Lunch Notes // 015.

A little list of what I learned this summer. ☀️

Welcome to Lunch Notes.

Lunch Notes was born out of a desire to use my daily lunch break better. The hypothesis was that it would give me a way to regularly write this newsletter. That doesn’t happen, but Lunch Notes gets sent sometimes!

While Alberta is treating us to… warmer weather than we had for most of the summer, Labour Day weekend here really feels like a switch over to fall. The trees have already started to yellow, and also, I will not forgive & forget that time in 2018 when it snowed in September. All that to say, I’m starting to move into fall season — and thought one way to close out the season would be to share a little list of things I learned this summer. It was a special one — and I’m excited to share (and hopefully, hear a lesson or two you learned this summer!).

As always, 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

I hope you enjoy, & welcome to Lunch Notes. 🧡

What I Learned This Summer.

Summer 2025 might go down in the memory books as one of my favourite summers.

When I typed that, I thought, “Wow. I can’t think of a single bad thing that happened this summer! Except renovating.”

And then I remembered that…

• I entered the summer season after my grandmother passed away in April

• We have our busiest season at work in the summer… and this year, we bumped up that busy season to start right after a work conference we ran for 350+ people.

• Dave got into a car accident and had his truck written off

• We had a family member in a bad accident (the healing has gone well and everything is better now!)

• I lost my passport in a foreign country, 36 hours before I was supposed to leave said country

So all that to say: I had plenty of opportunities for ~ * personal growth * ~ this summer and took some brief notes on what I learned — notes I’m excited to share with you.

Let’s dive in!

1. How to replace your passport when you’re in a foreign country.

Know where your country’s consulate is and find their phone number on the Government Canada website. You fill out passport forms again. You should find out where to get passport photos in an emergency — I’d like to thank my sister-in-law for knowing that. Cry, a lot. Hope that a nice man named Lawrence, who will tell you about his ear polyps and how hard it is to get an ENT specialist appointment in Zambia, is the one who guides you through this process. Pick references that can speak to your character, your looks, and your employment — and hope those references will only roast you a little bit. One thing that will help you immensely: take a picture of your passport inside, just so you make sure you have all the info. Put it in a hidden folder, but I recommend having that on hand. Preventative: buy a passport case where you can put an AirTag in it.

You’re welcome.

2. I love love love being an aunt.

There’s nothing I love more than having a niece want to sit next to me, quietly colouring and listening to the Disney Storyteller Collection while I work. Or hearing “Aunty Hanny!” from across the room. I love teasing my nieces and nephews, playing games with them, and chatting with them about anything from hockey to music.

I feel like being an aunt is where my youth leader, residence advisor, and babysitter energy all combine into one beautiful role. It’s a treat! Can’t wait to welcome the next two nephlings imminently.

3. Having a low-stakes weekly rhythm of pickleball is amazing. Or, a reminder of some of my rules to maintain friendship.

One thing about me: I actually really struggle with being a good friend. Work and home take up a lot of energy for me — and those are also the places where I expend a lot of social energy. When I travel a lot for either of those, it’s really hard for me to keep up with texts, meet ups, and more.

I was reminded of the wisdom of two of my friendship “rules” this summer:

• Doing things with your friends is sometimes better than scheduling a hangout just to catch up. This summer, there was a powerpoint party with some friends, a weekly pickleball game with other friends, and a couple of shopping trips with friends. I love the “we can talk as we do things” vibe.

• Never leave a meeting without setting your next meeting. BAMFAM YOUR FRIENDS, people! If it takes you a month to get together, don’t let another month pass by with you all trying to find a date. It’s way easier to reschedule a meeting already on your calendars than it is to get a meeting on the calendar from scratch. I do this almost religiously with a group of friends. Guess what we didn’t do in July? BAMFAM. Guess what we didn’t do in August? See each other.

I guess pickleball was the vehicle for me to remind you of those two friendship rules. But if we have something where I know I’m going to see you weekly and we get to do something? Colour me all the way in.

4. Being home is very good for me.

I deeply romanticize a full life and the fact that I do get to travel for work. But the reality is that travel can have diminishing returns for me if I’m not careful…and I’m not really careful. I love being able to travel for work. And… it’s really hard sometimes.

