🎰 Quick Wins List

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On Saturday morning, we passed buy a bodega with bright neon signs that said:

Win 80 million dollars.

I turned back to Adam: Do you have any cash on you?

No, why?

I want to buy a lottery ticket.

It’s a waste, he said back, trying to remind me that our money should be spent on less risky things, like a college education fund for our glistening daughter or life insurance (something I have become obsessed about getting).

No, yeah, you’re right. I shook off my dreams of buying a $1 lotto ticket and winning $80 million in return. I just want a quick win.

I am not in my let’s crush big huge goals era. I’m in my gimme a quick win era so that I can treat myself to a good time.

👋 Welcome to the Monday Pick-Me-Up. If you’re feeling the same, I have a list of quick wins that will really pick you up in September.

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🎰 Your Quick Win List

Here are the quick wins I’m doing this week to feel like a superstar in my silly life.

Spend your gift cards

My birthday was in April and I got a handful of gift cards from friends and family members. I loooo0ove gift cards because I can pick out something I adore from that store. But my problem with gift cards is: I lose them if I don’t use them. I don’t use them because I can’t decide what I want.

I cleaned out my wallet and a few hiding spots in my apartment and found four unspent gift cards. I gave myself an hour per gift card to scroll through the website and pick something out for myself.

I got this pullover with my Lululemon gift card. I had a Best Buy gift card from a work event and used it to buy an early birthday gift for a friend who said she wanted a mini fridge for her office.

Seasonal bucket list

Fall is my favorite season and I want to make sure that I have a plan for it so that we get the most out of the months ahead. I found these fall bucket lists on Etsy and bought one that had items on it that fit our family. I printed it out and hung it on the fridge so that we could have a guide for our weekend adventures.

Make your doctor appointment

This is your reminder to write down all the doctors you need to see for your annual appointments — or the doctors you’ve been putting off seeing — and make appointments with them. Because this task can feel so daunting, take these steps:

• Take a photo of your insurance card so you have it on your phone when making the calls

• Write down the doctors’ names and phone numbers. If you need a recommendation for a doc, post in local Facebook groups or research reviews on Google to find someone in your network.

• Make a list of dates and times that you’re available so you have it handy when you call. Make sure that you pay attention to when you saw some doctor’s last when scheduling your annual visit. Insurance often won’t cover annual physicals, for example, unless it’s been a year and a day since you went last.

• Add going to the dermatologist for an annual skin cancer check to that list - please.

• Call. Seriously. This is a major quick win.

Set up your own self-care

I’m so over complaining about not having time for self-care. Since I can’t find anyone who does facials at 9pm at night, I decided to save the money I’d spend on having someone work on my face, and invest in things I can do to my own face at 9pm instead.

I’ve honestly seen a difference in my skin just investing in a few products and making this a 90-second nightly ritual.

• I love this skincare brand. Their face serum and night cream have been game changers.

• This $7 tool is so calming to use and has changed the shape of my jawline.

Buy a new pillow case

One simple item you can buy that will make you feel like you’re making a big upgrade in your room is a new and soft pillow case.

Clean out your fridge

A 30-minute quick win is to clean out your fridge and pantry. Toss the items that are super expired — we all can find something that went bad in 2022. Scrub the inside of your fridge, organize your shelves, and take inventory on what you have.

Change your makeup

On the same note, clean our your makeup stash. I found makeup products that are 4-5 years old. Here’s more information on when to toss old products.

Donate + sell your clothes

End of summer is when I do a major apartment clean out — starting with my closet. I make three piles: keep, donate, and sell. I spend about an hour putting item up on Poshmark. I’ve had luck in the past making over $1,000 selling clothes. It’s a bit time consuming but the perfect task to do at night when you’re watching a TV show.

I gather up all our donations and drop them off on the weekend. I also found this place that gives you $$$ when you donate clothes. I haven’t used them yet but it seems like a smart idea and a fun way to earn money for clothes you don’t want anymore.

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Instant Pick Me Ups

📖: I love this author’s style and am reading two of her books at once — this is the one I’m halfway done with and love tremendously.

