The Month Of Seattle: May 2023 Recap

by A Purple Life, posted in Blogging, Early Retirement, Early Retirement Updates, Film, Finance, Fitness, Food, Hobbies, Investing, Net Worth Update
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Somehow May is over and once again my first question is: How?!? 🙂 Time continues to fly over here. This month I went back to my ‘home’ of Seattle after a lovely month exploring California and expanded my housesitting capabilities while seeing what it’s like to care for someone else’s home and hot tub 🙂 . So let’s see what I got up to!

I Moved To Seattle, WA

When I left Seattle in 2020 to retire and start exploring the world, I lamented that I didn’t know when I would return to my beloved Seattle. There are so many places in the world I want to go and I know that I won’t be able to visit them all before I die, so the idea that I would return often to a city where I lived for 5 years seemed unlikely.

However, life had a different idea 🙂 . Last year I did return to Seattle to attend a wedding of one of my best friends and since in retirement, I think a month is a short trip, 😉 we stayed in Seattle for 5 weeks. This year that same friend asked if I would be willing to housesit her house while she traveled for almost a month – and I said yes.

I have very little house sitting experience and the only times I’ve done it, It was for friends and family in order to help them care for their garden, pipes or house in general. So I spent about 3 weeks housesitting for this friend and then 2 weeks in an Airbnb in downtown Seattle.

During my time house sitting I learned something new: that hot tubs take a fair amount of care to make sure they’re just right. That makes sense, but I’d never really thought about it before. I was monitoring and changing things in the hot tub at least once a day. This fancy tub also ordered parts for itself…and I only knew that when I saw the parts come in the mail. Wow. It IS the future 🙂 .

Our house sit was a little outside of Seattle proper, which helped me also learn that Seattle public transit is even more awesome than I thought in some areas. It was super easy to hop on one bus and be downtown in 20 minutes. As a result of this discovery, I might expand where I’m willing to get an Airbnb in the future as a result. Previously we’ve always stayed downtown.

I Learned Spanish

Activities

This month included all the usual suspects: I still text my Mom mostly in Spanish and we speak in Spanish on our weekly calls.

Progress

Despite decreasing the wild amount of time I learned Spanish last year I’m still making progress! This month I had a dream in Spanish and was able to explain a complicated situation without preparation to my friend’s housecleaner who doesn’t speak English!

I also continued to understand Spanish in films that don’t subtitle it, such as Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse and Puss In Boots: The Last Wish. I also found myself accidentally eavesdropping on people speaking Spanish at the airport in a way I haven’t before. Usually I have to actively listen to do that, but I found myself hearing and understanding conversations in the background while I was focused on something else like I do in English. Progress!

I Hung Out With People

This month involved my usual virtual meetups, such as the weekly Spanish call with my Mom and Weekly Movie Nights where we watched the below. If you’re curious about my ratings of movies, I have a Letterboxd account here.

  1. The Wave (Bølgen)
  2. John Mulaney: Baby J
  3. North By Northwest
  4. Eurovision Song Contest
  5. Cocaine Bear
  6. Spider-Man: Into The Spiderverse

I also hung out with a ridiculous amount of people – mostly from this personal finance space:

On a less happy front, I received this news which made me even more adamant about living the life I want now:

I Read 15 Books

This month I read:

  1. What If? Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions by Randall Munroe
  2. Daughter Of No Worlds by Carissa Broadbent
  3. Little Bird Lost by Jessie Walker
  4. Cair by Eryn Hawk
  5. Book Of Shadows by Cate Tiernan
  6. Coven by Cate Tiernan
  7. A Soul To Keep by Opal Reyne
  8. King Of Battle & Blood by Scarlett St. Clair
  9. A Lady Of Rooksgrave Manor by Kathryn Moon
  10. Baby & The Late Night Howlers by Kathryn Moon
  11. Lola & The Millionaires: Part One by Kathryn Moon
  12. Lola & The Millionaires: Part Two by Kathryn Moon
  13. The Basilisk of Star Manor by Kathryn Moon 
  14. The Gargoyle’s Captive by Katee Robert
  15. Iced Out by C.E. Ricci

Reading continues to happen at a breakneck pace. I go for months at a time when I don’t feel like reading a single book, and then months like these happen when I’m constantly reading. It’s a weird ebb and flow, but I enjoy it. If you’re curious about what I’m reading and my ratings of these books, I have a Goodreads account you can check out here.