When I got home from Zambia with no flights on the horizon for 10 weeks, I thought, “What am I going to do? Who even am I?” A real Belly Conklin moment for me. Instead, I’m learning that just… being home is very good for me. It’s good for me in taking care of my house, it’s good for me in seeing my friends, it’s good for my eating and planning and taking care of myself.

5. The power of a staycation / an “enjoy your mortgage” week.

Earlier this year, we were starting to plan a Pacific Northwest roadtrip… and then, between tarriffs, America America-ing, and the Canadian dollar, we decided to save some money and take a week off together, just at home.

It was maybe the best vacation I’ve taken in… years.

It wasn’t a fully “off work” vacation (please see my next lesson) — but it was a week where…

• Dave and I got to sleep in every day

• We got to explore our province

• We got to take care of lingering kitchen projects we hadn’t quite finished yet

• We got to see friends and host family and a friend

• We got to clean stuff

• We got to make delicious meals

• We got to enjoy the house that we pay money to live in!!

I’m not saying a staycation is for everyone but wowie zowie, was it for me.

6. The last week of August is not the best week for me to take off of work.

Especially when a client has a year end copy deck that needs reviewing and two designed pieces that needed reviewing. Next year, I’ll look at the calendar and have to see if I can find week where I have no deliverables for a client.

7. I can step away from what is popular to do what is right for me. If you think is about something big, it’s actually just about journalling in a lined Leuchtturm notebook.

I’ve had a Hobonichi twice now. I love the vertical weeks, the monthly pages, and the daily pages. But there is something about it that just does not work for me to regularly pick it up and journal in it, and then I feel guilty for having this beloved journal that isn’t getting used.

Enter: my really low stakes LINED?!?! Leuchtturm notebook. My little journal - to house a collage, goals, and little lists that I keep for what I need to do each day. It isn’t what I used to do with my journals and I definitely miss being a part of ~ * something * ~ — but I also love having a journal that works for me and does what I need it to do. It isn’t always pretty. But it is fun for me.

8. Speaking of which, lists and goals are good for my little squirrel brain.

Earlier this year, I thought - nah, I don’t need to set monthly goals anymore. That was for a different version of Hannah. And in my defence, it is hard for me to keep up on certain goals when I travel.

But sure enough… I set goals in July and August — things like how many books I would read, how many Peloton classes I would take, what areas of my house I would focus on cleaning, other little goals here and there. And it did make a difference. I don’t need to be rigid about it, I’m never upset if it doesn’t all get done, but it’s a good idea for me to have my little goals and little focuses.

9. I know how to buy the right clothing purchases that feel like a Hannah purchase.

This summer, I made a few clothing purchases and I just knew — “oh yes, this is a Hannah purchase.” I don’t know how to describe it, except to say the clothes are easily style-able with what else I have in my closet, they have an air of “art teacher” to them, and they fit. Every time I grabbed the piece to wear them, I’d feel 100% glad to be wearing them — like that was my exact right choice.

It was a reminder to me to not settle for something that’s just okay with clothes — it’ll be better for me if it’s a piece I love. Can’t stop the feeling.

10. I rewatched season 1 and 2 of The Summer I Turned Pretty, so I learned a lot of the callbacks in season 3.

The “Lemon Jelly Belly” callback from season 1 hit hard in season 3, episode 8. I’d be embarrassed but if I get joy from watching these episodes and deep diving them with my friends… who are you to deny me that, yenno?

11. Having the space you dreamed of is completely worth it. And it doesn’t magically fix your routines.

I don’t know why I always think that I will become a different person with a move or after a renovation, when things mostly stay the same. This was a strong reminder that even having your dream space doesn’t fix everything if you don’t try to… you know, fix everything.

12. I need to figure out my mornings, because I’m running into too many days where the only time I have for whole-body self-care is in the mornings.

We’re talking like - the kind of self-care that comes from moving my body, reading my book, writing a page, or things like that. And pushing back on my false but current narrative that the only thing I can do in the morning is… look at my phone. Let me know if you’d be interested in a Lunch Note or series on how I attempt to reclaim my mornings. We’ll see how it goes.

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So, that’s the little list of what I learned this summer. If you haven’t yet, I highly recommend setting a timer for 15 minutes and making a list of what you’ve learned this summer (and then coming back here and sharing 1-2 of those lessons in the comments). I’d love to hear about what you’ve learned. 🧡

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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 noodle on every suggestion you give me, even if it takes me months to execute on it. Inspire me! So tell me what you want, what you really really want!)

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.