The Lazy Genius Podcast - #331 - What’s Saving My Life

Episode Date: September 11, 2023

I don’t need to tell you that life is full and sometimes overwhelming and we need things that offer sparkle and light. Every quarter, I share my list and encourage you to make your own. Let’s get started.   Helpful Companion Links Speidel Eco Color Pop Watch The Chickpea Bowl  The Tim Riggins Salad What Kate Finds on Instagram Tarte Amazonian Clay 12-Hour Blush in Captivating Barbie UNO Sign up for the Latest Lazy Listens email. Grab a copy of my book The Lazy Genius Kitchen or The Lazy Genius Way! (Affiliate links) Download a transcript of this episode.   This podcast is hosted by Kendra Adachi and executive produced by Kendra Adachi, Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hi there, you are listening to the Lazy Genius Podcast. I'm Kendra Adachi and I'm here to help you be a genius about the things that matter and lazy about the things that don't. Today is episode 331. What's Saving My Life? Y'all love these episodes and I'm so glad they consistently get high marks and listener surveys and high downloads, so we will keep on doing them. This phrase, What's Saving My Life, was first coined by Barbara Brown Taylor, an author that I love, who offers a simple way to look at our lives and notice what is making it worth living. Now that might sound dramatic, but I don't need to tell you that life is full and sometimes overwhelming. And we need things that offer sparkle and light. Every quarter, I share my list and encourage you to make your own. So let's get started. The first thing that's

saving my life right now is self-compassion. We'll just get right into it. If you got the latest lazy letter last week, you already know how much I hate August, like a lot. I have never ranked the months, which is shocking, honestly. But if I were to rank them, August would be last. I want to love it. I really do. But every single year, it makes me a crazy person. Okay, I have to rate the months now. I just have to do it. Okay, so I figured it out. The order is December is number one. Then October, November, January, April, September, June, February, March, May, July, August. I'm sorry. I had to do it for myself. Okay. Now, since I had to do it for myself. Okay. Now, since I I have just left my two least favorite months of the year, July and August, going into my favorite season, right?

But it's also like the busiest time of year with a lot of transitions. It makes sense that I would be a little off center. I have had enormous big system energy the last few weeks. And I feel like my caffeinated squirrel brain just has like an ivy drip of double espresso. I am a vibe right now. And when I'm this kind of vibe, I can get really rigid. toward myself. I expect things to go a certain way at all times, and when that does not happen, I get mad at myself. So the thing that is saving my life a lot right now is self-compassion.

I am actively choosing to be kind to myself multiple times a day. It's a practice. You have to cultivate. And I'm grateful I've been doing it long enough that it's not as hard to access as it used to be. Still, I'm having to go there more than usual right now. And I don't know how it would be feeling if I was not seeking after that self-compassion during this current season. So that is for sure, number one. Okay, number two is tidying a very specific part of our house. So we call it the L, which is just our kitchen and living room area that's like kind of in the shape of an L. You've heard me talk about tidying the L before. We do it literally every day and have for years. My kids know what that means and they have to do it every day before screen time. But the reason this particular thing is

saving my life right now, more than usual, is because everywhere else in our house is utter chaos. My kids' rooms are like usually in low-key states of chaos as like a baseline. So that's like not really part of it, but it's still chaotic. We are getting our primary bathroom renovated right now, which has somehow thrown literally every other room on its head. I don't know what's happening. Our room is like now a storage room and a closet. Like if I'm in bed, sleeping and I'm cold and need a sweatshirt, I can just reach up and get one from the rolling clothing racks that are scrunched up next to the bed. Everything from our old bathroom is now in the other bathroom that somehow has multiplied.

We're all using it now. I honestly don't know what's happening except that everything in the house feels nuts. Everything except the L. I gave up trying to create order in chaotic places a few weeks ago. And I instead am channeling that energy into keeping the L, which is where we spend most of our time anyway, tidy and happy. It's intentional, necessary visual calm. It's not just like coincidental calm because we've always tidied it.

