Today’s Sunday Mood
Soul Cure
By: Gabriela Yareliz
There are weeks where we fall into old patterns of behavior, and we do not take proper care of ourselves. We all have them.
This week, while sick no less, it was one of those weeks for me. I was doing my exercise routine but definitely overdid it at work. Falling back into old patterns carries a certain degree of exhaustion and shame, so in efforts to lift that, I am talking about it.
What do we do when things get derailed? My executive coach would always tell me— we reset and use the tools we have because you already know what needs to be done. The key is to regain agency.
We face the question— who do we want to be?
So today is my *exhale*, and tomorrow, I will start the Pvolve October challenge (which I will do simultaneously with my Ladder routine).
I am cleaning up my mental clutter and some clutter around me (even electronically). I recently reviewed my YouTube subscriptions, and most of those channels died six years ago, and most of the ones that hung in there haven’t posted in a year. Only about ten of them still regularly post. I unsubscribed from a bunch. Seeing the channels I used to watch was like opening an old journal. There are some things I am not even remotely interested in anymore.
When I look at the media I follow, whether it be by emails, Substack or other media, I have realized that most of it is women who keep a lovely home, workout, cook and dress well. I guess that is the goal.
Rather than a makeup tutorial à la 2016, I am watching a woman show me how she sets her table. Full on Martha Stewart.
I read a great piece from Our Table’s Company:
One of my favorite lines of advice from Georgia’s mom is, “Dress like you have somewhere better to be.” A motto for life. It’s things like that, that bring us back to ourselves. Turning the ordinary into extraordinary moments of intentionality.
Reading it reminded me of how much I am still learning. There is a lot we can learn from people who have led lives with more structure, boundaries and intentionality.
I truly believe that to thrive, we all need to step out of survival and the numbing effect of it all. We need wonder.
Speaking of wonder, my husband punctuated the week with wisdom. He took my overworked numb little self out of the city and on a magical adventure. Getting out of the city always does my soul so much good. This place feels so oppressive to anyone who is a free spirit. Truly.
Being in nature. Petting an alpaca. Seeing the golden light hit the changing leaves—
Just like that, I am back to loving life again. 🎶
Golden light autumnal country roads. Soul cured.
This Week’s Favorites 10.2.26
The first favorites of October.
This morning, I walked a good 15 minutes to a coffee shop that serves turmeric lattes, only to arrive and see it was closed even though according to Google and the sign on the door, they should have been open already for an hour. That was the vibe this week.
Not going to lie– this week was hellish. Happy to leave it behind.
Still, it was an interesting week. I started reading Strangers. Wow, it is wild. I am not even halfway through, but I am shook. If you are divorced or have been close to a divorce– it is a little triggering, but definitely articulates what one feels in the chaos of it all. If you felt like you were going insane during a divorce, you will feel seen in this one. If you ever felt like a switch flipped, and suddenly, you didn’t recognize someone you thought you knew— wow, you will feel seen.
This book has had me deep in thought all week. The Dorit Kemsley book, as well. You can tell she really loved PK. Made me sad.
I am almost on the other side of my Fran Drescher voice situation.
My mountain of tissues has been reduced to a smaller stack. It’s going to rain in a bit, which will hopefully cool things down. The weather is bipolar. Please, summer, let us gooooo.
Here are the favorites of the week:
30 Facts About Childhood Today that Will Terrify You
“You can seek to serve the masses. Or you can make something special. For people seeking special.” Seth Godin
All the soups— 36 Best Hearty Fall Soups to Warm You Body and Soul
“At a certain point we’re gonna have to build up some machinery, inside our guts, to help us deal with this. Because the technology is just gonna get better and better and better and better. And it’s gonna get easier and easier and more and more convenient, and more and more pleasurable, to be alone with images on a screen, given to us by people who do not love us but want our money.” David Foster Wallace
This piece has a lot of truth to it: The Capture of MAHA
“What makes any of us worthy of love is our willingness to love and allowing ourselves to be loved.” Brianna Wiest
Dead with Bobby’s video:
That goalie goalllll last night was the best part of the game.
