My best friend just got engaged and during the celebratory weekend, we went out for breakfast. I’m sitting across the table from my other best friend Olivia when a friend of our brand new fiancée leans over and asks, “Do you guys have kids?” Ah yes the natural progression of questions! Why yes, yes I do. One whom I adopted from the shelter and the other a 27 pound baguette whose snoring has become my white noise for the past 6 years.

Next question. “Are you guys roommates…?”

Confusion has struck. Apparently two single women over the age of 28 with no children must be roommates (lesbians). Olivia and I exchange glances and say “If you’re trying to ask if we’re lesbians just ask! And no we’re not. Honored to have been considered though!” Laughter erupts from the table. Olivia and I promptly consider hijacking the engagement weekend to get engaged to each other and finally fulfill our prophecy.

But in all seriousness, when did we as a society of young women decide there are only two buckets of existence? Engaged/married/with child or single? Please check one box. No, there are no other options that are relevant. No, there is no overlapping center of this venn diagram. Two separate circles. No further questions, your honor. I find this has become a common thread amongst myself and my single girlfriends that we’re increasingly on the outskirts of many conversations because we are:

A. Not engaged

B. Not getting engaged anytime soon

C. Not married

D. Childless (*GASP*)

My single friends and I have hobbies and interests that fall outside of line items A-D, shocking I know. We have interests, passions, routines, hobbies, pets, projects, gossip, drama, dreams, and goals that fall under E-Z. And there are millions of other women who fall into this category too. Those who find themselves suddenly orbiting an outer ring of their friends' social circles because according to the latter group, we are not worthy of questions that fall outside of the purview of children and partnership.

Let the record show, I am in fact very excited to one day share a life with someone. And my single friends and I are always the biggest cheerleaders of our friends entering this new season of their life. But I’ve noticed a disparity, a lack of curiosity, of interest, in my solo exhibition and that of my fellow single girls as well. Sometimes I think it’s all in my head, that I’m just being “too sensitive” and convince myself “that’s not true” but I’ve been doing some research. Gathering data. Women in STEM.

To be a single woman in this period of human existence has forged a strength that can only be compared to the creation of Hercules. To shoulder the heaviness of the current state of the world (never-mind the U.S.) in solitude, has gouged out a level of resilience that is unmatched. The atrocious dating scene, paying every bill on your own, navigating career shifts, moving cities, deciding what’s for dinner when you’re exhausted and the only energy you have is to melt into your couch. When you want to be able to say “Can you decide what’s for dinner? I’m so tired” but it’s the big round eyes of my frenchie staring back at me. So I still have to make dinner. And she also needs dinner. And so does my cat.

From the mundane of running errands by yourself. Schlepping every 20 pound bag of dog food from the trunk of your car into your apartment. Endlessly scrolling on Netflix to pick a show or movie and having no one to bounce options off of and go “How about this one? I love Denzel Washington. Oh wait! This one! Emily Blunt is in it.” Or the bigger stuff like finally clawing your way to the top of a seemingly never-ending battle with *insert your hero’s struggle here* only to look around and see there’s no one standing up there with you. “I didn’t have a partner that I climbed it with that I could like, high-five. I didn’t have anyone I could talk to who could relate. Shouldn’t I have someone that I could call right now?” -Taylor Swift.

And then, as if on cue, life hands me the conversational equivalent of a quiz in the back of Seventeen Magazine asking about my relationship status, because yes of course, that’s all I have going on.

“No, I'm not dating anyone.”

“Yeah no, I’m still single.”

“No yeah, I don’t know anyone I want to date.”

“Do you guys know anyone? You don’t? Ah okay!”

But my horse is really good btw thank you for asking! I’ve been riding for almost an entire year now. I only had 4 mental breakdowns this summer, statistically down from last year, my painting class is going really well too. I'm learning a lot and finally feel like myself again. Not reading anything good at the moment, I did however just finish watching The Four Seasons on Netflix and that was so good. Palmer and Dash are living it up, I started taking Dash outside on the deck so he can watch the birds and he loves it. My sister is leaving for college tomorrow, my grandmother is good, and I’m planning a trip for my 30th birthday! To where? Great question, thank you for asking!