There is still builder's paper on the floor and stuff from our tiny foyer stuck in the living room in various places, but we're making it work. But really, it's cluttered, but it's tidy. And that has been a huge lifesaver. The third thing that is saving my life right now is my new watch. Y'all, I do not understand what's happening, but this watch is making me so happy every day. It is just a plain old analog watch that was served to me in an Instagram ad about a month or two ago. The brand is Spedal.

I don't know. It's S-P-E-I-D-E-L. We'll put a link in the show notes. I have the Spital EcoColor Pop Watch. Honestly, I do not know if I can articulate. anything special about it. Like it's it the watch is a great size. It's modern but classic. It looks great. It's very affordable. It comes in multiple colors. I got one in black and then another in pink for like days that I wanted to pop a color. But I have yet to wear the pink one, honestly.

The black one is just giving me so much life, which I should have expected honestly. I love black. But the reason I love this watch and why it is making the list is that it's making me feel pulled together, kind of like my glasses do. It's cool without being over the top. I love cool things. And it helps me know what time it is. Now, that is such a ridiculous thing to say, but it is true. I did not realize how often I check the time, but I would usually do it on my phone. Then I'd pick up the phone and answer a text, and then I'd find myself on Instagram 20 minutes later. Having a watch keeps me from getting sucked down that rabbit hole. Plus, as I already stated, I just love how it looks and how I feel wearing it. I am now a watch person, and I adore that it's not smart. It's not a

smart watch. It's just better for my life right now. And I am so grateful to have it. I love this watch. We'll be right back. The ride that steals the spotlight every time it hits the road, that's the Volkswagen Tiguan. Its sleek exterior makes a first impression you can't ignore. Step inside to find available full leather seats and wood accents. Under the hood, the available 201 turbocharged horsepower engine gives it a fun to drive etch. The refined Tigwan. You deserve more style.

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Okay, the fourth thing that's saving my life right now is a weird one. It's pickled red cabbage. That is what I said. So pickled red cabbage is a necessary component to two lunches I have been making on repeat for the last two months. And I have just become a person who always has to have pickled red cabbage in the fridge. So first let's talk real quickly about lunch. I've shared before that taking a lunch break is necessary for my mental health.

My therapist told me years ago that I needed to stop moving and just like sit down and enjoy my lunch, preferably one that I make and one that is not just like scrap. assembly from the plates of other humans in my house. I've been doing that for a while now and it really is a huge part of my staying grounded no matter what my circumstances are. My daily lunch break is really, really important. Now, I have shared some favorite lunch recipes here and on the website, namely the chickpea bowl, which is still a fantastic option. I also went through a long stretch where I made the Tim Reagan salad that I created for the kitchen years ago. It's basically like a bacon, avocado salad, but somehow the absolute perfect salad. I don't understand the alchemy of that thing.

Speaking of salads, I also make an Asian-inspired kind of cabbage salad sometimes. I think it's an Instagram reel that I made a while ago. Anyway, all that to say, I'm not low on favorite lunch options. However, two recent favorites are high in the rotation right now and both involve the beauty of pickled red cabbage. Now, the first lunch requires more work. It is inspired, by a Horissa chicken bowl at a local restaurant in Greensboro where I live called Gassons. Now, I don't know that I'm going to have links for all of these things. But basically, I just wanted to recreate that because it's one of my favorite things to eat town.

And I was like, man, if I could eat this for lunch every day, that would be the best. So it is white rice. That's easy to make. A smoky chicken, I don't usually have Horissa around. I know Trader Joe's sells jarred Horissa, but I don't usually have it. but the modern proper, which is a website, they have a cookbook called The Modern Proper. One of the women in that Holly is married to Scott Erickson, Scott the Painter, if you know Scott the Painter.

So anyway, the modern proper cookbook has a smoky chicken recipe in it that actually mimics that horacea chicken really, really well. So I use that for the chicken. I just Googled like a random recipe for Tabuli because you have to have Tabuli in this. And then Setsiki, which I use Brie McCoy's recipe for that. And then pickled red cabbage. So I have the whole meal prep process on one page in this like recipe notebook that I have where I just write down things that I've made. And it takes me about an hour, maybe an hour and a half, depending on

how often I get interrupted, like on the weekend to get everything made. And then I just pack it all up and I have the most delightful food for days. It's incredible. But on weekends that I do not have that extra hour or I didn't think ahead to get the groceries that I needed. This is my current favorite go-to lunch and it takes no time. All right. So I just heat up a few pieces of the just bare chicken chunks, which are my favorite. It's my favorite frozen chicken. It's so good. I get my bag at Costco. So I heat up a few of those in the air fryer. Okay? I start there. Then while those cook, I pull out my cabbage. I pull out tortillas. mayonnaise, wasabi, and barbecue sauce. Okay, chicken's done. I toss the chicken with bottled barbecue sauce.

