The Optimistic Musings of a Pessimist

Gratitude in Practice: Kristen (The Frugal Girl)

It still brings me a little jolt of delight every time I see someone referencing FIGs after our month-long gratitude practice in February!! A special shout-out to Jenny for her recent Figgy Friday post….

Paris 2025 Recap: My Planning and Packing Tips + How Much Our Trip Really Cost!

A quick reminder that today is Day #1 of our third Cool Bloggers Walking Club! Three cheers for any returning alumni, and welcome to anyone joining our walking troupe for the first time.

There are…

Budget, Cool Bloggers Walking Club, Money, Paris, Thrifting, Travel
Apr, 01, 2025
41 Comments

Paris Days Seven – Nine: Auvers-sur-Oise, a Blogger Meetup (!!!!), and the Phantom of the Opera

Oh friends, it feels so sad to come to today – my final summary of adventures from our Paris trip.

I’ll ease myself gently out of Reflecting on a Super Fun Vacation mode by…

Paris, Travel
Mar, 31, 2025
60 Comments

Happy Things Friday: 28 March

Another week and another batch of Happy Things. Let’s dive right in, shall we?

CROCUSES AND SNOW

Yes, it was -8.5°C one morning. But, there are crocuses and birds singing. I can go outside the door…

Never Have I Ever…Part 5

Over a month ago I wrote up and scheduled Part 5 of my little blog series on Never Have I Ever for this week! Hilariously, the Best of Both Worlds podcast released a Never…

Never Have I Ever, Personality Insights, Random
Mar, 27, 2025
49 Comments

Today I’m Talking Gratitude…over at The Frugal Girl Blog + Walking Club

Months ago, when Kristen and I first started chatting about blog swapping (here’s my guest post and her guest post), she suggested the idea of having me write a follow-up guest post about gratitude…