xoxo,

Gab

It’s so important to the take time and think about what you want your life to look like if you’re single. Even if you’re not single, but the people who don’t have to take someone else’s thoughts, opinions, feelings, or emotions into consideration about anything….we are in a unique and magical position. So really think about it. Like sit in silence not scrolling on your phone kind of think about it. What do you want? Not what you think you should want based on arbitrary societal standards, not what you hope to look like to other people, don’t look at what your friends are doing, when you take away all the bullshit, what do you really want. And be honest!!! That’s how you get to the good stuff. I used to look at my life in a pretty passive way, waiting for the pinnacle of my happiness to come from meeting “the one”. And again, I wasn’t even aware that these were the beliefs rattling around in my subconscious until my therapist was like wtf are you talking about and I was like wait what are YOU talking about? You mean you can create the life you want….BY YOURSELF? Yes. The answer is yes.

Growing up in North Carolina and then going to a big SEC school for college, I’ve seen sooo many girls go from dating their boyfriends, getting engaged right after (or before) graduation, getting married, buying a house, and then poof here comes the baby. It’s a very weird environment to grow up around because it skews your view of “the norm”. You change so much in your twenties (I am a completely different person now at 28/29 than I was at even 25/26, never mind who I was at 21) and joining your life with a partner when you’re barely of the legal age to drink, is very risky. Just because it happens a lot doesn’t mean it should, hot take (probably not that hot) I don’t think anyone should be getting married before the age of 25. That frontal lobe is not fully cooked yet. You’re so young and have so much to figure out about yourself without the opinions of a BOY getting in your way.

Because this was the predominant culture I was around from age 10 - right now, I subconsciously made the association that having a boyfriend/husband/significant other was the precursor to having safety, stability, and security. It wasn’t until my therapist asked me, “Why do we feel like we need to be in a relationship to do things?” I was like uhm…...but I genuinely thought “Yeah well I won’t be able to have the nice house until I’m married…I can have all of these fancy kitchen gadgets when I have my house with my husband! He’ll buy me the nice fancy things! Well don’t you go on the nice vacations when you have a boyfriend/husband to go with?” I believed that all of the luxuries in life were reserved for the in-a-relationship phase. Wrong. Then my therapist asked me, “Why is it so hard to do nice things for ourselves?”. Like Jesus Christ I DON’T KNOW LISA THAT’S ENOUGH THERAPY FOR TODAY.

I was barely doing anything nice for myself because I was waiting for someone to come along, sweep me off my feet, and treat me like Tom Holland treats Zendaya. Spoiler alert: you have to do that for yourself before you can receive love and care from anyone. And I know we’ve all heard love yourself girl or nobody will!!!! But it never meant anything to me like ok thank you J. Cole but I wasn’t taking that to heart, I was just rapping to your song. I didn’t even know how to start doing nice things for myself that felt meaningful. A trip to Sephora, getting my nails done, that feels like I’m on autopilot. However, taking myself out for dinner? That sounds crazy. It sounds very fancy and again, something I reserved for the in-a-relationshippers. Buying myself a cashmere sweater from Reformation? Something I would’ve reserved as a line item for a birthday present from my hypothetical boyfriend. Here comes my inner critic, her name is Wemberly. Named after the iconic book from my childhood Wemberly Worried.

“Should I buy it for myself………?”

“Too much!! Too fancy….where are you going to wear that? That’s so expensive. You already have sweaters. You don’t need that. You haven’t even done anything to deserve getting it for yourself.”

God she is so annoying. And here’s the thing, you don’t have to earn nice things in life. It’s not necessary to wait for a special occasion to buy yourself a new sweater. You are allowed to treat yourself with kindness and do nice things for yourself for no reason at all. Just because. Because you’re living on this earth. That is the prerequisite and you’ve already met it. I also realized, I don’t want the nice things in my life to come from a boy. Let me rephrase, I don’t want the only reason I have nice things is because I have a boyfriend and he got them for me.

