About routines...

Good morning dearest,

I hope this, late, newsletter finds you well. I’ll be straight forward with you…I completely forgot about this corner of my life last week. I had quite a good streak going; five weeks. And alas one side quest thrown into my routine and it went out the window of my mind, instantly.

How do you feel about routines? For me, I need routines to keep me on track; like those bumpers at the bowling alley you would get as uncoordinated kid. And one little routine change, can sometimes derail the whole train, you know what I mean? Perfect example: this past weekend I celebrated David’s birthday with friends who come into town maybe twice a year. It was such a treat to see them and spend a few hours catching up and basking in their light. That also changed my whole eating schedule and I even forgot to take my vitamins ( a slippery slope ). It was worth it to make new memories and I can clearly see the chain of events that led to me fully forgetting to write to you. Could I have finished this letter earlier in the week? Yes, absolutely I could have and this truth has me really diving into my routine and what I am actually aligned with these days.

I have been thinking about how important it is to be comfortable when the routine is disrupted. Life has it’s ways of getting in front of your plans and being flexible is key to bouncing back quickly. And yet I still feel bad about losing the routine and so I’ve been pondering ways to set myself up for success here. This past weeks interruption has highlighted for me how important it is for me to be ahead of myself and create a routine of small tasks, every day, to get me to my goal of a finished newsletter before Sundays. This way, if something pops-up, I’ll be ready.

Being realistic with myself has also come up within the “creating a routine” framework…like what are my actual goals and things I am truly interested in doing or passionate about? If we’re being honest, I am not super interested in real estate. I have several people in my orbit that are involved in RE either as investors or agents; it looked so good on paper so I thought if I just jumped in then the interest would increase and it has only decreased. The things I am doing daily are what I am most passionate about: cooking meals, following a meal plan, going to Pilates classes, and writing here.

Almost 20 years ago ( yeesh that feels weird to say! ), I graduated from culinary school and worked another 12 years in several formal, culinary positions with that degree. I have loved cooking for as long as I can remember and still love to read recipes and try new techniques. I have been implementing what I learned ever since, and cooking and baking are still consistent interests for me. They don’t feel like work and I do them every day.

I started doing mat pilates classes on YouTube ( shoutout to @Blogilates! ) about the same time as I started culinary school and then tried different variations of in person classes ala Groupon. I got my butt kicked for sure and loved it. Fast forward a few years to this past January when I started going to a studio near me that specializes in Lagree style Pilates. I was again, destroyed by my first class but immediately addicted. These classes have helped tremendously with my mental health and feeling strong physically too. I’ve been going every week since.

So while I’ve been taking inventory this week, I have decided to pivot my focus a bit more to include what I love here and put RE on the back burner for now. I encourage you to do a bit of inventory in your life as well…what is working? What needs to drop off the priority list? Where can you make more room for your passions? How can you get ahead of yourself and make sure the important things get done, before the interruptions come up? And do you have any tips or suggestions for a girl, still, trying to get it together? :)

So, I hope you find something to savor this week, like a delicious new dish or a gorgeous sunset…let me know how it goes…

Same time next week.
— Sara