Coffee Date

One of my favorite blogs, Peanut Butter Runner, does a Sunday Morning Coffee Chat. In those posts, she imagines you're having coffee with her, and what she'd say. I absolutely love it and thought I'd try this concept out!

If we were having coffee this morning, I'd order a medium hot coffee, bonus points if it tastes like pumpkin.
I've been obsessed with pumpkin-flavored coffee since law school. Green Mountain Coffee makes an amazing "pumpkin spice" flavor that's simultaneously delicious and comforting. I make a giant pot of pumpkin coffee on Saturday mornings - J doesn't drink it because he doesn't like flavored coffee, but since I get up hours earlier than him on the weekends, I have enough time to quietly sip my coffee, check my email, and browse social media before he wakes up. Last weekend I added ice to my 26-oz cup and drank all the cold pumpkin coffee before he was even awake. This morning, I woke up to snow here in Denver... so hot coffee it is. All the hot pumpkin coffee.



If we were having coffee this morning, I'd show off my new glasses.
I went and got my eyes checked last weekend for the first time since middle school. I would not recommend the doctor I went to - he made it sound like I had the worst eyesight in the world before concluding that my prescription would make my eyes "feel less tired at the end of the day." Spoiler: My eyes see fine without glasses, and my prescription is apparently a pretty weak one. But this is the first time in my whole life that I've needed glasses! Not too shocking after college, law school, and law practice. I bought glasses on Monday from Warby Parker and I couldn't rave enough about them as a company. They had so many styles to choose from, and my glasses shipped here way faster than they were supposed to!

I'm still getting used to the prescription. I have astigmatism (I keep accidentally calling it a "stigmata," which I know is completely the wrong word but it's the only word that comes to mind half the time) in my right eye, and I can see a pretty big improvement with my glasses on. I feel like I can see better (if only slightly), but my eyes actually feel more tired now than before. Is that normal for getting a new prescription? My boss said that eyes usually take time to adjust, even when the prescription is good because they've been doing all this unnecessary work. J keeps laughing at all my questions about glasses ("If I wear my glasses all the time, will my eyes become reliant on them?"), but remember - this is my first time dealing with all of these issues, and I'm a nosy, inquisitive person anyway.

If we were having coffee this morning, I'd tell you that I'm feeling both proud and frustrated by my body. (Trigger Warning: eating habits, mental health)
I've done a lot of different health tracking, including food tracking and calorie counting. I tend to feel a lot of judgment, blame, and shame when I track my food (for under- or over-eating), so I decided to try intuitive or mindful eating a few weeks back. I've been very happy with the concept - I think about whether I'm actually hungry before I eat, I stop eating when I realize I'm full, and I try to eat foods that will serve me well. I still totally eat Cheetos, because depriving myself would be cruel. I've found that mindfully eating has been really helpful for my mental health. 

I, like a lot of women I know, have a history unhealthy eating. Since I've been mindfully eating, I've been much better about not over-eating during a meal, and I don't feel deprived because I've literally eaten until I was full.  I also haven't judged myself for being hungry. I'll think about if I'm actually hungry first, and I've been surprised by how often I find myself "hungry" because I want a break from writing. I do tend to eat more when I'm happy or eating a food that's "special" to me, but I've found that I've been better able to recognize when I'm satisfied or full.

On a different note, I was surprised by how betrayed I felt by my body because of my eye exam. It sounds so stupid, but I've lived my whole life without glasses and even though I suspected that I would need them after all the strain I put them through in law school, I still felt like my body had let me down. It didn't help that the eye doctor I went to made me feel like I was deformed - he basically pointed out every tiny flaw in my eyes, which sent me spiraling into google searches about my prescription and pictures of my eyes from high school. Yes, I know, I'm strange.

If we were having coffee this morning, I'd tell you how I wish it was easier to make friends as an adult.
I'm very lucky in that I have a strong group of friends from high school, college, and law school, but my friends are scattered all over the country and it can feel very isolating. I love what social media allows, but I wish I had more friends here in Denver. I see pictures of people in Des Moines who are hanging out, creating amazing art, going to my favorite bars, and, you know, just being together and strengthening relationships. I know that part of my loneliness is just fear of missing out, but I feel like so much of my life is just going to work, coming home, and resting until I go to work again. I love my job to pieces and I love the friendships I've made there, but I wish I had a group of girlfriends to hang out with in the evenings or on the weekends, and I'm not at all sure how to find that. Most of the events I go to are for lawyers, and most of the meet-up groups I've seen look really weird, even for topics I'm interested in. I feel like whenever I meet someone cool, I'm always the one messaging them to hang out, and between our busy schedules, I never see them again. It feels like I'm dating, except everything is on fire and I'm a swamp monster.

But seriously: How do you find new friends as an adult outside of work?

When did you start wearing glasses? Have you ever tried Warby Parker?

Have you ever tried mindful eating or food tracking? Did you feel like it was helpful to you?

Are you into flavored or unflavored coffee?

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