Issue #19  // What's Your 2020 Mood? 📅

via @lisaoliveratherapy

From Gill:

One of the great joys of making Semi-Together (and there are many!) is that it keeps me focused on my goals throughout the year.

I can’t just commit to a new habit in January and then conveniently forget about it. Melia and I now share our goals for the year on the podcast, and it motivates me and makes me feel accountable to someone besides myself. So thank you, dear reader/listener! You’ve been a big help, even if you didn’t know it.

The big themes for my 19 for 2019 goals were Relationships, Travel, Creative Projects, Paid Work, and Health/Wellness. Now I’m mulling over my 20 for 2020 list and trying to find the right balance for my themes and goals. I want my list to be ambitious but achievable, thoughtful but actionable, fun but meaningful. Not a tall order at all! Keep it simple, like I always say 😄

As I was brainstorming ideas and feeling stuck, I saw that Melia had posted “A 2020 (Or Always) Mood” to our Instagram. A lot of it hit home for me, especially "Less comparison, more appreciation” and "Less staying small, more showing up." These are intentions I want to carry into the new year – on the podcast and in my daily life.

I’m still figuring out what all 20 of my goals will be, but I feel encouraged by Lisa Olivera’s wise words: “Cheers to remembering we don't have to wait for a new year, a new decade, or a new anything to choose how we show up for ourselves and others.”

What’s your 2020 mood?

🎙 Latest Episode: #27 - Wrapping Up the Year & Revisiting Our Goals

The end of 2019 is a couple of weeks away, and next year we start a new decade! We look back on how we’ve done on our 19 for 2019 goals and discuss what we’ll still be working on in 2020.

• Listen to the episode and read the show notes 

👉 Steal This Tip: Make your own 20 for 2020.

Even if you’re not a big fan of New Year’s resolutions, you might like this approach to setting goals. Use the start of the year as an opportunity to think about 20 things – big or small – you’d like to do in 2020.

👋 ICYMI

Episode #2: How to Stick with Resolutions & Goals 🎙

In this episode from November 2018, we talk about resolutions and goals and how we approach them in each of our lives. We share some of our recurring obstacles, as well as strategies that have helped us stay on track.

Listen to the episode.

😄 Things We Text Each Other

via @vinepair

“Us when we say we're not dramatic.” 🤣

😍 Stuff We Love Right Now

On the Interwebs  🖥

From Melia:

• The Onion Gets Me
  When I can’t get back to sleep in the middle of the night, even with Calm sleep stories, I read The Onion. Its satire has just the right level of engagement to entertain but not keep me awake. The story, "Man Relaxing His Overwhelming Anxiety For Just A Moment Finally Gives Pack Of Coyotes The Opening They Need" justified my need to stay vigilant, always!
  
  I love Clickhole, too (a BuzzFeed parody), but I end up cracking up so hard at stories like these that I worry I’ll wake Darren up: "4 Times Oprah Winfrey Forgot To Arrange Prizes For Her Audience So She Just Gave Away Some Of Her Hair."

From Gill:

• (Love) Actually Super Weird
  My friend Tracey sent me this tweet, and now I can’t stop thinking about it. Keira Knightly was 18 and the kid who played Liam Neeson’s son was 13 in Love Actually?! Yes, I know this is one of many problematic things about this movie (see: Lindy West’s hilarious and profanity-laced “I Rewatched Love Actually and Am Here to Ruin It for All of You”)... yet still my love endures.
  
  

On Our Screens & In Our Ears  📺  🎧

From Melia: 

• Going Down the Rabbit Hole with Decoder Ring
  Darren came across a Slate podcast called Decoder Ring, which cracks cultural mysteries, and its episode on Truck Nutz. I have always wondered who in their right mind buys these things and affixes them to their vehicles. I appreciate that the host, Willa Paskin, looks for complexity instead of turning people (like Truck Nutz buyers) into caricatures. I enjoyed the episode on celebrity gossip magazines and the recurring Sad Jennifer Aniston story, as well.

From Gill: 

• Back in The Office
  When Melia and I lived in San Francisco with our friend Katie back in 2006, Netflix was still sending DVDs through the mail, and we tore our way through seasons of Grey’s Anatomy, Desperate Housewives, and The Office. I’m now rewatching The Office with Brian, who never followed the show, and it’s so much fun. Jim! Pam! Dwight! And I’m starting to listen to the Office Ladies podcast, hosted by co-stars and real-life BFFs Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey, who are also rewatching the series and telling behind-the-scenes stories.
  

On Our Plates   🍽 

From Melia: 

• Saltine Toffee 
  This delightful treat tastes like Almond Roca, is just as addictive, and is incredibly simple to make. One baking sheet full produces a lot – I made two this year and barely have containers to hold all of it!

From Gill: 

• Rosemary Roasted Cashews
  This is an easy appetizer that will keep people happy (but not overly full) at a holiday party. Roast cashews, then mix with melted butter, fresh rosemary, cayenne, brown sugar, salt, and pepper.

If you like the Semi-Together podcast, why not share the pod with a friend who would enjoy it? You can also become a patron here.  

Until next time! 

Love,

Melia & Gill 😘😘

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