july 2026 capsule
Thankfully, since I last checked in, my back has been doing much better, though sometimes my bad posture still gets the best of me and I need to be more consistent with preventative stretches.
A lot happened in July. Pumpkin is still having ongoing health issues, but she has a new primary care provider. She was seemingly on the mend with her second course of steroids, but the periodically vomiting has returned and she's still grooming herself (particularly her paws) too much. It's always a push-and-pull with a chronically ill pet, though, so I'm trying not to stress myself out about it too much. We'll be due for a follow-up before the month is over so that we can discuss the next steps for treatment.
I drew and painted so much throughout this month. I'm nearly halfway through my Royal Talens sketchbook - something that felt impossible to achieve even in a year's time before. It's become my daily routine to set up at my craft table and draw a little every day and that has done wonders for my mental health. My hope is that I can add writing back into the mix as well, because there are so many projects that I have set down.
It's possible that I spoiled myself a little too much for my birthday month, but I felt mindful about each thing that I purchased. One of the biggest surprises for me was how much the Blend Bunny x Mei Pang Fauna palette would inspire me to play with color on my face again. The tones that they chose for the collaboration speak to something deep inside me. Once my Dieverune purchase arrives, I'll be back on a makeup low buy until the holiday season.
My niece's birthday was absolutely wonderful. It was such a joy to see her laughing, running (!), dancing, playing with bubbles, and interacting with her older cousin. It feels like it was just a month ago that she was barely learning how to crawl and now she's saying a handful of words and toddling around. I'm so happy to be in her life.
Blog Updates
- Finally finished writing my personal essay reflections on bright eyes, teen angst, and music as salvation
- Composed a short recap on everything I have read since February.
- Shared some of my recent sketchbook pages focusing on bird studies. They are still my favorite subject to draw at the moment.
- Posted a short reflection for my birthday
Other Progressions
- I joined a couple of art discord servers and joined a Tarot project. Each of us chose one of the major arcana to illustrate (digital or traditional.) I picked Judgment, which is one of my favorite cards.
- Printed out a bunch of photos and attempted to get caught up backlogging in my journal. I'm not worried about filling every page up with text or trying to get an accurate snapshot of my day-to-day life. But I like to fill in what I can and it's been nice scrapbooking a few cute photos, jotting down quotes from books I have read recently, and adding in a few doodles here and there.
- Finally returned my library books. I kept waiting for the weather to cool down, but we're in the trenches with this heatwave. I'm trying to plan my activities carefully and this was one that has been on the backburner for a while. There's much I'd like to do in August so we'll see what pans out!
Little Things to Look Forward To:
- Participating in Avian August led by Cookiedoves and the Summer Creative Retreat led by Peggy Dean/Pigeon Letters
- Helping my bestie move into their new apartment. They are so much closer to where I live now so I'm excited to see their family more often.
- Having a week off from work before Fall semester begins. I'm planning to go to the aquarium for a solo-sketching date and maybe a few more activities if it isn't sweltering.
- Attending a Sapphic picnic that was postponed due to weather conditions from the fire back during Pride Month. It will be nice to connect to my local queer community. I'm a very introverted person and get super anxious and quiet when meeting new people, but I want to gently guide myself out of my comfort zone. Baby steps.
- I found some of my old Solo Journaling documents and it has me pining to revisit my original characters and their worlds. I might choose at least one to dive back into and see where it takes me.