The Saturday Sidebar... unplugged

What's your Saturday routine? A look at mine, plus special international food, wine, and travel highlights.

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As summer winds down, I look forward to Saturdays becoming more predictable. Don’t get me wrong, I love weekend getaways and summer travel, but I love fall Saturday mornings, errands, and taking advantage of the season.

Question: What do your fall Saturdays look like? Share a favorite activity in the comments!

Here’s a typical Saturday for me:

Photo by Drica Pinotti on Unsplash

Wake-up time: 5:00 a.m. (5:30 if I’m sleeping in!) I know, I know. But I like getting up early. Every. Single. Day.

Breakfast: 5:15ish Always. I dream of breakfast and would never miss it. I start with coffee with The Good Stuff, plus a big glass of water or LMNT (raspberry) to wash down my many supplements. I usually eat coconut yogurt topped with warmed blueberries and raspberries and drizzled with almond nut butter. If we’re out of yogurt, it’s a smoothie or a gluten-free English muffin with heated berries & nut butter. (Heating up your berries = key.)

Emails, to-do, bills: I start by making or checking my to-do list for the weekend. Then, I check emails and investigate possible writing gigs. I end the session with finances.

Run, hot yoga: 8:30 - 10:30 a.m. While once upon a time, Saturday mornings meant long runs, now I run 3-5 and follow it up with hot yoga (Bikram style).

Back home… WSJ, coffee #2, and a smoothie: 11:00- 12:00. By the time I get home and shower, I’m starving. A smoothie is usually on the menu. I make mine with coconut water (to replace electrolytes lost in yoga), frozen bananas and raspberries, sometimes frozen spinach or other greens, and protein powder. The challenge has been finding a tasty powder without a lot of extras that hurt my stomach. Sun Warrior (vanilla) and Wholier are two powders I know I can count on. If I’m feeling crazy, I might add a little nut butter or avocado.

Errands, house stuff, and TBD: The rest of the day is spent doing those Saturday kinds of things… laundry, cleaning, groceries. Since we’ve got all sorts of food preferences in our house (gluten-free, soy-free, dairy-free, and mostly plants) this means I go to a couple of stores to get all of our stuff. (Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, Pic-n-Save, and Sendiks are the main ones. I really want to like Aldi… but it’s hit or miss when I go there.)

Dinner & Netflix: The day winds down with my husband cooking (if we’re having something really good where there’s an actual recipe) or me throwing something together, some vino, and then something we stream on Netflix, Amazon, or Apple. We might go for a walk after dinner; then we usually do our own thing - I’ll go to my office to do some writing or planning while watching YouTube videos. (Research for my newsletters!)

What do your Saturdays look like?

But… back to this Saturday. It’s time to investigate all of your options for the weekend, week, & beyond.

Photo by Alisa Anton on Unsplash

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LISTEN

• Who knew there were a plethora of podcasts, all devoted to Saturdays? Check out this list of interesting podcasts!

• OMG, just discovered this podcast that looks at everything 80s. In this episode, we hear all about CEREAL of the 80s.

  

  Photo by Franki Chamaki on Unsplash

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Photo by Georg Regauer on Unsplash

EAT - International Edition

• It’s always interesting to see how things are done around the world, right? Check out the diet and fitness secrets of Parisian women. And what the heck, here are their beauty secrets, too.

• A typical day of eating in France, Italy, and Spain. Each of these videos inspires me to switch things up a bit and get in the kitchen.

• We need to drink something too, so here are affordable imported wines from around the globe, mocktails and cocktails enjoyed by global trotters everywhere, and how Europeans drink their coffee.

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Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

SHOP

If you’re like me and still associate fall with “new school clothes,” I’ve got some info for you.

• What to Wear Fall 2023 (80s vibes abound)

• Fashion ideas that normal people wear (preppy is back?)

• Amazon fall favorites for home, fashion, and accessories

• 10 IKEA Products You Didn’t Know Existed

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Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash

WHIM TRAVEL

I contacted a friend out of the blue this week and asked her what she was up to. She and her husband were headed to the airport for a trip to Germany she had “booked on a whim” earlier that week. This made me think of a whole new category of travel… introducing (and copyrighting)…WHIM TRAVEL.

Get away on a whim without cashing in your 401K with these tips:

• How to Find Cheap Hotel Deals - 5 Money-Saving Hacks

• 23 Travel Hacks You Need to Know- from a digital nomad who’s been everywhere. And back.

• How to Book Cheap International Flights - the secret to half-price tickets!

• And if you’re feeling crazy, why not just book a last-minute cruise?

And, with that… I’m going to leave you to enjoy your Saturday and weekend routines. Make the most of these last days of summer!

Photo by Boxed Water Is Better on Unsplash

Stay safe.

Have fun.

See you Thursday,

Abbey