This week’s song (soundtrack to divorce rage):
The Right Instructions
“You mustn’t wish for another life. You mustn’t wish to be someone else. What you must do is this:
rejoice evermore
pray without ceasing in everything, give thanks.
I am not all the way capable of so much, but those are the right instructions.”
– Wendell Berry
The Office Writers Finally Wrote a Woman I Like
And her name is Mare Pritti, and she is on Peacock’s The Paper (The Office spinoff with Oscar Martinez).
By: Gabriela Yareliz
I have waxed poetic on how the flaw of The Office is there are no women to be admired. The ones that had purpose and intelligence— they ruined. Jan goes insane. Holly is insane. Karen gets written off. Kelly stays shallow. Angela sleeps with everyone in Scranton. Pam buffers and quits art school (and is subsequently bad at everything else). Meredith, Phyllis and anyone else are too annoying or unimportant to be discussed. Yes, this includes Erin. Come for me.
The men on the show have character development and a storyline. The women are just sort of there to be part of the joke or supporting characters. This always disappointed me. I didn’t feel a connection to any female character on the show.
The Paper holds promise, and they better not ruin it (or Mare).
Women, like men, are different. There are different types of us. It’s a fact. The Paper captures this beautifully. They show the unhinged (Esmeralda), the toxic (Nicole), the chaotic (HR Lisa), the sassy (Adelola) and the dedicated (Mare).
Mare has captured my attention because while Ned Sampson is her boss, she is an intellectual equal. She does her job well, she cares about her job, and she served in the military. She is funny, unfrivolous and at the same time, beautiful. Mare is tough, smart, low-maintenance (a foil to many of the women in on the series)— and she has different sides to her personality.
A spoiler for Season 2 (don’t read in if you don’t want to know)— Mare illustrates the woman of today who wants to be respected at work. She wants to rise through her merit.
She also isn’t waiting to get (romantically) picked like Pam and Kelly. She doesn’t have that desperate energy. She shows what many women who make their own money face in today’s age— you choose to be with a man because you want to. Because he makes your life better and the relationship sparks joy. You don’t need the man. You aren’t in this constant martyrdom. You aren’t drowning in drama or the emotions of it all. You can choose, with a level head, whether it makes sense for you to entertain a suitor.
Mare illustrates a woman with the ability and wisdom to walk away. She isn’t afraid of trying new things, and she works to make it work (when they sent her to The Chronicle). Mare’s character isn’t beneath Ned’s and it also doesn’t dominate him or belittle him. I like their dynamic because they are on a level playing field.
Mare is refreshing to me. She is similar to Alex in St. Dennis Medical. (Except Alex is always stressed and lacks boundaries. Mare represents a calm and poised version of a similar kind and smart woman). She isn’t too cool to care. The character also laughs at herself.
Mare is my favorite character on The Paper, and I beg the writers not to destroy her. She has so many quirks and nuances of the coolest kind of woman. She is admirable. You want to see her succeed. I hope they let us see her flourish.
Self-Mastery
“The paradox seems to be, as Socrates demonstrated long ago, that the truly free individual is free only to the extent of his own self-mastery. While those who will not govern themselves are condemned to find masters to govern over them.”
—Steven Pressfield, The War of Art
Hi! Hi!
From my throne of crumpled tissues.
By: Gabriela Yareliz
Greetings from the couch, where I sit like a queen surrounded by tissues. It has been a sniffly one. I am slowly regaining my ability to breathe through my nose. My nose is drying up. Bless.
Yesterday, was a meaningful Tunnel to Towers. Due to the Nor’easter, it was stripped of all fanfare, but it happened. And that’s important. The faces one sees when one exits that tunnel— they have a way of staying with you.
I ended the day yesterday with a red face after a continual cold spray of rain. My hair— disgusting. Don’t even ask. I had to wash it because not doing so would be criminal. (So close to just shaving my head for convenience).