😊: Obsessed with:

• These shoes. Still. I wear them ever day and feel like they elevate any outfit.

• Got these long sleeves in a few colors. They are 50% less than the same ones at Lululemon or Alo.

• A bit of a splurge but I plan to wear this every day stacked with other necklaces.

🎵: Such a fun cover of the song apple

📝: Ps. if you (or anyone you know) needs a wedding speech this season (vows, officiant, maid of honor/best man, father/mother of bride/groom, sister/brother of the bride/groom) — I built these really awesome speech writing tools. Also, a eulogy tool (though I hope nobody you know needs to use that).

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😊 My Real Life:

• One of my things on my manifestation list (for years) was to have my own office space. I’ve been working on the couch in my living room since becoming a full-time entrepreneur in 2015 and having an office just felt like a big accomplishment to work toward. I’ve been eyeing some places in Brooklyn and found a tiny little l-shaped office near my apartment that I rented!!! I got a really good deal on the rent and am trying it out for the nest 5-months. It’s the official headquarters for all things Jen Glantz and if you are in Williamsburg, BK and want to stop by, we can eat pizza and talk about life in this silly little place.

• Two weeks ago, Gemma took a scary fall in Central Park (from the top of a stage) that landed us in the emergency room. The whole situation was extremely traumatic, from having to call 9-11 to riding in an ambulance with her, to holding her head because it was bleeding, to collapsing into the idea that this was my fault and so I must be some kind of horrible mom. She ended up being mostly okay (it could have been a million times worse) but she did have an incision on the back of her head. Over the past two weeks, I’ve still been in shock about this. I’m processing it in so many ways. I Googled:

And the results kind of explain what I’ve been going through, mostly secretly.

1. Heightened arousal: Anytime Gemma falls down (which is a few times a day as a new-ish walker), my entire body stings with panic. I’ve even noticed that I’ll scream out a pinch of fear when it happens. She’s usually okay, but still, it triggers the moment from the park. I want her to fee free to be adventurous and courageous. I don’t want her to see me cringing on the sidelines all of the time.

2. Numbness and detachment: Once we got home from the hospital, I felt so numb about what had happened. I hardly told anyone. I didn’t want to talk about it because talking about it tossed me back into the moment. I tried to keep life going on, forward. A few days later, I took Gemma to an outdoor music class that she loves. She was dancing and happy. In front of everyone, a nanny there said: excuse me, your child has dirt on the back of her head. She pointed to the area of Gemma’s head where the doctor glued it shut. Her comment made my body go back into a little bit of shock and that was made worse when I had to tell her -- and everyone else there -- that my baby was injured and her head was not “dirty”.

3. Memories or flashbacks: I’ve had a lot of these. Sometimes when I’m in the middle of a conversation with someone about something random, the entire moment gets replayed in my head and I disappear from reality. I replay all that I can remember. I try to answer the annoying question everyone likes to ask me: How did that happen???

I still find my body shaking when I talk about what happened, even though it’s been two weeks. Trauma enters and leaves our bodies and minds, crumbs of it stay with us forever. When I find the tough parts of me yelping: Jen, get over this and move on! I allow the marshmallow parts of my heart to simply say: We’re not ready to do that, we may never be ready, and that’s okay too.

• On a much lighter note, I’m trying to like pilates. I’ve taken a handful of pilate reformer classes before and always leave thinking: never again. My body rejects these classes. My knees whisper loudly: we should be in phsyical therapy right now, but you brought us here instead? I’d rather do 100 burpees than take a 45-minute pilates reformer class. But I went to a pilates class last week with a friend and she bought a 10-pack of classes and said: let’s make this our thing. I love having “things” with friends. How boring is life without friends and the things you do with only them. So I bought a 10-pack of classes too. We did our second class together and update: I still really don’t like pilates. I can’t do 75% of the moves. Everyone else in the class effortless glides on the machine. I look like I’m operating a bulldozer that’s trying to roll over a pile of rocks. I have 8 more classes left to try. I really wonder if my thoughts on the workout will change. I’ll keep you posted.