Let's celebrate you. For no reason.

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Jul 29, 2024

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Hi, friend! It’s me - Jen Glantz. I’m writing this to you from Brooklyn.

I’m looking back at the month and whoa. July felt like a slow, but forceful, roundhouse kick to the chin.

It made being human feel really tough. Some people make it look easy. I guess I’m guilty of that too.

I was texting with a friend this month who asked how I was.

I told her the truth. I’m struggleeeeeeeingggg.

After explaining why (see below). She said:

I never would have known. On social media, your life seems….perfect.

Social media is fantastic for those who are good at hiding things. It lets you silence the gritty parts of your life. It has you constantly forgetting that people who know you, or don’t, will think they are keeping up with your life when they see what you share.

If I shared honestly on Instagram this month, there’d be pictures of thermometers, and eye rolling, crying on a bench, and yelling through the phone, working on my computer at 2am and 3am and again at 4am while Adam tries to get Gemma to go back to sleep, and takeout boxes stacked in our recycling bin.

So this is a reminder to pretend you don’t know a thing about your friend’s lives based on what they post on social media.

Instead, call them, text them, send them snail mail and ask them this:

What’s going on in your life that’s been tough to share?

I answer that question way down below.

👋Welcome to the Monday Pick-Me-Up. Inside the mess of July, I learned an important lesson. Celebrate people in life before the celebration. Let me explain.

Share The Monday Pick Me Up

Let’s Celebrate You. For No Reason.

One of my best friends never calls me on my birthday.

She always calls the day before.

You know my birthday isn’t until tomorrow. I used to tell her.

Yeah, I know. But tomorrow, everyone will call you. You’ll be busy. Why can’t we also celebrate you today?

After a year or two of her doing this, I began to love the tradition. It made me realize that we don’t need to wait for an official date to celebrate someone. We can make them feel special whenever we’re able to.

Perhaps there’s a good chance you’ll make it to the birthday party, or wedding, or wake up on a random Tuesday and be able to wish that person well. But life is so unpredictable and if you can make them feel special on a random day before their day, why not do that?

Plus, my friend is so right. We glide through our biggest days carrying balloons of emotion. We’re often too overwhelmed to let the gestures of our loved ones truly sink in. What a nice treat to have someone make you feel so filled with joy before everyone else.

All of this really hit me after last weekend when Gemma and I missed Adam’s brother’s wedding because she was super sick. I never thought that would happen, but it did.

And it made me realize all the ways we could have celebrated the couple before the wedding — just in case or just because.

So I want to try to do more of that — celebrate people early — just in case or just because.

What do you think?

⚡Instant Pick Me Ups

📖: Everyone in the influencer world + a lot of my friends + are talking about this article. It’s fascinating.

📖: If you’re wondering what this whole “Brat” thing is about.

🛍️: Here’s what I’ve been living in this week:

These $19 pants. I wore them with this $13 puff-sleeve shirt and again with a sports bra tank.
This $18 bag I use as my “work bag”. I love leopard print because it adds a bold touch to a boring all-black outfit (see above).
I’m still living in these pink shoes. Love them! So comfortable and they go with anything. I wore them with the dress below for a work meeting.
This dress is so comfortable. I wore it for a work meeting.

🎵: I went to an AJR concert this month. That was my second time seeing them live and they honestly put on such a fun, interactive, and interesting concert experience. Here’s a song I love from them.

😊 My Real Life:

Here’s a very honest look at my month of July.

My little girl was sick, twice, with stubborn viruses and when the baby is sick, life goes on the ultimate pause. Nobody is sleeping. Nobody is laughing. Everybody is on high alert. I spent most of the month carrying a digital thermometer around with everywhere I went. I saw Dr. Gabriella, the pediatrician we love, more than I saw my own neighbors. We even missed Adam’s brother’s wedding — which was super sad!
I found myself in a few arguments with people I care about. They lasted longer than they should have. Being mad at someone or knowing someone is mad at me throws everything off-balance. It made me feel so wobbly and dizzy.
But, there were some exciting things too. I’m about to start a new fun project. I’ve been working with an awesome partner building these wedding AI tools and we built another new one this month for eulogies. I’ve been loving working on these and it’s created a new source of passive income.
I also made two new friends! How fun is that? I met one because our dogs play in the park. I met the other at a play space for kids. I really hit it off with both of them on a deeper level than: wow, can you believe the weather is so nice today? I have plans to get together with each of them again in August.
We don’t have any childcare right now so I spend quality time with Gemma during the week and work when she’s napping or sleeping at night. I’m never able to get everything done (my to-do list has 63 semi-important tasks). Plus, my brain lags when I switch from entrepreneur to mom and then back, but I love that I’m able to do this. Yes, it’s the cause of my brain fog and permanent exhaustion. Yet, it’s the reason for most of my happiness at the moment.
I was feeling so blocked posting on Instagram for months. I couldn’t even bring myself to post anything - -which is fine for my personal one but I also run a business and businesses need to be on social media (mine does at least). I met an influencer when I was getting coffee one morning and basically said to her: can I hire you to inspire me to get back on Instagram and post? She said yes and we spent a few hours just filming TikTok’s and IG reels together. Like this one - it hit one million views! I didn’t need her to do much except hold me accountable — we put a date on the calendar, I booked an event space to record in since my apartment is so small, and I paid her in advance for helping me shoot the videos. It was honestly such a helpful (but costly of course) way to get back to doing something I put off for too long.
Everyone I know is traveling the world. We’re not going anywhere. When people ask if I have any exciting trips plan, I simply say: Oh I am not in my travel era! I’m really embracing enjoying our neighborhood and Brooklyn. Of course there’s a lot to see and do in Italy or Greece. But there’s also a lot to do in your own backyard if you’re willing to find the magic. I follow lots of local Instagram accounts and search on local Reddit boards to find out cool, interesting, or unusual things happening nearby.

Okay, that was a lot! Phew. Thanks for reading My Real Life!

The Monday Pick Me Up