I Wrote 5 Posts

In case you missed it, this month I published the below posts:

  1. The Month Of California: April 2023 Recap
  2. The Best Breweries I Visited In Sacramento, CA
  3. Slow Travel Review: Sacramento, CA – The Land Of Flowers & Sunshine
  4. My Favorite Nomad Travel Tools (Part 2)
  5. The Psychology Of Giving: How I Tricked Myself Into Donating More

In addition to that, I was a speaker at a black woman’s investing club with about 200 people in the virtual meeting, which was cool. I am also on the Plutus Awards Panel for 5 years in a row. I also made my first pinned post on Instagram, which you can see below. Let me know if you think more posts like that would be helpful and if so, what they should be about and I’ll start working on those as well.

In more ridiculous news, an insurance company, luxury watch flipping business, a “music investing” company and a company that somehow combines cannabis and blockchain technology, reached out to me to work together and I unsurprisingly said absolutely not 🙂 . My inbox is great ground for comedy at times.

Physical

Sleep

I slept really well this month! I suspect it was a combination of a comfy bed, lots of time outside, sitting in the sunshine and being relaxed. The few days I didn’t sleep well were totally my fault – I stayed up to read a book 🙂 . Luckily, I then was able to take a nap and recoup the time. 

Food

This month I was back on keto, calorie counting and I started eating back my exercise calories, which is working well so far! Then I went off keto to eat some delicious things like this:

Exercise

Running went well this month! I enjoyed running on the trails outside Seattle and found running in the city with its amount of hills challenging, but worth it. I also was walking all over the place and as a result, exercised by either walking or running every day, which was awesome. 

Nail Painting

I think my nail painting obsession is catching up with me. My nails seemed dry this month so I’m taking a break for a bit. I didn’t know that could happen, though it makes sense with the use of a lot of nail polish remover. Maybe I should be moisturizing my nails? Is that a thing?!?

Mental

Learning

So it’s time for my favorite segment: Fun Facts Nobody Asked For! Here’s what I learned and explored this month:

Seattle, WA

  • The name Seattle is derived from the Native American name “Sealth.” Sealth was a chief of the Suquamish tribe when the first white settlers arrived in 1851
  • These cities get more inches of rain than Seattle: Boston, D.C., Houston, Miami, New York City
  • Seattle is home to many of the country’s largest companies, such as Microsoft, Amazon, Boeing, Starbucks, Expedia and Nordstrom
  • Seattle has no income tax 😉

Flora

Seattle is the greenest city I’ve visited in the US and I always love to see it bloom. There are plants and flowers in absolutely every direction, but the ones I could identify with the help of my more outdoorsy friends and Google Lens were:

Salmonberry, Thimbleberry, Western Sword Fern, Purple Foxglove, Herb Robert, Salal, Red-Berried Elder, Pacific Bleeding Heart, and Ocean Spray

Fauna

The animals I spotted this month were all the usual suspects for a city:

Eastern Cottontail, Eastern Grey Squirrel, Douglas’ Squirrel, Cascade Gold En-Mantled Ground Squirrel and a Brown Rat

Birds

I always love revisiting places I know well, but lived in when I didn’t give a shit about birds 🙂 . I’m sure I’ve seen all of these below, but wasn’t paying a lick of attention. This month I spotted in Seattle:

Chipping Sparrow, Spotted Towhee, Black-Capped Chickadee, American Robin, Dark-Eyed Junco, Northern Flicker, House Finch, Bewick’s Wren, Bald Eagle (they’re everywhere in Seattle!) and Stellar’s Jay

Stellar’s Jay –  Look at that magnificent mohawk! (Source)

Creativity

My creativity was back up this month, which led me to writing the posts I mentioned above and posting these reviews of awesome movies:

Emotional

My emotions this month were a bit all over the place. I had a bit of life drama happen, but got past it with the wonderful support of my loved ones. However, overall I was in a good place. I think the abundance of sunshine and exercise helped 🙂 .

Money

Money continues to not really be on my mind. However, that doesn’t mean I don’ t like to save it 🙂 :

 

Outside of accidentally saving money, getting an Airbnb in the middle of Seattle during its beautiful months was expectedly pricey, but we balanced that out with the weeks of housesitting:

Overall, my net worth continues to be quite sexy if I do say so myself 😉 :

Conclusion

And that’s what I got up to in Seattle! Next up is seeing if I can learn to love a city that I’ve had a contentious relationship with in the past: Chicago! Let’s see what happens 😉 .

