Weekly Good Things 2024 - Week 13
Good Things, and the Weekly Meal Plan.
Hello! Hello! Welcome to another weekly episode of Good Things where I give you a peek into my everyday life during the week, and roundup my good links, ideas, books, and more.
And so, March ends! This weekend I finally sat down to wrap up my taxes, do a little bit of spring cleaning, and prepare for the month ahead.
I held off on Spring planting this weekend because we have a blip of cooler weather at least one day next week, but I’m looking forward to getting my hands into the soil. I get my first spring flower share on Wednesday, and I have a few happy bunches of flowers from last week still brightening my coffee table.
April Intentions
Each month I sit down and write out a list of intentions for the month ahead. It’s not exactly a to-do list, more like an “options” list. Place-holders also help me make space for more exciting adventures! Many of my intentions remain the same month to month, but I try to pick out a few new things regularly!
How do I want to feel this month? April always feels like a month of refresh and renew! We’re kicking off the month and the new quarter – I’d like to think I go about life with a healthy sense of optimism, but it’s much easier to do so in the spring time!
Out and About
Wellesley Panel • Solar Eclipse! (April 8th) • Red Sox! • Photography Walk with my nice camera • Marathon Monday! • Movie Theater on $7 Tuesday • Dog Walks with friends • Movie Night at Home with Popcorn (Fridays) • Monthly Boston dinner with my friend Kathy • Monthly family dinner out with my mom and brother • a friend’s Baby Shower • MFA for Hallyu! The Korean Wave and Art in Bloom (the 26th - 28th).
Good Eats
Giving my meals a refresh for my Food In April list! • Vegetables I want to eat: asparagus (roasted, marinated, yogurt dressing), marinated carrots, boiled potatoes. Fennel. Peas. Artichokes, leeks, cauliflower (red wine vinegar and herbs), broccoli, zucchini, and mushrooms. • Sauces: tahini lemon, peanut, sherry vinegar. Lots of parsley, dill, and lemon.
Some meal ideas: leaning heavily fish this month!
Lemon chicken tagine
Egg salad sandwiches with bacon (I do love the ones at Formaggio)
Spring guveç (vegetable stew)
Greek baked fish
Scandinavian open faced sandwiches for breakfast
Sardines (or Mackerel) with carrots and leeks
Salmon with leeks and asparagus, orange and carrot
Cod with fennel and orange
Banana fish curry
Shrimp, fennel, and apple
Air-fried seafood blend with cumin and tahini sauce
Soups: bean of the week with yogurt; red lentil soup
Spring vegetable medley: olive oil, onion, leeks, beans, artichokes, mint
Self Care
Dental cleaning • Wax some things off • Self-Care List • Massage • Eye Masks in the fridge in the morning • Stick on Nails until you can get a manicure again • Float Spa (want to test Float and The Indoor Oasis) • Sauna at Kelo
Move!
Lift (Weekly Lifting 3x at home with lifting schedule printed out, 1 at gym) • CRAW • Gearing up for another GVRAT season from May through August (roughly 6 miles a day – in 2020 I was ambitious and did a double!) – to ramp up, I’m aiming for 12k steps a day in April.
Update Lists
Inputs List (Podcasts, Reading, Watching) • Recipes to Cook • Cooking Projects 2024 • Bean of the Month • Hobonichi Monthly Review 2024 • Placeholders for “Once in a Lifetime monthly activities”
Create
Daily Hobonichi Cousin (Food, Gratitude, Mood) • 2024 Calendar • Sketch in Sketchbook • How do I take myself down more good rabbit holes?
Home
Spring Cleaning List! • Get knives sharpened • Break down the massive cardboard box in the back • Quarterly Kitchen Purge • List 5 things to giveaway on Buy Nothing
Spring Cleaning
Refresh planters and plant a few quick flowers to kick things off • Descale coffee maker • Clean ice maker • Cull things from the kitchen counters • Tidy Downstairs entryway and put away winter ice things
Inputs
📺 Watch: Grey Gardens • Dune 2 • Damsel (Netflix) • American Fiction • Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire • Mean Girls • Shogun (TV) • The Gentlemen (TV) • Quiet on the Set (TV) • 3 Body Problem (TV) • Mr + Mrs. Smith (TV) • Tracker (TV) • Vera (Season 12 and 13) • Most recent season of Shetland
This Week in Good Things:
📖 Reading: I’ve been deeply captivated by my current Brandon Sanderson – Words of Radiance. I’m listening to Supercommunicators on Audible, and I’m thinking of going through my half-read books to finish off some long reading this coming week.
📺 Watching: I watched the classic film ‘The Burbs’” with Tom Hanks and Bruce Dern – a very silly in the best way film. These days I frequently take a few days to watch a movie rather than watch something through. I’m currently watching Poor Things (which my friend Jill has been patiently waiting for me to get through so we can discuss it!)
✅ Quarterly Planning: I always enjoy quarterly planning as a team. We got together to discuss Q2 for Ompractice, and I’m feeling excited for the next few months to come!
🛍 Good Acquisitions: a few weeks ago, I got myself a pencil sharpener, and let me tell you, sharp pencils are great. // My other notable acquisition is my fresh issue of Saveur magazine, the first from the publication in 4 years, now with new Editor in Chief and Owner Kat Craddock at the helm. (A Wellesley!) // I spent $10 on Amazon on a long purple wig after playing around with a few too many TikTok filters.
🌸 Flowers of the Week: Yellow mums from Trader Joe’s, and orange flower still doing well! Looking forward to my spring flower share starting on Wednesday!
🤣 Memes and randomness of the week: I liked Gretchen Rubin’s Spring Cleaning bingos // Luda the tank engine (NSFW lyrics) // Lenny Kravitz’s first journey to Buc-ees!
The Weekly Meal Plan:
I’m looking forward to spring foods this week!
Sunday: Mayacobas, yogurt, and garlic soup with baked zucchini
Monday: Steamed fish with vinegar rice, baby bok choy, braised mushrooms
Tuesday: Lemon chicken tagine
Wednesday: Korean food at a Wellesley event
Thursday: Rice bowl with salmon, tahini dressing, pickled onions
Friday: Air-fried seafood medley with cocktail sauce
Saturday: Pasta with garlicky greens and yogurt
Lunches: Salmon with peppers and artichokes, baingan bharta (despite this review), tadka dal and yogurt, tuna melts, egg salad
Snacks: Yogurt and berries, yogurt with lemon and nuts, soft boiled eggs, cottage cheese, cheese sticks.
Treat options: Last slice of lemon sheet cake. TJ’s Pretzel Breadpudding. TJ’s Iced Gingerbread in the freezer. Yogurt with mix-ins. La Fermiére Pudding cups. Kozy Shack Tapioca pudding.
🥑 Good Eats from this past week: Pork chops with asparagus and peanut dressing. Teriyaki chicken and broccoli. Copper Cow Churro Coffee. Very slowly working my way through the TJs lemon mini sheet cake.
What are you eating this week?
Previous Years:
Something I really enjoy doing is flipping back in my journal or my blog to the week of the year over the past several years. When I write it out in a list like this, it feels like a nice accomplishment!
2019: Good Things Week 13 (Soba with miso butter, garlic, and parmesan - yum!)
2015: Tomato Braised Lamb
2014: Weekly Meal Plan (when I first tested out Cooksmarts!), Classpass Review, Everyday Chicken Thighs
2012: Canal House Cooks Lunch
That’s all for now! Hope you have a great week!
xo, Sam