Make it an intentional practice to take care of yourself. You deserve way more than a facial once a month. Set your own bar really high, so you’re not wooed by some guy buying you one nice dinner one time. Are you cultivating and pouring energy into things that you genuinely love? Are you living a life that’s authentic to you? I’m going to be honest I’ve spent my entire life being a people pleaser, so only now am I asking myself these questions and that’s totally okay! Recovering people pleasers unite 😌. Love yourself girl or nobody will!!! - J. Cole - me

xoxo,

Gab

The holidays are also hard because for a lot of people, it brings up a lot triggers being around family. There have been times I was like wow I’ve done so much therapy I am in my healing era I have such good coping skills and then someone says something and I could literally explode. But this is where your boundaries come in!!! Boundaries that you deserve to have and that NO ONE should be making you feel bad about having. They’re necessary to keep you regulated, grounded, and feeling safe in your inner world. I used to be that person who would let anyone bulldoze over my boundaries for the sake of not wanting to cause 1 hairline fracture of conflict. Because conflict used to make me so deeply uncomfortable I was willing to do almost anything to avoid it and that was my baseline. Constantly bending and zigzagging around everyone’s thoughts, feelings, and emotions because I “didn’t want to make anybody upset”. But contrary to my previous beliefs, expressing your boundaries and feelings oftentimes DON’T result in conflict! And it is so important to honor your ownnnnn emotions, thoughts, and feelings. Last week my therapist told me that no one can make you feel safer than yourself (and another little piece of the sky in my brain cracked open and a little more light flooded in). You are your own safest person.

At first, setting boundaries will probably make you feel uncomfortable especially if you tend to not be a boundary-setter. It will feel like writing with your non-dominant hand. There’s no guidelines to what they’ll look like because they’ll be based on what makes YOU feel comfortable, regulated, grounded, and safe. I’ll give you an example. I blocked someone from seeing my instagram stories. She found out (it wasn’t a secret) and then “confronted” me (……as if this is something that warrants a confrontation like PLZ. I stand ten toes down with that block button idgaf) and then called it “weird.” She said, and I quote, “I think it’s really weird that you blocked me on your instagram stories. I can just unfollow you if you want”. I looked her dead in the face and I said I think it’s weird you have a problem with my boundaries. It’s about what makes ME feel okay….on MY instagram….like hello? Your boundaries are not put in place for other people to feel comfortable and they are most certainly NOT weird. Protect your peace and then double down on it. Remember what my therapist said? You are your own safest person.

Wherever you are this time of year, physically and mentally, make sure you take the time to check in with yourself. You are so important! If you need to leave somewhere early, do it. If you need to go on a walk or a drive in the middle of the day, do it. If you need to sit in a room alone with your ipad and noise cancelling headphones, do it. If you’re not even sure what makes you feel regulated and calm, definitely take some time and make a list. Like an actual list in your notes app. It’s really helpful to have that as a reference, especially when you’re feeling upset and can’t think clearly. Having a mantra that you tell yourself is also really helpful and something I do pretty regularly to bring myself back to center. Stay strong, you can do this!

Quote of the day: “The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are”

A huge key to unlocking a pathway forward that’s paved in joy and not resentment is doing the things that I always wanted to do as a little kid but wasn’t able or allowed to do. I used to take horseback riding lessons when I was maybe 7 years old and I absolutely loved it. Then all of the sudden I didn’t get to go anymore and they were replaced with piano lessons instead which I hated, protested, and was forced to take anyway. They made me so miserable and I took them for YEARS. It might not sound like a big deal but it was such a suffocating experience to communicate to your parents that you didn’t like something and were forced to continue doing it anyway. The theme of my entire childhood actually. Unpacking THAT one has been super fun. But nowwwww, as an autonomous adult, I signed myself up for horseback riding lessons. And let me tell you it felt RIVETING getting to do that. Going out to the barn and passing beautiful, old houses on huge plots of land gives me a new appreciation for my hometown. The barn has become my new safe space and I never thought I would be able to cultivate that feeling here. Mind you, where I take riding lessons is a 12 minute drive from my house and I never even knew it existed. But this is exactly how the universe works. All of these new experiences that fill me with unbridled joy have been right around the corner. But it was up to me to find them.

Unpacking all of this is exactly like Hermione’s undetectable extension charm on her little purse. It looks so small, but when you open it, you can’t even find the bottom because it’s so vast and there is so much shit stuffed in there. My therapist also told me that yes. Sometimes things are just not fair. I feel SO sad for little-me. Her getting bullied at school, having parents who never saw her for who she was, alway feeling so lonely, crying a lot because she just wanted to be anywhere else. Unfair. But what I can do now is honor her and do all of the things she wished she could have done. Be the person I hoped I’d be.

