5 things for Friday (vol. 16)

Thank you all for your kind comments on my post yesterday. I can report that I’m feeling much better, so all the self-care was worth it. I definitely enjoyed the music and a nice smelly candle while I worked yesterday.

I think a few early nights still would help, and the new markers I bought for colouring in will too. I couldn’t help myself and ran into the store last night for a look, and walked out with a set of 36 markers for $19. I’m considering it an investment in my mental health *wink.

Here’s my latest roundup of random thoughts and things I’ve been doing.

November iFit challenge

This month’s challenge on iFit is the “Move Like Him” challenge.

iFit is similar to Peloton if you’ve heard of them. Think software built into exercise machines, where you can stream workouts and participate in events. iFit feels more like a travel documentary paired with workouts – they travel to some incredible places around the world.

In a nutshell, it’s a series made up of sessions with male trainers (last month was “Move Like Her”, and it was the same thing but with females). It’s a fun way to draw attention to men’s health.

The iFit challenges have been one of my 52-in-52 goals this year, and I’ve been loving it. Some months have been easier than others, and a couple earlier in the year were brutal (I think they had about 25-30 workouts in the series).

At one point, I was trying to get the monthly challenge done on both the treadmill and the bike, but once the bike screen died, I relaxed and only worried about one. Now the bike screen is fixed, but I’ve preferred just sticking to the goal of one, so that I can focus on other workouts too, for example, Pilates.

When I post my dedicated post to tick off this 52, I’ll share all the cool virtual badges that I’ve earned. They used to send you magnets each month when you completed a challenge, and I was super sad when they stopped that. I think to celebrate the year, I’ll probably make my own; it’s nothing that some magnetic printable paper and a craft machine can’t handle!

Forever Fables Bookstore

Last weekend, some friends and I took the opportunity to catch up at Forever Fables in Montville. It’s a romance and fantasy bookstore, paired with a cafe.

We were a little surprised to see that the number of books was quite low, but it had so many fun things.

• Blind Date with a book – they’re wrapped up so you can’t see what the book is (there are hints on the outside), and come with highlighters and Post-its (be still my heart; I’m a sucker for stationery).
• Themed table names based on books. If you’re familiar with ACOTAR, you’ll be amused to know that our table was “Feyre & Rhys’s table”.
• Bedazzled books on display, and they also sell supplies (though they were out of glue at the time). Basically, you can decorate the cover of your book with little gems to make it all glittery. They had a workshop a while ago to show everyone how to do it too.
• Themed food and drink. I ended up getting a “tea” (cold; it was poured over lemonade) that came with glitter and changed colour when you poured in the “magic substance”.

You can see the bottom of my drink starting to change to pink.

After that, we ended up going for lunch. Despite the rainy weather, it was surprisingly busy in Montville, but we ended up luckily finding a car park. We found an empty pizza restaurant, and by the time we left, it was pretty busy! Normally, this restaurant has an incredible view, but on rainy days you’re left with this view of the fog instead. It’s always a beautiful part of the world regardless.

Glamrdip has put my wallet in danger

Uh oh… Black Friday sales are coming up, and my favourite dip nail provider has announced they’ve got new colour ranges coming up. Two, in fact. Uh oh.

• Colour-changing thermal glitter: I love the sets that change colours based on your body temperature. To date they’ve all been solid colours, but glitter ones?! Shut up and take my money.
• Cat-eye: This is all the rage in nail polish land at the moment. From what I understand, cat-eye polishes use magnets to move the magnetic shimmer so that it makes some pretty cool effects, similar to the reflection in a cat’s eye (hence the name, I assume).

Glamrdip haven’t shared pictures of the sets yet, so here’s an example of the effect from Instagram. It’s using a different nail polish, but you get the idea.

The sale starts in a couple of weeks, so until then I’ll sit tight.

Talking to the camera

I’ve reached the point in creating my US video where “present-day Kel” is required to talk to the camera to explain a few things.

Talking to the camera is hard.

(Side note – this is a video of a holiday that I took in 2024 to the States, and road-tripped with friends for 2 weeks. We had all been friends from an online running club, and this trip was the first time we had met together in person, so it was scary and fun at the same time.)

I did my first take this week, and while it was fine, it was boring. I clearly sound very scripted, which I am, because I didn’t want to mess up and say something stupid.

I can’t use the video.

It’s just not me. I know I’m self-conscious in front of the camera, and sitting at home talking to it just feels unnatural. I much prefer when I’m moving, or I’m somewhere random and fun. At home at the desk feels odd.

And I know this isn’t a professional travel video. I’m not becoming a vlogger. It’s just a home video, but published online for all of us to watch and (hopefully) enjoy.

I know I could probably do the video without it, but I think it’s pretty necessary. So I’m going to try again. This time I’m not going to script anything, and I’ll just focus on being my weird self that makes bad jokes. Isn’t that why we have editing? Take out the bad bits?

Wish me luck for whenever I attempt take 2.

High school reunion

This weekend is D’s high school reunion. Originally when I was thinking of what to wear, D suggested I wear the dress I’ve worn to a few weddings this year.

As much as I love it, and I’m glad I’m getting a lot of wear from it, I didn’t think it would be appropriate.

He let slip yesterday morning that there was going to be a walk-through of the school first, followed by dinner at a restaurant. In my opinion, this dress is not one you want to be walking around a lot in; it feels way too dressy and formal. Plus, it’s polyester, so it’ll get hot. And those platform shoes are high, so I would be uncomfortable pretty quickly. D is 6’4, and with those shoes on, I can almost look him eye-to-eye.

So, last night, with one panicked drive to the shops for late-night shopping, I have a new dress and new shoes.

The plan was to get something that would double as a summer dress that paired with a denim jacket and would be appropriate for a day-to-night situation. I hoped to keep it cheap, but it wasn’t to be.

None of the stuff that was in my planned budget looked very nice on me. It became another game of D, L and I all picking out outfits to see what looked the best.

D won the game. We ended up with his pick.

It’s longer than I wanted, but I’m not complaining about covering my legs. But I don’t think I’ve worn a halter anything since I was about 15!

It’s so weird seeing the fashion you wore as a kid come back in style.

I also bought some nice summery shoes that are much lower and will pair really nicely with skirts and other dresses I have. I can see these getting a lot of use over the coming warm months.

Now to do all the things tonight – tan, wash and straighten my hair, and do my nails. I suppose the self-care continues with a giant pamper session!

I hope you’ve all had a great week!

Have you ever tried a blind book date, or recording home videos? Any tips for being natural in front of the camera?