MADE IT!!! Another week in the books and I am fully booked, fully grateful, and fully in need of a nap. Like, the kind of nap where someone has to gently wake me up three hours later and explain what day it is.

But hey, we’re here! We made it! Nobody panic!

This week was actually kind of a masterpiece headspace-wise. Work-wise, I mean. My personal list is still sitting in the corner looking at me like an unpaid bill, but the work list? Pretty much checked off. Done. Donzo. Gold star. Tiny parade. And honestly, that feels really good.

Two weeks without DoorDash, which feels illegal

I’ve been on a cooking streak and haven’t DoorDashed McDonald’s in two weeks.

TWO WEEKS!!!

Remember when I kicked Red Bulls? This is kind of the same vibe, except instead of aggressively removing caffeinated sugar water from my life, I’m apparently standing in my kitchen making food like a person who has it together.

Who am I?!

I’m just making tiny adjustments for my health. Nothing dramatic, no “new year, new me” nonsense where I buy seventeen ingredients for a recipe and then abandon them in the back of the fridge until they become a science project. Just small things. Cooking a little more. Ordering a little less. Trying to make choices that are good for me without turning my entire life into a wellness influencer documentary.

There’s something to be said for the tiny wins. I don’t need to become a marathon runner by Tuesday. I don’t need to meal-prep twelve identical containers of chicken and vegetables while listening to a podcast about discipline. I just need to keep making the next slightly better choice when I can.

And if that choice occasionally involves eating something over the sink because I forgot to sit down, well...we’re still growing.

Fully booked and absolutely floored

Work has been a lot lately. In the best way, but also my feet are killing me.

I’ve never worked this much at Graze, and I’m not going to pretend I’m breezing through it like some kind of perfectly organized catering robot. I am not. I have a brain held together by lists, snacks, and the occasional frantic “where did I put that?” followed by finding the thing directly in front of me.

But people keep trusting me with their parties and events, and I am absolutely floored.

Little old me?

Nah.

Really?

You chose me?!

I’m on my knees right now groveling!!!

Every order, every event, every person who reaches out about a platterbox, catering, a grazing table, a workshop, or a little gathering in the shop means so much to me. I know it’s easy to say “it’s just food,” but it’s not really just food, is it? It’s birthdays and meetings and baby showers and date nights and people standing around a table saying, “Wait, who made this?”

That part is really special.

I get to be included in people’s moments, and I don’t take that lightly. Even when I’m surrounded by boxes, labels, dishes, lists, and seven things I should have done yesterday, I know how lucky I am to be doing this.

So thank you. Thank you for trusting me with your gatherings. Thank you for choosing Graze.

I’m figuring it out. We’re all figuring it out.

I booked a trip because apparently rest is necessary

Also, since I’ve been on my A-game at work, I locked in a trip for October 20th through October 27th.

I need it.

I cannot work seven days a week without a reset. I’ve tried to convince myself that I can, but my body and brain have both submitted evidence to the contrary. Eventually, I start staring into the refrigerator like it contains the meaning of life, or I forget why I walked into a room and then just stand there holding a sponge.

A reset is necessary.

It’s not a reward for finishing everything, because let’s be honest, I will never finish everything. There will always be laundry. There will always be emails. There will always be one mysterious dish that somehow appears in the sink after I just cleaned it.

Rest has to happen before the list is perfect.

And my list will never be perfect, so here we are.

I’m really proud of myself for locking it in instead of saying, “Maybe later,” or “After this busy season,” or “Once everything calms down.” Because when does everything calm down? Does anyone know? Is there a customer service number for that?

I’m taking the reset.

Also, the astrology girlies already know

And okay, while we’re here and I’m obviously going to process life through a slightly delulu cosmic lens because I’m a double Pisces and this is literally my language... we are deep in Venus retrograde in Scorpio right now and wow is she stirring the pot.

For me, with Venus in Aries in the 1st house, it feels very “hello? let’s revisit every old pattern around love, self-worth, and how I assert myself,” which is... rude, honestly. Very identity-based, very how am I showing up, very why does the universe have me doing emotional admin work I did not ask for.

And the bigger hit this week is Mars in Leo smacking right into my natal Leo moon on the 6th, which feels like a direct tap on my emotional forehead. So if things feel extra intense around what you want versus what you’re used to getting? Yeah. That tracks. Then thankfully Mercury in Scorpio trines my Pisces sun on the 7th, which feels like the part where the fog clears just enough to sort through the noise without throwing my phone into the sea.

Anywayyy, if you guys are feeling this retrograde weirdness too, what part of it is showing up the most for you right now?

The dishwasher detergent that fixed my entire existence

Now, this week was a true masterpiece because I finally bought dishwasher detergent.

That’s it. That’s the headline. That’s the plot twist. That’s the character development.

Hand-washing dishes had become a literal nightmare. Not in a dramatic, cinematic way. In a very boring, deeply irritating way where there were always dishes drying next to the sink and piles of clean dishes waiting to be put away and me standing there thinking, “Didn’t I just do this?”

I finally got detergent and suddenly life felt...possible?

The dishwasher detergent fixed my life.

Not completely. Let’s not get crazy. I’m still me. There are still things everywhere. But it removed one tiny daily obstacle and that tiny obstacle had apparently been taking up the mental space of the entire Amazon River.

Sometimes wellness is not green juice. Sometimes wellness is buying the thing you ran out of three weeks ago so you can stop washing every fork by hand.

Personal list? Still a work in progress.

But Friday night, I put away the piles of clean dishes. I did it! I didn’t leave them in neat little stacks on the counter for another four business days. They went into their respective places like they pay rent there.

Laundry? Check. Even brought some to the shop to fold on Saturday as if I had the time.

Put away in the actual drawers and closets instead of sitting in baskets in my office? CHECK!

Do I still have a basket that has somehow become a permanent piece of furniture? Absolutely. But most of the laundry is away, and I’m counting that as a win.

I’m not asking for perfection anymore. I’m asking for movement. One load folded. One surface cleared. One bottle of dishwasher detergent purchased. One meal cooked instead of delivered.

Tiny adjustments.

They add up.

If you’re planning something, I’m here

Since we’re talking about busy weeks and keeping things moving: Graze is here for your parties, meetings, celebrations, and last-minute snack emergencies.

Maybe you need food for a meeting. Maybe your family is coming over. Maybe you forgot that Saturday was your event and now you’re staring at the calendar like it personally betrayed you.

It happens. I get it.

So, what did I learn this week?

I learned that I can make small changes without overhauling my entire personality.

I can cook more without becoming a meal-prep influencer.

I can move my body without running every day.

I can take a trip without earning it through exhaustion.

I can be fully booked and still admit I’m so soo tired.

I can be grateful and overwhelmed at the same time. Those two things can hang out together. They’re not enemies. They’re more like roommates who occasionally argue over who used the last clean spoon.

And I learned that dishwasher detergent is powerful. Maybe too powerful. Maybe this is how empires rise.

Anyway, thank you for being here, for reading these little weekly brain dumps, for trusting me with your events, and for cheering on the messy middle. I’m tired, but I’m proud. I’m still figuring it out, but I’m showing up.

That counts for something.

Right?

XX,

Abby

Song of the day: Kelly Rowland-Motovation (feat. Lil Wayne)

Because we LOVE a throwback. I am physically melting into the floorboards of my kitchen but put me in a club, I can still move. 😂