“Life can be heavy. Especially if you try to carry it all at once. Part of growing up and moving into new chapters of your life is about catch and release. What I mean by that is: knowing what things to keep and what things to release. You can’t carry all things. All grudges, all updates on your ex, all enviable promotions your school bully got at the hedge fund his uncle started. Decide what is yours to hold. And let the rest go.” - Taylor Swift

I wanted to do a series where I share what’s been, I don’t know…..around! Just an assortment of things in my day to day life that have passed the vibe check. It won’t be things like “just bought a Porsche it’s SO worth the money!!!” (I’ve seen enough of that content actually….pass….) it’s more like “my dog scarfs down her food so fast it’s gotten to the point where I am now concerned for her health & safety so I bought her a slow feeder mat from Petco and it’s been great”. You know, that kind of vibe. I’m also so nosey……..I would love a little peek into what the girlies are buying, loving, using, eyeballing, reading, listening to, etc. so this series will be a variety pack. Controlled chaos, eclectically curated, the perfect messy bun. Ope! That’s the title of this series. This is exactly how Taylor felt when she was writing Getaway Car.

I can’t relate to wedding planning, pregnancy announcements, buying a house, engagement announcements, none of those things. I don’t even WANT to buy a house right now? I’m literally a teenager? (I’m 28) like when did we all decide that was the collective energy? I feel suffocated……I’m just trying to make myself meals with enough protein to survive another day. But want to know what I cannnn relate to? Thinking: “I want to know where that girl got that thing because it looks really cool and she looks really cool and I bet she probably has good taste and other cool things…..I wonder how she decorated her apartment……I think we’d be friends……I bet she’s a swiftie…..” so if I just read your mind, welcome to our coven. And when I say our, please know I’m referring to myself, my dog (Palmer aka Pam), and my cat (Dash who I adopted from the animal shelter which I makes up a good 50% of my personality). Not me + a man. I don’t know any of those.

Everything below is linked here 🤍

TV/movies

The Silo is coming back on AppleTV November 15! I loved this show SO much!!! And I love Rebecca Ferguson in general so I am PUMPED for season 2.

Season 2 of The Diplomat just came out on Netflix (love Keri Russell!!!) Another show I’ve been waiting for!

Watching Harry Potter over and over. No notes.

Books

Currently reading - Funny Story

Just finished - Beach Read, Happy Place. Happy Place is my favorite so far 🤍

On my TBR: People We Meet on Vacation, If You Could Live Anywhere, Be Ready When The Luck Happens (Ina Garten’s memoir!!!)

Listening to

Gracie Abrams

Gracie Abrams

Gracie Abrams

Patterns - just listened to it all the way through for the first time today and I LOVED IT SO MUCH. Wasn’t planning on crying today but listening to How Much Do You Love Me twisted the knife. I’m a crier now, that’s newish. I guess that’s what happens when you stop disassociating and shoving down everything all the time and start living the human experience….are you trying to tell me feelings are meant to be felt? I now identify as an empath.

Pets

Slow feeder mat for Pam - remember when I mentioned she scarfs down her food so fast I was starting to think she was going to choke? Crisis averted.

Fish oil - Pam had to go to the vet for her annual check up and the vet recommended adding fish oil to her food to keep her skin nice and healthy! Frenchie life, always some sort of skin thing. She said 1000mg of fish oil once a day. I got capsules from the grocery store, poke a hole in the capsule and squeeze it on top of her food.

Clothes

GAP - I got some really cute cable knit sweaters from the Gap and I’m here to announce we all need to start shopping there again. Zac Posen is their new creative director and everything has been completely revamped and refreshed. It’s giving Abercrombie rebrand. (Someone call up Victoria’s Secret!!!!!!!!) Gap is making its comeback and I am HERE FOR IT!!!

New Balance 530’s - favorite sneakers atm and they have creeped their way into being one of my favorite sneakers of all time actually 10/10 recommend

Anthropologie pajama pants - 100% cotton which I didn’t know at the time when I bought them but that’s definitely why they’re so comfortable!

Levi’s baggy dad jeans - so flattering, relaxed fit, wide straight leg, very Zoe Kravitz vibes. They’re really long (I’m 5’1”) so I was debating on cutting the bottoms but I opted for folding them up a couple of times.

Calzedonia tights - I’m actually obsessed with Taylor Swift’s love of tights they always make her outfits look so cute? So I bought some.

Beauty

Necessaire body wash - I got the Olibanum (frankincense?! had to google that) scent it’s really fresh and yummy!

