Five Things Friday Vol. 26

Five Things Friday: just five things I’m thinking about or things that made my week, or things that I otherwise feel like sharing.

If you missed it, I had a great IG Chat conversation with my friends Ulli and Stefanie this morning and we talked about motivation and working out (during the pandemic). Ulli posted the recording on her IGTV feed. I’d be curious to hear how you’ve felt about working out during the pandemic. Did your motivation change? Did you work out more or less, or did you completely fall off the bandwagon? I love talking about this stuff and am contemplating writing about it more if you’re interested.

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I bought another houseplant last week. I am a bit obsessed. Trader Joe’s had (small) fiddle leaf figs for $5.99. What a steal. Now I just have to make it grow strong and tall. Wish me luck!

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Speaking of strong and tall, have you heard of self-watering planters? If you are a house plant newbie like me (who has killed a fair share of plants), you might want to look into these. These planters have a water reservoir on the bottom and instead of watering your plants from the top, you just keep the water reservoir filled up and the plant can draw up as much water (through capillary action) as needed. I also have a self-watering planter box outside for my small vegetable garden and it seems to be working exceptionally well because the plants always have access to water from below (especially since we’ve already had temperatures in the 90’s in the last couple of weeks and it can be challenging to keep up with the watering in the summer). 

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Remember how I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, that there might be a possibility that  I’d be returning to the office for some work-related tasks that I can’t do would be difficult to do from home? Yeah, things changed and I won’t be going to the office anytime soon (and I am kinda glad about it). 

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Random fact: my (paternal) grandmother would have turned 100 years old today. Sadly, she died at the very young age of 61, when I was only 6 years old. And even though I didn’t get to grow up having her around, my sister and I spent a lot of time with her when we were little, and I am grateful for all the memories that I still have of her. 

Have a great weekend and happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers out there! 

  1. Your IG talk was very inspiring and I think I would like to pick up some exercise. I was better pre-pandemic as I don’t like having anyone around when doing sports (unless its team sports). Early on this year I was pretty good for a few weeks with the hula hoop but got discouraged with all the people doing it for hours and I wasn’t able to keep it up a minutes. I give up easily then. Unfortunately.

    On another note this self watering plants are life savers. I keep the plants alive so much longer. Still managed to kill a few but I am getting better. Your little garden looks so great

    1. Thank you, Tobia, and you know … every little bit of exercise counts, even if you just go for a walk every day! It’s something. I believe it’s all about getting into the habit, scheduling 3x 30 minutes into your weekly schedule. Do you enjoy yoga or HIIT classes? You can do these at home, they’re effective and there are tons of videos on YouTube.

  2. I was pregnant for most of the pandemic and then had a newborn, so it was a weird stage of life for me. I think I would have been more active than usual if I hadn’t been in that stage of life. Now that I am back to work, I’m working out more than I would be if I was back in the office because it is easier to fit in during the day. I never could have worked out during the day when I went into the office because I just didn’t have time to workout and then shower and get ready again. Or I would have had to get up at 5 to workout before work and that was not desireable during the ‘up multiple times/night’ stage of life! But now I am fit a quick run/walk or 21day fix workout when i have downtime during the day. I never shower at the start of the day because I plan to get some exercise in at some point.

    I did walk a ton during my pregnancy until my RA got really bad in the 3rd tri!

    1. It’s awesome that you were able to keep up a walking routine during pregnancy! That counts! And I do hope you find your way back to a routine that you are happy with.

  3. I was doing pretty well with being active in the beginning of the pandemic, and then I got sick, and I couldn’t really do a whole lot. So I’ve really been trying to do better – especially in 2021. I’m hoping I can pick it up somewhat over the summer!

    Lauren

    1. Well, you’re excused. You’re not supposed to work out when you’re sick ;) Glad you’re all better!

  4. My mind is blown – seriously blown – by the self-watering planters. And the price! Goodness. I am tempted but would have to repot a bunch of plants. Sigh. I wish I had known about them years ago! (Although perhaps they did not exist in this form… I’ll just tell myself that.) And, I hope the fiddle leaf fig is doing well!

    I would love to see more on motivation and working out. I have not lost motivation but my patterns have definitely shifted. I’m preferring home based workouts right now (well, apartment based with a very small gym accessible) to going to the gym where I belong. I’m debating what to do – whether to continue the membership or bail. Stay tuned…

    1. The self-watering planters are seriously the bomb! I hadn’t heard about them before so maybe they really didn’t exist years ago?

      TBH, I bailed on my gym. It took me a while to pull the plug (because I loved going there, I had a bunch of people that I loved seeing and I miss my spin class), but I knew that I wouldn’t feel comfortable going back anytime soon. I can always rejoin in the future.

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