All right. I microwave a flour tortilla. On that flour tortilla, I spread a little bit of mayonnaise and then like a healthy glob of wasabi. I love the heat of wasabi. Then I pile on the barbecue sauced chicken and then a good heap of that pickled cabbage. It is a spicy, bright barbecue chicken wrap that is stunningly delicious for being so few ingredients. It's actually great without the mayo and wasabi, just like the chicken, barbecue sauce and cabbage. I did that for a long time, actually. But then I wanted to try it. I wanted like a creamy contrast, you know, the mayo with the fried chicken. And then I wanted that hit of heat. I wanted to try it. And now that's just like what I do. My mouth is watering right now. It's so good. It's so good. All that to say, pickled cabbage is a

staple right now. And it's saving my meals, which saves my life. Okay, number five. Number five is a folder in my Instagram saves for things that I want to paint or draw. I shared this in an episode, I don't know, maybe a month or two ago about how I went through my Instagram saves, you know, like the little flag in Instagram, and I categorized them. It was amazing to do because now I can find the things I saved rather than just having one huge bucket to sort through. Well, my paint folder, which I really should probably rename Ardoll. art because I put drawing things in there too. It is so great. I save ideas of things that I could paint or draw so that when I do make time to make art, I can go right to this clean little set of

inspirational posts and make something. It is so great. Number six is a Pinterest board that I made for my fall outfit vibes. Okay, let me explain. So I love following what Kate finds on Instagram for fashion inspiration, particularly because how she sees her own outfits makes me think better about my own. She's really thoughtful in how she shops and styles things. And following her for the last few years, it has definitely rubbed off on how I shop and see my own clothes. Okay. Now that said, Katie recently talked about how she shops for new seasons where the first month is like a green light where she names what pieces she needs and then shops for them. The next month is like a yellow light where she adjusts now that she has worn the pieces and she slows down her shopping

and gets anything that like needs to fill in the holes. And then the final month or two is a red light. Just enjoy what you enjoy what you have. No new shopping needed, right? I really love this rhythm. It offers permission for me to look at my closet and see what still fits my body, what still fits my style and what I might need moving into a new season. I do find that intentional outfits, especially in the fall and winter, when I personally have more layering options because the South is just so hot, it is really, really good for me. It makes me feel like myself and matters to put that extra bit of thought into it. But setting it up this way where I'm only thinking about shopping like two or three months a year, if that really helps me like put the pause on things and not try to

fix things in like sporadic, spontaneous shopping where I'm like, I really want that thing. I really need that thing. I've put in the intentional thought. I had to do. of time so I don't I don't buy reactionary pieces. Okay. So I followed Katie's advice and I made a Pinterest board of this year's fall in winter outfit vibes that I wanted to go for. Kind of like a dinner queue. Just pick the things that make sense for you in this season. Narrow it down from everything to a little bit of something for this particular season and I did that with my outfits. So then on that Pinterest board, I organized those outs. outfits like with like. Did you know that you can do that? Did you know that you can reorder your pins on a

Pinterest board? I did not know that until like a few weeks ago blew my mind. Amazing. So what I did is I just grouped similar outfits together and I noticed silhouettes that I'm clearly wanting this season. And then I noticed any pieces that I felt like I might be missing. Okay. So instead of just like going to a store or, you know, getting a Banana Republic email and scrolling and then being like, well, that might work. I don't know. Instead of doing that, I made a list of the pieces that I might need to kind of create this series of outfits, these silhouettes that I'm going to really go for based on what I already have. I made a list of those pieces. It was like five or six things. And I have been looking for those pieces ever since. Now, once our bathroom renovation is over, eventually,

and I can put clothes back in my closet, I will just keep clothes in my closet for now that fit that vibe and store or give away the ones that don't work for me in this season. You do not have to put intentionality into your closet or outfits. You don't have to. But I think it's good to notice what areas of life feel better when you do, when you put a little bit of thought into them. Right now, my outfits is one of mine. And I've just really enjoyed this outfit Pinterest board. It's been so great. Okay, that's number six. Number seven is a new blush. Y'all, I have to call off my own search. I have found my blush. It is from Tart. It's the Tart-Azomian Clay 12-hour blush and the color captivating, which is kind of peachy.