I will crack open my book in a bit. I have been inside all day and have zero desire to go out into the overcast day. I have been on a RHOBH kick. I read Lisa Rinna’s latest book and now, I am reading Dorit Kemsley’s book.
I worked out, but also rested. Proud of the rest part. Past me would have dragged myself into 14 train tunnels and flung myself off of the Times Square 1 train platform into a car (crowd surfing the packed rush hour crowd!) on a day I felt like death. Did it more times than I can count. This year has been progress in being kinder to myself. Also, shoutout to my kind husband who made me lunch. Sometimes, the kindness of others makes us kinder to ourselves. I am Exhibit A of such an example.
Autumn has a way of inspiring kitchen time. I have some squash I am going to prep for roasting because who doesn’t love some roasted squash? Athena Calderone’s roasted squash changed my life some years ago. This specific recipe. (Make it. You will thank me (and Athena) later).
In other random news— have you heard about The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion? I am ready to start Volume 1. I feel inspired by the author Beth Bower’s story. She has taken the world by storm.
It makes me wonder what else is possible if we settle in and focus on the task and dream in front of us.
Just wanted to drop in with this personal and uneventful note from my plague bubble. Hope you are somewhere cozy. Hope you can breathe through your nose. Thank you for coming along the journey. What good books are you reading?
Discipline Today
A Rainy NYC Saturday
The Olsen twins captured my mood today, on this rainy NYC Saturday.
I want to move around but also melt into a soft blanket. I want to scribble in a notebook but also want to start learning a language that has zero familiarity to me.
I want to read a stack of books but also write a stack of books.
I want to prance around in a onesie but also wear a long wool coat.
I am sitting here, sniffling with a pile of tissues stuffed into my cushy robe pockets. Warmth.
Ahhh autumn. A season pregnant with contradictions and possibilities.
Hot/cold.
Cozy/crisp.
Slow/fleeting.
For now, the steam rises above my tea cup, and the smell of cinnamon is enough.
This Week’s Favorites 09.25.26
By: Gabriela Yareliz
How is this the last favorites for September 2026? Facts.
This week was busy. Left me feeling like Punch in this pic:
My wish came true, and it’s SWEATER WEATHER. The wind has it feeling 9F cooler than it is. A dream. I wore fleece, sweaters and a set of light jackets this week. Bliss.
I was able to rest today. Took it slow in the AM, and saved my workout for the evening. I am proud of my Ladder MAX stats. Top 5%!!
Hockey is baaaack. It has been a bit anticlimactic so far, but we cling to hope. Waiting for the return of Steve Valiquette and the post-game crew on MSG.
These were some of the favorites of the week:
“If you chose to become a parent, the sacrifice was the job. Not a favor you were doing the child.” Vanessa Fitzgerald
“Steps” And The Humanizing Of The Villains
“A world without play is a world without magic. And a world without magic is a world without resurrection. And in a world without resurrection, nothing good can come true.” Justin Whitmel Earley
7 Touchdown-Worthy Desserts for Football Season
“You can tell how much internal shame you have by how judgmental you are. Every judgment you make about someone else is pointing to a part of you that you’re still rejecting. This is why the things that bother you so much are oddly hyper-specific. The lazy person triggers you if you never allow yourself to rest. The needy person triggers you if you learned as a kid that needing was unsafe.” Joe Hudson, executive coach and founder of Art of Accomplishment
This podcast episode:
“Creativity is inconvenient that way. It keeps asking you to be more and more specific. This place. This person. This page. This song. This scene that you’ve already rewritten five other times and honestly want to scrap anyway, but it just keeps calling you back.” Rainier Wylde
In defense of camping— The inconvenient, thankless weekend tradition that I keep insisting on
“Sabbath is a whimsical rebellion against the idea that work is the only important thing in the world.” Justin Whitmel Earley
This is the song of the week, and this dance lives rent free in my head. I think Ezra is the person I am rooting for to go all the way in DWTS. Pure excellence, inspiration, and take-no-shit grit. Let’s goooooo. This sparked joy:
