Recently

Celebrated: Thanksgiving and having an entire week off of work. That is a total of NINE days where I just did whatever I wanted. And OH I DID. It was a nice balance of busy bee meets bed rot bear.

Thanksgiving day was as chill as it gets. We watched a little bit of the parade (even though it gets worse as the years go on), Dustin cooked 80% of the food (including his famous sous vide steak), and I got to FaceTime with my favorite cousins.

In my almost 39 years of Thanksgivings I've experienced them all; the big ones with every family member in attendance, the ones where I had to start the day at my mom's gathering and end it at my dad's side, the ones where Dustin and I were driving all over central Florida just to see everyone, the ones where we hosted framily (friends that are family), and of course a few that were just Dustin and I. The older I get the more I love the ones with less people and all the chill. I want it to be as stress free as possible. I want just a  perfect little day with delicious food and the people who mean everything to me - and that's exactly what I got. 

   

Got up at 5 am on a Friday for: Taylor's new era's book and TTPD: The Anthology vinyl. I was so impressed with the efficiency at Target. We all waited in line as an employee came by and asked what we were here for Taylor-wise, and then we'd get a text once it was ready at the service counter. I was out of there by 6:15 am. Once home, I went Christmas crazy and got everything decorated. 

Danced with: My silent disco dolls Nicole and Alyssa. We first met up at The Greek Corner where the only negative was the parking situation. After our delicious meal, we were off to the Science Center for some fun. The first time we went was back in June and was so much fun we were all like "yeah let's do that again!". I would say this time around was made so much better because it was actually cold outside. We got hot and sweaty inside with the Dinos and were immediately rejuvenated once we stepped outside on the balcony with the fresh crisp air while Flo Rida's Low blasted in our ears. 

There's another coming December 21st. Slide into my DMs if interested. Yes, I would absolutely go again.

 

   

Learned from my therapist: all about the vagal state. She said I was probably in the dorsal state currently but I am "ventral enough". LOL I agree! I hadn't had a therapy session with her in at least a year but she reached out right after the election to check in on me because I had been on her mind. The timing was really perfect. Maybe she has some kind of therapist intuition? Overall I've had a great fucking year but it started to crash down a bit recently. She explained the vagal state and how once in dorsal you have to work your way through sympathetic to get back to ventral (where I have been for quite awhile). But nothing gold can stay and I'm trying to roll with the punches the best I can.

I really love her and will continue seeing her as needed but as you know I would prefer in-person sessions. If yinz know of any great Orlando therapist please send their information my way.

 

Got tattooed: by Katie aka @thestabbat on IG. When she posted this Stevie design up for grabs (along with a lot of other cool designs from Lana to Billie) a month ago I was like omgomgomg it must be mine. My biggest hurdle was placement. I originally wanted it on my arm but I just had a gut feeling the design would look so much better on my leg. AND IT DOES LOOK SO GOOD THERE. Katie was amazing. We talked about our cats and music tastes and then it was all over and I was walking to my car with blood dripping down my leg. So it goes with fresh tattoos.

Stevie is a bad ass woman who I've always looked up to since I was a kid listening to her via cassette in my mom's ugly brown 1980 Toyota corolla. Her raspy voice, her lyricism, her strength, her convictions. I love that someone from my mother's generation consciously chose not to have kids or get married. She followed her heart in her art and said fuck the social norms. I love how openly she speaks about her abortion. I just love how she is unapologetically herself and a champion for women. Also, her new song The Lighthouse has been on repeat since it came out a couple months ago. I highly recommend it for any one in need of anthem for this moment.

 

Saw live: Four Year Strong at The Beacham! Dustin and I have both heard of this band forever (they've been around since 2001) but never really gave them a listen. They came up on Dustin's Spotify and he quickly became a fan. Then he made me listen to some of their songs because he thought I'd like them too. He described them as a "harder New Found Glory". He was right! I do love them and they do give off hard NFG vibes. So he and I became Four Year Strong obsessed this year listening to their past albums. They also had a new album come out in August (analysis paralysis)which was chef's kiss - you betcha ass it's going on my top albums of 2024. So of course we snatched us some tickets to their show - which they totally killed. 

It's so fun discovering new-to-me music from well established artists. Did you discover any new-to-you musicians this year? Tell me!

 

Hung out with: The Finer Things Club! Well, we originally were scheduled to meet up at Pocha 93 the Friday after the election but both Antonia and myself bailed. The wound was too fresh to go out, but in true Gaya fashion, she soldiered on. She RAVED about it and asked me to go back with her a few weeks later. She was able to get a decent group together and we all enjoyed the shit out of the food. Thankfully Antonia and Euridice were able to steer me away from the real spicy stuff. Gaya cannot be trusted with that task. Worth the hype for any Korean BBQ fans. 

We invited Pat and Jessica over to our side of the world to hang out to grab some lunch and laughs. Pat and I are similar so I knew he was going through it too (since the election). We're all just taking it day by day trying not to totally lose our shit. But community always helps, even just for a little bit. There is something about being in the presence of people you love that can help heal your soul as cheesy as it sounds. Go see your friends! Hug them real tight!

We lunched, we did a lap around Lake Eola with the most gorgeous weather, and continued on through all the small shops on Corrine Dr.

I also was happy to introduce Pat to the world of giant skeleton yard ornaments. Palm Coast needs to step it up in the big skeleton game because how had he never heard about these?