And it's like when I discovered this, when I tried it, it's like my makeup game just locked in with this blush. I have not worn another color, nor do I want to ever since I got this color. I use it on my cheeks and my eyes, and it makes me feel like my face is bright and done without being super made up. I feel like I look like myself. I'm just obsessed with it. I'm obsessed. I have tried so many blushes over the years, as some people tend to do. And this is now like my color for a very long time. Now, don't assume that because it's my color, that it's yours, right? I'm not saying, like, call off the search for everyone's blush. It's my blush that I have found. It might work for you. but if it does turn out to be your color, I'm very happy for you. But what I'm trying to say is

my real encouragement is to not give up on your search for something like the perfect shade of blush. There's enough shades out there that there is something for you. And when you find it, it's like putting the right amount of salt into a pot of soup and then the whole thing just starts singing. It was like, it was fine. Yeah, this is good soup. And then you salt it correctly and you're like, what is happening? Why is this so good? That's how this blush makes me feel. the discovery of this blush and then wearing it every day. It's like everything makes sense now. And I love it so much. Love it so much. We'll be right back. All right. There are 10 things on my list. I have three left. The eighth thing that's saving my life right now is watching the Marvel movies in order with my boys.

So we have been doing this over the summer and now into the school year. There's just like less movie at a time now that school has started. Now school nights. So the boys have individual screen time every night assuming like homework and all that stuff is done. which it usually is. They have individual screen time every night where they watch, you know, their weird YouTube videos or play online chess or whatever. But then we all end up in the living room after Annie has gone to bed and we watch a little bit of whatever Marvel movie we're on. In the summer, we would get through about an hour at a time before the boys went to bed. And now that at school, it's closer to like half an hour. But still, it has been so fun to have that to look forward to every day. Now, if you think that,

been around for a while. You know this is actually a really big deal because my kids have historically hated movies, like just the concept of movies. The boys have always said that there's too much escalating conflict, which they are correct. Movies are boring without escalating conflict. Now, Sam, my oldest, he still says he doesn't really like movies, even though he watches these every single night. But we are breaking through, you guys. We are breaking through. Home Alone started at all last Christmas. And now Marvel is continuing our movie-loving journey. Now, right now we have about half an hour left in Ant Man, and then it's on to Civil War. We are watching these in release order, not chronological order, just for the record.

And Ben, my middle kid, is a huge Captain America fan. It's really cute. He actually does not like Tony Stark, Iron Man. So he's super nervous about Civil War, the movie, because he does not want to see the Avengers fighting with each other. But the Civil War really is Captain America versus Iron Man, like really. and he kind of thinks that Iron Man is like cocky and careless and should get what's coming to him. It's pretty hilarious, but he doesn't like conflict.

So like, we'll see how watching that movie goes. But I am, I'm like sad now when I have to be gone at night for a meeting or like going to get drinks with friends or something because I miss watching the movies with the boys. It's just been a really sweet thing to look forward to. So that has definitely been saving my life. Number nine is Barbie. No. All right. After I saw Barbie.

I went looking for Barbie paraphernalia, and I found a Barbie Uno game on Amazon. Margo Robbie is number one. There are some also random Barbies that I don't recognize from the movie. It's kind of weird. Like, who are these people? It's fine. Weird Barbie is one of the wilds. It's fantastic. Anyway, I made my own rule that when you play a one in the game, which is Margo, you have to say hi Barbie. You say hi Barbie whenever you play a one. That's my own role. It's fine. Okay, so Annie, she has not seen the movie yet. She's seven. she won't until it's streaming and we can watch it together, at least maybe parts of it together. I think some of it, she's just not going to get, right? And so we'll cross our bridge when it comes.

