Lunch Notes // 008.

Can I do it if it's not impressive? And other musings as we break from form a smol vulnerable catch up time.

Welcome to Lunch Notes.

Lunch Notes is born out of a desire to use my daily lunch break better. I hope that this feels like a note that someone tucked into your lunchbox. Or like a class newsletter tucked in your cubby that a cringy keener kid made for you.¹

In today’s issue, we have a break from form for some vulnerability. I hope you enjoy, & welcome to Lunch Notes. 🧡

I hope this collage gives you a sense of vibes over the last month, but is also an endless vibes for “How Your Email Finds Me” memes.

Honest Thoughts: Not a Highlight Reel. (A Lowlight Reel?)

Over a month ago, this is what was written on the Lunch Notes editorial calendar²: “How I Spend My Lunches”. It was a different take on the “day in my life” content that I love, but tied perfectly to the theme of this newsletter. Sensational.

But you haven’t heard from me in over a month, so you had to know something veered off course.

Because of the time I write this newsletter, I needed it to track a Thursday, Friday, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of lunches.

That Thursday, I spent my lunch break finalizing Lunch Notes stuff, and then watching Youtube trailers until a meeting at 1 PM. I didn’t even have lunch until after that.

Friday was better - I had some friends over to co-work, and I sat and caught up with one of them at lunch time. On Friday, I thought I could spin Thursday into an honest
”the bar was on the floor, I knew I didn’t want to spend my lunches like that, and it can only get better from here” beginning to the essay.

Then Monday came. I worked through lunch and had a meeting in the afternoon, so I used my lunch house as some flexible time at the end of my day to shower and prep for a meeting that night. Except all of that came at a cost: I came home from my evening meeting to prep for work meetings the next day.

If I thought the bar was on the floor on Thursday - it only got worse on Tuesday. Tuesday, I was in meetings from 11:00 AM until 3:40 PM. Many of those in active conversation, so I couldn’t just run and eat on camera. Tuesday was the moment I realized, “I’m not sending Lunch Notes on time this week, and I’m probably not sending it at all.”

Wednesday was more of the same - I let other stuff take over, had no real lunch, and had extra follow up to do from the rest of the week.

And it’s been a lot more of the same since then.

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When I did a day in the life post, I knew it wasn’t the perfect, aspirational content I dreamed of putting out in the world. But it was honest to me and what I was facing. Writing down much of that day was eye-opening to me: it highlighted to me how much I wanted a better evening routine and how much I wanted to be spending time reading. And how much time I did have in the day to do stuff! And how truly full my life is.

In the weeks following publishing that post, I put into practice some of the things I learned from the exercise: I started a small and short movement practice, I tried to be more intentional about reading when I could. We instituted a ten minute tidy. I took time out to write this newsletter. We built some habits! If I squint back over the last month, I can see it. Maybe.

To be honest, that’s the stuff I wish I was highlighting here. How I ate my lunch, stepped away from work, and took time to engage in a meaningful-to-me project. How I managed to get my life back on track after one bad week³. How I stacked up little habits to create a life I love. How I kept at something, even when everything else felt overwhelming.

Instead, I’ve found myself thinking, “I can’t share this because it’s not impressive. It’s not good. It’s not aspirational.” In fact, I typed this down in my notes: “is lunch notes only good when I have something impressive to share? (Am I only good when i have something impressive to share?)” Casual thoughts that I’ll be sharing with Therapist Jenny at some point, I’m sure.

Those are the honest thoughts, though— and maybe that’s better. It’s honest that the one week in my life I wanted to highlight what I do at lunch was a poor reflection of what lunches have looked like lately AND a stark reminder that if I don’t protect time for myself during the workday and in the rest of my life, it will all get eaten away.

It’s honest to say, “I don’t have a new lunch recipe that I tried out, I AM JUST EATING SANDWICHES⁴, and I don’t have any new content to add for In the Lunchbox!”

So, this post is a reminder from me to me (the boss of ye ole space) that I don’t need all of that to write Lunch Notes. It makes it feel special and fun, but saying “I’m eating a sandwich, re-reading a lot of Abby Jimenez, and emailing is basically my whole personality” will garner some form of connection with someone out there, probably. And writing it over a lunch break gets me where I want to be.

Maybe you needed that reminder, too. That it doesn’t need to be impressive or new — you can be honest about your reality, you can pause something, you can find a new way to connect, you cand squint to find something you love to scream about with your friends. You can get your lunch breaks back. We can get our lunch breaks back! I hope.

Let’s find out.

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In the Lunch Box is a collection of treasures in my life from the last few weeks - media I’ve consumed, products I’m loving, things I can’t get enough of… in a condensed, digestible, aesthetic format (I hope).

1. Nobody Wants This: I know none of you have heard about this little underground show that features the best of the Gilmore Girls boyfriends, Dave Rygalski, and Veronica Mars — so allow me to extol its praises! The highest compliment I can give a show is when I watch it and immediately know I have to re-watch it with Dave (and then the higher compliment is when Dave says, “Yeah, it’s funny!”) I found there were times where I held my breath over how much chemistry Noah and Joanne have — but I also loved the friend dynamics, the family dynamics, and the emotional health of Noah! (Is this what we have to look forward to in Emily Henry adaptations? I’m hoping so!) The Ick (episode 6) will go down as one of my favourite episodes of television of all time. Thank you and good day.

2. Pearson Berry Farms Soft Hot Cider: This is niche to the Edmonton area, but it is a thing I can’t get enough of. Last Thanksgiving weekend, I picked up a bottle of this cider concentrate from a stand at the farmer’s market. I finished it in January and was truly so sad. I counted down until I could get some from the Farmer’s Market again, and have been sipping on it all summer long. This past week, I stocked up on 1L bottles of the apple and the Saskatoon Berry flavour for the winter. If you’re in Edmonton (or maybe wherever because there’s a shipping option on their website?), get this to elevate your fall, buddies. (And if you’re over at my house, let me make you some!)

3. Tom Lake by Ann Patchett: When I visited Parnassus in May, I picked up Tom Lake, because I love picking up an Ann Patchett book at her bookstore. I have a lot of Ann Patchett’s backlist to get to, but I finally read this one over the last few weeks. I loved the way she wrote the family at the heart of the story — I have a soft spot for any story that has three sisters. And I loved the reflection into the character’s past. It’s a slow story but I found myself entranced with the setting and the relationship dynamics in this one. Glad it made it onto my five star fall reading list — and glad to check it off the list!

I hope this was a nice, short break away from whatever you have on your plate - whether you’re reading on a work break, your lunch break, or with your coffee at some leisurely moment you’ve been able to steal away.

If you have ideas for future Lunch Notes topics or things you’d like to see me write about here, please let me know and I’ll add them in to my (chaotic) content calendar. (Seriously, I would love topic ideas - I can brainstorm some more ideas but I always love yours!)

Thanks for reading, and enjoy your lunch!

1. I can own it, fine. Yes, I did this. I’ve always been who I’ve always been.

2. Read: the only things written down in the monthly pages of my Hobonichi Cousin

3. but the real ones will know that it wasn’t a week; it was a MONTH of life feeling decidedly Off Track™️

4. Caesar salad kits this week!