Weekly Good Things – Week 50

Dec 17, 2023

Hello! Hello!

Cross-Posted to my Substack, my new weekly Newsletter. (Sign up for goodness in your inbox directly!)

Welcome to another weekly episode of Good Things where I give you a peek into my everyday life during the week, and roundup my good links, ideas, books, and more.

This afternoon, I’m writing in front of the crackling fire*, which is putting me in a delightfully cozy little mood.

*More specifically, I’m streaming the Studio Ghibli Calcifer Yule Log on my television, which is just alarmingly precious, and the fire crackle sounds are comforting. I delight myself each year when I remember suddenly, that one can watch a plethora of different fireplaces both on TV and through Youtube. Highly recommend!

“Life really life-ing!”

This week has been a challenging one for many of us. Some of the hard stuff was punctuated by a week dealing with a painful mouth making it very hard to eat! I absolutely *broiled* the roof of my mouth last week on boiling hot water, and it’s taking it’s sweet time to heal.

I did finally take myself to see a medical professional, so hopefully I’ll be back joyfully eating soon. Many thanks to my good friend and favorite Vet-Vet (Veteran, veterinarian!) 

Michele Pfannenstiel DVM who talked me into some sense to see someone. (She happens to be a fantastic vet, and wrote this handy post last week on triaging whether or not to take your pet to the emergency room.)

Things on my mind this week:

  • 2024 Planning, when things aren’t feeling as solid: We’re in the throes of planning for the new year. When you have a supremely clear vision of what’s next, this is often a very fun activity. If you’ve been through a lot of change recently, it can feel challenging. If you are feeling at all unmoored, do what I do – plan for the things that support you as a human. For me, that’s typically food, self care, reading, my inputs, connection with friends, and creative activities. I trust that the rest of the good stuff will fall into place when I’m taking care of myself!
  • A Review of Wants and Needs: a few months ago I came up with a very specific list of a range of wants and needs I have. Periodically I review the list to see what’s magically happened for me, and what I might want to gently nudge forward with some specific actions.
  • Memorializing a year: I went to a nice workshop with Elle Griffin of The Elysian this week. Beyond her very organized workshop outline with lots of useful links (goals!), the thing that really struck me was that at the end of the year, she makes a custom book of some of her writing! I bookmarked the site because the quality looks truly on point. I think it’s nice to make photo books at the end of a time period – pick one picture from each week or each month – Canva makes it very easy to get a book printed these days.
  • 3 interesting things from Tim Ferriss interviewing Sam Corcos, the founder of Levels
    • Sam has a goal of connecting with 1000 people a quarter, which is a wildly ambitious goal (There was a nice moment in the episode where he mentions that they don’t always want to connect with you – and that’s okay! He focuses on the people who bring him joy).
    • Sam has a comprehensive public list of all the things he delegates to his four assistants (including loom video instructions).
    • How to host salon dinners (article) – after hosting hundreds of these – he has a detailed write up on how he does it. (I’d love to get an invite to one of these!) Last month I went to a wildly invigorating dinner like this, and I think I’d also like to host one (or several!) this year.

📆 Accountability Workshop on 1/6/24

  • Something I’ve been toying with for the past few months has been how to help other people move things forward. I’m of the belief that community is one of the best forms of accountability. For years I hosted a weekly *Do The Thing Hour, which is currently on hiatus, but love the idea of co-working towards getting things done together! I’ll be trying out something new in January, a “One Month, One Goal” workshop. We’ll come together to identify a *singular* goal you’d like to tackle in 30 days, and work together to make daily or weekly actions on your goal both measurable and more easily implementable. We’ll then have a shared goal tracker (via a fancy Google Slide Deck) Sign up here for the live class, or the recording if you can’t make it! January 6th on Zoom + 30 days of fun! $42.

This Week in Good Things:

  • 🐾 Pup Walks with Friends. This week, Bertram and I went for a stroll with Penny Puppadoodle, and her human, Somchay.
  • 🍜 Becoming a Regular: Grandma’s Kitchen. A few weeks ago I went into Grandma’s Kitchen, the delightful Taiwanese restaurant around the corner from my house, and just remembered how delightful they are. I went back this week for some chicken soup that hit the spot. I’m going to make an effort to become more of a regular!
  • 🎤 Good Listening: currently listening to Nonviolent Communication, Brandon Sanderson ‘The Hero of the Ages’, and Robert Greene: A Process for Finding & Achieving Your Unique Purpose on the Huberman Lab Podcast.
  • 👋 Recommended Action: If you have a fitness reimbursement stipend through your health insurance, don’t forget to submit your receipts before the end of the year! (If you need to spend on fitness, would love for you to consider an Ompractice membership! Come join us!)

Okay, and in prepping for this newsletter, I came across my Facebook memory reminding me tonight that I just finished my 6th year straight of running a daily mile?! (So, high five me!)

Good Things to Think About

➰ Closing Loops if you have a few minutes this week, consider sitting down and making a list of loops that you need to close. ⏳ Set a timer for 10 minutes and actually write them out! What’s been taking up space that could be finished or moved on from? What nagging tasks could use attention?

Other Good Things

Alison Roman’s “The Stew”

The Weekly Meal Plan:

Coming up in the next week? We’re doing soft food week with low acidity until my mouth heals!

  • Sunday: Pastina with butter and truffled brie (like mac and cheese, but softer)
  • Monday: Soft eggs and creamed spinach
  • Tuesday: Madras lentils with yogurt, and palak paneer
  • Wednesday: Trader Joe’s Saucy Scallops and Mushrooms with Emmenthal
  • Thursday: Takeout (Grandma’s Kitchen?) or Leftovers
  • Friday: Artichoke bread pudding and green salad

Lunches: Leftovers (fondue, a plethora of cheese), tasty bite punjab eggplant and split pea curry, a new Trader Joe’s lunch item: peanutty noodles with chicken (if I’m up to it by the end of the week!)

Snacks: Ricotta, soft boiled eggs, cottage cheese, cheese sticks, tofu, chicken broth.

Treat options: Tapioca Pudding. TJ’s Pretzel Breadpudding. Chocolate mousse. TJ’s Iced Gingerbread in the freezer. Peppermint Hold the Cones. Walker’s Shortbread. Pumpkin Sticky Toffee Pudding. TJ’s Apple Tartin Tartelettes. (You’ll notice that this list keeps growing – I have a bad? habit of getting fancy desserts from Trader Joe’s from my freezer and taking forever to eat them.

🥑 Good Eats from this past week: I include a weekly meal plan in each week’s Good Things, and things never *actually* go as planned! Some of the standout additions include: The best bite of the week was pastina with butter and truffled brie! (So good, I’m having it again this week!) 

Alison Roman’s The Stew – with coconut milk, chickpeas, and greens – was just as good as remembered. I added chicken. Another shout out to 

Ali Slagle’s Forager’s Pasta, which I made with mushrooms, chickpeas, and added some leftover fondue.

That’s all for now! Hope you have a great week!

xo, Sam

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