If you’re interested in the other weekly and monthly retirement updates I’ve written, they’re all here:

Weekly (2020)

  1. Early Retirement Week 1: The Freak Out
  2. Early Retirement Week 2: The Vacation
  3. Early Retirement Week 3: The Whiplash
  4. Early Retirement Week 4: The Heartbeat
  5. Early Retirement Week 5: The Election
  6. Early Retirement Week 6: The Trophy
  7. Early Retirement Week 7: The Train
  8. Early Retirement Week 8: The Challenge
  9. Early Retirement Week 9: The Question
  10. Early Retirement Week 10: The Game
  11. Early Retirement Week 11: The Recharge
  12. Early Retirement Week 12: The Holiday

Monthly (2021)

  1. The Month Of Rest: Early Retirement Month 4 (January 2021)
  2. The Month Of Birds: Early Retirement Month 5 (February 2021)
  3. The Month of Change: Early Retirement Month 6 (March 2021)
  4. The Month of Atlanta: Early Retirement Month 7 (April 2021)
  5. The Month of Portland, Maine: Early Retirement Month 8 (May 2021)
  6. The Month Of New Hampshire: Early Retirement Month 9 (June 2021)
  7. The Month Of The Northeast: Early Retirement Month 10 (July 2021)
  8. The Month Of New York State: Early Retirement Month 11 (August 2021)
  9. The Month Of City Hopping: Early Retirement Month 12 (September 2021)
  10. The Month Of The Southwest USA: October 2021 Recap
  11. The Month Of Santa Fe: November 2021 Recap
  12. The Month Of Family: December 2021 Recap

Monthly (2022)

  1. The Month Of Freezing My Balls Off: January 2022 Recap
  2. The Month Of Thailand: February 2022 Recap
  3. The Month Of Spring(?): March 2022 Recap
  4. The Month Of México: April 2022 Recap
  5. The Month of Mérida: May 2022 Recap
  6. The Month of Seattle: June 2022 Recap
  7. The Month of Washington State: July 2022 Recap
  8. The Month Of New Hampshire: August 2022 Recap
  9. The Month Of Maine: September 2022 Recap
  10. The Month Of Acadia: October 2022 Recap
  11. The Month Of Argentina: November 2022 Recap
  12. The Month Of Holiday Cheer: December 2022 Recap

Monthly (2023)

  1. The Month Of Snow: January 2023 Recap
  2. The Month Of New Hampshire: February 2023 Recap
  3. The Month Of Sea: March 2023 Recap
  4. The Month Of California: April 2023 Recap

How was your month?

8 thoughts on “The Month Of Seattle: May 2023 Recap”

  1. Sorry to hear about your colleague. A much-loved manager from my previous company died suddenly in 2019, while I was in the final stages of my FIRE accumulation phase. She was only a few years older than me.

    It was a sharp reminder that none of us know how much time we get. Our lives are precious, and it’s vital not to waste them on things that don’t matter in the end. It was a big jolt of motivation for me to stick to my FIRE plan.

    I hope to live a long and full life. But if I die tomorrow, at least I can say I didn’t die at work!

    Reply

    1. Thank you and I’m sorry to hear that. It is indeed a stark reminder and I’m all for not dying at work.

      Reply

  2. Sorry to hear about your colleague. Life happens while we’re making plans. It’s morbid, but knowing death will definitely happen is a strong motivation for me. When I’m on my deathbed, what will I regret? Doing the thing or not doing the thing?

    Nails definitely dry out with too many products in a short time (same, ironically, if you keep them too wet too often. I used to swim a lot and I enjoy baths, and if I spent too much time in water across two weeks, my nails would start complaining). Moisturiser does work with nails, though a dedicated nail product would probably work better.

    You read so much in May! What the heck. In actual awe.

    Reply

    1. Thank you. And that’s so true.

      Good to know about nails! It’s not something I’ve thought about before and that’s interesting they can’t be too dry or too wet.

      And yeah I’m on a reading roll this year. Sitting in the Seattle sun under the Space Needle and reading was a lovely time 🙂 .

      Reply

  3. Use jojoba oil on your nails a few times a day to moisturize. It will help keep them healthy and less prone to breakage. You’ll see a big difference!

    Reply

    1. A few times a day? That’s hardcore. I’ll look into the oil, but can’t promise more than daily lol. Thank you!

      Reply

    1. I’ve just visited a few times in the past and didn’t love it, but I’m living here now for a month with the hopes of changing that!

      Reply

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