starting where i am
soft launching this thing (again) as i enter a new era of myself
Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day!
In fall 2024, I was energized to relaunch this platform and basically my entire social media brand. Then when the presidential election happened, I lost that energy. Going through that grieving process felt fairly accelerated for some reason and soon enough, we entered the holiday season where all I wanted to do was chill out and not think about any of my responsibilities and projects. I also was getting ready for a short trip to Vancouver to see the final night of The Eras Tour, and even that surprisingly took a lot out of me.
But let me talk about why I wanted to start writing like this again. With how the big social media platforms have changed in the last couple of years, I wanted a safer way to express myself in ways that I knew how. As I was ending my time as a journalism undergrad at San Francisco State in 2010, I launched a blog to demonstrate my arts/entertainment expertise to the public but mostly potential employers. As I grew in my career (Meaning abandoning my Los Angeles/New York dreams on red carpets to stay in San Francisco and naturally work at startups), I experimented with talking openly about my life experiences combined with a nerdy pop culture punch, then shifted to fitness, wellness, and lifestyle before fully abandoning the blogging ship in 2016.
Since then, I’ve focused on discussing more of my passions and everyday happenings and musings in bite-sized nuggets on Facebook, X, and Instagram, but when I went through a very tough breakup suddenly in February 2023, I wanted to share more deeply about what was happening in my life and in my mind, so I started this Substack and then yet again, stopped writing as I let life heal me and went back to only sharing those bite-sized nuggets in Zuck and Musk’s worlds (Yuck).
So here I am again, giving my longtime craft another shot to see the light. Like most women, I use my Notes app to keep track of all the things, including a list of possible essay topics that I started that one day in October. I might delete them entirely.
Hell, I don’t even know if I’ll keep the name of this newsletter (You can learn more about the origins in my About page)! But if there is one thing I’ve learned in these first twenty days of 2025, I just need to start somewhere and worry about the rest later.
So welcome to the soft launch of aw hell naw, karen! Nice to see you here.
all the shit that’s making me feel like a brand new person
This bookmarked X thread from @AskCoachKev, so I’ve been following most of this meal plan since January 4th (Though I got Factor Meals for the first week for my dinners - grab a discount here). TBH I’m not a fan of following shredded gym bros on the socials, especially on that hellsite and I don’t agree with or even like some of his content at all, but I’m really big on low-effort meal prep and the high-protein, low-calorie diet has been working well for me. I’ve been currently loving blueberries and Persian cucumbers for snacks and I got green juice from Factor to start me off each week. Speaking of drinks…
My nonalcoholic indulgence with co-workers last Wednesday night Dry January. Geez, why did I ever drink so much? Being sober feels pretty good, and there are so many good nonalcoholic options these days. I was big on nonalcoholic beer when I couldn’t drink a couple of times last year. Now I’ve been introduced to Better Sundays and Curious Elixirs for some tastier concoctions. Don’t know if this will last past January. I will likely go the route of indulging on special occasions. But I really need to remember how good this feels.
CorePower Yoga. Since COVID, I barely work out in public indoor spaces anymore, but I will be doing a lot of that this month and I have CorePower to thank for starting me off — and you can say thank you to them too for offering a free week of classes. Never going to take Yoga Sculpt again though — they weren’t kidding about the “advanced” label!
Some motivational words from the dressing room at CorePower’s NoPa studio Zenses Yoga. I attended the Thursday Dating/Serving Sundays event there and it was the most relaxing yoga experience I’ve ever had. I love the LED scenery. In our session, we were literally one with the universe. But I legit can’t get over the Temple SF glow-up??? How did that happen? I thought they were dead! So many crazy nights there in my 20s! Seriously so glad the old space found new life.
Blogilates. Cassey Ho was a big part of the beginning of my fitness journey in 2015, but I only followed her on and off (The meal plans in her Hot Body Year-Round book have helped me when I was living by myself though!). When I heard she launched an apparel collection for Target, I basically bought it alllll this month — and started her workouts again! I’m doing her 2021 challenge because I think 21 minutes a day is doable, though I’ve been doubling up or skipping some workouts based on when I do my yoga or running.
Gabby Bernstein. She’s another old-school love of mine who has come back into my life! I’ve wanted to learn more about manifesting and actually apply it to my life, so I joined her 21-Day Manifesting Challenge and finally finished Super Attractor after having it bookmarked for like six years. And yeah, I upgraded my coaching membership and saw her live for her Self Help book tour! It was incredible to be in the room with so many open and vulnerable people sharing their stories and questions. Gabby also got her Oprah ON with all the free stuff she was gifting (books and coaching memberships). It was definitely a beautiful, spiritual, and connected experience — and my favorite talk from her from the three times I’ve seen her live.
Vision boarding. Pushed to do it first by Gabby, saw it to completion thanks to a lovely workshop by Soulfull and Arise Yoga SF.
Activations. I heard about this app on The Sabrina Zohar Show and I felt like the episode came at such the perfect time with all that I’m learning about manifesting. I’m on the free trial but I think I will purchase the membership when it’s over. I love listening to these with the variety of orchestral, vibey, and ambient music as I eat my breakfast, go on walks, and while I’m sleeping.
BTW, finally buying over-ear headphones might be the best decision I’ve made even out of everything I’ve been writing here. My life has basically just been podcasts, audiobooks, Activations, and sleep music.
thinking of los angeles
Been talking a lot about the LA fires because it literally hits so close to home. I’m sad about the destruction and how many lives have been devastated. Let’s remember to check in on those we know there.
Here is a running list of resources.
Donate if you can. California Fire Foundation and LAFD Wildfire Emergency Fund are a couple of places to start.
If you feel called to support an individual, help good guy Brandon Rogers help his dad who lost his home in Altadena.
We will all rise from hard times. Take these words from shit you should care about on Instagram as we go through this new beginning.
One day I will close out this newsletter properly! But one step at a time. I started and now have finished this post.
Thank you for reading and I’m excited for the next time we connect! <3
love this!! I am totally going to start using the word “phoenixing” 😊