But she loves Barbie and she loves the idea of the movie. Now, we play Uno a lot as a family. It's just one of those games that works for us. So I ordered this Barbie Uno set and I just left it when it was when it arrived, I just left it on the coffee table. And when Annie found it, she immediately freaked out and we play it almost every day. Now, since I am not a mom who pretends very well, I do not play very well, having a game to play with her with rules and clear boundaries is essential for me. And we have the best time, especially in this season we're in of like we're still getting into the groove of school. She's still like a little girl who gets tired at the end of the day and needs her mom, right? Having Barbie Uno at the ready for us to connect with each other has just been the best.

And then finally, the 10th thing that's saving my life right now is knowing that my day off is coming. Y'all, at the time that I am working on this episode and recording it, I still have not had a day off. I still have not really been alone in my own house with the freedom to do nothing since June. Now, I've had a few handfuls of hours where I was alone at home. I even traveled some this summer and did fun things. But all of those were like for a purpose, you know? Or when I was home, it was to finish a project or something while cause took the kids somewhere. I have not really been alone in my own house without an agenda since June.

And even now, school has been in for a couple of weeks now. I am not really alone because of this renovation. Like someone is always, someone's always in my house. It's kind of a bummer. But regardless, this coming Friday from when I'm recording this, or three days ago Friday, when you're listening to this, it is my first real day off since school let out last June. And I am pumped. It is saving my life because I know it's coming. I know that I will have most Fridays to get back to myself for the next handful of months. And it's making it feel easier to go without, right? I don't know what I'm going to do on Friday. I don't know. I'm going to do on Friday. I I know that I don't want to waste my time on the actual day trying to figure that out. So I will spend some time thinking about it beforehand in the next day or so. But what's great is that it's not my only Friday.

I have lots more coming so I can just be and not put so much pressure on it. And that is one of the reasons I enjoy my lunch break, for example. I get one every day or at least most days. The more that you can embrace specific times to feel like yourself, even in busy seasons, when other people are always around, the less pressure you feel to make that single time count, because you have other times coming, right? They're coming. And you're going to be okay. So to recap, the 10 things saving my life right now are self-compassion, tidying the L in my house, my new watch, pickled red cabbage, my paint Instagram saves folder, my closet Pinterest board,

tart, Amazonian clay, 12-hour blush in the color captivating, watching the Marvel movies with my boys, playing Barbie, you know, with Annie, and knowing that my day off is coming. So thank you for listening to my list, and I hope it inspires you to make yours. All right, before we go, let's celebrate the lazy genius of the week. This week, it's Melody Hill, who shared this tip for seasonal favorites. I love candles. When I want to light one, I am paralyzed by choice. They all smell so good.

So I did a small test and divided them up by season. winter, spring, summer, fall. I used dot stickers, convenient since the typical pack comes in four colors, to mark which season they smelled like and put away the ones that were not the current season. So now I only have three to five choices, which is nice. Isn't this such a great idea? This feels similar to what I do with my olive and June nail polish. I have so, so so much, so, so so much. And when I go to paint my nails, I spend all my painting time trying to decide what color to choose. And that is why I now choose a seasonal polish capsule that has just a hand. handful of options to choose from for that season. You can do this with so many things. Recipes,

clothes, kids' toys, like pulling out a certain selection or cue from a larger group that fits your season, whether it's the season on the calendar or your season of life, is such a great way to lazy genius, something that matters to you. So thank you for this idea, melody, and congratulations on being the lazy genius of the week. All right, y'all, that's it for today. Thank you so much for listening. And until next time, be a genius about the things that matter and lazy about the things that don't. I'm Kendra. I'll see you next week. You ever felt like you were living just a B or B plus life? It's so dangerous to live that. More dangerous than a B minus or a C plus life? Because when you're living a B or B plus life, you don't change it. You think it's good enough. Is it? I'm Susie Welch.

I host a podcast called Becoming You. People think, okay, an A plus life is not available to me, But there is a way. We are all in the process of becoming ourselves. Listen to Becoming You wherever you get your podcasts.