, I really struggled with it. Now, my husband takes my son in the morning and I have one glorious hour to myself before work starts. Sometimes I have early work calls, but I usually can fit in at least a mile before noon every single day.
- How do you stay motivated? I don’t have to stay motivated because I am addicted to it in the best way. I read The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg about 10 years ago and I know this is simply “the habit loop” working – cue, routine, reward. The cue is waking up, the routine is the walk, and the reward is the coffee. Thank goodness we can train our brains!
My Oxford Year
I know you’ve heard of Julia Whelan, the audiobook narrator, but do you know Julia Whelan, the author? (Spoiler alert: it’s the same person!) She has written two books – My Oxford Year and Thank You for Listening.
My Oxford Year, the movie, is on Netflix now! The movie summary: An ambitious American fulfilling her dream of studying at Oxford falls for a charming Brit hiding a secret that may upend her perfectly planned life.
Parting with Paris
Last weekend, I made 6 trips to the donation center. As you know, we moved from Texas to California about 18 months ago and we now are much more limited on square footage and wall space. I donated several bags of clothes that I wore 10+ years ago, my maternity clothes, and we cleaned out my son’s closet. So. Many. Costumes.
I am a sentimental person, so I took a lot of pictures and ultimately kept a few things I just couldn’t part with yet. But I did feel a sense of relief to have most of it out of my house.
I also donated these two Paris wall decorations. I have this very vivid memory of them in my apartments during college. I had been to Paris in high school and I was very into fashion at the time. I had just spent the summers working at Banana Republic and interning at Nordstrom. During my lunch breaks, I would window shop at the stores I definitely could not afford clothes from.
Living for the Hope of it All
By now you know I’m a Taylor Swift fan, so of course I kicked off the month by listening to “august,” on folklore.
This is my favorite line:
Back when we were still changin’ for the better
Wanting was enough
For me, it was enough
To live for the hope of it all
The song is about young love, but I think we have to live for the hope of it all every day. What else is there, really?
That’s it for this week! Today we are headed out to return library books and then we are attending a kid pool party. I also hope to make some major progress on my current read!
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