2022 in Review: Honestly Kind of a Lot

Friday, December 30, 2022

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For once, I've mostly kept this list throughout the year instead of trying to compile it all at the end of December. It's been a helpful way to reflect on the year as it passes, not just once it's already passed.
  
This was actually a pretty good year, but it certainly had its fair share of troubles, from infertility to job stress to other health issues and overall self-esteem struggles.  We didn't do much travel, preferring instead to stay close to home to enjoy our new house and just be a little cozy, which was a nice change from years past but doesn't necessarily make for a fun end-of-year roundup.
 
But the joy was in the small things, the dinners with friends and experiences out on the town. It was in decorating our new home, honing our cooking skills, hosting friends and family at the holidays and throughout the year. It was feeling suburban in a good way. It was growing up and settling in.
  
Here are some highlights.

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A Letter to My Boxing Friends

Wednesday, December 28, 2022

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A letter to you, my PGB friends,

I’ve never done very well in groups. I was in a sorority in college, and it was one of the worst experiences of my life. I’ve never felt more out of place, more alienated, more unworthy of friendship. And even though I’ve successfully been a part of multiple friend groups since then, that experience has always stuck with me. It’s become a deep and inextricable part of the story that I tell myself about myself, like it’s a fact — I have brown hair, I have a loud voice, and I don’t do very well in groups.

This year, though, had been the year that I’ve started rewriting that part of my story — and so much of it is thanks to you, the women in this room and the others who have been here throughout the year, even briefly and in passing. Every single person and every single interaction in this gym and on GroupMe and during our social events has taught me not only about all of you but also about myself. 

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Welcome (or Not) to New York. It's Been Waiting for You.

Tuesday, December 13, 2022

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I was supposed to go to New York City last weekend for what would've been my first visit since spring 2019. It was the third time in three years that I have canceled a planned trip to the city.

I don't know why, but visiting New York seems incredibly overwhelming to me post-pandemic. Obviously many, many other people live there, and they're managing just fine, but to me, New York seems very much like the before times, like a different version of my life wherein I was a different person who had different abilities that I have now inexplicably lost. 

I used to pride myself on how easy it was for me to manage in New York, even as this lifelong Midwesterner who should, for all intents and purposes, have absolutely no idea what to do in a city that damn big. It always felt normal to me, the rushing and the observing and the rude-when-you're-in-a-hurry-but-kind-when-you're-not vibes that New Yorkers have.

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Always Iterating (and Other Thoughts About the Evolution of This Blog)

Saturday, December 10, 2022

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I have a few friends who write newsletters, like through TinyLetter and Substack. I don't always read them, but when I do, I am blown away by them — by their storytelling, their vulnerability, their honesty, their intimacy. Sometimes, it feels a little bit like reading someone else's diary

In a lot of ways, it feels like the old days of blogging. 

The other night, after reading a particularly beautiful newsletter, I found myself contemplating starting a one of my own. About five minutes into my brainstorming, I stopped to ask myself: Wait. Why? Why, when I've had this blog for nearly fifteen years, would I need a different place for different writing? Why not just put it all here? 

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What I Read This Summer

Thursday, October 20, 2022

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I've been updating my bookstagram account (every now & then, at least), but I keep forgetting to post my reviews here! 

I haven't been reading as much as usual, in part because I started boxing in May, which has kept me busy. And for a while, I just didn't feel like reading, you know? Fiction hasn't felt quite right for me, somehow, so I've been trying some nonfiction options — self-help, even. It's getting me back into reading, finally. 

So! All of that said, here's what I read in June, July, August & September.

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Life Lately: Just a Few Updates

Tuesday, October 18, 2022

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I haven't had much to say lately. Life's been busy while at the same time pretty standard & unremarkable. 

But it's been three months since I last posted, which might be the longest I've ever gone without writing, & I don't want to let this blog slip by the wayside, so I figured it was time to pop in.

Without much to report on, I'm going the lazy post route. Better than no post, right?!

If we were getting coffee, here's what my life updates would look like. How about you?