Bumble & Bumble conditioner - long time B&B lover, first time trying this conditioner

Bits & bobs

Sunlight lamp - hi nice to meet you I’m seasonally depressed!!

Kitchen

Homemade granola bars - 10/10!!! Found this recipe through one of my favorite tiktoker’s Danielle, this recipe is her sister in law’s!

Tofu

Suja Juice Green Delight - addicted

Frothy matcha - recipe from Glow with Ella, another one of my favorite tiktoker’s!

Popculture obsessions

Tom Holland and Zendaya. NO. NOTES. ❤️‍🔥

Quote of the week: “I wasn’t expecting that plot twist. I wonder what will happen to our hero next.” -Rick Rubin, The Creative Act: A Way of Being

Things are allowed to evolve and change. We have moved on from 2000s-2010s VS just like we moved on from the days where we knew who the winner of American Idol was. People really need to go touch some grass. We had a cultural resurgence of the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show coming back to our screens after YEARS, and with a diverse group of models and ya’ll are complaining about the blowouts? PLZ. PLZZZZZZ!!!!! Of COURSE I missed the fantasy bra but I would be lying if I said I didn’t eat up EVERY MINUTE of this fashion show and wished with every fiber of my being that I was sitting in that audience!!! So say it with me, we are grateful for the new VS show. Everyone looked so beautiful, Tyla was incredible, Lisa absolutely killed it, and WE GOT CHER. LIKE HELLOOOOO??? And also, not everything that’s ever been produced has to be at the level of James Cameron creating Avatar. It’s okay to take things and accept them for what they are and where they’re at. And for the record I love Avatar. It’s called using an example so relax.

And let’s all be so forreal right now. When was the last time VS incentivized its customer base to buy something? When was the last time they wowed you with what they’ve produced and you thought oooh I NEED that? When was the last time you thought about online shopping and went to the Victoria’s Secret website….I haven’t bought a single thing from there in a good 10 years. They’re not at the forefront of brands right now nor are they partnering with influencers that….INFLUENCE you to want to spend your hard earned money at their store. VS does not have the chokehold on us like it once did, which is totally fine, and the show is a reflection of its current place in pop culture. She’s making a comeback, she’s doing things, but she’s not at the top of the pyramid. I would actually like Victoria’s Secret to have a complete revival like Abercrombie did (what if you just……called Taylor up….) and what Gap is doing right. VS can really become THAT GIRL and I think I speak for a lot of us gworls when I say I would love to see its pivot.

Now that they have captured everyone’s attention, they can easily capitalize on all of the buzz and do a massive rebrand. Let’s workshop this idea and bring some inspo to the table on what I, a chronically online genZ millenial icon, would like to see from Miss Victoria. Humble brag, I have impeccable taste and only bring immaculate vibes to the function, so I am a trusted and well-respected source for the girlies.

I think they should lean into super soft, feminine, Venus, vintage Barbiecore with a sexy edge. And let’s go with what we know!!! MISS CARRIE BRADSHAW. She is the epitome of the New York City It girl with one of the most insane wardrobes of all time. The girlies would eat it up!!!! I think their marketing team should call me up because the vibes I just created….stunning.

Quote of the week and my favorite quote of all time actually:

“You can be the ripest, juiciest peach in the world, and there’s still going to be someone who hates peaches” -Dita Von Teese

xoxo,

gab

Flashback to the spring of 2023, I had a new manager at my work-from-home-sales-job who was a misogynistic creep and making my work life absolutely miserable (taking our team calls, on camera, lying in his bed. Yes. That actually happened.) I used to cry over work all.the.time. which is SO abnormal and so sad that it’s unfortunately fairly common. Obviously, it prompted me to start looking for a new job, but I felt pretty confident! I was at this job for about a year, I had pretty cool relevant experience at this point in my “professional career” and my stepmom is a very well accomplished businesswoman, so I had the option to run every resume edit and question by her before I applied to the jobs I was looking at. Dare I say…..I was feeling….pretty positive….? I was also finally toying with the idea of moving cities and leaving behind my podunk small town that I spent half of elementary school, middle, and high school in where I got bullied relentlessly (ah good times!!). Why haven’t I left it in the dust you may ask? That’s because your brain would rather pick something familiar even if it’s traumatic. And OH the trauma that lives here!!! <3 Spoiler alert: my nervous system has apparently been stuck in freeze mode for the last uhhhh 20 years, so even thinking about moving somewhere new, alone….by myself…..was so overwhelming. S/o to my therapist that I have now! So, yes. I have in fact been living in my podunk town since graduating college. Outside of work being a literal circus at the time, I was pretty happy in my personal life. I had just went on a few trips, one to San Diego, one to Chicago, and then because I love the comfort of repetition, I went BACK to San Diego once more and then a few months later, yes you guessed it, I also went back to Chicago. Leave me alone! San Diego and Chicago are cool!!! Those trips were really what opened my eyes to feeling a deep sense of happiness that you can find in different places, this might sound sad but I didn’t know you could feel SO happy in a certain city. I thought feeling gray in your city was normal! We can talk about the overwhelming choices you have as an autonomous adult some other time.

