Hey Guys,

After a crazy busy April wherein I basically wore myself down to pulp, APW’s business coach put me on a strict diet of no bullshit. No more aimlessly wandering the internet reading seventeen thinkpieces in bed before waking up because I have no energy. No more overworking myself to “get caught up” when I know well and good I’ll never actually feel caught up. And for the love of all that is good, no staying up past my bedtime. And y’all, I forgot for a second how good self-care, the real kind, really is. Like, one or two shifts in my routine (the phone is the biggest one) have had a domino effect, and I literally feel like a different person than I did a month ago.

So let this be your reminder to practice some self-care this weekend. Go outside. Read your favorite book. Stop making excuses for why you have to put everyone else first. Don’t be like me last weekend and spend your one free day frantically cleaning your house and then beating yourself up for not getting enough done. (I’m a work in progress! What can I say?) You are important enough to prioritize, okay?

Related: I’ve also given up Facebook, which means Instagram is basically the only place I let myself passively internet right now, so these days I’m living for Instagram astrologers. Jessica Lanyadoo and Chani Nicholas are my GIRLS (they don’t know me, but we’re BFFs). They’re both intersectional feminists who put out the kind of horoscopes that make it much easier for me to blame the planets for all my problems. (I kid, their readings are actually super grounding if your spirituality leans toward the astrological.) And if you’re the kind of person who is super into what their sun sign says about them, this hilarious account is giving me life right now.

As part of my “Maddie works on herself” endeavors this month, I’ve also been trying to support more local businesses with my shopping habit, and these earrings I bought a few weeks ago just showed up on my doorstep. The artist is a Bay Area–based woman, and her jewelry gets me more compliments than anything else I wear. Now I’m trying to figure out if I need everything else in this collection or… if I need everything else in the collection. Send help? (Or just vast quantities of dollar bills? Either will suffice.)

In other news, if you weren’t around yesterday, we announced a new project that is, hands down, one of my favorite things we’ve ever done on this site. If you have a minute to fill out our survey, please go do that! We want all the APW voices we can get.

And that’s it you guys! Go enjoy your long weekend. We’ll see you here on Tuesday.

Cheers,

Maddie

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