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Potato Pizza, Free Baseball, Flawed Art, & More (CLE Weekends, Pt. 5)

Tuesday, July 5, 2022

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I don't know that "CLE Weekends" is the right name for this series, after all. It's essentially a round-up of anything fun, tasty, or otherwise notable that I've done lately... & often not on the weekends at all. With summer in full-swing, we've been going out with friends (& each other) a lot, not just on Saturdays & Sundays but during the work week, too.

I'm feeling a bit burned out, to be honest, because as extroverted as I am, I also need a lot of alone time to recharge, to write, to sleep, to just be. I don't have quite as much planned in July as I did in June, so I'm hoping things will slow down a bit while remaining fun.

Here's what I've loved lately. How about you?
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My Lakewood Bucket List

Sunday, July 3, 2022

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There's so much I want to do in Lakewood that I can hardly keep track of it... so I decided to start keeping track of it. I've been keeping a list in my phone of all the things I want to do & places I want to try, & I've finally assembled it all in one place here so that I can actually work my way through it.

There's also still so much I don't know about Lakewood, even though I've lived nearby for the last seven years. If you live in the area & see any oibvious gaps on the list or have other suggestions for places you think I need to go, lemme know! I want to do & see it all.

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17 Recent Amazon Purchases I Love

Wednesday, June 22, 2022

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Amazon Prime Day is coming July 12-13, & while I know that a lot of people have stopped using Amazon, I nervously confess here that I still use it with some regularity. I do most of my day-to-day shopping from Target, but there's just so much on Amazon, & it comes so quickly, &... I don't know. This is probably something I need to reckon with, but I'm honestly just not there yet.

I thought I'd share some of my recent favorite purchases. They're all over the place, topics-wise, from home goods to beauty items to completely random shit, but they're all putting in the work for me. Might as well share!

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Sandwiches & Shave Ice, Beer & Boba Tea (CLE Weekends, Pt. 5)

Tuesday, June 14, 2022

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None of my recent weekends has been jam-packed enough for its own post, but little by little, we've been on some fun mini-adventures, almost all of them involving something delicious to eat or drink. I thought it might be time to round up a few of them.

What have you been up to? And if you live in Northeast Ohio, especially, can you recommend some good spots for me to check out? You know I'm always on the hunt!

Here's where we've been as of late. 

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10 Podcasts I'm Loving Lately (+ One That I Host)

Monday, June 6, 2022

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Have we talked about podcasts lately? I don't think we've talked about podcasts lately. For the most part, I listen to a lot of podcasts about The Bachelor franchise, which is what brought me to the medium in the first place. But when the show is on hiatus, I don't know what to listen to!

Plus, lately I've been trying to scale back some of my true crime pods, for the sake of my mental health. I still tune in sometimes, but aside from the two on this list, I don't typically go the true crime route as much these days. 

Here are some of the podcasts I've been loving lately. 

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What I Read in May

Wednesday, June 1, 2022

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May down, and five books with it. I'm at 32 books of my 75-book goal for the year.

Lately I've been a hard time figuring out what to read. I loved the four Julie Buxbaum books I read in April, & since then I've been floundering a bit, like... what could live up to them? And I want good mysteries, especially ones set at boarding schools, but I can't seem to find anything that feels right.

So here's what I've got, all pretty good but none quite fitting the bill of what I'm really craving. Any recs? Hit me up. Until then...

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I'm a Boxer Now, I Guess?

Friday, May 27, 2022

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On a whim one day in March, I joined my friend Erin at a free boxing class. I thought it was just a class, but it was actually a demo day leading up to the start of a 10-week session. I had absolutely no intention of starting 10 weeks of anything, much less boxing... but I left that hour-long class ready to try. I registered the next day.

Let me be clear: I am not particularly good at boxing, even now, seven weeks into the session. But I feel a lot like I did when I first discovered cycling classes (the first time I decided that I loved it, not the actual first time, when when I almost vomited & then cried). I feel like my body is doing something, & it's exciting, especially at a time when I am struggling so much with weight gain & body image.
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On Trying Not to Hate My Body

Tuesday, May 24, 2022

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Trigger warning: This post discusses weight, including my complex feelings about my own weight gain. Read at your own risk, please, especially if you, too, struggle with your weight & may be triggered by reading about my recent issues.

