Happy Thinking Out Loud Thursday! How’s the week going? It’s been a busy (school)work week on my end, but that should all calm down a bit after my stat midterm tonight. All that makes this the perfect time for some thinking out loud, though. Wouldn’t want all those random thoughts floating around my head when I should be calculating variance and stuff, would we? 😉 Thanks for the link-up, Amanda!
1.) I’m only slightly bitter that my stat midterm is at a non-standard time. One of my roommates invited me to go celebrate restaurant week… with 7:00 pm reservations. My midterm is at 6:00 and designed to take an hour and a half. Somehow, I don’t think I’ll make it. 🙁 Well… I’ll just have to “do” restaurant week this weekend.
2.) I’ve been talking with several people lately about the effect of winter on mood. Ugh it’s intense. I still get outside plenty, since walking is my primary transportation method, and I open the blinds so I can see the sunlight, but something about the cold just gets to me a little. I feel sleepy and more irritable and less motivated than usual, and apparently my roommates relate.
{Source}
I always say I’d take cold over hot any day, but I guess sometimes I just want to see green on the trees and feel the sun’s warmth when it emerges from behind the clouds. Unfortunately, I think I’ve got a couple months to go before that happens.
3.) I’m always grateful to have access to a kitchen in my dorm apartment. Really, I am. Cleaning it and sharing it can be a pain, and there’s nothing like a big kitchen in an actual house, but I love having any kitchen. On Tuesday, I was able to squeeze in a little recipe testing before my 10:30 class (hopefully posting the lovely savory snack that resulted this weekend) and I’ve been able to pull together delicious meals of steak and salmon in 20 minutes while rushing from classes to study groups to club meetings.
So, while my hands are crazy-dry from hand-washing all the dishes… I love having a kitchen.
4.) Speaking of dry hands… any advice on good intensive lotions to take care of that? Nothing is working for my hands right now.
5.) Also, before that particular salad, I hadn’t had salad in a while. Probably a month or so. This is coming from someone who can (and often does) eat salads daily in warm weather. Winter and cold salads just don’t seem to mix in my head. Making them more interesting, apparently, is key. Adding hot steak and warm sweet potato made it freaking delicious and I’ve been craving salads topped with awesome stuff ever since.
6.) One of my friends just moved into an apartment and offered to pay me and another of our friends to be her private chef. I’ve done so much algebra and homework and blankly staring at problem sets this week that I kind of wished she was serious. 😛
7.) I’ve taken to consistently using my Erin Condren Life Planner (<– my referral link) as a journal-planner-inspiration combo and I love it. I have cute stickers and pretty pens and looking at it just makes me happy.
Much like sprinkles and nut butter, stickers make everything better.
Have a fabulous Thursday!
Have you been feeling the winter blahs?
If you could do anything and make a living off it, what would it be?
What’s something that makes everything better to you?
Winter definitely takes a bit of a toll on my mood, probably because of all the cold and darkness. But I’ve found that getting outside really helps, and so does taking vitamin D3 and B12. I’ve noticed my mood improve a lot since starting those up. And have you tried coconut oil on your hands? It’s been a miracle worker for me!
I might have to look into vitamin D. Taking B vitamins always makes me super jittery for some reason. And no – I’ve never tried coconut oil! Does it not make your skin greasy? I’m all out, but I obviously have to get some more anyway (because coconut oil is awesome).
I haven’t had the winter blahs so bad this year, but getting outside to run has been challenging. It’s good for me though, I’m getting tougher.
If I could have one job I would be a mattress tester 😉 just kidding but a running shoe tester would be fun! I also think getting paid to write race reports would be fun. Oh the dream life!
One thing that makes everything better is rainbow sprinkles. A non food related thing is a good smelling candle. So comforting
Those jobs sound awesome! Oh, I do love candles. Not allowed in dorms, but at home I always find them so cozy!
Have you tried rubber gloves for major dish washing? You can’t really slip them on every time you rinse something, but for big job it might help you a bit. I also wear them for things like cleaning bath, etc.
I should try gloves… most of my washing is just a bowl or plate and a utensil so it seems, like you said, kind of silly.
I definitely get the winter blues. That salad looks delish. Wish I had a kitchen in my dorm, I miss cooking! Hope you have a great day and good luck on your test! <3
Thanks, Lyss 🙂
I’m very specific about temperatures – I want it nice and chilly inside and toasty warm outside. I cannot take this freezing outside and needing to crank the heat up. Also, I need that salad in my life! It looks DELICIOUS!
Oh my goodness, it was delicious! Highly recommend 🙂
One of the blessings of Colorado is that we have 300+ days of sunshine. Any of you can come visit if you are getting tired of lots of cloudiness. 😀 Your salads are so pretty. 🙂
Colorado is totally on my list of places I want to go! I love mountains and sun 🙂
The only thing “okay” about these cold temps is that it HAS been ultra sunny! So I’m happy!
And the lotion thing…omg…any one I ever try…just doesn’t work! I’ve tried everything I feel like! Haha!
Until the past week or so, we’d been lucky with sun. Fortunately, today is blue and gorgeous! (Sad that I’m starting to think 30° is warm!)
Um, chocolate. Totally, 100% makes anything better. Maybe doesn’t fix things, but everything is more bearable with chocolate.
I totally know what you mean about winter!! (And that meme…!!) Thankfully, we’ve had some sun and drier, warmer weather mixed in with the child and wet, so this winter has been a little easier for me.
I honestly don’t know the answer to your #2 question, but I’m currently on a quest, trying to expand my horizons to see what it is I love to do. Figuring these things out will hopefully help me find something I’m passionate about!
You know I agree about chocolate!
And I totally understand about trying to find what you want to do. Definitely in the midst of figuring that out myself!