While on said second trip to Chicago, that I took PTO to go on, I got a text from one of my work friends and she said call me ASAP. I was like uhm okay? She said “My manager just told me your entire team is getting laid off today.” Do you remember when I mentioned I was on PTO? Yeah I was getting laid off on PTO. Standing in the kitchen of my best friend’s beautiful Chicago apartment. I remember saying “thanks for telling me” absolutely deadpan and she goes on the "I’m so sorry” monologue but I knew in the back of her mind she’s thinking “thank GOD it’s not me”. I had a text from an unknown number and it was my manager explaining he got my number from the HR department blah blah blah and that he had something important to tell me and asked if I’m able to hop on a meeting really quick. If that work friend hadn’t told me prior, I would’ve opened my laptop, on PTO, and gotten laid off. Oh and this is a different manager btw! The other manager who took work calls lying in bed, did indeed end up getting fired! This manager however didn’t even look me directly in the eyes or say anything outside of the rehearsed 3 sentences the HR lady gave him to say. It was so coldly impersonal it made me feel like a piece of gum on the bottom of his shoe. Then I walked down the street to get a world famous Chicago hotdog. I just saw a draft of a tiktok I made right after it happened and I literally said “I just got laid off. Let’s go get a hotdog.” HA. One thing about me, I’m a compartmentalizer. To a fault. I went into stone cold statue mode. I think one of the worst parts about getting laid off is when you inevitably have to tell people and then it makes it sting even worse. You can see them wince and they say “I don’t know how you’re doing it! I would go crazy! UGH that is AWFUL! But you’re so great you’ll find something so soon!” yeah thanks. Your world has stopped turning to a certain degree but everyone else’s continues on. It was honestly one of the worst experiences I’ve had in my adult post-grad life. I didn’t shed any real tears until 6 months later on my birthday when I had a full blown mental breakdown. All the plans I started making to find a new job, to make more money, move somewhere new that made me feel real joy, finally plant some of my own roots, it was gone. The universe said oh you had plans? Now you don’t. My little brain, that has struggled so hard to cope with change, really did not like this big, huge, change.

Looking back, I think I forreal disassociated for a longgg time. It was the only way I could cope. I grew up being “taught” that you’re not worthy if you aren’t breaking your back and doing everything and anything to the fullest extent no matter how burnt out you were or tired you were. You had to be SUCCESSFUL. You had to be shiny ALL the time. You had to be perfect. And now, at 28 years old, that veil has been slowly lifting for a while and I’m now unraveling all of these narratives that have been enmeshed in my existence for as long as I can remember. “I’m goin thru it bitch” -Cardi B. -me.

Fast forward to present day October 2024. I have yet to secure any full time job that includes health benefits and 401k matching. I have two part time jobs instead. I can’t even count how many applications I’ve sent out because I was actively applying to new jobs LAST spring, months before I even got laid off. And here I am. All of those straight A’s I got in every class for my entire life really have served me well. I love being the oldest daughter over-achiever bearer of the utmost childhood trauma. My favorite flavor actually. So has this arguably been one of the worst years of my life? For suresies. And did I mention two of my best friends arguably had one of the best year’s of their lives because they just got married? What a dichotomy. Well played universe, well played. I was actually a bridesmaid in one of the weddings! That one was beautiful and amazing. The other wedding, I sobbed in the bathroom for the majority of what would have been dinner. Another story for another time!

If you made it to the end, heyyy gworl! Thank you for being here :) I hope that if you’re going through it that this has made you feel less alone. Even though we are all chronically online, the internet can be a lonely place. But come and stay a while, we (we= me, my dog and my cat) would love to have you!

xoxo,

gab

Subscribe now