The only word for what has happened to my body in the past year is "ballooned." My body has ballooned. I have ballooned. I have gained about 30 lbs. in just over a year, & I'm not sure I'm done.

I haven't started eating worse. If anything, I've started eating better, cooking from home more often & making healthier choices when I go out or order in. I rarely drink anymore. And for once in my life, I actually can't remember the last time I binged. 

But it hasn't made a difference.
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What I Read in March & April

Thursday, May 19, 2022

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I didn't post book reviews at the end of March because by the end of March, I'd only read two books. Figured I'd wait & bundle them... & then I forgot to share them altogether. Whoops. 

Now I'm on a roll, barreling through May, & though the month is nearly over, I'm going to save those for the next post. In the meantime, I'm posting reviews over on my bookstagram account on an ongoing basis, as I finish each book. 

So anyway. Here's what I've been up to, reading-wise, as of late. How about you?

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Exploring Lakewood: A Few New Faves

Friday, April 22, 2022

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As the weather warms up, I’m starting to explore more of my new neighborhood. Last weekend, I started with a bit of a solo exploration day, meeting up with Mike for lunch. I visited a few spots that aren't included here yet because there was just so much to do & to see. That just means there's more to share soon.

If you're a Cleveland person, I'd love for you to share some of your favorite local spots to tell me what else I need to check out. Obviously I've been a Clevelander for awhile now (seven years this summer), but my Lakewood knowledge could use some work. Get at me!

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48 Hours (or Less!) in Kentucky

Sunday, March 20, 2022

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When I saw that Jimmy Eat World was touring with Dashboard Confessional & not coming anywhere near Cleveland, I knew I had to hit the road. It's been two years without live music, & my last show — less than a week before I started to quarantine — was a Dashboard show in Pittsburgh.

The closest show on this tour was Louisville, KY, which is a five-hour drive. It's a 4.5-hour drive from my childhood best friend, Christina, who lives in Cleveland, TN, so we met in the middle! She has a 3-year-old daughter & was thrilled for a quick getaway.

I took three days off work & drove down to Kentucky on a Tuesday. We didn't have time to do much, but here were some highlights.

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Taylor Swift by Candlelight & Other Adventures (CLE Weekends, Pt. 4)

Wednesday, March 9, 2022

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We'd been so busy moving into our own house that I hadn't been to my mom's for a few months! On Thursday, I headed to Cuyahoga Falls to hang out with Joyce for a bit so we could watch Station 19 & Grey's Anatomy together, & I stayed through Saturday morning, working from her place. 

We were also blessed, finally, with some warm weather. It was over 70 degrees on Saturday, which felt downright tropical after all the snow we've had this year. I never think I suffer from seasonal affective disorder until the sun finally comes out & it feels like a mental fog has been lifted. 

Here's what the weekend held, aside from bad TV & a break from winter weather.
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You Don't Have to be Likable

Saturday, March 5, 2022

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I've never been comfortable with the idea of people disliking me. I know, I know: Nobody is universally liked. Intellectually, I know that. But I was still blown away, years ago, the first time I ever read this Dita Von Teese quote: "You can be the ripest, juiciest peach in the world, and there's still going to be somebody who hates peaches."

I don't know why it impacted me so much, but it put it in such a straightforward way: Even the most likable things in the world still have their haters. And fruit has a hell of a lot less personality than humans! Most people, myself included, simply are not the most likable things in the world.

But that hasn't stopped me from trying. 

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What I Read in February

Tuesday, March 1, 2022

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February was much more chill for me, reading-wise, than my 11-book January. I finished just (just?) seven books in February, which I've come to think of as a low number but which I suppose is fairly solid. 

I listened to more audiobooks than usual, tipping the scales at more audiobooks than Kindle books for the first month ever. I also read two of my favorite fiction books in a looooong time. 

So, as always, without further ado...

