A Cozy, Relaxing Day 🌼 Fields of Mistria, House of the Dragon, Ramen, and Spooky Cutie Coffee!

Hello Folk of the Hollow!

I woke up today with the full intention of being productive. I told myself, “I’m going to write today” and trust me when I say I really, truly meant to. But, unfortunately, the day and my body had other plans.

I started out the day with turning in my final paper for my Romantics class. I’m pretty proud of my paper and what I had to say about Ann Radcliffe and The Mysteries of Udolpho, so I can’t wait to hear what my professor thinks!

Once the flock of ravens had taken my final paper off to the academy, I decided I was going to have a little breakfast and begin my work. Breakfast was accompanied by an episode of House of the Dragon, which turned in to two episodes. Way back when season 2 had come out, I got into something of a small ritual while I watched it—I would wait until Saturday morning, as it aired too late Sunday evenings to be able to watch it, and set myself up beforehand with a comforting drink of some kind and a butterscotch or caramel scented candle. I would make myself a spot on my library couch, turn on the show, and just absolutely vibe.

Today was no exception.

I made myself what I call a “spooky cutie coffee,” which is basically just:

🎃 Crushed ice in my mug of choice

🎃 Milk, filled about a little under halfway in the mug

🎃 Caramel cappuccino K-up, filled the rest of the way

🎃 A couple pumps of vanilla syrup and a couple pumps of caramel syrup

🎃 Whipped cream

🎃 Caramel syrup drizzle

🎃 Salted caramel finishing sugar

🎃 Spooky Halloween sprinkles

All of this topped off with a cute purple striped straw!

With my spooky cutie drink in hand and a butterscotch candle burning on my coffee table, I snuggled in on my library couch and re-watched episode 2. The vibes came flooding in and I could physically feel my body beginning to relax. After episode 2 ended I decided I ought to get up and get started on work.

Unfortunately, I only managed to get 617 words or so written before I realized I wasn’t having a lot of fun. I felt like I had to push myself really hard to put down words, and in my experience that usually means that writing isn’t hitting that day. I’m well aware that sometimes you gotta push through the writers block in order to come out the other side—but unfortunately, I am also working on getting my body acclimated to some new medication (one of the side effects of which is fatigue. Though when they said “fatigue” I think they should have actually said “complete and total physical exhaustion down to your marrow” because I feel like my very soul is tired) that I need to take, so I think trying to push through at this point would just end up stressing me out and ruining a much needed relaxing day.

Luckily it was lunch time and that marked just as good of a time to stop as any!

I got the really good ramen take-out that I’ve been obsessed with for the last couple of weeks and had it transplated into my trusty Hello Kitty ramen bowl, which was a messy process but ended up being a good idea because I ate more of it in the long run. The only downside was that the egg kinda got lost and when I found it I didn’t think it tasted as good as it should. The rest was pretty fantastic though!

So now my plan is to snuggle in with a little Fields of Mistria and try to relax. I’ve got House of the Dragon playing on my second screen, Wednesday all snuggled up with me, and my office all nice and dark 💚 Are you as excited about the 1.0 release in August as I am? I am ab-so-lutely hype!

I need to find a way to unclench my mind, because as I’ve been trying to relax I’ve also been trying to tell myself that I’m not doing enough or that what I am doing is the wrong direction—and I know neither of it is true. I have a path, and its a clear one. I just need to remember to stick to it and not let myself get distracted by the rise and grind mindset of not doing enough. We’re not about the rise and grind here in the Hollow. We’re about softness, kindness to others and ourselves, and not letting the cruddy stuff grind us down.

So in honor of that, the rest of the night is going to be devoted to relaxation and calm. How are you planning to spend your evening?

Until next time ~ 💚