Friends, hi, hello & happy (almost) Fall! Nothing is making me more excited these days than the tease of evening breezes hinting at Fall in Austin. I am absolutely elated. Most of y’all know that my main entertaining space here is outside. And since it’s been so incredibly hot, I’ve only been able to really host past 8:30pm. Nothing wrong with that but I’m really ready to be able to have guests outdoors at the more sensible hour of 5:30pm. Because of so, I’m spending way too much time (& money, if we’re being honest) on outdoor dinning pieces like these placemats, these napkins, these glasses and a second set of this silverware.
A few weeks back, I was at a late night dinner with a group of 8-10 folks. As a general thought (not rule, because I tend to love breaking those), this is always my ideal amount of people to gather with over meal with for meaningful conversation and building relationships. As we were all chatting and getting to know each other more, a variety of questions were being thrown out like “what we love to do in our spare time”, “what’s been fun for you lately” and so on. When it was my turn, I threw out my favorite question for a gathering of this size, “What if…time and money and location were no obstacle, what would you do everyday?” Before I jump into this question, y’all should know that this is absolutely favorite thing to ask people. Yes, we may hear this question like “if you could do anything you wanted everyday , what it would be?”. Although that’s a super exciting and valid question, something I learned when teaching is that when the question is asked this way, people often keep the mental (& realistic) blockers of time, money and space in mind before answering. They don’t get as loose and creative and honest with their answer because the real blockers of life come to play (tough world, TBH).
What came from that question were so many quirky answers that not only provided much welcomed insight into each person, but also helped me get to know what this group cared about, where their passions lie and how they want to show up in the world. For me, I had a hard time thinking about the question because my goodness, with absolutely no restrictions, there’s so much I would want to do. So just for fun, here’s what my day would look like with no restrictions of time, money and location:
7am: wake-up with a view of a cool city from my mid-rise condo (I’m a downtown girl at heart, truly & in no way a morning person so this is truly living in a different world)
7:45am: after walking Max and a shot of espresso, I head downstairs to the pilates reformer studio and I’m actually *on-time* to class
9:15am: Back home for the slow coffee, smoothie and first hit at my to-do list for what’s urgent. For once, I’m not rushed and can actually listen to my favorite podcasts/audiobook while working.
11:45am: my work block is interrupted for a mid-day #ladieswholunch. Of course, I’m wearing a tailored maxi dress, power pumps, big earrings, a beaded headband and my favorite bag. (Yes, I know exactly what I’m wearing and it’s feeling very Whitley Gilbert meets Charlotte York Goldenblatt)
1:30pm: Lunch is wrapped with a stop in the flower district then I’m walking back home for the afternoon power hours
2:00pm: heads down work, wrapping up calls and afternoon to-do list is getting created and checked off
4:30pm: time for the board, council or volunteering meeting (And yes, I know exactly the event we’re planning here but I can’t share everything, y’all)
5:45pm: I’m setting the table for a family dinner with friends for a group of 8-10
6:30pm: when people arrive, I’m not stressed, running around or worried (if you’ve been over recently you know I’m usually getting ready when people start arriving, oops). Everything is set; food is being delivered, candles are lit and the dinner playlist is on throughout the house
10:15pm: my evening glass of wine is poured, skincare is done and tonight’s book is in hand with the Hatch reminding me of my 45 minute evening wind down routine. The book of the night is for my #LotsofBooksClub monthly meeting that I’ve been looking forward to since last month.
11pm: lights out
In this world, I’m some combination of a home decorator whose speciality is bold bathrooms (yes, I have an obsession and can’t stop looking at my own bold half bath every 30 minutes) and I run an online tablescape shop where I have BYO tables for people (think tailgate combo meal but for the table, LOL). Outside of the “job”, I’m actively working on the board or advisory council for some of my favorite, impactful and meaningful non-profits. In this life, I actually have balance, some type of routine and have a ritual of wellness built into my daily life through proper sleep and workout 3x/week.
Okay, okay – I know that explanation and day was really specific, but a girl can dream, right?
This is exactly why I love asking this question. We’re able to envision this life and what it would mean to walk it out every day – not just imagine in a fake world. And as much as I would love to be living this life, the truth is right now I’m not.
However, one way I want to rethink my Fall season (I just finished a great podcast all about reframing your time this Fall and I’m beyond inspired) is how I can bring in some of these aspects of my “what if…” life into my right now, sometimes mundane, often messy daily life. I can’t do it all but here’s what I can, have or am actively doing:
- Building a better routine of wellness. Of course, as it’s 12:07am, the healthy sleep part is not completely there but one area I am slowly building back up is my workout routine with 2x/week movement alternating between hot yoga and pilates (with a hope of restarting tennis lessons soon).
- Being part of boards and non-profits that mean to so much. I’m actively in my second year as a Young Feminist Leaders Council member with Feminist Press publishing company and loving every minute of it. In the past two years, I’ve stepped back my routine commitment roles at She’s The First, a non-profit that holds a generous piece of my heart, but I feel proud to be a monthly donor and daily supporter.
- Living the life of #ladieswholunch is not close at all but sometimes, I am a lady who coffees with a friend 🤣 I do believe that I’m getting there and something I would love to have in the future is that Saturday-morning-same-table-diner-Sex-in-the-City rhythm. The day of the week and the food choice is not what matters but what I love is the routine, dependable, time to connect with your best friends. One of the pieces of advice in the podcast I mentioned above was the host creating a weekly “lunch with a friend” block in her calendar. The block is for no one person but more of a reminder to meet with a friend over a meal and a time to look forward to every month.
- Living in the middle of city with all the action is unlikely here in Austin unless I want to spend $4500/month on rent (if you were here for my apartment hunting journey that started last year around this time, literally Godspeed and thank you for sticking around – you deserve a nice coffee or cocktail) but I am close to places I want to go (with a more peaceful view) and look forward to having a more walkable life in the near future. Maybe in my next apartment or next city knowing that ultimately, I would love my “forever home”, to be a 2bed 2bath with a den and huge terrace in the middle of a cool city where I can walk to my favorite bars, restaurants, shops and grocery stores.
- Hosting #LotsofBooksClub every month! Every time I think about it, I grow more and more grateful that a small idea I had over two years ago has continued to blossom to this very day. Our bookclub has ebbed and flowed and changed shapes many times. We’ve met incredibly authors. We’ve had hard and comforting and true and meaningful and heavy and fun conversations over books for hours on end. We’ve celebrated engagements, new hours, graduations, changed minds and hard lessons together. In the future, I have no idea how this book club will look. For now, I’m grateful for it and hope to make it even better for as long as it lives.
- And lastly, the dinner parties have been so special for me over the past few months as I’m trying to make friends in a new city. My hope is to continue this monthly with friends because I really, really love hosting and getting to know and connect with people in such an intimate and fun way. I also really love creating tablescapes and sharing my space with friends. Win/win all around 😉
So friends, that’s leads me to you: what if…time and money and location were no obstacle or challenge to overcome, what would you do everyday? Does this look different or the same from your right now daily life? If it looks different, can you add in aspects of the dreamed life to your right now life? Chat with me in the comments and/or in my Instagram comments on today’s post.
As always, thanks so much for reading friends! I am so appreciative of you and am so grateful to be back on my blogging game. Chat soon! xo, azanique <3