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The NBA All-Star Game Comes to Cleveland! (CLE Weekends, Pt. 3)

Thursday, February 24, 2022

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Whew, what a weekend! If you follow me on Instagram (no pressure, but I'm fun over there), you know that I had a whirlwind few days here in the CLE. The NBA All-Star game was in town, & I had the honor of being one of a few locals invited to work with the NBA to help them create an authentic Cleveland experience. In return, I received tickets to most of the weekend's events.

I don't even really know how to recap it all here, & does anyone even care about recaps? So here's a highlight reel, the written kind. (If you want the video kind, check out my IG video, which doesn't include the All-Star game itself.)

Here were the best moments of the weekend.

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Crepes, Chairs, & Super Bowl Cheers (CLE Weekends, Pt. 2)

Tuesday, February 15, 2022

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Another weekend come & gone. This one wasn't nearly as jam-packed for me as the weekend before it, but it still had plenty going on. And I got to see my mom for the first time in a few weeks; it felt like it had been forever.

This coming weekend will be my busiest in... well, years, really. The 2022 NBA All-Star weekend is coming to Cleveland, & there's so much going on all throughout the city. (If you want to check out the NBA Crossover event, you can get 25% off day passes with code KATE.) I'm rooting for Team LeBron, by the way. Obviously.

But first, a retrospective...
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CLE Weekends, a New Series (Pt. I)

Tuesday, February 8, 2022

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I feel like I haven't had a ton to write about lately, but I want to be able to get back in the groove of regularly sharing blog posts. SO for now, I'm going to start doing these "Weekends in the CLE" posts to share what I've been up to, where I've gone, & what I recommend.

Truth be told, my weekend was largely spent indoors, hiding from the snow & bingeing Chicago Fire. I did approximately zero house-related things this weekend, too, because that shit is exhausting. And I finished my first books of February, though I already know I can't compete with the 11 books I finished in January

But I got in some fun stuff! Here's what I checked out over the weekend. What did you get into?! 

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What I Read in January

Tuesday, February 1, 2022

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Annnnd we're back! I really lost track of my reading goals in 2020, when the pandemic first began, & then last year, I decided I'd do reading recaps every other month, instead of monthly. I wanted to go easy on myself, didn't want my reading to feel more forced than enjoyable. It worked, too – & by the end of the year, I'd gotten my reading mojo back.

My goal for 2022 is to read 75 books. If I don't hit it? Hey, that's OK. But reading feels fun again, not like a challenge or a chore, which is exactly the way I like it, so I have a feeling I'll probably hit 75 when all is said & done.

Anyway. Let's get started! Here's what I read in January of 2022 to start the year off right.

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House Firsts: Stuff We've Done So Far

Sunday, January 30, 2022

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My dad once built a car with his own two hands, but I have always called the landlord at the first hint of breakdown. I've never been particularly handy, & I think it's fair to say that Mike hasn't been, either. It's why we thought we'd always be apartment people.

But then we bought this house, so... I guess we're house people now. Which means we've got to at least try to be handy.

It's going OK, I guess? I live in fear of things going wrong because I don't know how to do anything, in terms of, like, fixing or creating or solving. But we're relatively smart people, & there's a YouTube video for everything, right? God bless the Internet.

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Everything I'll Miss About Living in Tremont

Friday, January 14, 2022

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The news is out: We've moved to Lakewood. I'm thrilled, really! But I'm also kind of devastated to say goodbye to Tremont, where we'd lived since 2015. It was the first place in Cleveland I called home, & I loved it.

Yes, we'll get used to Lakewood life (Brewella's, here I come!), but for now, I'm sending out a little extra love to all my Tremont faves. Here are the things I'll miss the most — & miss already, to be honest.

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Hey, We Bought a House!

Monday, January 10, 2022

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I didn't always want to buy a house. In fact, for most of my life, right up until the past two years or so, I specifically did not want to buy a house. I was perfectly content to rent for my entire life, the way people in bigger cities often do. No, I wasn't falling prey to the "You have to own a house to be an adult" thing society tries to foist upon us.

But then we got pregnant. We thought we were starting a family, & while it would've been perfectly fine to have a baby & even a toddler in our duplex apartment, we thought, "Hey, should we look for a house after all?" We started to look... & then we found out we weren't pregnant anymore, & then the pandemic hit, so we stayed put. 

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