10 Offline Things I Did This Week

A creative afternoon in Manhattan

Good morning and hello! If you’re new here, welcome to 10 Offline Things I Did This Week, a free weekly list where I share the little moments that kept me present; both the mundane and the beautiful. Both are equally important for a life.

Many of this week’s 10 things took place in one afternoon.

I was feeling creatively uninspired this week, which was not good because I had sh*t to produce. Even though I love it, traveling takes me out of my work and writing flow. Not to mention, on the night I returned from France, it was 8° out. Jetlag + cold weather + January blues + out of my writing routine + a little too much Instagram is a recipe for restlessness.

I felt frustrated by my lack of focus and getting back into the groove, but I knew what I needed, and it was an afternoon of being out in the world and not at my desk berating myself for not being more productive. Sometimes, productivity is cultivated by pounding the pavement and observing the world around you (at least for me).

Oftentimes I can lie to myself and say “if I’m not at my desk I’m not working” but this is simply false. For me, being out in the world is very important for my work, creativity, writing, and creating. Ideas pour through me like someone pouring a bucket of water over my head. On my afternoon “retreat” in Manhattan, I left myself voice memos of ideas as I walked. It was radical.

All it takes for me to reconnect to the world around me is an afternoon in downtown Manhattan. It makes me feel like myself again. So that’s what I did, and you’ll see what I did with my afternoon starting on thing #5.

10 Offline Things I Did This Week

1. Researched the word limerance. A term often thrown around in the love/dating space, limerance is not love or lust, but an obsession of the mind. It’s not a crush: it’s more intense. It can cause acute joy or agony. It can feel intrusive and obsessive, with mood swings depending on how the person responds. Here are some key signs of limerance:

   ~Intrusive thoughts – You can’t stop thinking about the person.

   ~Idealization – You put them on a pedestal and ignore red flags.

   ~Emotional dependency – Your mood is heavily influenced by their actions.

   ~Fantasizing – You daydream about scenarios where they reciprocate your feelings.

   ~Anxiety & uncertainty – You crave reassurance but rarely feel secure.

   ~Physical symptoms – Racing heart, nervousness, or even insomnia.

Limerance thrives with ambiguity and the unknown, and it’s painful. I’ve felt it.

2. Applied hand cream. A lot. It’s the depths of winter, and even though I wish I could say I never leave the house without gloves (apparently gloves are the #1 way of mitigating dry winter hands), that has not been the case for me. My favorite one is listed on my favorite things of 2024.

3. Made

   carla lalli music
   ’s chocolate banana bread with peanuts on top. Holy cow, it was amazing. I only had three bananas (her recipe calls for 4) but it was still moist and delightful.

   

   Carla has a cool name and her recipes are great.

4. Took a lot of naps. Jetlag has made herself a presence in my life this week and I have not been denying myself a chance to rest and reset. I am still waking up at 5:30 am (ugh) but trying to embrace that.

5. Got dressed. For all my work-from-home, self-employed, or unemployed people—or anyone who doesn’t have to be in an office every day—staying in comfy clothes all day can be the kiss of death. It feels good but doesn’t always work. There’s something about getting dressed (for me, jeans and a sweater) that signifies to the brain it’s time to WORK. On the morning of my city day, I took a shower, styled my hair, put some makeup on, and sauntered my way into the city. Here is what I did:

6. Had lunch with friends at a diner (mid food, peak company). I got the lunch special: a cup of soup (why is chicken noodle soup from NYC diners so good?), a hot cup of coffee, and chicken salad on a Kaiser roll with fries.

7. Drank an overpriced dark hot chocolate in Soho ($8 for a small). I’m on a hot chocolate kick this winter. Besides Tini’s hot chocolate home recipe which I mention in this newsletter a lot, I also drank it nearly daily in Europe on the slopes, which was not only delicious thanks to the atmosphere but because they put real local dairy into their whipped cream canisters. Unfortunately for me, my $8 “luxe” American Soho hot chocolate wasn’t as good but somehow twice as expensive. Oh bother.

   

   Meh hot chocolate

8. Wandered around a bookstore. A healing, mind-expansive, life-giving activity.

9. Bought an agenda. Guess what? The agendas at the bookstore were 50% off this week - hah! Turns out, all you gotta do is wait a few weeks into December before getting a discount on the weekly planners. To organize my schedule, I like to keep it chaotic by using the 3-calendar system: a wall calendar in my kitchen, my iPhone/Google/digital calendar, and then a weekly planner that I use for more daily focused tasks on my desk! That way, I have to write things three times in 3 different places!

   

10. Went to the Whitney Museum. I’m gonna be honest I popped in and out, but that’s the beauty of going to the galleries solo. Sometimes I like the idea of going to a museum better than the act of it. I prefer going with a friend/date to catch up and walk around while looking at the art. If I go alone, I’m a bit like, “What am I doing here? What are any of us doing here? What is the meaning of life?” Which is never good. Too much thinking. But it was fun to check it out and it gave me a place to use the bathroom, eat my orange, and warm up from the bitter cold.

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Have a great week everyone.